Gaining Weight

Hi E.,

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As I've matured I've had a hard time losing some of the weight that I put on. I ran across a diet in Prevention magazine. It's call the flat belly diet. Your eating normal food that you purchase at the grocery store. The website is www.flatbellydiet.com I bought the cookbook and love it. I've lost 10 pounds in the last month with out any additional exercise. Since there are no pills it would be should be safe for the baby.

Dear E.,
please do not take a diet pill. They're all bad for your baby.
Now you must be taking in calories that you don't realize you are ingesting. So write down everything you eat and look at it at the end of the day. Don't forget every BITE counts! And drinks other than water ARE calories! ;-)
Are you exercising? I have a fitness class for moms and their babies. I'm located in Davie. I take into consideration the fitness level of every participant.
You can put the kids in a double stroller and come exercise with me. If you're interested, write back. the name of my class is Little Booties Boot Camp.
Good luck,
S.

I too nurse my 7 month old. I lost all my weight after having him, but am now 15 pounds above that weight; I don't know why.
I also have a Thyroid problem I discovered before my 2n child was born over 8 yrs ago. I feel like all I crave is food and sweets and that may be the culprate of the gain.
I hope from what I read that after I stop nursing I will go back to the norm for my weight. For now I will keep nursing I feel it is more important then loosing the weight.
B. mom of 3 boys 13,8,7 months.

I don't know of a diet pill you could take now. I'm in the same boat I'm having problems losing weight since having the baby. My baby was born April 7th. I am just trying to get in extra walking during the day. I power walk the mall. Also I cut down on drinking sodas and juice and just drink water.

Hi E.! Please don't worry about the weight gain right now as it is only temporary. I too gained weight. I lost weight after having my son, but then started gaining as I was nursing due to increased caloric need. Your body goes through enormous change to create and sustain a baby. After a time you won't need as much additional calories and your body will adjust. I was ALWAYS hungry!!! I nursed for two years and I am back to the weight I was 8 years ago! Please do not take any diet pills of any kind. Your body is requiring the calories and MOST importantly........ANYTHING that you put in your body WILL go through the breast milk and to your baby. Be gentle with yourself and allow your body to adjust. Subsequent births also add more weight more quickly. Have faith...you will return to normal with proper diet and exercise when ready. I hope this helps...I've been there too!

Same thing happened to me when I was nursing. Other moms kept telling me that nursing helps you lose weight becasue your body burns extra calories to make breast milk. With me it was the opposite. It was like my body held on to every ounce of fat becasue it knew I had a baby to feed. After I weaned, THEN the extra weight easily melted away within a few months without dieting. Give it some time. I wouldn't diet while you are nursing, or take diet pills. Wait until baby is weaned and see how it goes.

Hey E., you may not like my answer b/c I am a firm beleiver or "NO PILLS". What you need to do is a lifestyle change. I am also a firm beleiver of not dieting. Making a life change is something that will last forever, which means, keeps the weight off forever. A pill cannot be forever & the same for a diet. So, once you stop, you will gain the weight back, or at least some of it. If you are not eating a lot but staying active with your kids, it may be what your eating & that a little cardio, for 20-30 minutes won't hurt. I, too, had gained quite a bit of wiehgt when I had a infant & a 3 yr old. It is not easy, but if you can, get out & walk 3-6 days a week for 30 minutes. Buy some light weights & do some weight lifting when there is a little downtime, & do some floor sti-ups & push ups. All of this will help you to tone & burn fat. Also, watch what you eat & how much. You say you don't eat very much & that may be part of the reason that you are gaining weight. When you skip meals, your body will hold onto what you eat without burning it b/c it is thinking "when is she going to feed me again" & you will not burn it. If it is a time factor, just eat small meals, more often, but do not, NOT eat. Also, watch the sugars, fats, carbs that you eat. Sugar needs to turn to fat before your body can burn it so sugar is a huge nono. Deep fried food is very bad, as we all know, so stay away from them & try to do grilled, or fresh food. Also, the carbs are hard. I am not a believer of no carbs, b/c we all have to live, right? But just limiting how many you have. Not having 2 with every meal. So if you have a sandwich for lunch, maybe breakfast you should have protein only, etc. A great breakfast food, that beleive it or not, I have had every morning for 5 yeras is the Luna Bars. They were developed for women & are approved through the American Cancer Society. My doctor put me on these & it is so easy, & nothing I need to think about, so every morning I have one of those with a glass of fat free milk. I get my calcium & my protein. There are some startches in it, but I never have to think about it so it is a no brainer. Luna Bars come in a lot of differant flavors, I am in a rut, so the Nuts Over Chocolate is the only one I eat. Sometime I change it up with some eggwhites, which is very good for you, high in protein, and no cholestrol. The yoke has the cholestrol & fat & the egg white is just HEALTHY! I hope this helps you a little. When my doctor put me on this I ws doing 45 minutes of cardio 6 days a week & eating healthy & I lost 50 pounds. I actually got smaller than I ever have & eventually realized my workouts were taking priority over my family & everything else. So after 2 years of this, I went to 3 days a week 30 minutes cardio with the other stuff I told you about. I did gain a little weight, but the doctor said I needed to & I have kept the rest off for 5 years now & I am healthy & have controled my health issues...the reason I had begun the workout to begin with. I hope this helps, & if you have any questions, please let me know. And, good luck!!

