Need To Become Fit, But Low Stamina Post Delivery

Discussion in 'Post Pregnancy Care' started by generic, Jan 11, 2017.

  1. generic

    generic Gold IL'ite

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    Posting query for the sake of my sister..

    My sister wAs a little chubby during childhood and teenage days , but then by proper eating and exercising habits managed to reach ideal weight range..but recently weight gain happened during pregnancy..She had some serious medical issues during pregnancy and was during bedrest, also had to take progesterone tablets and few other medications..inspite of following sensible eating, weight increased due to hormonal changes etc..
    It's been 6+ months after delivery but yet to lose any weight.
    She has asked me not to put her age, height, weight n all but She says she needs to reduce about 9 kg to reach ideal weight..the issues that she is facing are as follows;
    1. Low stamina levels..she tries to do small yoga asana or small stretching exercise , and feels tired and breathless.. And lost flexibility of body also
    2. Getting up several times at night , so interrupted sleep, sleep deprived..lack of sleep makes her reach out for junk and sugary foods and unable to control appetite sometimes
    3. Flab accumulated around tummy, hips, thighs..lower half always is problem area from beginning.
    4. Visitors come home often during afternoon times when she wants to catch up on sleep so those days She cannot take naps properly..she doesn't have a say on who comes home and when at inlaws place.
    5. When people come home they look up and down at her figure and ask her "are u doing any exercise or not?" And also make negative remarks like " it's not possible to lose belly fat or fat from hips thighs area after Caesarian" or that " oh u seem to have put on some weight there" , " you should exercise more" , " havent u lost any weight" etc..not only it irritates but also demotivates her..
    6. Many ladies boast how they managed to lose so much weight by exclusively breastfeeding..but due to low milk supply and other issues she is unable to exclusively BF...She just pump or express and feed with cup n spoon etc...else she gives formula mostly... no amount of nutritional supplements or foods or capsules helped with milk supply
    So such discussions make her feel upset and she cries sometimes.
    7.She wants to diet but doctor told her not to diet now as milk supply maybe affected.
    8. She has fallen sick couple of times since delivery..has taken 3 courses of antibiotics..feeling weak
    9. she is taking calcium , vitamins, iron supplements etc so I do not think she is Anaemic.
    10. She is taking thyroid tablet due to hypothyroid..
    Her TSH level was 4 but now it's normal..
    11. She is the type of person who gets anxious for small small issues also..

    All these months she didn't think about weight and all but now started thinking as She doesn't want to get some other health problem due to weight..
    Request anyone to give some useful advice so we can help her become slim again.
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2017
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  2. blindpup10

    blindpup10 Platinum IL'ite

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    @generic- I am sorry that your sister is dealing with a lot of emotional stressors along with weight gain.
    I went through almost a similar phase of producing a low-BM and low stamina. I can understand what your sister might be going through. Pregnancy changes women's body- it took me a long time to accept it.

    My serious suggestion is please give your sister a breather. Pregnancy is hard to top it less BM + hypothyroid makes it even harder to shed weight. People constantly talking about it will make new mothers feel bad about their body, self-worth (not able to produce milk), fear of unknowns in their future+ the babies future. [I was so guilty about low-BM and felt very bad that I had failed somehow to make my DS more healthy]

    My suggestion is-
    1. Get her an extra hand to take care of the baby.Hire a maid if possible to take care of the baby. At least for 2 months.

    2.If the baby is 6 months old. It is common to implement sleep schedules.

    3.Did your sister wear a postpartum belt after her delivery? This helps quite a bit of stomach to gain its firmness. It will not take away the belly fat- but does give some kind of firmness.

    4. I had a cesarean and I lost all my pregnancy weight. It's very wrong on people's part to compare about losing weight and give the worse examples to your sister. If I were you please shield your sister from these comments, if that's not possible- make sure your sister has a witty comeback to people who compare or question her about weight.

    5. Your sister has to lay off junk food. There are no 2 ways about it. It's not good for the baby to get mothers milk when the mother is eating junk/ sugary food. Have healthier options like oatmeal, bread, items from rava. Sorry, I don't encourage diet during postpartum- she should eat to her content but with a healthier option.

    6. I can understand that your sister has no say about the visitors. Can she tell her PIL's that she needs the sleep and skip the part of greet/ talk with the visitors? The visitors can see the baby- like MIL can come take the baby and show. Can some sort of a set up be worked out with the MIL?

