Crossfit to Lose Baby Weight?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking for a way to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight and I wanted to know if people have suggestions. My LO is 8 months old and I'm EBFing. I have a postpartum thyroid issue and its made it hard for me to lose weight even though I eat well and exercise semi-regularly.

This is the most weight I've gained before and I've never really had a significant weight gain before so I'm not sure where to start. I've always just eaten healthy and exercised and while I never looked like a supermodel, I haven't had to do any intense workouts.

Now I'm at a point where I really need to get this chub off of me. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions?

[Anonymous]

OP here, or a good personal trainer recommendation?

[Anonymous]

I've heard of lots of people who've lost tons of weight and gotten really fit through crossfit, so why not give it a try? I would say a combination of crossfit and maybe spinning, but if you have an 8 mo old you're probably not eager to go to the gym 5x a week. So yeah, try crossfit. What have you got to lose?

[Anonymous]

Paleo or primal, a chunk of low-mod intensity cardio---say an hour of brisk walking 3-4 times a week, a day of sprinting and some weights. Crossfit is the current fad but it is expensive and the gyms vary widely in quality--get in shape to some extent before you start and use crossfit to gild the lily.

I've dropped thirty lbs and gone from a size 12 to a size 3-4 (I just had to borrow my daughters clothes for an interview!) since January. I'm fifty, and work nights---so not an easy thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Jillian Michael's dvds and weights in the house?

[Anonymous]

I was like you OP. I was somewhat naturally thin prior to haivng babies and never had to work out hard.

I gained a TON of weight post partum. I've lost 35lbs since then. I work out at a very high intensity and watch my eating (somewhat) I'm not super strict and don't count calories, but I do use common sense (except not today because I ate two lunches!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was like you OP. I was somewhat naturally thin prior to haivng babies and never had to work out hard.

I gained a TON of weight post partum. I've lost 35lbs since then. I work out at a very high intensity and watch my eating (somewhat) I'm not super strict and don't count calories, but I do use common sense (except not today because I ate two lunches!).

OP here. What kind of high intensity work out do you do? I normally do a lot of vinayasa yoga but I don't think it is going help me lose this 15 lbs.

[Anonymous]

OP, be really careful doing Crossfit. They have had many injuries. I think I would opt instead for the personal trainer, if deciding between the two options.

I walked off all my baby weight. I did high intensity walking (faster than some joggers) everyday, coupled with a healthy diet with no refined carbs or processed foods. Lost all the baby weight and then some by my 6 week post-partum appt. YMMV, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was like you OP. I was somewhat naturally thin prior to haivng babies and never had to work out hard.

I gained a TON of weight post partum. I've lost 35lbs since then. I work out at a very high intensity and watch my eating (somewhat) I'm not super strict and don't count calories, but I do use common sense (except not today because I ate two lunches!).

OP here. What kind of high intensity work out do you do? I normally do a lot of vinayasa yoga but I don't think it is going help me lose this 15 lbs.

Yoga? No f'ing way. I do that for relaxation and I do Bikram at that.

I trained for a marathon. I did my marathon last fall. I scaled back my running to about 20 miles a week and I do spin class 2xs a week. I try to get out on my bicycle on the trail at least twice a month for a good 30 mile ride. The reason I do so much biking is to keep my legs strong so I don't get injuries when running, basically my biking is in support of my running.

With that said, I have a very supportive husband who also works out a lot and has lost 75lbs himself (together we lost 110lbs) and we trade off working out and supporting each other. We both work full time.

At this point my exercise is no longer to lose weight. I really really like the way it has shaped my body. Now in my mid 30s my body is firmer, tighter, and smoother than in my mid 20s and that has everything to do with exercise.

[Anonymous]

you need to be honest with yoruself, it is not chub, it is not baby weight, it is fat. The only way to get rid of it is burning it by increasing your heart rate. You need your heart rate to be at a min of 80% of it's max for a min of 45 min. You need to get it up to that rate and keep it there non stop

good luck

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you need to be honest with yoruself, it is not chub, it is not baby weight, it is fat. The only way to get rid of it is burning it by increasing your heart rate. You need your heart rate to be at a min of 80% of it's max for a min of 45 min. You need to get it up to that rate and keep it there non stop

good luck

Most non professional athletes cannot sustain an 80% or above HR for that length of time.

I'm an endurance runner and I have done Ironmans. In order for an endurance athlete to sustain HOURS and HOURS of intense cardio activity, we must keep our HR DOWN BELOW 80%. At 80% and above your are buring stored glucose that burns fast and leaves you exhausted, this is where sprinters preform best. There is a window that is between 65-80% of your max HR that uses and burns fat as energy. Even marathon runners with 6% body keep in this zone in order to continue to burn fat and NOT glucose.

If the OP wants to become a sprinter then she should run at 80% and above, but if she wants an efficient use of her time and to literally melt the fat away, she needs to stay below 80% for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you need to be honest with yoruself, it is not chub, it is not baby weight, it is fat. The only way to get rid of it is burning it by increasing your heart rate. You need your heart rate to be at a min of 80% of it's max for a min of 45 min. You need to get it up to that rate and keep it there non stop

good luck

and you also need a calorie deficit which will mess with your BF so you may want to wait until you are done breastfeeding honestly. For your body to lose that fat, you have to burn more calories than you take in each day, and force your body to dip into your fat reserves for energy, this will be achieved with increased, consistent high intensity work outs and low calorie intake. It's not easy.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think a lot of the PPs are getting overly technical. Honestly, when my babies were at the age where I was getting a decent amount of sleep and was ready to commit to losing weight, I did Jillian Michaels DVDs 3-4 times a week, and cut back on ice cream, and that pretty much did the trick. Don't worry about HR, intensity, blah blah blah. If you can, do some intervals on the TM or an elliptical, but don't overthink it.

[Anonymous]

I looked into Crossfit and it sounded interesting but I knew I wasn't up for it. It is seriously intense. I know they say it is OK for all levels but I wouldn't try it unless you are already in good shape. Also with little kids I knew I wouldn't do well with something that required me to show up several times a week at a particular time or times -- I need to squeeze in my workouts whenever I can and it's not always predictable.

[Anonymous]

Why is crossfit so expensive? Like twice as much as regular gyms, when they have half the space and equipment?