I'm DISGUSTED!!

A

adrienne

New Member
Could someone please give me some answers...............I have been exercising with the firm for years and never had any trouble losing weight through proper eating and exercising. Now, I just had my second child on Jan 30th. I started eating properly 2 days after my son was born, and was able to start training intensely 6 days a week 2 weeks later. Here it is almost 2 months later and I weigh 1 lb. more than when I started. I could cry, why is this happening. I'm trying to be positive, but it's hard when each week my measurements and weight go nowhere! I do weights and cardio each 3 days a week, and here's a sample of my diet for the past 2 months;

meal 1: 1 egg and 3 whites w/ I slice of light wheat bread

meal 2: nutrition bar

meal 3: chicken breast and vegetables

meal 4: nutrition shake

meal 5: lean protein (beef, chicken breast, fish) and baked
potato.

meal 6: nutrition shake

NO CHEATING!

Someone please tell me what to do!
 
Are you breastfeeding by any chance? If so, you are not eating enough. I did a rough estimate of your eating plan (assuming your nutrition bar was approx. 200 cals and your nutrition shake was 300 cals--which may be too conservative)and it seems you are only taking in around 1400-1500 cals/day. With your exercise plan and the additional calories needed for breastfeeding (again, I am assuming you are but could be wrong), you are not supplying enough nutrients and your body may be going into starvation mode--conserving calories. I have never had a baby so I cannot give real good advice on this topic. Have you posted this same question on the Fitmom's board? If not, you should because then someone more qualified can give you better direction. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the input, but no I'm not breastfeeding. I will try my post on the FitMom board. Thanks again!
Adrienne
 
Question...

Hi,
I don't have much real advice for you - sorry - except to just give it time. You know what they say - 9 months to put it on and 9 months to take it off - it's true! After my 2nd baby for about 2 mos. I didn't lose anything but I kept working out and then bam, it started coming right off, although it was 2 steps forward, 1 step back - I'd lose 2-3 pounds and then gain 1, then lose 2, gain one...etc. but it finally all came off, and then some. And I only had time to do a quick total-body weight workout 1x per week and treadmill for 1/2 hour 1-2 times per week. That is not much. So give your body some time to come around.
Anyway, I do have a question for you. When you say you had a chicken breast and vegetables for lunch - how did you cook those? I'm trying to eat more healthy but with a 1- and 2-yr old in the house I never have time to do much more than eat some goldfish and an apple, it seems! Also, how did you make your nutrition shake? I'm trying to find healthy things to have for lunch.
thanks & good luck!
Candice
 
Adrienne, Hi, I just bought a book called "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell After Pregnancy" and it's great, it explains everything about weight loss/fat loss after and what you should be doing etc. The author is Debra Waterhouse and you can get it at Amazon, hope this helps.
 
Can I ask your age? Because I am feeling the same way!

I am 39. I used to be able to eat anything and everything I wanted, if I worked out hard 6 days a week.

Well that is no longer workings. I am convinced it is my age and hormonal things that are happening to my body.

I am going to count calories, and if that doesn't work I will have to move on to clean eating.

Just my thoughts about where I am with this!

http://www.debsgifs.com/random1/gifs2/runner1.gif
 
Hi Adrienne,
I was wondering why you are eating the nutrition bars and nutrition shakes?
If they are high in protein, it appears yu are getting more than adequate protein from your "real" food.
It does look like you should be eating more fruits/vegetables however. I noticed you only had one serving of vegetables a day and no fruits listed.
I think these would be much preferable to the nutrition bars and shakes. My feeling about bars and shakes is that they are expensive and do not provide anything special that a balanced diet cannot provide. Remember, most Americans get far more protein than they need. On the other hand,most American's diets are sorely lacking in fruits and vegetables (I am guilty of this myself). I think that if you substitute fruits and vegetables for the bars and shakes, the calorie count will come down.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. I am 24 by the way. I am actually following the body for life program. I don't know if any of you are familiar with it, but it is fantastic. Before I had my son, I looked better than I did my whole life. I worked fantastic. But now.............
As far as these nutrition bars and shakes, I simply use myoplex lite bars and myoplex original shakes (I actually have a half shake 2 times a day because they are higher in cals). I get them at GNC. That is what body for life recommends. And yes I use them for extra protein. I don't agree that I would have enough protein without them. People who work out intensely and train with weights need more protein than average people. Muscle Media magazine (affiliated with body for life) reccomends 1 gram per pound of body weight. For me that would be around 140 grams.
Without the extra 60 grams I get from the bars and shakes I'd never even come close!
As far as how I cook my chicken, I actually just bake it with seasoning. It isn't that interesting, but sometimes I put salsa on it or A-1 for extra flavor. Or I'll add it to a salad.
Anyway, body for life's website is simply bodyforlife.com. It's worth checking out.
P.S I should up my fruit/vegetable consumption
 
I don't think you are eating enough! Looks like around 1200 to 1300 calories to me. You had your baby the very end of January and we are not quite to April. How much did you gain? Give yourself a break! You are a new mom and that is inherently stressful. Eat a carb rich diet with lots of whole grains and fruits and veggies and several sources of lean protein but up that intake to at least 1800 a day. Working out 6 days a week, you'll easily lose a pound a week. You may have slowed your metablism a bit by underconsuming calories. Emphasize whole grains, brown rice and beans but eat more! As the wonderful Donna says "you gotta eat to lose"!