I haven't read ALL your responces but hopefully I'm not repeating a reply...Lack of sleep affects weight loss and it's really hard with little ones to get that sleep...your not alone...also try to read labels cuz transfats are not needed and omega 3 fatty acids are very needed for your brain and for your nursing baby....Kudos to you for Nursing....keep it up.

There's really no diet pill on the market that is safe while nursing.
Weight Watchers however does have a plan that is geared towards nursing mothers. You can do it online or go to weekly meetings or both. I lost all 40lb of my baby weight when I finally decided to go to WW.
Good luck!

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Same thing here....Personally, even if it may sounded as the easiest way out, I wouldn't recommend any diet pills if I were nursing. Remember that women's metabolism slows down as we age (unfortunately). When I lost control on my weight, I enrolled in a gym. They have an amzaing nursery!! I work out and keep in shape so I can chase my two yr. old. This has been the only way to keep my weight while eating what I want. Hope it helps!

E....this is simple. I have an month old son and still breastfeed. I have been working with a trainer to get back in shape. It is not easy, but you do need to be consistent. Eating the right foods is extremely important since you are still breastfeeding. Eat mostly fruits and vegetables, some oatmeal in the morning, and lean meats at lunch and dinner. Eat little to no breads, potatoes, and such (at least for now to give you a jumpstart). Along with that you need to increase your activity to 1 hour per day. (That's in addition to chasing your little one). Take them for walks now that it is cooler outside.(make sure you are walking fast enough to raise your heartrate) Also include some kind of weight resistance training to build muscle. (squats are easy to fit in and if you can hold your baby while squatting in the mirror- they will enjoy it also.) Diet pills are not only harmful to your baby, they are harmful to you also. There is no easy way out.. you just have to make time for yourself and do the work. It will come off. Also, make sure you are getting proper rest...I know us breastfeeding moms don't sleep enough, but remember that our bodies need it too. Good luck and don't stress too much about this. Just be consistent and it will start to happen.

Any chance you could be pregnant again? You can still get pregnant while nursing. I think weight gain just comes with getting older. My daughter is 2..I am 33..and for no reason, I also have been putting on a few more pounds. Our metabolism changes. I don't know much about diet pills, but I would definitely not take any while you are nursing. The best thing you can do is continue to eat healthy, and pass those nutrients on to your baby. Good luck...and enjoy this time to nurse. It will be over before you know..and then you will have the time to deal with your weight issue. Take care!

How often do you work out?? Nursing always seemed to make me gain weight too. The 3rd time around I realized I needed to get moving. I do Cardio and Strength Training 5-6 times a week and I feel better and am seeing the weight come off!

Oh please don't take diet pills.....they are not good for you. If you care to hear a much more healthier way to nutrition and health, check out my website: www.mdsharesjuiceplus.com. Whatever you decide to do, please check out all the research behind whatever product you take. So many times, people make rash decisions without even knowing what they are really taking and the consequences can be serious. Congratulations and Blessing to you and your new little ones.

Hi E.,
After I had my son, I had a major thyroid problem. It's worth getting it checked for sure because if it is your thyroid, you'll slowly keep gaining weight and won't be able to lose it no matter how much you diet or workout. The good thing is that it's easy to remedy once it's discovered.
If you want to talk about it, you can call me.
L.
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Chances are, your metabolism has slowed down, possibly from not eating enough or not eating often enough. My suggestions are to eat your regular meals, maybe in slightly smaller portions, but add two smaller meals or snacks between. This doesn't mean you eat more junk, pick healthy snacks to hold you over until the next meal. Eating more frequently will help increase metabolism because your body will be getting and burning energy more often.

