How to Lose that Baby Weight that Just Won’t Go Away!

Pregnancy time is not the moment to start dieting. You should eat right but some like myself just could not stop eating. I was starving all the time. If I did not eat, I felt sick. In 9 months I gained 70 lbs. No joke! In one week I gained 10 lbs. I tried to lose the weight with everything. I tried weight loss pills like Xenadrine and many others. I went to the gym four times a week and had a trainer. I went on the Atkins diet, South Beach, and I even became a vegetarian (never a vegan though.)

Yes, I lost weight with the exercise and the diets; however, it always returned. I was able to lose 25 lbs with exercise but I could not lose the rest. This is when I decided that I was going to change my life by stopping the cycle of diets and pills. I realized that I was extremely depressed not just from my weight but from my life. I was a stay-at-home mom and I was in a miserable marriage. I stopped the cycle of my personal, mental beatings and took a good look at my life and where I deserved to be in 1 year.

I went to see my doctor and expressed everything. He recommended that I go see a psychiatrist. Once a week, I just talked and talked about my sadness, anger, resentment, and guilt for what I had become. My daughter was so beautiful but it hurt to get down on my knees and change her diaper. I felt tired and exhausted all the time. The diet pills made me irritable and gave me stomach problems. The Atkins diet tired me while making me feel like I was missing nutrients. I suddenly started dying for fruit. The vegetarian diet bored me and the South Beach Diet became too much with all the recipes and rules.

So what did I do? I went to a doctor and joined an on-line group that helped me socially. Being a stay-at-home mom had secluded me from people and I had lost a lot of friends. I was lonely and depressed. The doctor prescribed me anti-depressants and I started going to a local mommy’s group. The on-line and mommy’s group made me leave the bed, the house, basically my confinement. I realized that I was dying to get out of the home with my daughter. After my first meeting with the mommy’s group, I left feeling like a weight had been lifted and removed from both my shoulders and heart. I became a better mom and suddenly I realized that for my daughter I had to get better which meant taking care of myself.

Once I realized this, I began to watch what I ate. I slowed my eating down and made sure to cut the fat out that was unnecessary. For example, I love sour cream and butter on my baked potatoes so I chose no butter and just fat-free sour cream. I made compromises and only ate when I was hungry. If I felt hungry when I knew I had just eaten then I would drink 2 glasses of water and wait 15 minutes. After that 15 minutes, if I was still hungry I would have a small bowl of cereal, pre-packaged slices of cheese with fruit, yogurt, ect. I never skipped breakfast and I made sure to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. I stopped the pills and found myself just exhausted so I just walked my dog. I realized I didn’t need to spend hours at the gym. I saw the weight start coming off slowly at first then faster as I felt myself feel lighter. My knees stopped hurting and I started feeling better.

I think that the following were the reasons that I eventually lost my lbs:

1.  I started taking care of myself- getting out of bed, getting out of the house, and deciding to make friends and meet other’s like me.
2.  I actually bought a 48 oz. water bottle and made sure to drink all of it every single day. This made a huge difference in my skin, appearance, bloating, and overall feeling of wellness.
3.  I suddenly realized how much I ate when I was not even hungry. My portions became smaller and I lost weight.
4.  I got rid of a scale. I judged my progress by how my clothing fit.
5.  I set realistic goals and involved my daughter. I also involved my new friends and never deprived myself of something I suddenly desired. It was OK to have a piece of chocolate cake but not the cake!
6.  Take your vitamins and get involved in your community. When you are bored, chances are that you will eat. Keep yourself busy and make yourself feel better.
7.  Remember that it took 9 months of scarfing food down to gain all that weight so do not expect any miracles.

We are human and our bodies go through a lot of stress during pregnancy. Do not stress yourself and enjoy being a mother. Also keep in mind that if you are breast feeding then you are burning approximately 500 calories. Be kind and keep in mind how amazing your body is. I lost the weight once I relaxed and let myself live.