Bobbi http://www.plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif Chick's Rule!
 
Hi Adrienne,
I do not mean to beat a dead horse, but really, 1 gram of protein per pound body weight is actually much more than anyone needs.
For women, the RDA equation is .8 grams per kilogram (which is equal to 2.2 pounds). Endurance athletes, pregnant women, and older adults may have higher requirements. These numbers are based on RDA guidelines which I believe is a credible source of information.
Excess protein is used to make glucose or stored as fat.
 
I also have 2 children (ages 5 &2) and I found a big difference after the second child. You have to think about it--you are older than you were with the first and our bodies change. Give yourself time...you just had the baby 3 months ago. You can't compare to what happened the first time around or you will go crazy. You may just need a different challenge--try using other videos (cathe for example). I think our bodies get used to the videos we do and it is good to switch and alternate.Also, remember muscle weighs more than fat so you may be switching those fat tissues to muscle (even though it will increase weight and/or measurement size) it is a good thing. Keep your chin up--things will get better. Good luck
 
I have to chime in. I agree, adding more fruits and veggies is a good idea for anyone, post-partum or not. I also agree with your take on protein consumption only b/c after trial and error I have found that adding extra protein has really leaned out my body without changing anything about my workouts. I tend to disagree with the comment that extra protein is used to make glucose only b/c I dont really see how this is possible. The building blocks of proteins are amino acids, glucose is a totally different chemical compound. I dont see how the two are inter-converted. It's a biochemical fact that carbohydrates can be converted to glucose however. And, any excess glucose that is not burned will be to a small extent be stored as glycogen in muscle cells, but the excess carbohydrates will be stored as fat. It makes sense (to me at least) that without enough protein in your diet, your body will in addition to burning glucose, start to break down your hard-earned muscle tissue to provide energy. Anyway, those are my two cents :) Happy Easter everyone!

:) Stacy
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Mar-30-02 AT 01:29PM (Est)[/font][p]Hi Stacy,
Actually, yes, glucose may be made from protein when carbohydrate intake is too low. The term is gluconeogenesis. Glucose is produced from amino acids. This process occurs in the liver. Actually, however body protein (muscle) is used rather than dietary protein. But, it is important to remember that carbohydrate is protein sparing.
 
Hey KS...thanks for the info! My days of biochemistry are long forgotten, lol, but thanks for the "memories" :)

Stacy
 
Adrienne:

So much good advice and commentary here.

First off: stand tall and proud of all that you do and have achieved so far. You have just given birth to your second child. Your body is worthy of incredible respect, not punishment. You are strong, capable, you look after at least three other individuals on a daily basis and you also find time to work out regularly and look after yourself. That is an incredible amount of achievement in my book. Pat your body on the back, or wherever you want, you know what I mean! The female human body is miraculous: yours no less than any other. Definitely: give yourself a break.


I agree with the ladies who told you to eat more fruit and veg: it's the number 1 change I would make. The range of vitamins and anitoxidants would make a great difference to your overall health. You could add two servings of fruit easily to your breakfast routine to begin with, then keep carrots, grapes and peppers on hand for snacking if you need them, and aim for a very colourful plate at lunch and dinner time. If you divide your plate into 5 sections for each main meal, only one of those fifths should be from animal protein source. Fill the others up with a carb (potato, rice, pasta) and several, diferent coloured veggies for max nutritional benefit.

You don't mention what you eat in the way of dairy --if memory of your posting serves me right-- what are you doing for calcium? Milk and yoghurt could do you a world of good rather than the protein shakes and bars. Mid-morning: a low fat yoghurt and piece of fruit. Perfect!!!

I really think you should save your money for those cute baby outfits or some special beauty treatments to pamper your newly-birthed self, rather than use the protein shakes and bars: most people in the US get way more protein than they need. Rather than the mid-morning shake or bar, a huge slice of canteloupe would do you so much more good. You aren't a competitive athlete in training, just a regular person working out and taking care of her body. Regular food is therefore all you need. Don't let the hype on those products fool you. They are just after your money.

Good luck Adrienne and keep us posted on how you do

Clare
 
Clare,
That's right. That was something I did not hit on, but when you deny yourself fruits and vegetables you are missing out on many wonderful antioxidants and phytochemicals. There is no evidence that you can replace these phytochemicals with vitamin/mineral supplements.
The suggestion for having a colorful plate is a good one.
 
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