Well friends, it’s been over 6 months since I gave birth. By bean’s birth date, I had gained about 27-29 lbs and never really felt ‘big.’ I quite liked my preggers belly and didn’t notice the expansion of my thighs (or didn’t care).
I heard of the miracles of breastfeeding and was convinced I’d be one of the lucky ones to melt off the pounds with ease. I imagined being close to my pre-preg weight (of about 118/119lbs) by 3 months or s,o and by 6 months be a lean-mean-fighting machine..not really, but you know what I’m getting at.
And where am I at after 6 months, 11 personal training sessions, and a renewed gym membership?
![July 2012_thumb[2]](http://shannalikebanana.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/july-2012_thumb2.jpg "July 2012_thumb[2]")
Still about 6 lbs over my desired weight (116-118lbs). 1” over my “normal” thigh circumference. 3” over my “normal” waist circumference. And about 5-7% above my “normal” body fat percentage. (And yes I quoted “normal” because I realize that the body I have now, may be my new normal). Hurumph.
The trainer was able to drop me 4lbs (note: if you’ve been keeping track or following, the pounds gained/lost may seem inconsistent mostly because I’ve been using multiple scales as reference starting/ending points; the gym’s scale said I lost 4 lbs). She also skimmed 3+ % of body fat and reduced my waist and leg size by 1” each. And she definitely improved my strength, muscle tone, and my overall body image.
That all being said, I’m still ticked that I’m not losing more. Sure to some, it’s wah, wah, poor girl weighs 120-something, but for me, this weight is NOT my normal. I feel sluggish. I have pockets of fat that didn’t exist before. I can’t fit in majority of my clothes. And I don’t feel like sugarcoating my disappointment. I’m upset. Period.
So what gives?
I go to Spin 2x per week. I do yoga 1-2 times per week (mini sessions, like 15-20 min). I have been seeing the personal trainer 1-2x per week. And I do cardio 3-4x per week on top of all that for about 40 min followed by ab work, burpees, mountain climbers, dips, or the like.
As for calorie intake, on the days I work out, it’s about 1600. Days I only do yoga, I (try to) keep it closer to 1300. The weekends are about 2000 cals each day (err, including Friday since I don’t work on Fridays). I’ve upped my protein to about 50+ grams (not a lot for most, but quite a bit for me).
And still little to no weight loss. Is it hormones?
I asked my doctor and you know what she did? She gave me numbers to obesity (/weight management) hotlines. Huh? Gee thanks!
I spoke with my trainer last Monday and she suggests that I reduce my sugar intake. Hmm, she may be on to something. I posted this on twitter and these were just a few of the responses: 
Yeah 10g is ridiculous and not do-able for the lifestyle I want, but I *can* cut it back. I took a look at my normal sugar intake and I’m above 50g a day…heck my weekend large non-fat vanilla latte has 54g of sugar (<—yes you read that right). I seriously had no idea. Ugh. This cannot be a 3-4x per week indulgence. This is 1x per week tops and maybe with half the pumps of vanilla syrup.
I refuse to jump on the artificial sweetener bandwagon (because let’s face it, many people think Splenda is a perfectly good substitute) because I don’t like the taste or the chemical make up. Instead I’d rather reduce the amount of real sugars (lower fruit intake, increase veggie intake, reduce processed foods, increase protein, etc).
I’m going to see if I can reduce to <10g *added* sugar per day and see if that makes any difference. Or I was thinking of doing 30g of total sugars per day (that includes lactose, fructose, etc).
Last week I managed several days with less than 30 total grams of sugar (including all my fruits and dairy) and felt great! Okay that’s a lie, in the morning I was cranky and had a headache, but by the end of the day I was feeling much better.
Will this work? Let’s hope so. I feel like I’m making a change that I can keep up with, which is important to me. Anything drastic and I know I will jump ship. So this sugar-total may increase a bit as I find what’s right for me, but the goal is to be far more aware of the unnecessary sugars I’m consuming.
