I Don't Understand Why I Am Not Losing Weight!

Updated on March 10, 2008
K.D. asks from McKinney, TX
16 answers

I had my most recent child 8 months ago and I have a three year old as well. I gained alot of weight with my first one and with my second I just added to it. I still nurse so I am afraid to take anything to help, but nothing else seems to work. I run from dawn to dusk with the children (stay at home mom) I go to school full time, and I am packing and remodeling my house because my husband has been re-located so I am at a constint 'workout' pace. I should be losing weight but I am not and I don't understand why. I don't eat any different then I ever have, in fact it may even be less and I spent most of my life at 130 but now I am 200! Please any one have any ideas? I hate seeing pictures of myself now, but I want my kids to have pictures of mommy!

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So What Happened?

I have gotten so much good advice! Thank you all so much! Now I need to start acting on it! The journal is a great idea, I know I am terrible at eating on a regular scedule, so it will be interesting to see what I am eating over a period of time. I will keep all of you posted, thatns again!

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M.B.

answers from Detroit on

The adkins diet isn't healthy for everyone- so be very careful!! I personally know that adkins isn't a healthy way to diet- you don't get all the vitamins and nutrients you need on the adkins diet- I tried the adkins diet, and had severe dizzy/fainting spells and was very very ill and had to go to the hospital because i got so sick...... Be very careful if you try it!!

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M.T.

answers from Detroit on

I have the same problem with losing weight and I have 4 yr old triplets. First of all the only time I lose weight is when I try to make a concious effort to actually eat my 3 meals a day. I tend to only eat dinner. And with exercise you need to bring your heart rate up to a certain point and keep it there for a certain amount of time to raise your heart rate for the day in order to lose the weight. I wish I had those numbers to pass on to you but I dont. :(. Good Luck.

M.
mom to Christina 15
Isabella, Logan and Brody 4

1 mom found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Detroit on

I just found this site and have found it very helpful, it has a nutrition tracker and tons of recipes and excersice hints lots of great stuff and lots of people to talk to about it and it is free it is sparkpeople.com I am very happy with this site I hope you check it out and find it as useful as I have. Best of luck, I know what your going through I've had 3 kids and weigh more right now than I did when I was pregnant.

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N.W.

answers from Detroit on

I had the same problem with my son. I finnally broke down and joined weight watchers. In about 3 months I was done below the pre-baby weight and feeling great. I did the Core program (where you don't count points but only eat certain foods). It is very healthy and the receipes are great. I still pretty much follow it and my son is eating health too! It would work great since you are breastfeeding. You can eat as much as you want of certain foods and limited amount of others-- but you don't have to count points.

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K.C.

answers from Detroit on

I found that Weight Watchers really helped me to jump start my weight loss. I only did it for a couple of weeks and it helped me to really pay attention to what I was eating. I recently started to workout and it really helped to energize me (I was feeling very tired) and it helped to get out of the rut and loose even more. You really have to stick to it but once you have the mind set it works! I had a baby 6 months ago so I feel your pain. Make time for yourself, take baby steps and you will feel so good once you start to feel changes.

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M.M.

answers from Detroit on

Hi K.,

I am the same age as you and I also have 2 children I gained 65 pounds with my 1st child which put in the 180's I never want to see that number on the scale again. I am now a size 4 the smallest I have ever been, how I keep my weight in check I eat very small meals I really believe portion size is the key I never eat past 7pm once in awhile I have desert I only have 1 or 2 bits instead of a whole piece of cake I rarely exercise becuase I just don't have the time I have been able to stay 120 for the last 2 1/2 years now, another thing that helps me is a use to keep a log of everything I would consume in a day you may be surprised how much you really eat I know I was. Something else that I heard that sometimes after pregnancy some women's metabolism becomes out of wack due to thyroid you may want to check with your doctor. Good luck

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D.F.

answers from Grand Rapids on

The pounds kept (and still do) have the same effect on me. I found out I have diabetes when I was pregnant my last time. It didn't go away when my baby was born. I used to think i was too active to pack on pounds too. While you are moving all the time, you still need that cardio/heart pounding excercise.

I so glad you are seeking advice and help. I wish I had.

If you have health insurance, I would suggest requesting an appointment with the nutritionist. (you may have to have one with the dr first) With today's healthcare battle with health problems caused by weight over time, they should love to have anyone concerned do this! I did this and it helped. You will be suprised at what you really stick in your mouth. Remember a can of regular soda/pop can pack the same carbs/sugar as 2-3 slices of bread. This is also more sugar/carbs than a snickers bar.

If a nutitionist is not covered let me know and I'll find a different way for you. Mom's have to feel great about themselves to teach their kids to do the same.

You seem to be super-mom my best friend is busy just like you. Sometimes the stress can also make it easier to pack on the pounds. PLease make sure you make time for you , even if it seems you can't. A mom cannot take care of others correctly if she doesn't takes care of herself. If you can't figure out how to fit that in, let me know or post another request, you'd be suprised about the tricks moms use to have "me time". Take care, good luck.

