How long did it take you to lose the baby weight?

[Anonymous]

I gained 40 pounds during and by 5 months postpartum I lost it all -- and then some. At 3 months postpartum I figured I'd never get back to my old weight and tossed my skinny jeans. But then I started losing the weight. Didn't do much special -- just breastfed and walked a lot. I had to give up dairy because DD had a reaction to cow's milk so yhat cut out most of the junk food from my diet.

[Anonymous]

yes -- 9 months on/9 months off. that's what happened to me, though it might have been sooner if I had been able to work out sooner. I took five months off after DC was born but was too busy to hit the gym. when I went back to work, I was able to spend my lunch hours at the gym. then, the weight loss sped up. I had 10-15 lbs. to lose.

a big motivator for me was getting back into my pre-preg clothes. I didn't buy ANY new clothes after having the baby. so, it was either wear maternity clothes, or squeeze into my old clothes. for the in-between stage, I wore a lot of dresses, even through the winter. eventually, I started fitting into my pants.

I know it's incredibly frustrating, but hang in there. enjoy your baby!

[Anonymous]

I gained 23 pounds. When I came home from the hospital I had dropped 13. The remaining 10 pounds came off in three weeks. I was hungry ALL of the time. When I started breast feeding, it was as if someone lit a furnace in my stomach. Those first six months, I would wake up in the middle of the night and come downstairs because I was starving.

At year later I am about to stop breast feeding and am about 5 pounds under my pre preg. weight. However, I have not yet made it back to the gym and I have more fat than I used to. The rest of my body looks pretty good but my stomach is not firm like it used to be because I have lost muscle. I need to get back to the gym when I stop BF or I know I'll pack on some pounds because I'm not burning those extra calories anymore.

[Anonymous]

Just what I was looking for--lots of thin mommies replying that the lost the weight in 3 weeks. Wonder why the weight hasn't fallen off my fat butt. I am 6 months post partum and still working on it. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

I don't remember having problems losing the weight after DC#1, but now, 3.5 months after DC#2, I am finding it difficult to get into shape. I'm barely exercising, eating a lot, and although I lost a good amount of weight in the early post-partum weeks, I've definitely hit a plateau.

I read that it was more difficult to lose weight with subsequent children, but I tried to convince myself that those experiences didn't apply to me....

I used to consider myself naturally thin. Now I think I'm average, and if I'm not wearing flattering clothes, a little chunky. Ugh. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Too long. I had always been petite and thin (though sadly never recognized it at the time since I always complained of being "fat"). I stopped exercising in month five (for the first time in my life), didn't really watch what I ate and gained nearly 40 lbs. Yet was somehow still sure that I'd be one of those people who would have no problem losing it and going back to being exactly what I was before. Oh, what a wake up call I had. It started to hit me three or four months in - shouldn't this be coming off more by now? Long story short - I just finally lost the extra 15 lbs two and a half years later - thanks to Weight Watchers and finally getting my butt back to exercising again.

another petite person who never had a weight issue though i complained (ah- to be a size 0 or 2 again).. i gained 40 lbs with dc1- tha tis like 80 for a normal height person- just wayt too much- i went back down with exercise and watching food to "only" 15 lbs over.. then preggo with dc2 only gained 20 lbs (baby came out same as dc1- almost 8 lbs).. i lost all of that withing 2 weeks- but then gained 5 lbs for past year- so basically- back to 15 lbs over and trying ways to go back to normal- it seems like ym body got used ot being this weight- ugh- another obstacle..

[Anonymous]

My "baby" is 16m and I FINALLY lost the last of the 50lbs I put on (and I was 15lbs over to start w/). EBF for 12m (and worked full time, not much time for exercise) Feeling great, training for a 1/2 marathon! (and now hubby wants another...so do I, but I worked so hard to get my body back!)

[Anonymous]

I gained 40 lbs, lost all but the last 10lbs while on maternity leave by taking hour-long walks everyday with dc. It is really hard to get to the gym, so at 6 mo. pp I started getting off the metro early in order to get 30 min. of walking in everyday. Seems to have worked, as I had everything off by 9 months pp.

[Anonymous]

I'm still 20 lbs up after 4 1/2 years and 3 pregnancies. I was an effortless size 4, now an 8/10. Gained 35 with the 1st, lost 25, had a miscarriage, gained 25 with the second, lost 20, gained 10 with the third and lost all of that, started working out but have gained 5 lbs back. I just hope that if I ever stop breastfeeding (only had one month in there not BF'ing or PG) that somehow the exercise and calorie watching will work.

[Anonymous]

With DS#1 it wasn't until I stopped breastfeeding that I lost the last 10 pounds (around 6 months pp and after 2 months of exercise and WW dieting). I have 9 wk old twins and currently have 15 pounds to go. We'll see how it goes this time... I keep intending to start watching what I eat more closely but I am hungry more than with DS#1.

I know many moms will swear that breastfeeding is the trick, but I do think for certain body types, it does take until you wean to get rid of the last pounds. I read somewhere that some bodies need the extra fat to produce milk.

[Anonymous]

I gained almost 50 lbs and am now almost 8 months pp with 3.5 lbs left to lose. I bf'd for 8 weeks. I thought I'd take it all off really fast, because by the end of my pregnancy I couldn't wait to start exercising again (couldn't exercise during pregnancy for health reasons). Even though I was really motivated to get back in shape, I underestimated how exhausted I would feel. I also had more health problems that slowed me down.

[Anonymous]

10 days - gained 25lbs.

[Anonymous]

With DS, I gained 28 pounds and it took me about 1.5 years to finally get back to my pre-preggo weight. With DD, I only gained 14 pounds (major stress at work) and lost all of it and then an additional 2 pounds before I left the hospital. It was shocking, but I paid for it with a massively colicky baby. I've put on a few pounds (probably 4 or so) since I've been at home with my DD for the last three months, but I imagine when I go back to work the stress level will kick back in and I'll lose it again quickly. Fingers crossed at least....

[Anonymous]

it isn't always about how much you gain during pregnancy. I gained somewhere between 30-35 lbs when pregnant with my daughter and lost all the weight pretty quickly at first. Then I went back to work and about 10 lbs crept back on...which I thought was poor diet and lack of exercise. Nope, brand new thyroid problem! Never had one before having my daughter, and now my thyroid is permanently altered and I have to be on meds for the rest of my life.

and while I have finally dropped the extra weight through a much better diet and more exercise (a little over 2 years post partum), my body will NEVER be the same. No matter how many crunches I do, my stomach looks hideous - I will be needing a tummy tuck to fix this mess!

[Anonymous]

It took almost a year to fit comfortably in my old clothes. I was 118 lbs. before getting pregnant and weighed in at 160 lbs. at the end. I'm now back to my original weight but it definitely took awhile to get back into my skinny jeans.

I didn't do anything special to lose the weight-we walk a lot and I'm not a big eater.