Postpartum Weight Loss

Only about one month to go until Baby #7 is born, and I’m beginning to look like I could actually pop. I’m brushing up on how to lose baby weight; it’s good to be prepared!

I’ve written here before about weight loss tips, but I have not shared how I lose weight specifically in the postpartum period. At any other time in life when I want to shed a few pounds, I follow the methods laid out in the book, Mastering Leptin. After having a baby, however, the methods I use are much different. To remind myself of how I lost baby weight before, I’ve been re-reading my other favorite weight loss book, Hello, Baby Good-bye, Baby Fat by Sheldon Levine. Levine’s book has very effectively helped me lose all my pregnancy weight (and then some) after my last four babies.

What I’ve learned

Losing weight after having a baby is completely unlike losing weight at any other time in our lives. During this special time, our bodies are naturally designed to lose weight on their own, and efforts to diet can sabotage this awesome gift of easy and healthy weight loss. Low-calorie dieting during the postpartum phase is dangerous because our bodies need proper nutrition to restore themselves. Not only that, but postpartum dieting dramatically lowers metabolism, and can work to bring weight loss to a halt. Through Levine’s book, I was also fascinated to learn that the postpartum period is an opportunity for new moms to reset their “set point” – that number on the scale that our bodies stubbornly cling to. You read that right: By taking advantage of this short window of time (from baby’s birth until about 6 months; 9 months for overweight, breastfeeding moms), new moms can lower their set point to weigh less than before pregnancy!

Tips

For my own reminder, and for anyone else who is expecting or has recently had a baby, here are a few tip for maximizing postpartum weight loss:

1. Eat protein and carbohydrates together.
   Pardon my overly simplified explanation here… This is especially critical after having a baby, because protein needs carbs in order to create serotonin. Lack of serotonin can cause the baby blues, or worse, fully-blown postpartum depression. It can also make you irritable, cause difficulty sleeping (and new moms need all the sleep they can get) and make you fatigued. Make sure you eat a little protein and carbs at every meal. The rule-of-thumb I’ve used is 50-60% complex carbs, 25% protein, and 20% fat.
2. Drink lots of water.
   I know that we should do this all of the time, but it’s especially important after having a baby. Now, following is only my own little theory, and I haven’t read it in any books. However, my experience has led me to believe that there is a direct link between dehydration and the baby blues. I was excessively weepy for several months after my first child was born. I would cry inconsolably for no apparent reason, often needing to leave the room when guests were over. It would happen sporadically, but it was always at it’s worst when I nursed, so I believe that it was related to hormones. I’ll never forget one afternoon when my second child was a newborn; I was sitting in a rocking chair nursing him, glass of water in hand. Suddenly, I was hit with the realization that with each sip of water, I felt a little better. From that day on, I would go for water and guzzle it down at the first hint of weepiness. It didn’t completely rid the baby blues, but it did help tremendously in curbing the emotions that followed my last five babies.
3. Snacking is good.
   The postpartum period is a time when I do not follow my usual “no-snacking” rule. Levine recommends three snacks a day, one between each meal. I don’t eat quite that many, but after having a baby, I always welcome a mid-afternoon snack between lunch and dinner.
4. No eating after 7pm.
   I follow this rule all the time, pregnant or not, postpartum or not. This rule from Mastering Leptin is also given in Hello Baby! Goodbye Baby Fat.
5. Take good vitamins.
   It’s nearly impossible to get all your RDA of nutrients from food and still shed weight. Unfortunately, most over-the-counter vitamins are rather useless. They may be inexpensive, but they are still a waste of money because most go right through your system undigested. Frugal mom that I try to be, I not only have to consider quality of the product but cost as well. The best multi-vitamins I have found that are reasonably priced are SuperMom Vitamins by Beeyoutiful. Warning – the regular adult vitamins are huge and can be difficult to swallow. They make the same vitamins in a smaller capsule, but those are a little more expensive. Personally, I hold my breath and gulp down the big vitamins with a beverage, thus saving the extra money. However, if you have a lot of trouble swallowing large pills, I’d suggest you go for the smaller ones.  By the way, the company also makes SuperDad and SuperKids vitamins. SuperDad vitamins are the same as SuperMom, but without the iron. Men tend to have too much iron in their systems, while women tend to be iron deficient. My husband does take the SuperDad vitamins and is pleased with them. SuperKids is a liquid supplement that comes in orange and berry flavors. I have never purchased the SuperKids supplement, so I can not vouch for them except to say that we like the other “Super” products.
6. Cut back on caffeine.
   This is important for all new moms, not just for those who breastfeed. Caffeine can upset hormonal balances, causing mood swings, sleep problems, and loss of potassium. One or two cups of tea or coffee a day are fine, but more than that can cause problems.
7. Skip the strenuous exercise.
   For the first three months, Levine does not recommend strenuous exercise. I’m not prone to exercise, so I didn’t have to be told twice! He explains that in the early postpartum period, exercise has no effect on weight loss, and the studies actually showed that more weight was lost by women who did not exercise. After three months, it’s good to introduce some exercise.
8. Cut back on salt.
   Too much salt can cause fatigue and headache for new moms.

