[**Jenn**]

How does one do this? I'm not one of those ladies where nursing just melts off the pounds. Instead my body likes to hold on to an additional 15 pounds or so no matter what I do. Ian thinks I'm rushing things being only 4 weeks pp but I want to get on this while I feel motivated to do it.

Its not bad but it could be better. I was back into my prepregnancy clothes when Lila was 11 days old. I've lost the 13 pounds I gained during her pregnancy plus an additional 12. However, I still have about 15-20lbs left over from Liam I'd really like to lose. How do I do this without cutting the calories I need to keep up my milk supply as well as getting enough nutrients for Lila?

And I can't afford to do weight watchers--I know they have a program for nursing Moms.

[szczepanski]

im no help....i promised myself i wouldnt worry about my weight until after 6 weeks pp. i havent even tried on my prepregnaancy jeans bc i dont want to make myself upset, hahaha.

ill be checking this thread though!!!

[CandaceDianne]

I am going to do WW on my own. I had a friend at work give me her older books for WW and I took it upon myself to do it on my own almost 2 years ago. I stopped once I got pregnant because I couldn't meet all the food groups due to m/s and then I just wanted to kind of enjoy myself a LITTLE. You could go to craigslist or amazon.com and see if anyone is selling their ww booklets. If you can be accountable for yourself, or find a buddy to do it with you, then you will do fine! The idea is to get nutritional food in AND exercise (cardio AND strength). I didn't join a gym, and probably wont....I just walked/ran outside and did hand weights at home. Jillian Michaels has great DVDs you can try and it worked well for me. I did the 90 Day Shred and its GREAT! There are some pretty intense moves, like jumping and stuff, so if you are healed and not sore from delivery, then I would try that. The video clips are 25 minutes from beginning to end, so when the kids are napping or whatever, you can workout.

[**jessie**]

I dieted. Nothing in particular, just eating very health and portion control. I still was making enough milk. The first 3 months pp, I did nothing and lost quite a lot of weight. Then after that everything just went to a stand still. My body held onto that last 10 lbs so thats when I decided to diet. I'm 6 months pp and still have 4 lbs to lose to get back to pre-preg weight but I can FINALLY fit in my old jeans.

[bittersweet]

I'm working on the same thing. I have about 10 more lbs to lose, but would like to lose 15. My jeans can fit, by that I can physically put them on. But they are NOT cute. Major muffin top going on and I NEVER had that. So I am still wearing my maternity pants for the most part. Well, maternity shirts too as these boobies are big and milk filled.

I don't really have any suggestions as I am finding it hard to diet. I'm always hungry and thirty from breastfeeding. But I am working at it.

[SandKmommy]

Donno, I'd like to know how mom's do it. It only semi worked with Seamus. I lost like 20lbs after he was born(I only gained 9 of that wen preg) but gained 25lbs 2months later after my IUD went in.

I now weigh more then I did before I got pregnant with Kieran(and I only gained 4.5lbs w/ her!)(cause of my severe m/s and how much I loose)) (I think part of that had to do with my healing issues from the c-section and then the other issue I had) and she's still nursing

[**jessie**]

Erin, I was still wearing maternity pants where you are now. I thought I would never get out of them! Even though I can now fit in all my pants, some of them still give me the muffin top and I refuse to wear them because that is definitely not attractive!

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

I'm in the same boat. Luckily for me all of my pregnancy weight just melted away, but I was overweight to begin with so I still need to lose. I'm not really stressing over it b/c I'd rather be overweight and able to nurse than skinny and having to pay for formula, haha. Is that selfish, that if we're going to pay for more food one way or another I wanna be the one eating it? Anyway, like a PP mentioned, weight-watchers does take into account the extra calories needed for nursing. I've done the program before and it is really great, and I've always had more sucess doing it without the meetings. You just need someone to explain it to you and a point finder, which you can get off ebay.

Or just figured out if you were watching how many calories you took a day what that number would be... 1200? I really don't know. And then add back in the ones required for nursing... 300? 500? Again, I dont' know. and try that.

[Resi]

I believe it took about 6 months before I was back to my prepregnancy weight. After I hit 6 months the pounds kept coming off and I was eating tons of food (lots of sweets). I got to the point I was too thin. I finally gained about 10 lbs back and look better and not so thin. I think I need to watch what I eat now because I'll keep gaining if I keep eating all the sweets.

I don't have any advice on how to lose more without cutting out calories. What about trying to go for a 30 walk each day to the park or something? Or eating healthy without cutting calories?

[Frozendesire]

Originally Posted by LadyCoconut

Is that selfish, that if we're going to pay for more food one way or another I wanna be the one eating it? .

Oh my gosh, that's too funny

I have no advice, but I did my healthy eating, working out all while nursing Dustin and I went from 170 to 135. Like I said, I ate healthy (was on a meal plan) and did work outs every other day, with a hard work out once every other work. I worked hard!

[**Jenn**]

Thanks guys, I'll check on ebay, etc for the WW stuff. I don't want to diet per se, I'd just like to lose the baby weight from my first baby. I'm not expecting my old body back, that won't happen without a tummy tuck thanks to the excess stretched out skin that will never go back. I guess 3 babies in 4 years will do that. I just know from the boys that once I hit about 6 months pp the weight starts coming back on and I want it to go the other way instead.