Also increase your fruits and veggies while slightly decreasing your meat and grains. A good way to do this is buy making meals with a good portion of fruits or veggies in the main entree and adding a side of veggies. Make sure that most of the grains you eat are whole grains, which is very good for your body. Also drink lots of water. I find it easiest to drink a big cup in the morning (I take it with meds) and big cups between or with each meal. I also tend to get very thirsty at night so I drink more water then. Anyway, the increase of fruits and veggies gives you a steady flow of food to burn without providing so many calories and fat. It fills you up faster, but you need to replenish sooner, so you eat some healthy snack with fruit or veggies. Providing more low calorie food without the excess fat and calories. The water helps keep you hydrated and helps keep you from feeling hungry.

Remember that when you are pregnant or nursing your body needs more resources for the baby, so it's kind of natural for you to gain some weight and your body to try to store whatever it can to provide for the baby. Also remember to make sure you are getting a good balance of foods so you get the nutrients you and baby need.

Go see your doctor and get your thyroid levels checked. If you are more active than before, eating the same amount and gaining weight you may be hypothyroid. It is relatively common and is easily treated. Definitely do this before trying any diet pills.

I agree with Lauren, get your thyroid level checked. Tell your MD your concerned, and he'll order a thyroid level check. It's as simple as a blood test. If it's abnormal your MD will call you, if you don't have a followup scheduled, and call in a prescription. That's the first step.

I've been hyper and hypothyroid from Grave's disease, a thyroid dz. If you're abnormal, write me and I'll tell you more ;) Good luck!

Hi E.,

Your nutrition isn't absorbing in your system. Have you changed anything? Your prenatal? Your stress level? Are you eating more "ready-to-eat" foods? The chemicals in faster foods, processed frozen and fast foods, will cause weight gain. Nutrasweet also causes weight gain. Look at everything you have done and get back to me if you have anymore questions. Nutrition is the key to keeping your weight stable. Something has gotten it off kilter.....(sometimes it's just the birth, but that can be readjusted too!)

Regards,

M.

I had the same problem and I finally went to a doctor who truly looks at a women's hormones and sees what might be contributing to unusual weight gain. Make sure if they check your thyroid they run the whole gamut of tests-the basic ones don't always give accurate results(most drs only run the 2 most common-and mine were always normal to slightly off) Come to find out, my thryoid was not producing anything and I had all kind of vitamin deficiencies (sp?).

I tried Weight Watchers and it did great but my schedule was crazy so going to meetings was harder than I thought it would be. But it helped me learn a new way to balance out food and life. I lost some weight so it was a good start.

Once I was done nursing (for me it was not long- my boys didn't go for too long no matter how much I tried) my dr prescribed me something to help get the weight off better.

Alot of drs dont' bother to really LOOK at a woman to see what might be the prob- they just expect us to get over it or grow out of it. This dr did wonders for getting me back in order- weight issues and a whole lot of other things that happen after having kids.

if you are interested let me know and I can get you some more info and the dr if you would like.

Don't do the diet pill thing - their success rate is low. Try looking at what exactly you are eating, not how much. In fact, if you cut back too much (which you should not do if you are nursing) then you are actually slowing your motabalism. Eat more vegetables (watch out for things like broccoli or you'll have a gas-y baby:-0) and easy on breads/pasta. Lots of sugar in them. Stay away from diet sodas. They all have Asparatame in them (except for Diet Rite) and the list of side affects is two pages long, INCLUDING weight gain! Quite often when we are in a hurry we grab the nearest thing to us for food, which ends up being carbs. Oh - big no-no - stay away from fastfoods. LOTS of fats.
Good luck!
C.

Drink only water, and lots of it (what I mean is watch juice levels and avoid sodas and sweet drinks). Avoid artificial sweeteners! Make sure you're getting enough iodine (I live in Germany right now and the doctors prescribe it for nursing moms and pre-teen girls), as your thyroid may be at risk. All the other women had great advice re fiber, whole foods and Weight Watchers, if you need support. Stick with it!

Try your best to be happy and enjoy the blessings of this amazing phase in your life. It's so short!

L. D., mom of three