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V.M.

answers from Kalamazoo on

now this i no bout i weighed 125 when i started havein kids ur system changes every baby drink water alot of it u will lose it i have lost 100 lbs in 3 months cause the water keeps u full try it it really works i drink like 5 or 6 gallons a water everydasy

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C.M.

answers from Detroit on

Hi K.,
I feel for your frustration,just don't give up no matter what you decide to do.
Are you taking vitamins? When our bodies are under a lot of stress and we are very active it can deplete us even more and slow down your metabolism. there are many ways to get it going again and vitamins are a vital part of doing this.
I am a consultant with Arbonne and I teach people how to look and feel better. I would love to help if I can

C. McNeill
District Manager/Independent Consultant
Arbonne International
www.freewebs.com/4youmagnetic/
____@____.com
###-###-####

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C.V.

answers from Grand Rapids on

Hi K.,
I understand what you are going through. My sister-in-law is back into her own clothes coming home from the hospital after having all of her kids. I have a much harder time. What I found helpful is doing pilates and drinking lots of water. When I thought I had enough water I drank another glass. I got Windor Pilates and did the 20 minute dvd when my kids were sleeping and that helped get my stomach down. Good luck.
Chris

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E.K.

answers from Denver on

Have you tried lifting weights/resistance training? Building muscle will help burn fat even more. Keep some weights out where you can see them and any time you have a minute do some curls and other arm workouts. Throw in some squats & lunges while you're folding laundry.
Most of all don't get frustrated. 8 months seems like a long time, but it really isn't. Also, I 've heard some people don't lose their baby weight weight until after they quit breastfeeding.
Try to add in what you can here and there and good luck!

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H.G.

answers from Detroit on

Good Morning K.,

I feel your pain! I went from almost 200lbs (size 16/18) down to 142lbs (size 8). It is not easy to loose weight - this took me almost a year and a half. My best advice to you is:
#1 - never give up!
#2 - You need to get your heart beat up to a cardio fat burn for 30 minutes straight, 4-5 days a week. I know that you are running around doing life in general, but that is not going to work to get the weight off - it will help to maintain the weight once it is gone.
#3 - start a food journal - this will tell you what you are eating, when and why (I was an emotional eater)
and
#4 - enlist a friend to be a workout buddy with you. A friend who has the same motivational thoughts as you. If you fall of the horse, you have a friend there to get you back on and visa versa.

Weight loss is an awesome thing - you look great, feel great, you will get compliments... but it is hard! Oh, and do not weigh yourself every day. Pick one day a week, same time and weigh yourself on that day.

Good Luck! H.

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S.N.

answers from Saginaw on

It may be partially BECAUSE you are an active person that you are have trouble losing. This is obviously not to say that you should slow down. That would be a horrible mistake. But your body is already used to being on the go all the time, so it needs an even higher than average activity level to burn excess calories. Try working in an extra workout, just for yourself, no kids involved. Maybe Curves wouldn't be a bad idea, so that it's a bit of personal time, and time to exercise with other women. Also, I've noticed that beverages are a hidden culprit of many difficult weight losses. I'm not sure what you generally drink during the course of your day. But, if you drink alot of soda and juices, there's a good chance that cutting those out would shed enough calories to make the pounds fly off. I discovered I fit that mold once. Now I seldom drink anything with calories, except a glass of milk at dinner.

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H.B.

answers from Detroit on

From a lot of my own experience;
5-6 small meals a day, 5 including a whole grain carb and lean protein, and at least two of those including veggies or greens, the last being your snack, whether fruit or air popped popcorn. Total calories per day shouldn't exceed 1500. The way I learned to eat was with Six Week Body Makeover by Michael Thurman. I lost six pounds the first week and only actually did the eating schedule for four of those days. The other three days I ate a ton, I'm so weak willed! I got dizzy for the first two days while my blood glucose levels were evening out, but I would drink a little juice or eat some wheat thins when this happened. It stopped after a couple of days.

Cut out all refined carbs and pop, and diet pop too. Cut out and use of artificial sweeteners, they're very bad for you. Try stevia, honey (not too much) or sweet n low for sweeteners if you must sweeten.

Exercise, and use weights. Every pound of muscle you have burns twice the amount of calories as every pound of fat. You gain a pound of muscle, you burn 150-300 more calories a day doing nothing.

If you do this, your metabolism will crank up to full speed and you'll lose weight while eating every 2 1/2 hours, and your glucose levels will even out. If, like me, you give up for some reason, you'll end up like me, insulin resistant and on Metformin to fix it. I've lost 40 pounds since the Metformin, but the doctor says now that I may never be able to get off of it if I don't start eating the way I know I should, and it will lead to diabetes (which does not run in my family). And I still have another 40 to lose.
Don't make the same mistake I did.

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T.S.

answers from Saginaw on

Hello K.! Iam new to mamasource...looking forward to meeting other moms in our area! To address your not loosing weight issue....I feel I have some really good advice for you, by simply making life style changes in your eating habits. This is how I stay size 5 at 39 yrs old. To start out with I would suggest first going on the "Atkins diet", to shed the first 45 pounds. I wanted to loose an extra 17 pounds about 3 yrs ago and YES the Atkins diet works wonders and it works FAST. I dropped 10 pounds in the first week!! It really works! but it is not a healthy way to live for long term. After loosing your first 40 or 50 pounds on the Atkins diet, then you'll have to switch to a healthy way of eating. This is what I do.....I only eat "fresh food"...I dont eat chips, cookies, packaged junk food of any kind. No frozen foods. No fast food "except allowed once a month for a treat". Eat only what nature intended for us to eat..vegs and friuts....lots of them....of course meat..but I usually stick to only chicken and fish. Starting out your day with eggs keeps you full and it burns off calories. I eat cereal but about once a week. I still eat white bread but only 2 slices a day. Tip...never skip breakfast because your body will go into starvation mode and you will not burn any calories. Believe it or not the less you eat the more your body holds onto extra fat for survival. If you have more questions or want more tips let me know....good luck....T. of Houghton Lake, Mi

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S.N.

answers from Detroit on

Quit focusing on trying to shed pounds so much, thats when its harder to loose, try something different an extra activity with yourself, like myself I was walkin alot everyday, but once the weight started coming off I down to a certain weight and it was like my body was at a stand still, so I had to try something different I just joined Curves recently and I love it but just because you dont see that you lost weight dont mean you havent, everyone else see it in me or on my body that I've lost but I dont its naturally dont be so focus on your weight so much, you'll be alright

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