Weightloss while nursing

Ok, I totally need to do something. I lost all of the pregnancy weight right
away, and then in the last month, I've gained 10 back! Im starving all the
time (which seems to be a lot of us so at least it's not just me!) I dont
have time to do weight watchers meetings and I did slim fast stuff before
and it helped when I needed to lose a bit but is that safe now? I just have
NO idea what i need as far as calories go. The last 4 days I've tried to eat
really good and then I gained another pound!! Im 5'6" and 148lbs right now
and I just want to lose 10 pounds, so help, any good recipes, ideas, etc?

A typical day is - coffee (low fat or fat free creamer & 1 sugar) and a bowl
of oatmeal
Yogurt snack (Yoplait regular or whips, both are low fat)
Lunch is a healthy choice type frozen meal OR a turkey sandwhich on flax
seed bread OR soup OR salad with light dressing
afternoon snack is whole wheat bread slice with peanut butter OR hard boiled
egg
dinner is whatever, we dont eat red meat or pork, very little chicken.
Mostly a pasta dish with 2 veggies and a roll/muffin/bisquit and I use the
yogurt butter spread
night snack is sherbet/edys fruit bar/frozen yogurt
I drink 1 soda a day (non diet) and water the rest of the time and take 2
viactiv chews too for calcium. I still take a prenatal.

Does this sound ok? Cause I think it does and Im thinking I need to get my
*ss to the gym!!

Thanks,

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)

Kari wrote:
Ok, I totally need to do something. I lost all of the pregnancy
weight right away, and then in the last month, I've gained 10 back!
[snip]

Kari, you might find just a small bit of tweaking will help keep your
appetite at bay. Try as much as possible to replace refined carbs, such as
the pasta and rolls, with whole grains. Barley works nicely as a substitute
for rice, for example. For breads, look for ones where you can see the
grains, and also the most simple ingredients (avoiding added sugar,
[partially] hydrogenated fats, etc.). If you do have a pasta dish, try to
cook it more "al dente" (firm). Add small amounts of healthy fats, such as
olive oil, to your dishes, and have plenty of fruits and veggies.

For exercise, you don't need to go to a gym, especially if doing so isn't a
good fit for your routine. Maybe you could institute a daily family walk,
for example. And do some light weightlifting with dumbbells (or soup cans!)
at home. If you can work some activities into your routine, it will become
as second nature as brushing your teeth.

I also find it helps to record what I eat at www.fitday.com (free account).
You can also use it to track exercise, weight, nutrients, and other goodies.

Hope that helps.
--
Belphoebe

Kari, you might find just a small bit of tweaking will help keep your
appetite at bay. Try as much as possible to replace refined carbs, such
as
the pasta and rolls, with whole grains.

I dont eat white bread, I eat either flax seed or whole grain, the
Pepperidge Farm kind.

Barley works nicely as a substitute
for rice, for example.

I've never eaten barley except in soup! I should try it.

For breads, look for ones where you can see the
grains, and also the most simple ingredients (avoiding added sugar,
[partially] hydrogenated fats, etc.). If you do have a pasta dish, try to
cook it more "al dente" (firm). Add small amounts of healthy fats, such
as
olive oil, to your dishes, and have plenty of fruits and veggies.

I do use Olive oil, I hate fruits unfotunately but I should eat more
veggies.


For exercise, you don't need to go to a gym, especially if doing so isn't
a
good fit for your routine. Maybe you could institute a daily family walk,
for example. And do some light weightlifting with dumbbells (or soup
cans!)
at home. If you can work some activities into your routine, it will
become
as second nature as brushing your teeth.

Yep, I dont do anything. I am looking at double jogging strollers actually,
for walking. Noah can't keep up with me in the regular one and most of them
are well within his max. weight (about 50lbs, he's 35lbs) so I think it
could get a lot of use once the weather gets under control. Right now we
have 5ft, yes 5ft of snow out my window.


I also find it helps to record what I eat at www.fitday.com (free
account).
You can also use it to track exercise, weight, nutrients, and other
goodies.

Hope that helps.
--
Belphoebe

Thanks that does help!!

Kari

I would find out how many calories you should be eating and then add 200-500
for breastfeeding. It is possible that you aren't eating enough... If you
don't eat enough calories then your body shuts down and conserves every bit
of energy that it can. Weight loss won't happen if this is the case.

For me (5'1" and almost no exercise) I need 1305 calories a day NOT
including breastfeeding. Go to http://www.self.com/calculators/ and click
"caloric needs" to calculate yours. I don't know how old you are but if you
are 35 (what I put in for you) then you would need 1527 not including bf'ing
if you don't get much exercise.

You also didn't say how much water you are drinking but water helps with
weight loss a lot. And as sad as it is... the first thing to cut out would
be the soda/coffee Or at least move to caffiene free.

Hope this helps!

Molly
DS David 5months


"Kari" wrote in message
...
Ok, I totally need to do something. I lost all of the pregnancy weight
right
away, and then in the last month, I've gained 10 back! Im starving all the
time (which seems to be a lot of us so at least it's not just me!) I dont
have time to do weight watchers meetings and I did slim fast stuff before
and it helped when I needed to lose a bit but is that safe now? I just
have
NO idea what i need as far as calories go. The last 4 days I've tried to
eat
really good and then I gained another pound!! Im 5'6" and 148lbs right now
and I just want to lose 10 pounds, so help, any good recipes, ideas, etc?

A typical day is - coffee (low fat or fat free creamer & 1 sugar) and a
bowl
of oatmeal
Yogurt snack (Yoplait regular or whips, both are low fat)
Lunch is a healthy choice type frozen meal OR a turkey sandwhich on flax
seed bread OR soup OR salad with light dressing
afternoon snack is whole wheat bread slice with peanut butter OR hard
boiled
egg
dinner is whatever, we dont eat red meat or pork, very little chicken.
Mostly a pasta dish with 2 veggies and a roll/muffin/bisquit and I use the
yogurt butter spread
night snack is sherbet/edys fruit bar/frozen yogurt
I drink 1 soda a day (non diet) and water the rest of the time and take 2
viactiv chews too for calcium. I still take a prenatal.

Does this sound ok? Cause I think it does and Im thinking I need to get my
*ss to the gym!!

Thanks,

Kari
mom to Kaylie (8) Noah (4) and Xander (4 mos)

Kari wrote:

Yep, I dont do anything. I am looking at double jogging strollers
actually, for walking. Noah can't keep up with me in the regular one
and most of them are well within his max. weight (about 50lbs, he's
35lbs) so I think it could get a lot of use once the weather gets
under control.

We have a jogging stroller (though just a single!) and we love it.

Right now we have 5ft, yes 5ft of snow out my window.

We've been having an awful, awful winter, too. Even when we haven't been
buried in snow, we've had single-digit temps and negative-degree windchills.
The one thing that's saved my exercise routine has been a Nordic Track that
DH picked up cheap at a church sale! Yesterday was the first day in a
looooooooooong time that it was above freezing and not snowing, so we had a
family walk again (yay!). Today? More snow and back to the Nordic Track,
so I definitely sympathize. We cold-climate folks need indoor plan-B's for
sure.

--
Belphoebe

Go to http://www.self.com/calculators/ and click
"caloric needs" to calculate yours.

Good lord. Assuming I'm only moderately active, this says I shouldn't be eating
any more than 1750 calories a day. That's a pretty stiff diet as far as I'm
concerned!

Or an even scarier thought, my lifestyle actually counts as active, compared to
most Americans.

--Helen