Ready to lose weight?!

[Anonymous]

I delivered my baby two weeks ago and I am more than ready to get rid of all those extra pounds. I feel extremely fat without my belly (guess when that belly was still there the huge hips weren't as noticable). I am not breastfeeding and I was wondering when I can start to diet ... I won't do anything extreme but I am not sure if you should give your body some rest still?
Would it be okay to exercise? E.g. join a Curves? I know I shouldn't do any crunches and stuff like that but everything else should be ok or not?

[Anonymous]

I exercised right up until the day before I delivered and then I started exercising again within a week after delivery. I know they tell you to wait awhile but I had an uneventful delivery and felt fine. I was breastfeeding as well and I do not think it affected my supply. I lost twenty-five pounds in the first two weeks with little to no effort but it took me about six months to lose the last five.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I am 25 weeks pregnant and I also just so happen to work at a Curves in Alexandria. I would highly recommend a Curves workout for losing any baby weight. So many of our members are there for just that very reason! It's a great female atmosphere where you do not have to feel uncomfortable with your baby weight because all the women there have been there themselves!

[Anonymous]

If your bleeding gets heavier, that's a sign you should slow down. Also, it will take some time for your uterus to shrink back to its normal size (especially if you are not bfing), so you might have to be a little patient with your body.

[Anonymous]

I am assuming that you had a vaginal delivery - b/c for a c-section, exercising recommendations would be very different.

I would wait another 2 weeks to start working out - but regarding dieting I don't think there is any reason you can not start today.

Some thoughts
1. This weather will really take a toll on you.
2. From your post it sounded as if you had not been exercising regularly prior to the baby being born. You just went through a significant change and would want to give your body some more time to recover before putting a significant stress on it.