I suppose I could post this in another forum, but I'm a creature of habit, and I've come to feel comfortable with you ladies (and gentlemen if there are any) here so I feel more comfortable sharing with you . I supposed I don't believe what my scale says because before child and yo yo weight loss/gain, I would have been able to fit comfortably into a size 14 right now...and I mean extremely comfortably....with them almost hanging off of me....and thats if what my scale says is correct, and I can depending on the brand yadda yadda yadda. I suppose though, once you gain weight quickly as a result of binge eating and or children it settles in weird places so clothes will fit differently? I'm not complaining because I feel great, I'm just wondering if my theory has any validity

We love having you here, Mammasita.

Oh, I hear you. I'm sure you'll get different responses. It does seem to many of us that we just can't regain the shape we had prior to having kids.
But then I look at someone like Meg (you know... Meg, the moderator?), who can fit into one of her old pant-legs, and who looks absolutely fabulous.
I think it may be a "choice thing" for some of us. I suppose I could get back down to the 128 I weighed during my early 20s, but I don't know how hard I'm willing to work to maintain that. Right now I'd be pretty happy with the 160 I weighed when I thought I was really fat.

Aging comes into it, too. I can't remember how old you are, but at 41, some of my parts are not where they used to be. My stomach will never be the same as it was pre-c-sections, and my chest isn't quite what it was. (I don't know whether to laugh or cry. heh heh)

Also, I'm amazed at the difference even 20 pounds can make. When I weighed around 186ish, I STILL didn't have rolls on my back or cellulite on my thighs. Those were things "other people got", you know? Well, I've got 'em now!
We're all so different in our body shapes... I guess what I'm trying to say in answer to your question is, who knows!?!?

I hope you don't mind if I pop in with a comment. I definetly agree with you that now that we have children, the fat seems to settle in different places. I was very heavy in my teens 250, but I managed to get down to 175 before I got married - than suprise I had a little bundle of joy that I gained a ton of weight for. I'm now back to the 240s-250s. When I was here earlyer in life I was never more than a size 18, 20 with some of the smaller brands - Now at 240 I'm a tight 22 (I absolutley refuse to buy larger, that would give me a exuse to not work hard) ALso I used to keep track of measurments and let me tell you I have defenetly gained a lot of inches . SO I definetly think children ruin our bodies, I'm only 25 so we can't blame all of hip spreading on age

I guess I agree with both sides.
I gained only 16 lbs with my son, and the doctor was pleased with that because I was overweight when I got pregnant and we worked together to concentrate on "just eating healthy" A few months after I gave birth I weighed almost 10 lbs less than when I got pregnant but I couldn't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes, or at least they didn't fit the same. It was quite disheartning, I have to tell you. I suspect that having a c-section was alos a big part of it for me, especially because they had to do a vertical cut vs. a horizontal one.

Having said all that I think Ellis is absolutely right- there are people here, like Meg and many others, who are tremendous motivators and prove that it can be done, but it is HARDER post-child/ren, imho.

Just knowing that others are going through the same thing helps me so much, so thanks for posting Mammasita!

ellis - I'm 31, but am wise beyond my years ....

HealthierMe - I had a C-section too - but had a horizontal cut.

EviesMommy - you're right, I can't blame it all on my son, he's 5, thats more than enough time to recover from post baby trauma....but I can blame some of it on him

I have been a yoyo dieter. I saved certain favorite clothes and I know exactly what weight I was when I fit in them and I got to the weight and was dissappointed that these favorite clothes were too small. Mostly at the waist and middle, where I put on the most weight. Now my experience is years after childbirth so it was not the childbirth changes ,which are real too. Just another negative thing that can happen with yoyoing and getting older.

I'm leaning more towards the yo-yo'ing and not the childbirth now that I'm thinking about it more too......

I agree!!! I'm not back to my prepregnancy weight but I don't really expect to fit in the same clothes when i do get there. Another thing that I have noticed is that as I lose weight my skin on my stomach doesn't shrink back like it did before I had my little guy.

EviesMommy: Your little one's a cutie!