It’s all so simple, but without the knowledge of how our bodies are designed to shed weight after giving birth, we can easily sabotage our bodies’ efforts by pursuing fad diets, low-calorie menus, and untimely strenuous exercise. My tips above only scratch the surface, so if you are interested in implementing this, I highly recommend that you read Levine’s book for yourself. Levine explains the guidelines on what you should be doing differently during each of the postpartum trimesters, provides complete menu plans for two weeks worth of meals, shares recipes to go along with them, and gives specific exercises to do. Truly, this is a great book for any new mom who wants to lose weight.

 

Protected: Weight Loss Accountability

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Protected: Weight Loss Accountability

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In case you are wondering

You’ve probably noticed the mysterious “password-protected” posts about weight loss in the past week or so. After my blog post about kickstarting weight loss, a few ladies expressed an interest in joining me in my weight loss effort.

What I am doing here is trying to create some sort of accountability, so that we can motivate each other to stick with it.

My plan is to write a new weight loss post about once a week, sharing information about how I am doing. We comment on those posts as often as we like throughout the week. There is no pressure for anyone to share any more information than they feel comfortable. These accountability posts are password protected so that only those participating can read what we write. Some of the things we are sharing are:

• starting weight/current weight (but no pressure for anyone to share this)
• # of pounds lost (or gained – although I hope this doesn’t happen!)
• exercise (I don’t exercise, so this is always absent in my posts!)
• food log
• what is going well
• what we’re struggling with
• pats on the back when someone is doing well
• anything else we’d like to share

I find that it really helps for two reasons:

1. We have others to report to, which makes us more inclined to stick with it.
2. It helps to know that we’re in it together.

The more, the merrier, so we would welcome anyone else who wants to join us. If you would like to participate, leave a comment to this post letting me know, being sure to enter a valid email address. Your email will not be able to be seen by anyone but me. I’ll then email you the password for our accountability posts, and you can start your weight loss journey with us as your accountability partners!

 

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Kickstarting Weight Loss

My eating habits have not been the best lately. I indulged a bit too much over Christmas.

And Thanksgiving.

The past 6 months, actually…

No matter; it’s time to get serious and lose a few pounds. I’ve done it before, and I know how to do it again. Does anyone want to join me?

I have been re-reading the book that contains the most helpful information I’ve ever found in regards to weight loss: Mastering Leptin by Byron J. Richards. This is a fantastic book that has helped me to stay very close to my wedding weight throughout fourteen years and six pregnancies. The book is much more than a “how-to” book, however.  Richards explains why it works, which I believe is just as important in order to stick with the program. If I don’t understand why I shouldn’t eat a bite of celery at 10:00pm, then I’m more likely to cheat on the “no eating at night” rule, right? If, however, I understand that a single bite of anything can cause insulin resistance, then I’m more inclined to follow the rule. The book is also packed full of info on treating and avoiding health conditions such as diabetes, eating disorders, thyroid problems, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and fibromyalgia.