    7. Ask your sister to try this- eat a banana before the exercise and then eat fruits like pineapple/ citrus after the exercise. Your sister has to keep eating throughout the day. I nibbled food, snacks, coffee & milk throughout the day. She shouldn't eat just 3 meals. I will encourage her to eat almonds, dates, raisins, walnuts. Also, ask her to substitute to drinking hot/ warm water rather than room temp water.

    8. Exercise, exercise, exercise. Exercise should become a part of our lifestyle. After pregnancy, women are more prone to gaining weight. Our body isn't pre-baby body... where we have the firm stomach or firm thighs. My DS is almost 15 months. I have been exercising from the 4th month postpartum ( on and off). I don't have to loose any more weight. I exercise to keep myself fit. Although I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight- I still have a small tummy that doesn't look like its going away. Women's body changes quite a lot. It's not about the waist size after a child, it's about being healthy.

    9. Talk in a positive manner about exercise, weight gain, acceptance of body changes.

    10. Take your sister shopping and get her loose fitting clothes. Sometimes changing our wardrobe will give us a bit of a breather from people who compare/ comment on the weight.


    Hugs to your sister- she will get through this phase.
    Goodluck
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2017
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  3. WorriesTooMuch

    WorriesTooMuch Silver IL'ite

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    My gosh who are these horrible people pressuring your sister! What awful people! As to her weight, please don't worry. I took 4 years to lose my baby weight and in the initial few months after delivery I gained it, not lost!

    My doctor told me a few things-

    1. When body is sleep deprived, it is impossible to lose weight. Body is in a crisis situation, it'll hold on to fat. So until baby is settled into a full nights sleep (around 14 months) and she starts getting a good nights sleep, forget about weight loss.

    2. Yoga helped me a lot. It de-stresses the body and mind, another important step toward weight loss. But ask her to do it calmly, without expecting dramatic results.

    3. Once baby is a little mobile, she can go to parks/walks with the baby and slowly drop off the weight.

    4. Above all, don't worry. Forget those idiots who are pressuring her. Did they carry the baby in the womb? People bark at anything given half a chance. If she loses weight they'll have something else to say. Ask her to enjoy her baby for now and eat well. Things can be done at their own pace :)
     
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  4. WorriesTooMuch

    WorriesTooMuch Silver IL'ite

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    By the way, I also formula fed and had a c-section. Yes, there's always a little belly bulge, but it's not really visible. I don't blame her for junk food eating, but perhaps she can stock the house with slightly healthier snacks and avoid the junk. Also, as baby is formula fed, can in laws/husband do a few feeds? Once sleep is restored, everything falls into place!
     
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  5. Itshightime

    Itshightime Bronze IL'ite

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    OMG, it is only 6 months post delivery. Why is your sister worrying so much about her weight? My heart cries out for the baby. It is better to altogether stop BF baby at all if she is stressing abt everything b'coz with her current stressed condition she is harming the baby as well.

    An infant’s intestinal tract responds to its mother’s milk by sprouting receptors that detect the hormone, activating neurochemical signals that can travel all the way to the brain. These signals may influence a baby’s stress response and the development of brain regions that regulate emotions such as fear and anxiety.

    She is not going to have proper 8 hrs sleep for another 2-3 years. Baby will sleep for longer period of time once he starts moving around. But again that stage is also very tiring. Running after baby all the time. Welcome to the world of motherhood!!

    As for her health, her stamina will recover eventually. Her body has gone through a major amount of changes in these 9 + 6 months. She has experienced major hormones up and down through out her pregnancy. Definitely she is not going to be hail and hearty as soon as the baby comes out.

    But see the best part of it. SHE IS A MOTHER NOW.
     
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  6. generic

    generic Gold IL'ite

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    Yeah she is a sensible person who understands these things..even doctors gave same advice...
    Actually the first few months while confining in parents home no visitors came..she didn't speak about weight n all that..recently in past 2 months she has had lot of visitors..
    One of her relative who delivered many years ago has dropped in a couple of times..
    That relative , during every visit repeatedly goes on and on about how she has exercised during pregnancy and walked so many kilometres till she was sweating..and did not gain any extra weight during delivery..she also breastfed her baby till 1.5 years and always says how natural and easy breastfeeding is and how she was fit after delivery due to feeding and didn't have weight gain problem at all...
    On the other hand my sis had problems during pregnancy, she was in high risk category and could not walk few steps or step out of house without someone's assistance and due to very low milk supply baby refuses to latch n breastfeed after initial 2 months, if she uses pump she gets few drops or max few ml milk...now baby refuses BFing and asks for bottle.
    Her feelings of inadequacy and hormonal change makes her to do emotional outbursts sometimes..if she does some exercises and becomes fit it may help her feel good I think.
     
