Original entry here.
25
17 1/2 weeks postpartum
1 pregnancy, 1 birth
I am now almost 18 weeks postpartum, and have 7lbs of the 65lbs I gained left to lose. It seem I am stuck. But, I look absolutely nothing like I used to and it makes so depressed. No matter what I’m doing, it seems like I’m destined to still look a little pregnant. I know a lot of people say they have so much excess skin that they have to tuck it into their pants….and I’m happy I’m not like that. But I can’t tell if it’s all fat or all skin or what hanging on my tummy. I love my son and husband, but I hate myself. I’ve even done days where I’d eat one little meal and nothing else…I just don’t get it. Why does pregnancy have to do this to us?
Not eating does the opposite…your body will hang on to every last bit of fat for survival. Do not starve yourself. You are beautiful! It has been less then 5 months, and you have lost soooo much weight, you should be proud :) Eat 5 small meals a day. Lean protein (chicken, fish, very little red meats), all the veggies you want (mostly greens), sweet potatoes over russet, a couple servings of fruit a day, and whole grains (wheat wheat wheat!!!)…another good thing is weight training. Get some light hand weights (3-8 pounds) and work your arms…also do some leg work while holding them…squats, lunges, etc! It will get better, give it tame mama! Oh, and don’t forget to treat yourself to sweets on occasion :)
Oh honey, it took you nearly 40 weeks to gain all of that weight, why should it come off in half the time? That’s just not reasonable. Your body has grown a whole little person inside of it. The fact of it is so amazing it just blows my mind sometimes. Why SHOULD our bodies look the same? Don’t think of it as your old body having been destroyed, think of it as your body wasn’t complete until you had your son. You have finally reached what you were meant to be, and you’re beautiful.
As a side note, starving yourself can actually be counter-productive. When you don’t eat regularly (i.e. one small meal a day), your body starts to store whatever it can as fat because it’s not sure when it’s going to get another meal. Eating small, nutritious meals throughout the day (5-6 mini-meals is actually better than 3 big ones) will help you lose weight faster than not eating at all.
Not eating puts your body into “starvation mode” so your body conserves as many calories and fat as possible. Do what the above poster recommends about eating five or six small meals with lean protein and greens and whole wheat. Just as the above poster says, weight training goes a long way and you can lift weights while your baby naps beside you.
Lift up your chin. Being seventeen weeks postpartum is literally a drop in the bucket!!! You WILL get there. Results are not magical and will not come after one day. Definitely keep a diary of some sort to mark your progress and measurements. Remember that muscle weighs more than fat, so you may gain a little weight at first with the weight training or lose very little weight. Ignore the scale and concentrate on waist/hip measurements, etc.
Best of luck, sweetie!!! :)
First of all you look great!
I know exactly what you mean, it had happened to me too. I starved myself for 2 months and still had like 6 pounds to go. So what really helped was not eating after 6 and a lot of water, I know it sounds strange but it does work, the basic idea is stop storing unnecessary fat during the night. I could eat good breakfast like eggs and bacon, and even chocolate sometimes, dinner should be as light as possible and better around 5:30 or somewhere close to 6 so that not to be too hungry. I will help believe me, I lost 7 pounds within 1 month. I also did 10 min abs exercises, I started from 1 set and than when I felt my stomach getting tight I do now 3 sets, just find something on youtube-10 min abs working out, choose what better for you. Good luck!!
Heavens, you lost so much weight in just a short time! 7 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight in under 5 months is very impressive. I know it must be so hard to be patient but in fact you’re doing great. If you keep feeling terribly low, you might ask your doctor if you could be having some PPD?
Hi Renee,
I can so relate. It’s been 12 weeks since the birth of my little boy and I love him to death, but of the 16.5 kgs that I put on in pregnancy (started @ 56kg) I have only lost the inital 7.5 the first 1 1/2 weeks and have not been able to loose a single thing more no matter how much I watch what I eat. Grilling meat, steaming vegies, eating soups, nothing works. Of all my collegues and friends to have had a baby, I am the only one who hasn’t lost the weight and are to ashammed of the way I look to go visiting, my body looks awful, I now look like a man!
My back and pelvis got twisted very late in my pregnancy and I was not refered on to a phsyo by my obs…. so getting back to my 5x 1hr walk/weight sessions has not happened yet. I hate to say but for me, I wont be going though this again ever!!
it takws time. my belly didnt start to go down or firm up for nearly a year but at 17 months pp i got pregnant again so it stretched again. dont be discouraged but consistency is key.
My tummy looks a lot like yours and and I share the same feeling about being depressed and upset over what something so joyous does to our bodies. I felt so helpless cause I can’t afford nor do I think I could go through with a tummy tuck, but I came across something that has helped my tummy pooch. My stomach muscles separated while I was pregnant and it happens to a lot of moms. Anyways that is what a tummy tuck repairs, but there are certain excersizes that help pull the muscles back together. Its not a quick fix and won’t do anything for loose skin, but has helped me. Look up diastisis recti or the Tupler technique. Its good stuff and I’ve closed my gap by four finger widths in 6 weeks…lost an inch off my stomach without losing weight.