Bean needs a healthy, happy mamma so I’m going to do what it takes!
Tally up your sugar count for the day and share – you may be surprised!!!
Shanna! Even though I didn’t just have a baby I was ready to shed some pounds before our wedding.. Since my body was already used to low calories (1500-1700) I had to go to 1200. Ever since then my body started shredding the weight and now Im 20 pounds lighter. When I workout I burn about 400-700 calories and I only eat them if I’m hungry (usually, I’m not). I’ve been eating so clean so must of what I’m eating is low in calories = more and more food i can eat!! 6 pounds isn’t far… be proud of the 21 you’ve lost
Dang girl 20 lbs is a ton!!! My prob is if I eat too little my body starts storing fat so I need to find that perfect number where I lose but don’t adversely shock my body. It is tough!
why cant bodies just do what we want them to do!?! confusing jerks.
No kidding!
I’m 47 days out from delivering my boys and I started back with running and exercising 3 weeks after delivery. And, the scale isn’t budging for me either. But when I mentioned it to my doctor, she thinks my body is changing for the better even though the lbs aren’t dropping. She suggested I just keep on doing what I’m doing until things ‘catch’ up. We’ll see if that works. Best of luck to you on your end as well.
Working out after 3 weeks? Lucky! Let’s hope we both seem weight.
I’ve never really watched my sugar intake because I always assumed that since I wasn’t eating cake or candy, I was fine. But sugar is in EVERYTHING! It all adds up. But regardless, I think you look fantastic!
Exactly! It is really eye-opening :-/ Thank you for your kind words hon!
You look great but if you really want to see a change that is going to last incorporating lifting somewhat heavy weights. I’m surprised your trainer hasn’t recommended this. It will really kick your metabolism in gear and gradually change your body composition.
Good thought Elizabeth. How heavy are you thinking? My trainer definitely pushed me beyond my comfort weight zone.
Oh goodness, I would probably scare myself with my sugar intake. lol I agree with a lot of the other comments — you look fantastic!! I mean, the fact that you look like that and had a baby just 6 months ago is pretty amazing.
I scared myself!
But thank you for your kind words miss Liz!
I’m so happy to hear you say you stay away from sugar substitutes. I feel like the only one using normal sugar when going on coffee runs at work, but i just think that stuff is disgusting and ruins my drink (not to mention stomach aches later!). But you do look fantastic! Focus on the 20-some odd pound you did lose in 6 months!! That’s quite a lot. Sounds like you are doing the right things, you will get there!
The fake sugars taste so gross to me. I’ve been trying some of the ‘skinny’ versions of stuff and it seems like a waste because I don’t even like them. Sigh..what to do…
I don’t know if I have ever mentioned it to you, but when I found out I was diabetic, I had to cut down most of my meals to about 10g of sugar. It was extremely hard at first and the only sugar substitute I go with is truvia and Stevia. Anyways-if you wanted to chat more, feel free to pop me an email at lolzthatswim@gmail.com
I don’t think I knew that HOllie! Are you still trying to keep your meals under 10g sugar. Do you you sugar subs? What about sugar alcohols (they are NO bueno for me!)..advice?
I believe Stevia is all natural – it’s herbs and shrubs or something.
I have had bites off of a stevia plant and like the taste but in powder form I feel it’s kind of gross :-/
I’m 6 months post baby next week, and I still have 5-6lbs that wont budge. I workout 5x a week, watch what I eat etc so I feel your frustration! (And I gained 29lbs too). What’s weird is that a few of my clothes are starting to fit even with no weight loss in months, but that isn’t enough for me. I want ALL my clothes to fit and to see my old scale number!
I know that I can easily sabotage a week of great eating on the weekends, so maybe try and keep your weekend eats around 1600 as well?? Because no matter how much we exercise, 80% of it is food, the other 20% is working out. I hate that but it’s so true! You can’t out-exercise a bad diet, and by bad I just mean eating more cals than we need.