In the times that I’ve lost weight before, I’ve always been in one of four clearly defined weight loss phases. As I go through each of them, I’ll be taking notes and sharing them here, for anyone else who would like some tips. The four phases that I tend to stay in are:

1. Kickstarting Weight Loss (which I am about to begin)
2. Continuing Weight Loss (after the scales have shown a clear movement in the right direction; about 2 weeks)
3. Maintaining Weight (after I’ve gotten to the weight I want to be)
4. Post-Partum (I don’t plan on being in this phase anytime soon, but I’ll be blogging about it nonetheless.)

So this post is in regards the the first phase: Kickstarting Weight Loss.

Simply “eating healthy” is fine once I’ve gotten the weight loss ball rolling, or when I’m trying to maintain weight. However, to actually get *started* in losing weight, I need to get a little more drastic:

1. Drink lots of water, all day long.
2. Cut out all sugar and junk food. No desserts, potato chips, french fries, sodas… You know, the obvious stuff. I realize that I tend to develop addictions to these foods, and if I indulge at all, I only prolong the pain of withdrawing from them. I have to go cold turkey.
3. Allow 4-6 hours between meals. It takes several hours to burn off calories from the food I eat. Only after those are burned, will I begin to burn any fat. The longer I wait between meals, the more fat I burn.
4. No snacks. Zilch. Not even healthy ones. Any snacking between meals will sabotage my efforts to go into fat burning mode.
5. Water is the only beverage I drink with lunch and dinner. I do allow myself a cup of hot tea with honey at breakfast.
6. Stop eating when slightly less than full. Some time is needed for the “full” signal to reach the brain. By ending a meal when I feel less than full, I avoid over-eating.
7. Eat slowly to allow the “full” signal enough time to reach my brain.
8. Eat at least one salad every day. For some reason, I just don’t lose weight unless I do this. Most often in kickstarting phase, I’ll eat a salad for lunch with nothing else. The kids, on the other hand, supplement their salad with something like a sandwich, fruit, yogurt, and/or bread. I usually eat a salad with dinner too.
9. No eating anything after 7:00pm. Eating after 7 is a good way to gain fat. Sumo wrestlers gain tremendous amounts of weight by deliberately binging late at night. Fasting between dinner and breakfast is a great opportunity to burn fat. Even a snippet of celery at night can sabotage this.
10. Careful balance at dinner time. Dinners during this phase are usually meat, hot veggies and/or salad, and bread. Potatoes, pasta and stuffing are off-limits for me at this time. It’s important to eat protein and carbohydrates together. They actually do affect each other.
11. Last but not least, Take vitamins. It’s nearly impossible to get all your RDA of nutrients from food and still shed weight. Unfortunately, most over-the-counter vitamins are rather useless. They may be inexpensive, but they are still a waste of money because most go right through your system undigested. Frugal mom that I am (hey – I have six kids, ya know?), I not only have to consider quality of the product but cost as well. The best multi-vitamins I have found that are actually affordable (about $12 a month) are SuperMom Vitamins by Beeyoutiful. By the way, the company also makes SuperDad and SuperKids. The SuperKids is a liquid supplement, just in case you’re interested. Warning, the regular adult vitamins are horse-pill-huge. They do make the same vitamins in a smaller capsule, but they are slightly more expensive. Personally, I gag down the big ones to save the money. However, if you have trouble swallowing large pills, then I’d recommend the smaller ones.

So how long do I stay in Kickstarting Phase? Usually one to two weeks. For me, this stage ends after I’ve lost about 5 pounds. My experience is that the first 3-5 pounds are water weight, and come off very quickly. Others might carry around up to ten pounds of excess water weight, so their goal for the kickstarting phase should be over 10 pounds. If you’ve ever lost weight quickly and gained it back even quicker, the weight you lost was probably water weight. Dropping excess water weight is the essential first step toward dropping pounds of fat! But those first few pounds are not a signal that you are “done.” When you relax on the eating rules, even while continuing to eat healthy, you can expect to immediately put on a few pounds of water weight.

This is the hardest phase, but it is also the shortest. I can keep on with it with the knowledge that it will only last a week or two.

Stay tuned in the next few weeks for my post on “Continuing Weight Loss.”