  7. Laks09

    Laks09 Moderator Staff Member IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi - First of all, 9 kgs to shed at six months post parting itself is a huge victory. I was on limited activity through pregnancy, no exercise, no walking even and at six months post partum, I still had 17 kgs to go. In fact, I held on to those 17 kilos and shed it all only after my son's third birthday.
    I had a c as well with my son and managed to lose it all, including the tummy flab. Unfortunately for me, my stomach was the last place to give up. I've heard of friends who lost the first few lbs from their post partum tummy. My last 4 kgs came from my tummy. Saying this so she doesn't think that post C, tummy remains.

    At six months pp, she can start walking. Leslie Sansone's walking programs on YouTube are free and are a good workout. I haven't done it personally but a lot of people from the fitness forum use it.
    Once she builds some stamina, she can start other exercises that she likes to do.
    Since she isn't exclusively nursing, she can start reducing excess cals. My supply was hit hard so I didn't reduce any until i stopped nursing my son at 29 months. Another reason why I held on to that pp weight for so long.
    I had a friend who used the myfitnesspal app to track cals and added 300 cals extra for breastfeeding her 8 months old. I'm not sure of the exact value but lots of people in mfp forums in the same situation trying to lose post baby weight. They may hand the exact values.

    Btw, I nursed both my kids extensively. I don't see any difference between my teenage daughter and her friends that I can attribute to the nursing. Ask her not to be so hard on herself. As long as the baby is fed and healthy, don't bother about the inability to lactate. When the baby is four years old nobody will care about who was nursed and who was formula fed. Only who is being fed properly. Stress and lack of sleep causes supply disruptions. So does lack of hydration and lots of other factors. Ask her not to stress too much on what she can't but rather what she can!

    Good luck to her. Ask her to come and join the fitness forum!
     
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  8. generic

    generic Gold IL'ite

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    @Laks09..
    Thank u so much for sharing ur experience and the reassuring words..
     
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  9. momsky

    momsky Gold IL'ite

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    @generic, I had 3 C-sections and was really big(170-180 lbs) during my pregnancies but now back to 100 lbs. My advise is to only eat a big plate green salad for dinner with a glass of water or a can of soda before 7 pm. It sounds pretty daunting but trust me, you won't feel hungry. I noticed when I eat rice for dinner, I get hungry within a few hours. Your sister can have her big meal during lunch.

    Also, get a scale to weigh herself every morning before breakfast. It's a big help for motivation.
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
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  10. Itshightime

    Itshightime Bronze IL'ite

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    When you are younger, parents and relatives and friends decides for you.. what you should wear and what is good for you and what not... These are kind of things that do not seek responsibilities...

    I know how some people/relatives could be.. But believe me, they don't have the best interest in their minds. But now she is a Mother. She is the world to her child.. She should set her priorities whether she should be worrying about that lady, who she may not meet of couple of years or she needs to focus on her little bundle of joy.

    About BFing, why to worry so much. She has atleast BF him for 2 months. Some women cannot even do that due to health reasons. My cousin could not BF both her kids b'coz doc said something that her nipple werent proper or something. But her both the kids are happy and healthy. They both were formula-fed. The child is already 6 mnths now. I think you can introduce solids now (ofcourse, consulting the doc.)

    It is usual observation that babies either stick to BF or Formula. due chng in taste... Ofcourse, she can start exercising but light ones initially. With rigorous exercising she won't have enough energy for the kid. Also, ask her to watch her diet else she will get deficiencies.

    When my little one was 3 mnths old, my MIL came to take rest to our house for 4 mnths. She did not move from her bed b'coz she had pain in her legs. I had to look after my elder one, do household chores, in-laws chores, visiting relatives, etc, etc. Also, if in-laws are at home, I cannot ask my husband to do household-work. Also I have to prepare 3 meals a day. My husand fought with me day and night b'coz he felt I was not taking proper care of his mother, I was fed-up. I could not have rest during day or night b'coz my son cried at night. My MIL alone drank 2 litres of milk everyday at home. Grocery expenses were running high. SO I did not bother to get myself nutritious food and I stopped drinking milk. I would save it for my daughter.

    Resultant I lost lot of pregnancy weight and along with that I had B12, Calcium, D3, Iron, Protein in urine, and capillaries breaking under the skin... all these things at the same time... After few months, I myself had a operation. Nobody was there for my aid when I was suffering from my stomach ailment and also had to look after 2 young children. Also, after/during operation MIL did not come to help me. My mother and husband looked after me.

    So basically, what I am trying to say, is to ask her not to worry about rest of the world. Concentrate on child and be healthy for her child.
     
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