Losing Weight!!

My husband lost 30 lbs. on The Cinch Plan. It is a Shaklee Plan and I'm a rep. He told me it was the first diet he ever went on that he felt good and didn't feel hungry. Go to these websites and take a peek. Call or email me if you want to know more. You are also welcome to talk to my husband if it will help you. I understand how the diet works. He understands the struggle!
www.cinchplan.com/healinghappens
www.shaklee.net/healinghappens

I hate working out too! But I did start it up in February and go now 2-3 x's a week. Once I'm there and get started it's not so bad and helps give me energy. Plus it's a quiet time for me while my girls are in the nursery playing.
After I had my girls I pretty much was home for 15 straight months. This helped me develop healthier eating habits. Some examples of what I have for my lunches are: a bowl of cut up fruit with soup; tuna with crackers; P&B sandwich with pretzels. Basically just healthy stuff and lighter portions(which with your breastfeeding you'll need more calorie-just make the calories good ones that count). After doing this for awhile my stomach got used to it and now I'm not big on eating out and when I do I share my meal or get a small meal. I also eat smaller at home. Are you drinking sodas? After I had my girls I would have 1/2 a can to a can a of DP a day. When I switched to diet DP and quit drinking them daily I lost 4lbs in 5 days. I drink water all day long and have 1% milk with my meals and iced tea at night.
Also, for exercise you could put your baby in the stroller and take a walk 4-5 days a week. I did that when my girls were small. Good luck!

Hi :-)
I hate to workout myself. But, I have to force myself to go to the gym, and then I feel better afterwards. I know that they only way to lose weight, and actually keep it off, is to do some type of exercise along with eating right. True, you have to have more calories when you breastfeed, but they need to be calories from good sources, and not 'empty' calories. Otherwise, no nutrition is going to you or your baby, even if you are getting 3,000 a day. If they are 'empty' calories, they go straight to your hips!(know from past experience!) I breastfed 5 kids. Some longer than others. It does help with the uterus shrinking faster, and seems to help with weight loss faster if your eating right. When I was younger and had my first kids, I ate whatever. As I got older and had kids, I had learned my lesson! I've got about 15 lbs. myself that have just made their home on my lower back and back and my thighs. I work out, and I'll see muscle tone elsewhere, but that fat ain't budging! We've went to lean meats, chicken, fish and I LOVE the Boca soy burgers(try the flame grilled)YUM! More fresh veggies and fruits, only whole grains, and always 1% milk for me and the kids here. But, we do go out for fast food atleast once on the weekend, have sweets in the evening time to time and I crave a bowl of peanut butter cap'n crunch at night. My weaknesses! I have started the Alli (orlistat) pills last week, and have lost 3 lbs. on the scale. But we'll see how that goes. I have no troubles with it at all, unless I've eaten something fatty and bad for me, then I'll have loose(orange)bowel movements! But, if you have alot of trouble with that as some people claimed turn them off of it, it's only because they take it and still eat all the fat foods. Try just cutting out cokes, white breads and starches, watching your sugar grams to under 30 total daily, and going for a walk every eveing with the kids. You can even walk and swing while they are at the park. I bet you'd see some pounds drop. :-) Good luck, I'm with you girl, I need it too!

Hello, N.. I have tried so many different diets over the years I can't remember them all. There has really only been one diet that has truly worked for me...Nutrisystem. Now I am not saying it will work for you or that it works for everyone. I'm saying that everyone has different experiences depending on many factors. For example, I know what I have to do to lose weight on my own. I have to weigh and measure my food, eat low fat/low carb/low sodium/low sugar. And I have to burn more calories than I am taking in...that means regular exercise. The reason I have so much trouble doing it on my own is that I have such a hectic schedule I have trouble with the weighing, measuring portions, and then I feel deprived when I feel like I can't have what I want...so that usually leads into binging. As far as exercise, I could never afford to join a gym and when the weather was too cold or rainy I would not go walk. I think everyone needs to find what works for them and their particular lifestyle. It just so happens that Nutrisystem was the best fit for me. All I had to do was choose the food I wanted, buy my own veggies, fruits, dairy and protein. They have a really great selection of entres and I can still go out to a restaurant once in awhile and if there's something I absolutely have to have I just have it and don't over-indulge. As far as exercise, I have purchased 2 DVDs with 30-minute low impact aerobics and toning exercises. I like to exercise in the privacy and comfort of my own home and never have any excuses about bad weather or gym membership costs.

I was on Nutrisystem several years ago when I was in my early twenties and I lost 15 lbs. Since then I've gotten married, had 2 babies and when I needed to lose weight again (in June) I naturally thought of Nutrisystem again. The only trouble I had with using Nutrisystem several years ago was going in to the Nutrisystem locations to get weighed in and get my food. I also had to make regular payments to join, in addition to the food. But it's so different now. You are only accountable to yourself. You don't have to go to their location to get weighed in and your food is ordered on the internet and shipped to your door. There's online counseling and chatting with others to support you.

I started in June at 149 lbs and today I am 129 lbs and feel great. I probably could have lost more by now but there were a few weeks when I was on vacation and we ate out a lot. There was also a couple of weeks when I was under the weather and not able to keep the exercise going.

I would say the only downside to Nutrisystem is the cost of the food. I tried Jenny Craig once but had too much difficulty getting to their location every week to get weighed in and get my food, plus having to pay other fees in addition to the food. Now, Nutrisystem only charges for the food. That's it!

Remember, though, to check with your doctor before starting a diet plan...especially since you are still breast feeding.

Good luck to you!

Hi N.:

I've recently had to go on a diet as well and here's what I've done:

1) Track EVERthing I eat - I use www.my-calorie-counter.com

2) Change what I eat - I've switched from ground beef to ground turkey, rice cakes or light Lay's instead of regular chips, corn tortillas instead of flour, etc...

3) Minimal exercise - because I was "sedentary" before (I too hate exercise!), even the smallest amount of exercise I do is helping me shed the pounds. I either: use my exercise ball and do a 15 minutes workout, walk around the block twice or hop on the treadmill for 5 minutes (2 minutes at a jog)

I have lost 9 pounds in two weeks and I have 7 to go...I have more energy and feel much better about myself. I think if you were anything like me, even the smallest adjustments can affect your weight - good luck!

Hey N.,

I'm not really sure about the breastfeeding thing- I know NOTHING about that at all. You may want to ask your doctor before starting a diet of any kind while breastfeeding.

I lost about 90 pounds at one point doing Atkins/Southbeach diets. You don't have to count calories at all. I didn't take any pills or really work out at all and the weight just came off.

There are Atkins and Southbeach meal replacement bars and shakes at places like CVS and Wal Mart. You can use those when you are in a hurry or away from home. It is pretty easy.

Good Luck.

N., Your baby should be about a year now. How are you doing on your weight loss goals? I had to lose about 40 pounds in my late 40's with a wake up call for health reasons. You are too young to carry around that much weight. It is all about calories and how we expend energy to use up the excess. You need to know what your basal metabolism rate is to get a handle on how much calories your body needs at rest and go from there to build you a plan. I can help you if you still need it.

Hello N.!

I worked out about 3 years ago real hard and didn't lose much weight. I lost inches but not weight because I still ate whatever I wanted. Shoot I figured I was working out so hard I still could eat whatever I wanted.

The beginning of this year I started using my skin care, health and wellness comapny's weight loss line. In 3 months I lost 16 lbs just by incorporating these products and no work out.

If you're interested in knowing more, please let me know.

Take care and God bless!

M.