[ammelum]

I was just wondering I have three month old. He was in the hospital (due to heart defect) up until a month ago. I've been exercising and eating right, but I'm not loosing the weight. I pumped the whole time he was in the hospital up until a week after he came home and then had to stop because I dried up completely. My question is this. I know some people will hold on to a little bit of weight while nursing (or in my case pumping), but how soon would you expect to start loosing it? My TOM isn't totally back to normal yet and I know that can take a few months. Will I start loosing when my TOM is totally normal? This is an embarrassing question, but the scale not moving one ounce in a month is killing me.

[barbygirl43]

I know the general rule of thumb is it took 9 months on, so 9 months off.

[Tori]

with my son (he is 17m) it took a while to start coming off. and i didnt exercise vigoursly because my midwife told me that can cause you to make less milk. i think about 4 months PP i started loosing slowly.

[aphil]

I can relate to the hospital/pumping/drying up thing. My second child was in the PICU when he was 5 weeks old, and I was pumping at that time because I was unable to nurse. Stress can sometimes cause this.

For the second part...is this your first child? Your original weight, or your goal weight was pretty low-you actually may not ever get into the 110's again, if you are new to motherhood. Sometimes that is one of the things that just happens. I am not saying of course, that someone who was 130 and now weighs 180 after pregnancy is going to stay that weight-BUT-she might find that after a baby that the lowest she can now go is 135 or so.

Also-how is your stress level? That can be a factor. Exactly what is your exercise routine like through the week, and what is an example of your daily diet? This will give me an idea on where to tweak what you are doing.

[hautbois]

Hi and welcome!

Since both your current and goal weights are in the healthy range for your height, have you thought about toning up, rather than focusing on the scale. If you have a lean, toned body, who cares what the scale says. Try looking for non-scale victories (like increased fitness) to help motivate you instead.

[ammelum]

This is actually my third. I really don't think I will get down to my goal, but that is what I was pre-pregnancy. Of course that was before have two babies back to back. My stress level sucks. The 17 month old has celiac disease and doesn't eat well and it's a constant battle. If I could tone up I would feel a lot better. I haven't even lost a millimeter.

As far as food and exercise go, for breakfast I usually have a bowl of fiber one and fruit or eggs and veggies. For lunch I usually have a sandwich with low fat lunch meat or tuna or a salad with the same kind of meat. Dinner is usually some kind of meat, salad and veggies. I exercise almost every day I try for 45 minutes to an hour depending on how it goes with my kids. I switch between WATP, a Denise Austin Walking video and a Denise Austin toning video (Shrink Your Female Fat Zones). My husband let me order the Firm system and it should be here any day.