Postpartum Weight Loss- May. - Page 3

[kitteh]

Originally Posted by pinksprklybarefoot

I haven't been able to exercise at all this week! I ran/walked four times last week, and my knees are completely messed up. I kept saying, "one more day of rest, then I can get back at it," but the pain just was not going away. I am going to give it a try again on Monday, no matter what.

Have you been stretching? I noticed when I got back into working out again that if I didn't stretch well my knees would be all kinds of messed up. I think it was a quad/hamstring imbalance for me

Originally Posted by nola79

I could only get to the gym 4 days this week

Wow, no wonder you're losing so rapidly, I was wondering. I count it as a VERY successful week if I'm able to get to the gym or get a decent at-home work out 4 times a week. I think I kind of use the fact that I work on my feet as an excuse to take it a little easier as far as workouts go My goal is workout DVD or Gym 3xWeek. I'm just hoping that's still enough for a pound a week weightloss... maybe my expectations are off-base?

[nola79]

Kitteh- I would defintiely count working on your feet as exercise, it is! I think your goal is reasonable. I haven't gone back to work with this baby, that is the only reason I'm able to go the gym as much as I do, otherwise I just would not have the time. I was walking dd in her stroller as well but it's already so hot and so sunny here, it's getting uncomfortable for her.

[Annie Mac]

I am having a very difficult time sticking to my diet resolutions. For 3 days, I counted calories on MyPlate, but on the 4th day, I'd had enough. I woke up tired and wiped out and just wanted FOOD!!! So I ate. Whatever I wanted, but I still didn't eat any junk food and tried to keep the simple carbs down to a minimum. Then yesterday, I thought, OK, time to get back on the wagon, so I recorded my breakfast again, but didn't do so well. I was still feeling exhausted. I ended up walking to the store and buying chocolate. I came home and ate some and you know what? I felt the best I had in days! My mood elevated, I had more energy, the world seemed a better place overall. Maybe I need chocolate?

I am also trying to find a balance within my body. Before I got pregnant, I was dealing with some sort of gastrointestinal problem -- very very tied up with anxiety. Personally, I feel that my adrenals were out of whack, which was causing a host of problems, but unless you have no adrenal function there is no test to confirm that. I had to be so so so careful with what I ate, because my body hated almost everything. I lost a lot of weight (to the point where I was underweight and fighting to keep the pounds on) without wanting to. Because my body wasn't retaining much of the food I was eating, I had very little energy. When I got pregnant, I suddenly could eat whatever I wanted and my body loved almost everything. I gained 50 pounds during that time, and the first ten pounds of that just took me up to a normal (on the low side) BMI again. Anyway, I'm starting to notice some of those symptoms coming back again. I want to lose the weight, but I do not want to lose it the way I did before. And I don't want to have to control my food so closely anymore either, because the food itself becomes an anxiety issue, and a way to try and control the anxiety by controlling what I put in my body. There is no question in this comment, I guess...just airing my concerns. I just want to be healthy. I had hoped that this pregnancy would "reset" my body, but maybe not. Anyway, thanks for listening!

[kitteh]

I don't know anything about adrenal functions, but that sounds really crap and I hope you figure out a way to alleviate your anxiety and lack of energy. It sucks to lose weight that way, because in my experience everyone is all ~OMG you look great! Way to lose the weight!~ but you just feel like sh*t and can't enjoy it. Good luck finding balance!

I stepped on the scale this morning and I was bracing myself for disappointment because I don't really feel like I've lost. We had pizza and beers++ on Monday, and then on Tuesday my brother bought Dominoes and basically gave us an entire sausage peperoni pizza, so we ate pizza AGAIN. And I only managed to work out 3 times this week, which I'd usually be happy with, but I figured wasn't enough to combat the pizza and beer. But the scale read 133! I lost a pound!

You guys don't know how big this is for me--for the past 3 months I've been stuck at 136 even though I'd been going to the gym 4 and 5 times a week and it was getting really really discouraging to work so hard with little to no results. So the fact that I was able to actually lose a pound like I'd planned is HUGE. I'm hoping to keep it up the rest of the month.