Krista
You’re right, I really need to try to keep my weekends in check, but that’s so hard
Luckily more of my clothes are fitting but I, too, want to see the damn scale go down!
I eat lots of fruit (about 2-3 servings at lunch) but that’s mainly where my sugar comes from. I also do one stevia packet in my coffee every morning too.
If you want, I’m more than happy to look at the foods you’re eating every day and I can let you know what to cut back on, if you should be eating foods at different times during the day and offer any other suggestion I think will help. It may or may not help, but I do this with my clients and most do see results after they tweak their eating. Email me if you want.
I think you look great by the way! But I do know what you mean talking about having a different body after baby. I’ve been working on getting my old abs back and am still waiting…
That would be great Kjirsten…I should show you my daily eats. They are fairly clean, but I do like to splurge (ahem, vino).
Oddly enough, my abs have come through pretty quickly. It’s my damn thighs that are killing me!
I’m around 50g per day, but I’m hoping to cut that to 30-40g sugar. I certainly can’t get to 10g. And I’m trying to limit the sugar substitute too. I use a sugar sub (splenda) occasionally in coffee, but I certainly don’t want to sub it in all my foods just to get the sugar count down. I feel like I see people doing that a lot on HL blogs and my thought is always “what’s the long term cost of that gonna be?” :-/
Yeah, I don’t love the idea of the fake sugars long term..so not natural. Every once in a while fine, but not as a daily intake. Bestie, why is this so hard?
I love your openness and honesty. Are you counting calories? I’m getting ready for a wedding and the one thing that dropped those last few stubborn pounds was using the myfitness pal app – so incredibly eye opening! Things like peanut butter and sauces ADD UP if you do not measure them. It’s amazing what a difference it makes. I also aim for a really high % of calories coming from protein – which has helped as well. I think you look amazing but what matters is how you feel. Good luck girlie, you’re determined so you will get there!
I should try that app, although I unfortunately don’t have access to my phone at work so I wonder if that would be an issue.
I *do* measure things like dressing, PB, etc so now I have a very good idea what 1 tbsp is. Same with coffee creamer etc.
Thanks for your kind words!
Girl I am so right there with you! I still have a nagging 5-8 pounds to lose and my waist size won’t budge. I’ve been working out at the gym and eating super healthy. What gives?!?!?! I still have a pouchy tummy and by the end of the day I could definitely pass for 3 months pregnant! I keep thinking that it must be the hormones and breastfeeding that is keeping this fat from sticking around. I worry that if I cut calories it will cause my body to store even more fat and it might affect my supply (I’m still breastfeeding). I just keep telling myself “9 months up, 9 months down”. I will allow myself to get truly pissed off on Benjamin’s 9 month birthday if I’m still unable to zip my skinny jeans
Part of me however is coming to grips with the fact that I may never be the same and I might need to just accept that. Being a perfectionist its hard for me to do, but when I look at Benjamin’s beautiful chubby face and realize that he thinks his mamma is the bomb no matter what size my pants are, it makes it easier to swallow. Next time your hating on your thighs remember that Bean will always think you are the most perfect and beautiful woman on earth!!
What gives is right? From the pictures I’ve seen, you in no way could pass for being preggers. You are tiny tiny tiny, but we are our own worst critics, no?
Yeah, I’m worried for hitting 9 months and still not being able to fit in all my old work clothes (no stretch, lost of structure). I’m getting really sick of having a limited closet
So true though to see our thriving baby boys and know our bodies created them
You look fantastic, Shanna! I wouldn’t date tally up my sugar intake right now while I am pregnant. LOL. I bet that my intake pre-pregnancy would have surprised me though!
Oh my goodness, my sugar intake was nuts while I was preggers. I think I sort of doomed myself post pregnancy. But man oh man was all that froyo good
I understand. I freak our over every weight jump and I know I’ll be the same way after I have the baby. It’s harder when you are used to being tiny. I’m already worried about taking this weight off. Thanks for being honest.
