Postpartum Weight Loss: Expert Advice & Safe Strategies

Question
Hi,

I weighed around 105 before getting pregnant and gained 40 lbs during my pregnancy. I exercised and ate well throughout. Since having my son 5 months ago, I havent been able to shed the extra weight though. I still eat well and exercise but it just wont come off. I am also breast feeding but I am not sure how or if that affects weight loss.

I have been reading about the south beach diet and am wondering if I should try it- especially since I am still breast feeding. Do you have any advice for me? I am still wearing maternity clothes because it is all that will fit and it's pretty depressing!

Thanks!

Answer
It's common for women to have their weights plateau after the initial postpartum period. When you breastfeed, you are giving your body the signal that another life depends on you, and given that, it does not make much sense for your body "empty the pantry." Many new moms also hold on extra fluids when breastfeeding. These conditions don't mean that you doing anything wrong. Your body's wisdom is to do everything it can to insure that you can fully nurture your baby, no matter what.

Recognize too that when you step on the scale, not all of the extra pounds are attributable to extra fat storage. You've built, and are operating, a milk factory. This means you have increased the density of your breast tissue, increased your overall fluid volume (many pp women hold onto a lot of extra fluid), and the physical infrastructure (like arteries, veins and capillaries) that supports milk production.

All of our "mommy bodies" tend to de-evolve at our own genetic rates. Many find that once menstruation returns, that the pace picks up again. Personally, I breastfed until 20 months, and stayed five pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight until I weaned. Then without effort, (because it was fluid, not fat storage) the scale readjusted back down to my normal weight.

I have several suggestions for you. First as to a diet plan, fitness pros tend to favor either "Volumetics", the "Zone Diet" or the Weight Watcher program for new moms.

Also, make sure that you are not eating too little! I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but if day in and day out you eat less than your basal metabolism, then your body will actually LOWER it's metabolic rate in compensation. This stops weight loss.

Suggestion two: get out of your maternity clothes, pronto. Buy, or borrow, some basic pieces that flatter your current shape. This will make you feel so much better, prettier and sexier than maternity clothes! Hardly anyone fits into their pre-pregnancy wardrobe at 5 moths pp.

Having a new mommy body can be downer, especially in our "fat-phobic" society. But recognize that it is only temporary, that you can and will get your figure back, (even though the pace feels agonizingly slow) that your "mommy body" is what mother nature intended, and that there is both wisdom and beauty in this state of being.