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

[Anonymous]

Just curious how long it took people to lose the pounds after baby. I know everyone is different but I (naively) thought the weight would fall off after having dc (particularly because I'm breastfeeding and have always been thin). I had my dc over 3 months ago, have lost 18 lbs and have 20 to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight. I'm eating healthy and exercising regularly and hate that I'm still having to wear my maternity clothes. And, I also have several friends who recently had babies and are nursing and most of them are back to their pre-pregnancy size. I've heard "9 months to put on, 9 months to take off" but is that generally true? Just want to be realistic about it.

[Anonymous]

Wow...38lbs is all you have to lose??? Must be nice...I gained 60lbs with my ds, took me about 9 months to get all of that weight off. It was a tough one but I got through it...I ate lots of veggies and drank lots of smoothies. Good luck to ya!

[Anonymous]

It took me 4.5 months to lose 40 lbs. Bf first 7 weeks only.

[Anonymous]

By 6 months after, I started to feel closer to normal but by 9 months after, I definitely felt a big difference -- of course, since my shape changed, things still don't fit me the way they used to even though I'm technically around the same weight as I was right before I got pregnant.

[Anonymous]

Seriously? 2.5 weeks.

I only put on 30 lbs during pregnancy.

After the baby came, I was the biggest stress case ever in the history of the world. No sleep, bleeding breasts, colick-ey baby -- I literally didn't have the time/energy to eat. It's nice to know all that crap came with at least one little benefit...



But, for my friends? I found that the ones who didn't put on EXTRA weight (stuck pretty close to the 25-35 pounds recommended), had a much easier time, and generally got back to within 5 pounds of their pre-pregnancy weight pretty quickly (i.e., 3-4 months).

If you put on 60 pounds, it will take a while to get that off.

[Anonymous]

I used Diet-to-Go both times to lose the weight, and it took at least a couple of months, maybe more (it's been a few years now). What's good about the program is that someone else prepares the food (great to not have to worry about that) and you know you're not eating more than 1200 calories a day. Otherwise, it's very hard to know exactly how many calories we're eating. I thought the food was pretty good (lots to choose from, including vegetarian), and the cost is about the same as if you bought the ingredients yourself. It's fresh food, more like a restaurant than a diet company. The sodium levels are much lower than Jenny Craig, and the ingredients are simple, rather than highly processed. Take a look at www.diettogo.com

[Anonymous]

30lbs over 8 weeks. I bf for 5 months.

[zumbamama]

They say 9 months up, 9 months down.

With DC #1, it took about 2 yrs to get it all off... 65 pounds! But oh was I exhausted—working FT on no sleep. No energy at all to workout like I do now.

DC #2, I lost it in 3 months (40 pounds), but then gained it all back plus more. Exhaustion, FT job, sleep deprivation, junk food and stress contributed to postpartum weigh gain. At that point it took me almost a year to lose 60 pounds thanks to Zumba. Haven't gained any of it back in the last 3 yrs.

[Anonymous]

Gained 40 lbs, still BFing 8 mos later, still am 13 lbs over pre-pregnancy weight. Honestly, I don't understand how anyone who was to work at it loses the weight. I'm too tired/too busy to find time to excersise (working full time and still doing a nighttime feeding), I'm voraciously hungry from the breastfeeding, and anytime I try to cut back calories, my milk supply drops. I'm hoping it gets better after I wean, but for now, I've just resigned myself to being bigger for a while.

[Anonymous]

I gained 25 lbs. and lost it 2-3 months after birth, while breast feeding.

[Anonymous]

DC #1 - gained 25 lbs, took two years to get it off.

DC#2 - gained 30 lbs, took it off plus 5 more pounds in about 8 months.

I am normal or slightly underweight, and I did not exercise either time. With DC #2, at the 5 month mark I went on a less than 1,000 calorie a day diet for about two to three weeks, then returned to eating normally. I have kept the weight off for over two years.

Not only are no two people the same, but no two pregnancies are the same.

[Anonymous]

I lost the 35 lbs and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in about 4 months. No dieting and minimal exercise, but breastfeeding.

Two caveats. First, the number on the scale is the same, but the distribution is not. And second, my pre-pregnancy weight (and current weight) is a good 10 lbs over where it should be. In order to drop that, I know I'll have to diet and exercise. At the moment, I don't care enough to bother ....

[Anonymous]

With #1, 2 weeks, but only gained 18 lbs. (Baby was born premature.) While BF I lost about an extra 5-10 lbs, but gained them back after I weaned.

With #2, I gained 40 lbs. (baby was full-term) and am still trying to lose the last 8-10 lbs, despite eating well & exercising, 5 months later. My problem is that I ate everything in sight when pregnant and am now paying the price. BF does not seem to be having the same effect as last time.

[Anonymous]

With DD 1 I gained 35 lbs - lost 20 right way with birth, etc. had 15 to lose - took me 3 months on Weight Watchers. With DD 2 gained 40 - took me 6 months to lose 20 lbs (on WW). As a PP mentioned - even though I'm back to pre-preg weight, my body is so different. My waist is 3" larger than it ever was, boobs - don't even got there, they're actually smaller now. My hips hurt when I run -- I feel tired and old : ).

[Anonymous]

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.