I have some exercise videos I should start doing but that can be hard since the boys don't take naps and Lila isn't on a real schedule yet. And where we live we can't go for walks--its just our little road on the mountain with about a dozen houses, no sidewalks, and we're surrounded by farms. Once we start getting more nice days we'll go for walks on the golf course at the end of our street, just have to watch out for ticks, bats, foxes, etc. I lent my cousin my birthing ball which is also my pilates ball so I'll start that in July after she has her baby.

Thanks again for the suggestions, I appreciate it a lot! And like you Shannon, at the end of the day I'd rather be 15lbs overweight and able to nuirse then back to my old body and lose my supply. I had such a hard time with supply issues with Liam and its definitely not something I want to revisit.

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

Originally Posted by Resi

After I hit 6 months the pounds kept coming off and I was eating tons of food (lots of sweets). I got to the point I was too thin.

Dear God, please please PLEASE let this happen to me! Thanks. Amen.

[sara~b]

Here's how personal trainers do it:

"Okay, here it is, the magic formula....lol You will need your body fat percentage, not BMI, to get the most accurate. If you don't know your body fat percentage, go to eFitness Tracker and do the body composition section of the page. (This page also has the info for several fitness tests, if you want to try them too.) Also, if you weigh yourself in kilograms, multiply them by 2.2 to get the equivalent in pounds.

Multiply Body Fat Percentage by Body Weight (in pounds) to get Body Fat in Pounds. Subtract your Body Fat in Pounds from your body weight to get your Lean Body Mass. Lean Body Mass is anything that isn't fat, ie: muscle, bone, organs, water, blood, etc. Changes in LBM are generally considered to be changes in muscle mass but can also be water fluctuations. Anyway, once you have your Lean Body Mass, multiply it by 24, then divide by 2.2 (yes, we're converting back to kilos. Don't ask me why we have to use both. I didn't invent the formula, I just follow it). This is your Basal Metabolic Rate and what you absolutely have to have in order to survive if you never move. Next you have to determine your activity level, not counting exercise. Sedentary (1.45), lightly active (1.6), moderately active (1.7), or extremely active (1.88). Multiply the BMR by the number next to your activity level. This is the number of calories you should be consuming to maintain your weight without exercise. Subtract no more then 20% of those calories in order to lose weight and avoid starvation mode. Now if you exercise, you need to add in the approximate number of calories you burn while exercising as well and subtract no more then 20% of the total on the days you exercise.

Here's an example. A 200 pound person who is 30% body fat and is lightly active.

200 x 30% = 60 pounds of body fat
200 - 60 = 140 pounds of lean body mass
140 x 24 = 3360
3360 / 2.2 = 1527
1527 x 1.6 = 2443
2443 x 20% = 489
2443 - 489 = 1954

So on non-exercise days, this person should consume between 1954 and 2443 calories.

Now suppose, it's an exercise day and they burn 300 extra calories:

2443 + 300 = 2743
2743 x 20% = 549
2743 - 549 = 2194

So on exercise days when they burn 300 calories, this person should consume between 2194 and 2743 calories.

Since not everyone knows their calorie burns from the exercise they do, I generally recommend the first calorie range and say to stay to the lower side on non-exercise days and to the higher side on exercise days."

Just add 300-500 calories to keep your supply up.

[Mars]

I guess for me it was genetics but I think that moderate, consistent exercise and a good diet will help. I think that a lot of times it can be so hard to find time to exercise with a new baby so the weight takes longer to drop off and then as it goes on it just gets harder and harder.

[ShannonMVT]

I have a fast metabolism and I am now thinner than I was pre-preg, actually too thin. I don't remember how long it took to get the baby weight off, probably somewhere between 3-6 months. I was on an elimination diet for some time, NO dairy, and at other points, no eggs, no soy, no wheat, no nuts (not all at the same time but there was overlap). So um, yeah, that will pretty much do it right there. It totally sucked too. I am finally eating pretty much whatever i want now but I still don't eat a ton of dairy.

[~*Bethy*~]

dont look at me, you sneeze on me and I gain weight Im really interested to see what you all do LOL I would think a high protein diet (but adding in a few extra calories) would do the trick?

[freesiangel]

I still have 20 freakin' pounds to get back to my pre-preg weight, and 25 to get back to my normal weight (got preggo right after the holidays and had gained 5 lbs). I tried going back to low-carb, but not super low, and my supply immediately dropped. So I stopped that and my supply went back to normal. Then I tried slowly lowering calories, and immediately my supply dropped again. Ugh! I don't even eat that much and I eat healthy, we rarely have junk food in the house. So I guess I'm stuck at this weight. I still workout several days a week and that's good for my muscles, but it hasn't helped me lose any weight. Oh well, it's more important that I'm able to nurse my baby.

I'm totally jealous of those of you that lost weight easily! I mean, I only lost 10 lbs after having Xander! That's insane! I didn't even gain much while pregnant - 35 lbs - so I'm just having a pity party and stomping my foot at the unfairness of it all. lol.