[nola79]

Kitteh- That is so great! congrats! I know exactly how you feel, I was stuck forever too. It's a huge relief to see that scale go down after so long. I wonder if maybe this is when the weight would naturally come off anyway?

[Amandamanda]

hey guys, i'm back!
this weekend was crazy with my birthday on friday and then mothers day yesterday. i'm almost afraid to step on the scale. so i won't because that will just depress me. i am going to get back on track and then in a few days i will weigh myself!

how was everyones mothers day?

also if you want any changes made to the roster, with updated losses or goals, please put it in bold.

[nola79]

My mother's day was nice. I didn't think I ate too bad we went to MIL's and bbq'd. All I had was a hamburger. Then I came home and made brownies, only ate a couple of them. At the gym this morning I weighed 149. STILL! So frustrating, especially since I weighed the middle of last week and was 148. There goes my 2 pounds a week. I really thought I was on a roll with weight loss, and to be stuck at 149 for 2 weeks in a row is just disgusting! Amanda, you have the right idea by not even weighing.....hopefully in a few days the scale will go down again. Haven't really done anything differently, so at least I know I'm doing all I can to lose and will just have to wait and let nature take it's course. I really hope all you ladies had a better week than me loss wise.

[akind1]

Hey, we had a great Mother's day! had a bbq, but I did not eat the fried chicken. I had a little bit of ham instead! (I don't really care for fried chicken, and well, it is FRIED - not good for you)

I am down another pound - so 223! - it seems counter-intuitive, but the key for me seems to be consuming ENOUGH calories. If I skimp on them, my body wants to hold onto the weight, though you'd think it would reckognize that I've enough cushion! and to keep up some sort of moderate excersize throughout the week. if I weren't breastfeeding, I could cut calories.

my goal is to get to the gym 3 x this week. didn't yesterday, must do today!

I count it as a good week so long as i don't gain. You are going to have plateau weeks, and they are frustrating, but they happen. change up your routine a bit, do a different excersize, or something.

Annie, maybe you DO need chocolate. having a little bit of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, might be helpful to you. a friend of mine had gestational diabetes, and the nights where she'd allow herself a small piece of dark chocolate, her morning fasting numbers were lower. Don't know why. I always find that allowing myself small indulgences is a key to losing and/or maintaining weight. Like instead of a big bowl of my super high calorie rich yummy ice cream, do one scoop of vanilla, or a fruit sorbet satisfies the craving without killing my diet. I don't feel deprived, and am in a better mood overall. Doesn't work for everybody, some, like my DH, do better just cutting out offending foods all together.

[nola79]

Well yesterdays weight must have been a fluke, don't know what happened. Just for sh*ts and giggles, I got on the scale again at the gym today and I was at 146.8! So, a little more than 2 pounds. I feel so relieved! School lets out in 2 weeks, so I would love, love, love to fit in my old clothes by then even if I'm not at goal weight. I have a feeling I'll be too busy with ds and dd over the summer to hit the gym as much as I have been lately. Plus, ds wants to go to the pool there so even if I'm there I'll be swimming/supervising him and the baby and not actually working out. My shorts do go over my hips now and I can button them, although it's the sausage look I'm not really wanting to sport. Hopefully, 4 pounds will make the difference (I'm thinking 2 pounds per week for the this week and next).

Just wanted to add that I drank a TON of water yesterday, I really slacked on the water drinking over the weekend, so maybe the weight was just water retention.

[boheime]

I'm lurking with you, ladies...because I don't want to say my weight, let alone post it for the entire world to see. Dd2 will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. My weight loss stalled a week ago, so I'm trying to do something about it - not feeling good about myself right now. Tonight is day 4 of the exercise bike. Last Summer I could bike 10 miles a day. Now I'm working to do 4 miles/20 minutes. It's a start, though, right?

[nola79]

Welcome, Boheime! I know how you feel, I lost weight right off the bat by giving birth, but none after that until I started exercising and making small dietary changes. Stick with it, you'll get there, 10 miles a day is alot!

