question for Shannon

mb80 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-04-2007, 12:12 PM

Hi Shannon, I see you have been extremely successful with your weight loss WAY TO GO!!!

I have about 15 pounds to lose, I have gained 20 since my wedding 2 years ago. I am afraid to do too much strenuous exercise or change my diet too drastically.... I don't want to disrupt my body while ttc. But that excuse is getting old and my clothes are getting tighter..... I gave up my daily glass (or 2) of wine and the occasional beer about 2 months ago and nighttime snacking kinda followed along with that, but I didn't even lose 1 pound. I though for sure that would all I needed to do.

Any advice?

Rahknight · #2 (**permalink**) 09-04-2007, 12:36 PM

I know this question was for Shannon but I wanted to add my two cents. I've lost 50 lb since Jan 07. I run 3-4 days a week but since you don't want to do anything strenuous I say walk or if you have access to a pool swim. THat is the best thing for me but I have a hard time getting to the YMCA on a regular schedule. The other thing that helped me is low carbs. I'm no carb freak--i do eat bread but try to eat 1500-1800 calories with low sugar and white grain in take. slow and steady!

That is my 2 cents

Sara

Mommie2Ava&Presley · #3 (**permalink**) 09-04-2007, 03:09 PM

I put on my weight during 3 years of IF TTC with and without meds; using the excuse that I didn't want to be "on a diet" while trying to get PG. By the time I got PG I was about 60 pounds overweight. Fortunately during my pregnancy I only gained 15 pounds by eating right (cutting out a lot of the junk food I had previously eaten for emotional comfort) and by walking when I could. I also drank lots of water to stay hydrated, which helped with swelling. After she was born, I quickly lost 35 pounds during the first 3 months while I was BFing. Then I had to go back to work and my milk supply dried up, because I wasn't able to take in enought calories or drink enough water to keep my supply up. Once BFing stopped, the pounds jumped back on with a vengeance. By the time I finally started this weightloss attempt, I was about 85 pounds overweight - by that I mean what would be the top end of a healthy weight for my height. I had done all the diets before TTC to get any extra weight off me; the most successful was Atkins - but all that weight that I lost on Atkins came back +10 more pounds when I reintroduced carbs to my diet, even in limited amounts.

This time I chose Weight Watchers because I can still eat what I'm used to eating, I just modify the portions. I doubted that it would work for me like it did for the people I knew who were successful, because it seemed too simple. I also figured that the weightloss would be too slow to keep me motivated to stick with it. The first month I did only the program (flex - points program) and lost about 20 pounds. I wanted to be comfortable with the program before I added exercise to my routine. Because the weather in Texas is so hot and humid and unpredictable at times, I chose the Walk Away the Pounds Express DVDs because I could get my walking done in the comfort of my livingroom. So that is all I have been doing for the past 4 months - WW and WATP. I started out doing the 1 mile everyday for the first month of exercising. Then I moved on to the 2 mile everyday. Now I mostly do the 2 mile, just varrying the intensity and occasionally throw in the 3 mile workout. There is nothing complicated about it. If you can do walking in place, knee lifts, and low kicks then you can do this program. They sell the 3 dvd sets on ebay for about 1/2 of what they sell them for at Walmart. The one mile takes about 15 -20 minutes to complete (depending on if you do the stretching after the walk portion). The 2 mile takes 30 minutes and the 3 mile take 45 minutes. So you can get a workout in regardless of the amount of time you have to devote to it. If I don't have a lot of time, I do the 1 mile twice in a day. I also make sure I get 8 servings of water in every day. I usually drink 4 (20oz)bottles a day. I hope this helps. By the way, I started this when DH and I decided to TTC one more time and my doc said it was the best thing I could do for my TTC efforts since I was SO over my healthy weight. So as long as you aren't doing something crazy in a diet plan, losing weight is good for you when TTC. Good luck!!!!

mb80 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-05-2007, 07:02 AM

Wow!!! You lost 20 pounds the first month? I am going to set a goal of 8 pounds before I go to Vegas on Oct. 4th. My DH has a conf. there and I get to go as a "consultant". I am going to try to start walking at least 1 mile a day and hope to do 3 if I am feeling energized. I am in Buffalo, NY and it is actually starting to cool off here. It is getting down into the high 50's low 60's by the time I get home from work, so I will have the opposite problem, I will have to bundle up! I just hate walking without my DH b/c I cannot handle walking the dog, or better yet, the dog walking me. BUT I feel guilty going without him. I guess I can consider it a full body workout. I have to cut back on the coffee too, not just for the weight issue, but the IF issues too. I am down to 2 cups a day... this week my goal is to get that to 1.

Thanks for the tips and support..... I am going to do this.

mb80 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-05-2007, 07:22 AM

Sara- Thank you to you too~ I think I will start with walking, my body is not up for running, not yet anyway..... I am going to try REALLY hard to cut down on the calories too. We have soo much junk in the house right now though. We have a pool party on Monday for the holiday and everyone brought snacks. I have 1/2 an ice cream cake in my freezer SREAMIN' my name......

I am going to go get some fruit today- Watermelon sounds so good to me right now.

Loopy Lou · #6 (**permalink**) 09-05-2007, 01:19 PM

Hi Mary Beth,
Also had to put my 2 cents in....
I too have been struggling with weight gain, especially in the last few months and i was also nervous about exercising while TTC. So yesterday during my RE appt i decided to bring up my weight issue, my Doc told me to consider "South Beach diet" along with the "eat right for your blood type", which i have heard wonderful things about, my goal at the mo is to eat healthy and hopefully along with that will come the weight loss...WW is awesome though, and like Shannon i too in the past had great success, if my RE's suggestion is not as successful i will def go back to WW plan....I also highly recommend Walking and Swimming, my RE also told me that when we women walk it's good for insulin and is an effective weight loss exercise perfect when TTC

mb80 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-07-2007, 06:21 AM

Thanks Lou- I have tried South Beach and it worked really good, but I hated the menu so I had to quit. In the first two weeks I lost 6 pounds though. I think I am going to try the "eat sensibly" and get off your lazy butt plan. Hopefully that will kick start my metabolism again.