[shmily]

hi,
im 26,with a 3 month old baby,had a bad pregnancy so was on bed rest most of my pregnancy and had put on 50 pounds,was 190lb when i gave birth by the time i came home i was 165, so that was cool,every one told me that ill lose the rest of it prety soon bcoz i was breatfeading, but didnt have that kind of luck yet,now im desprate to lose this weight at least 20 lbs in the next 3 months.i have always been on a lil heavier side , have a samll built and pear shaped body, so my problem area is my lower body.
now at 165 lb my heaviest i have started doin 20 min cardio + 10 min upper body weights + 10 min lower body work out + 10 min abs ....... and with the 20 min cardio my ankles and my knees hurt... this is not the first time for me workin out , i have been in sports my whole life , and i have been doin aerobics since i was in 8th grade ........ i did sprain both my ankles while exrecising coulpe of years back, not once but twice, plus i have never been this heavy ,im really frustated ...........how can i make this work.
my eatin habits are not bad at all, i dont munch on things i dont eat junk food, like fast foods, i dont drink soda , im not a chocolate person, i take a good fat free breakfast mostly whole wheat bread with low sugar peanut butter, and cup of tea, lunch is usually average, glass of orange juice around 3 or 4 pm may be a banana some times and dinner some kind of soupe, and i dont eat after 7pm, go to bed around 10-11pm.
in my mind with all this i should be losing weight atleast 2 lbs a wk , but no luck yet.......and now with my ankle pain i dont know how ill be able to exercise.
plz ppl i need some advise how to keep my self motivated and with this problem which work out is good for me ........ help

[Suzanne 3FC]

Hi Shmily It sounds like you are making a real effort and are devoted! It will pay off, you just need to give it a little more time. Have you spoken with your doctor about your ankles? You should definitely make sure that it's ok to workout. You might need physical therapy, or some other special care. What kind of cardio are you doing? Is it low impact? You may need to try a different routine.

If you don't keep a diet log, I would suggest you start one right away. Get a cheap blank notebook and write down everything you eat. If you are making sure that you don't eat the wrong foods, it might be just as possible that you are not eating enough. If you cut your calories back too far, your body will notice and you'll burn fewer calories than you would have if you had eaten more. So keep a log, add everything up, and you might find the problem there. Aim for a minimum of 1200 calories per day, but many people lose successfully on as many as 2000 calories or more.

[shmily]

thankx Suzanne , well i changed my work out since my last post now i have started doin pilates and i hope this will work, and i did get an appointment with my doctor so ill go n c her this friday , and ur so right about the eatin not enought part coz i read this some where to so im now watchin it too..... althought with these lil changes i have felt a lil better about the discomfert i was havin, but ill certainly discusse this with my doctor once more , wish me luck and once more thank you