how did you lose the baby weight?

My son is a year and a half old and I still look like I'm pregnant! During the pregnancy I gained 55 lbs in just my stomach (nowhere else did I gain any weight). I do sit ups 100 a day and have cut back on my calories. I just don't know how to lose this baby weight in my stomach and it's driving my crazy. My husband wants me to wear all this cute shirts and says he doesn't care what my body looks like because it got like that carrying his children and he loves the way it looks but I don't feel comfortable wearing a shirt that is tight on my stomach when my stomach looks as pudgey as it does.

any suggestions? I can't go to a gym either I have no time (and no car to get there during the day either) I have an ab lounger here and I'm looking into getting a treadmill.

You're not going to loose weight by doing crunches only. You are going to need to completly change your habits- you need to start doing cardio - if you can't get to a gym- go for a walk around your neighborhood- or turn your radio on at home and dance around with your baby and just have fun together! You should most likely be doing 30 minutes of cardio (at least) 3-4x a week. In addition to that- including some light weights/resistance training into your workout helps too! It will build lean muscle and that will help burn fat.

Try doing simple things- like when you're watching tv- why not walk in place for a while- so that you're being active and not sitting around- or do your crunches then...a few reps or push ups. Also- depending on your dietary needs- you could cut back on things like over processed foods and really sugary stuff and use whole wheat pasta instead of enriched stuff. That helps! Drink lots of water too- that's important as well

I used to run up and down the stairs for awhile at night when the kids went to bed and then I tripped on the cat so stopped doing that.

I'll have to start doing the stuff you suggested. I don't think I eat ALL that bad I mean I splurge a couple times a month and have pizza but for the most part it's a bowl of cereal and a cup of milk for breakfast, sandwich with a spinach salad for lunch, and sandwich with a glass of milk for dinner. I have 1 can of pop a day and drink 2-3 bottles of water a day.

Originally Posted by lonelykitten

I used to run up and down the stairs for awhile at night when the kids went to bed and then I tripped on the cat

so stopped doing that.

I'll have to start doing the stuff you suggested. I don't think I eat ALL that bad I mean I splurge a couple times a month and have pizza but for the most part it's a bowl of cereal and a cup of milk for breakfast, sandwich with a spinach salad for lunch, and sandwich with a glass of milk for dinner. I have 1 can of pop a day and drink 2-3 bottles of water a day.

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Maybe nix the stairs idea I'm HORRIBLY clumsy with stairs- i feel down the concrete/marbled stairs at my old church when i was in middle school and cracked my tailbone

It may sound weird- but you really should be eating more often. Aim for 5 small meals a day. Breakfast (say an egg, whole wheat toast, some low sugar oj, and fruit), a nice snack mid morning - a handfull of almonds or some peanut butter and crackers, for lunch - like you said maybe a nice sandwich and salad, for your dinner a good meal with some protein to it- think lean cuts of meat and chicken that is boneless/skinless or if you like ground meat- use ground turkey in place of ground beef. be sure to drain your meat after you brown it too to get off extra fat. Use brown rice in place of white rice and whole wheat pastas.....whole wheat breads are YUMMY too instead of white breads. Be sure to allow yourself a healthy after dinner snack too - a piece of fruit or string cheese, or a nice low fat/sugar dessert (www.cookinglight.com has AWESOME recipes!)

Hello lonelykitten. I weighed 160 lbs after having my kids. At the end of June I got serious about losing the extra weight. As of this morning I am now down to 135. I have a few suggestions that may help you on your journey.

One go online to a site such as calorie king and find out what your calorie count would be to maintain your current weight (its under resources and tools). Depending on what that says you want to subtract about 500 calories from what it lists to have a 1-2 lb loss per week. But try not to go under 1200 calories a day. Also go to fitday.com(its free) and log everything you eat to see what your current calorie intake is and see what you need to change.

Drink more water. I drink anywhere for 80-100oz per day. When I started doing that I lost about 10lbs of water weight in about 2 weeks. Eat more whole grains, lean protein, fruits and veggies. Also limit the amount of fried foods you have. We pan fry things now with a bit of olive oil. If you don't already eat breakfast start making a habit of it. It will help jump start your metabolism for the day.

Also as starry said doing crunches alone won't work. It will build muscle but you won't see it because it will still be under a layer of fat. Cardio is a good place to start. 30 mins a day a few times a week is a good starting point. If you can buy some ankle and wrist weights they will help you build muscle that will help burn calories. The ankle weights you can wear while cleaning the house. If going outside the house to walk or jog is difficult with a young child buy or check out from the library exercise tapes. I really recommend Walk Away The Pounds tapes and DVDs. You can start with a 1 miles tape and work up to the 4 mile tape or the Walk and Jog tape. These require little room and are easy to learn to routine. And this will sound corny but i also recommend Richard Simmons tapes if you can get some. I bought mine online. These really help me to get up and exercise. And also as Starry said turn on a radio and dance with the little ones or while cleaning the house is a great simple way to add some cardio in your day.

Good luck. Pm me if you have any questions or if you need more suggestions.

I didnt gain much weight when I got pregnant with Ari. So a month after I had her I was only about 15 lbs over my prepregnancy weight. I slowly just lost it. Now Im actually 5 lbs less then before I got pregnant.

My three are adopted, I have gained weight with every one of them I am dieting now and going for walks

I stopped eating fast food, junk food and drinking soda. I also walked a LOT.
I had gained about 65 lbs but I was about 25 lbs under weight to begin with. Now I'm about 5-10 lbs from being what I used to be, a stick, but the doctors said that I'm actually healthier this way, lol.

You might want to get your thyroid levels checked, too, and maybe a test for Hashimoto's antibodies.

I gained the amount I was supposed to (30 pounds) when I was pregnant and had lost all but 8 pounds three days after our baby was born. BUT, pregnancy triggered my Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, as it does in many women, and I started gaining weight after. I was a strict vegetarian, always ate low fat and exercised at least an hour a day. I was 32 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight a year after giving birth! Talk about depressing and frustrating!

When I was diagnosed and put on desiccated thyroid, I lost 25 pounds in a year without changing anything else.

If you find that diet and exercise aren't working, it's worth a trip to the doctor for some blood tests. Good luck.