New mommy looking for motivation/inspiration

[TylersMom]

I'm a first time mom, my son Tyler was born 1/9/09, so he is 2 months old now. I gained 60 lbs with my pregnancy, and, since he was born, I have lost 35 lbs. Not from exercise or diet, but from the loss of fluids and I guess from breastfeeding. I am breastfeeding solely, and still feeding DS ever 2-3 hours, but I want to start with dropping the rest of my weight. I live in a condo community with a gym which I used to go to when my work schedule wasn't so crazy. My plan is to start going back, starting off slowly (2-3 days/week), but arranging that two hours or so of day care while I'm there I think will keep me from staying consistently motivated to go.

I try to get out of the house now that DS has gotten his shots. I walk when the weather's nice out and I am starting to go to the mall to walk when it's too cold out. I know that's not much, but I figure it's a start.

Has anyone had success with StrollerFit classes? I'm interested in it, but don't want to invest in something that I won't like or continue. And how does it work with breastfeeding?

Any helpful suggestions are welcome.

[boltfam]

Congrats on all the weight you lost already! For me, nursing was probably the single most important factor that helped with weight loss. I also walked a bit, but since I also live a northern climate, it's hard to get outside.

I've resorted to exercise videos, which has helped a lot and gives me the flexibility to do them whenever. I do the aerobic ones while DS naps and my pilates ones either during naptime or while he's awake.

I would love to try the StrollerFit program or similar ones but there are none in my area, so I can't give any advice there.

Good luck with your weight loss! Remember, though, it took 9 mos. to put on the weight, and it can take that long to take it off, too. I just say that so you don't get discouraged if it doesn't all come off quickly.

[gatorsmom]

Has anyone had success with StrollerFit classes? I'm interested in it, but don't want to invest in something that I won't like or continue. And how does it work with breastfeeding?

Any helpful suggestions are welcome.

I was one of those ones whose body held onto the weight until I was done breastfeeding. Since my first 2 babies were born in July, I didn't exercise much for the first 10 months. I started walking outside with the babies in the stroller in April. That's about the same time I stopped bfing them. I stopped bfing because at the 10 month mark I started to get terrible plugged ducts and both my boys started to bite. Anyway, about 2 weeks after I weaned, I lost like 10 pounds! My OB said he's heard that before. Either bfing helps you lose weight or bfing prevents you from losing. Anyway, after I stopped bfing my first 2 boys, I started walking with my jogging stroller. I started by walking a mile. Then built up to 2 and ran for a half block of that. Gradually I increased the walking and running. I think running helped boost my metabolism. I hate running, btw. I'd only do a block or 2 at a time then start walking again. By the end of the summer, I'd be walking and running 5 mile/5 times per week and biking about 5 miles/ 2-3 times per week. At the same I allowed myself about 1800 calories per day but I wasn't terribly strict about it. I lost 29 lbs after my first 2 pregnancies doing this. It took 12+ months to lose it.

It was hard. But I loved walking outside with the stroller every morning. I looked forward to it. I have tried bringing the babies to a gym so I can work out but I just hated it. By the time I had their stuff packed up and my stuff packed up and finally got to the gym, too much time had been spent. And I'm not really motivated by exercise videos. It's just too easy to find more important things in the house to do. But walking is great. I'd be jamming away with my headphones while the boys took their morning naps in the stroller.

The weather is finally getting warmer here and I'm gearing up to walk again. I"ll be walking as much as I can because I have 25-30lbs to lose that I never lost after the twins were born. I've never tried Strollerfit. I never needed to. Walking outside and jamming to my headphones motivated me. And I've never tried bfing while exercising seriously but I know you have to be careful not to lose your milk supply.

hth and gl!

[JdrKuhnert]

With DS1 I didn't begin to lose weight until I had weaned. I was still carrying extra weight when I became pregnant with DS2. After DS2, I did things differently. I started Stroller Fit 7 weeks PP and the weight came off. By the time DS2 was 6 months old I had lost all of the weight from both pregnancies and some extra. I hadn't been so strong since college. I really don't think that I could have done it without StrollerFit. It was a great way to exercise with DS2 around and it was a fixed time everyday. I started out going 2 days a week and exercised at home on my off days. Once I had gained strength, I moved to 3 days a week. The other people understand if you have to stop to nurse or take care of baby. I usually nursed right before we left and then it was time to nurse again when we got home. My son slept most of the time, which allowed me to concentrate on my workout. I don't remember how much it cost to join, but the fee included the bans for the workouts and a water bottle. There was an option of buying a blanket, but I picked up something much cheaper at BBB. I paid the monthly rate for unlimited sessions. However, you can also purchase a certain number of sessions to test it out.