I was relatively okay with gaining because I assumed that taking it off would be a cinch ..well not a cinch, but not as hard as it is now! Take it one day at a time
I’m sorry you’re frustrated. I think you look fantastic, but I know YOU need to feel fantastic. It doesn’t matter what i say.
You know that I know how it is. It took me 8 months to see the results I wanted, and I am still 6 pounds above my “normal” and Ella’s 14 months old. I got my sugar under control, and I cut out grains..upped my protein and healthy fat. My stomach still has a lot of puff and rolls going on, but whatever. I know it’s hormones holding on. I eat super clean, and I hate the whole calorie counting because it’s crap IMO, but I KNOW I am eating enough for my activity level…and watching my macro intake and sugar the most.
With that said 1300 is TOO low! This is coming from a professional
Just lower your sugar intake..it can be done. It took me a while, but I got it down. I feel so much better! I get around 20 grams or less a day. All fruit sugar. I make my own desserts at home, and sometimes I use NuNatural stevia (it’s an herb, not a chemical sweetener). I hate using anything, but it’s better than sugar. Can you get something at Starbucks without any added fake or real sugar and just carry stevia in your purse?
Also…it’s been 6 months. Your body has been through a lot. It’s a hard concept to grasp..and I still can not grasp it, get extremely frustrated knowing my lifestyle..and seeing other moms who eat crap and have a washboard stomach 6 months postpartum. It sucks, and I feel like Ella’s 14 months now I should be back to the way I looked before I got pregnant..but I don’t and I just have to embrace it. Hormones suck, how we beat ourselves up sucks. Happy babies with happy mommy’s are what’s most important
And your doctor??? Seriously? I’m sorry but what an idiot. Who does that????
keep your chin up!
Aww you’re awesome Lauray. I know you can understand because it really was a process for you, but IMO you look better than ever so it was worth the time/effort you’ve put in. I will never be able to eat as clean as you, but I’m inspired to eat cleaner and am happy to know cutting sugars could have a promising result. I like Stevia in plant form but am not crazed about it in powder form. That being said, I could get to like it because it’s better than the alternatives!
Thank you so much for being honest with me girl! xo
I am so glad I am not alone! I have the same issue – stubborn pounds hanging on for dear life. Why is it so hard to drop those last few pounds?! It seems like everyone I ask had no issues losing their baby weight (perhaps I need new friends? I KIDD!)….so I’m finally happy to hear someone else say it’s not happening as expected even with a good diet and exercise routine. Thanks for sharing! Hopefully we’ll drop those last few pounds soon enough. But you do look great as is BTW!
I’ve had to reduce my sugar intake to practically nothing. I made the unfortunate discovery that sugar makes me break out like a teenage boy. It’s sad.
Hey Shanna!
1. YOu look amazing momma!
2. I have these fears for post-baby myself. So far I’ve gained ~31 lbs (due dates’ on Wednesday!). I feel like I will be able to lose the baby weight quickly BUT realize it took me 10 months to gain the weight, it’ll prolly take me that long to lose the weight. You’re only 6 months out…you will get there!!
3. Are you still nursing? Many women continue to hold on to extra weight in order to continue to nurse.
4. I agree with Laury, you may be eating too little!! I would not recommend going below 1500 calories/day on non-exercise days and 1800 calories/day on workout days. This could be a reason you aren’t losing as well!!
5. Hang in there! You really look great and yea, maybe cutting back on sugar is all it will take!! Good luck!
So far I think the sugar reduction is helping! Wheee!
Wed is your due date? Meep! SO. VERY. EXCITING!
Oh and I have a theory, the more you gain, the easier it is to lose…ha!
And nope, not bf-ing any more..stopped at 4ish months.
Wishing you the best this week!
You eat WAY too few calories, thats the problem. Seriously, with your activity level you need OVER 2000 calories. Your body is holding on to the fat because it isnt receving enough.