[boheime]

Our exercise bike is a recumbant, so I can stick dd2 in a pouch sling and she falls asleep while I bike. It took me 21 minutes to do 4 miles today. Those first couple of minutes were torture but it was more manageable later on. Reading a book and hiding the display with it helped. I wasn't focused on how many minutes/miles I had gone.

[ithappened]

I think I am down to 128/127 but I not sure .. lately I think I lost 2 lbs then I jump back up again to 130-131/...

[tri31]

Hi, what a cool thread. Can I join you? I am really excited, as I lost 3 pounds in the last two weeks. Anyone else dancing for exercise? I can never finish a workout, so I am starting my belly dancing cd when our 6 week old takes his first nap. So.. I do that until my 2 year old takes me away from that. Then I have been turning on some tunes and dancing, off and on, the rest of the day. Oh, and hula hooping. The kids are very entertained by that! This is my indoor thing lately, cause it is often cool and rainy here in May. Hope to see the soon.
What are you doing for a workout routine lately?

[Annie Mac]

Congrats Nola, Kitteh, and whoever else is moving towards their goal! I am feeling a little more positive about my body. I haven't lost any weight, but I'm pretty sure I've lost some size. I bought a size small (a largish small, but whatever) dress yesterday without trying it on, and it fits. I mean, I don't look like a svelte size 0 in it or anything, but it doesn't cling. I'm also pretty sure I'm gaining muscle, and I know that weighs more than fat. Carrying around a ten pound weight (and growing!) all day is bound to build a bit of muscle.
I also bought a breast pump, so my husband can help with feeding, and am planning to go back to yoga in a few weeks. Before I got pregant, I was planning on getting my instructor's certificate. I'd love to revisit that goal.

[Annie Mac]

I also meant to, but forgot to say, welcome Boheime and Tri31!

A question for everyone: What can I make for myself to eat? Something I can make in a large batch and freeze, or something that will keep well in the fridge for a while. Non-dairy, but butter is OK in small portions. Meat is fine, but I'd really like to get some more veggies in my diet.

[nola79]

Wow, I am so glad to see so many people on this thread!
Ithappened- You probably are at 127/128, it's just water weight or something. I'd take the lower weight and go with that. Congrats!
AnnieMac, congrats on going down in size, that is awesome. I'll bet you feel so much better now. As far as foods, the one big change I made is to eat a very large salad every day full of veggies, and grilled chiken or shrimp. You can precut everything and pregrill so all you have to do is open containers and throw it all together. Not sure if this is what you were looking for, but it's worked for me.
tri31- I'm sort of dancing for exercise, I've been doing Zumba. It's really fun and a great workout.

[sugarmoon]

Crashing your thread

Annie Mac, I like to do a big bowl of homemade tabbouleh, 3 bean salad, or black-bean salad (with cilantro, corn and avacado/fake crab/mango/tomato/whatever is appealing and available!) to keep on hand for myself to eat.

[kitteh]

I just discovered ExerciseTV on Time Warner's OnDemand. It's a whole section with a bunch of workout episodes and programs and stuff, so I've been checking that out. I'm really excited about it. I get really bored with workouts easily, so it's nice to have a bunch to choose from. I've also been getting Shape DVDs from the library.

My problem is cardio. I do a lot of light-weight circuit videos, which does get the heart rate up and I end up sweaty by the end of the workout, but I feel like I need to be doing more high-intensity, extended cardio. When I can get to the gym and jog for 30 minutes I feel great, but for some reason dancing along with cardio videos just feels silly to me. Its strange, because I was on the dance team in highschool and I LOVE to dance. I used to go out to clubs all the time in my early 20s, I love dancing. BUt I just feel like such a tool doing it along with a workout video.

[tri31]

I would agree, when I am doing my workout dvd's I sometimes feel very self conscience. Not just the dancing ones. I was just talking to my sisters about this. We agreed, that we probably look dumb mopping and cleaning the bathroom. So, I am over it.