Bikinibound,
I am 15 months post partum and only over the past few months have I started seeing any results (yes, I still nurse my daughter, but only 2-3 times a day). As one of a group of new friends who were all breastfeeding our babies, I was the unlucky one to not lose weight while nursing, and instead I gained weight. I was 169 after the birth of my baby girl, but went up to 176 during the following few months. I was able to get back down to 170 but couldn't get below that to save my life.
Though nursing is supposed to help moms lose weight, it is not the case for every nursing mom. I did drop 10 lbs around the 9 month post partum mark though, and I can't account for how that happened. So, maybe my trade off for early weight loss was delayed weight loss.
Now, for all the other weight I have that I don't want anymore (I'm now only 4 lbs away from my pre-preg weight, but 24 lbs from my goal healthy weight), I have been working super hard. I exercise 5-6 days a week and eat very clean. I just accepted a few months ago when I started on my diet and exercise program that I'm just not as lucky as some of my other friends who lost their pregnancy weight with mild walking a few times a week but that I was someone who was going to have to really work to lose it. Since then I've lost 1 lbs a week on average and am still going. Certainly not fast or easy, but I like to think I'm getting the benefit of properly losing weight and learning a healthier lifestyle that may help me more in the long run.
Don't lose faith or get yourself all worked up right now. At 6 months post partum, I could barely get through my daily dues as a mom and wife, let alone working out and dieting properly for weight loss (though I tried). If you're not already accustomed to a routine for weight loss, it can be very difficult and stressful to try to figure that all out now and fit that into your already hectic schedule.
And don't get me started on the ravenous vulture that I became in those early post partum months. Girl, I baked my tail off for about 3 months straight. Sure, I was sleep deprived and should've been sleeping instead, but it seemed so much more important at the time, don't ask me why because I think my hormones had more control over me than my brain did! LOL I think I was comforting myself. Yes, I was ridiculously hungry, but the baking...I think that was the comforting part. I felt so stressed and panicked about being a new mom and insecure of my mothering abilities that baking seemed to calm me down. I've never baked that much crap in my entire life!
Though I noticed that would be a huge problem, I tried my best to send the baked goods with my husband to his job and I'd snack on huge bags of baby carrots in the evenings (when the cravings came on full force), but I tell you, I still gained.
A few things I noticed in my journey through that first year:
-Sleep has more to do with your weight loss than you'd think- you need the Human Growth Hormone you get during sleep to help your body do what it needs to do to release fat. At 6 months old, my daughter only slept 6 hours straight on a good night. I didn't start getting good solid sleep until she was 7+ months, so considering I lost 10 lbs somewhere in the 9th month, you can see the possible correlation.
-Breastfeeding didn't help me lose weight, but maybe it helped keep me from gaining more than I did. You never know! I was definitely stressed out and eating enough where that could have become literally a larger problem than I've been dealing with.
-While you're nursing, it is far more important to just eat nutritiously in order to maintain your milk supply than it is to cut calories, diet, or skimp on meals. I had low milk supply from the start and had trouble getting my daughter to gain weight. So, while my girlfriends didn't have supply issues and had no effect on their milk when they dieted, my body was more sensitive than theirs and I wasn't going to put my milk in jeopardy no matter how fat I felt. But, that doesn't mean that you can't eat healthily. I made nutritious meals for us so that I knew I was getting my veggies (I made vegetable lasagnas, etc), proteins, carbs, etc and would have plenty of leftovers to make my nights easier.
-Convenience is ok, to a point. I always made our meals because I figured no matter what meal I made, it had to be healthier than anything we'd order in or get at a restaurant. I had control of what we ate, and like I said, nutrition was my first priority over counting calories. Yes, it was hard to do when I was tired, still recovering, and busy with my baby, but it was important to me and I always made enough to have a few days worth of leftovers (or some to stockpile in the freezer for "TV" dinners another time). Not saying we didn't eat out occasionally or go through drive through, it is just that those events were few and far between ( and consequently, not guilt-ridden). I made it a point to not rely on those conveniences as much as possible.
-Though your scale may not show it, any exercise is good exercise. We moved overseas to a place that is very mountainous and the walk to the grocery store was 45 minutes each way. SO, I was a walking queen. I didn't lose squat! I was walking into town, and back up and down hills, pushing a stroller full of groceries and my baby on my back...and didn't lose anything. But, look at the bright side: I didn't gain anything AND eventhough the scale didn't say so, I was doing wonders for my heart and health. I was very energized.
I'm not helpless, though. I just figured that walking was not the exercise that was going to get me to lose weight (it worked wonders for my girlfriends, but not me), so I started running, interval training and lifting weights. NOW, I've got weight loss!! As I mentioned above, 9 lbs in 9 weeks.
My advice is to first and foremost stop putting so much pressure on yourself. That just won't help you at all. Second, don't think that weight loss will be easy if you're not sleeping well yet. It is just too difficult for many people (myself included). Third, start by making little changes to your daily routine in terms of diet and exercise. Try to get out for a long walk, or if the weather won't make that work well, go to the mall and walk walk walk. Though I didn't lose weight walking, my girlfriends did, and we really did stick to walking the mall for exercise during the winter. For your diet, I have no idea what you're already doing, but go see a nutritionist if you can and see what they have to say. Or, start off knowing that a nursing mom needs roughly 500 extra calories a day to properly feed the baby (and not deplete your vitamin and mineral stores or reduce supply) and go from there. Perusing this forum is a great way, too, to get general nutrition advice. Just make sure to account for the extra 500 calories you need. Lastly, know that it really does take time to lose weight the right way, especially after child birth.
Good luck and be proud of yourself- you're a momma!
