I need help. :(

[NicoleW09]

I gave birth 5 months ago today. (Yay!) I am also under my prepregnancy weight, only because the entire pregnancy I suffered through hyperemesis. I've been counting my calories and trying to exercise at least 3 times a week. The first week I started, I exercised for 5 days and lost 3 pounds that week. I was very strict about counting calories and didn't go over 1500. The second week I slacked up bc my husbands grandmother went into the hospital and fast food was basically our only option considering we were going back and forth to the hospital. The next two weeks I didn't keep as close of a count on my calories consumed, but I wasn't eating much different than the first week I started my weight loss. I've gained a pound of the 5 pounds I lost back. I'm getting over mono and the excessive lack of energy is really keeping me down.

When my husband and I met I was 115 pounds which was ideal since I have a small frame and I'm super short. Well, now I'm 133 according to my scales today. Yeah I know...only 18 pounds to go to get to my goal weight. It's not easy, especially having to tend to my baby. I have no support on weight loss either. My family is all overweight and my mother took plegine to lose her weight and get down to a healthy weight. When I try to get her to relate to me, she tells me I'm fine and not to lose any. She's not being supportive, and I suspect it's because she doesn't want me to be smaller than her. Her solution is for me to not diet and if I'm that obsessive over it, to eat more fruit. Why can't she be supportive?

I have a history of anxiety and depression, and now that I am heavier than I want to be, it's only making it worse. Obviously counting calories isn't for me, bc it takes up way too much time. I've just having a hard time getting rid of these last 18 pounds and any advice on helping me to get there would be appreciated. I feel like I've tried everything (even though I know I haven't. lol.) and I'm just down.

[Barb135]

Any kind of "fad" diet is not going to help you, because you won't stick with it....... you need to figure out a healthy eating plan, based on the number of calories that right for you, along with a plan for moderate exercise...... all things that you should be able to stick with from now on.

A fad diet, is just that -- a fad; and if you do lose weight on it, as soon as you go off the so-called "diet", you will gain back all the weight, often, plus more...

[luvloveluv]

chicken diet-so we try anyways. (boiled chicken with lemon grass, basil and salt for taste)

in my tradition, after giving birth, we go on a strict boiled chicken diet for a month. it's HARD as heck since boiled chicken is all you basically eat for an entire month, and you get tired of eating it, so you just fast basically. when i married my husband, i was 170. got pregnant, went to 200, had baby, went on the chicken diet, dropped to 160 in a month, afterwards, i stopped caring, jumped to 230, and remained at that weight for 3 years. got pregnant again, dropped to 200, and afterward gained back that 30lbs plus another 10.

4 years later, i'm at my lightest i've ever been the month AFTER i had my first born.

[Barb135]

Don't try "dieting", because it usually is only temporary; lifestyle changes will do the most good for you.  Keep in mind, that 5 months "post baby", your weight is not so bad; give yourself some time.  

Don't compare yourself to your mother or even yourself when you met your husband;  when I met my husband I was 18 yrs old and weighed a whole 90 pounds; today, I wouldn't even look good at that weight.......

That said: try to eliminate products made with refined sugar, flour and rice (simple carbs) and concentrate on lean protein and fiber (complex carbs), which includes lots of veggies, lean meats, low/no fat dairy, etc.  While fruit is good for you (lots of vitamins/minerals) it has a lot of sugar, so make sure you eat whole fruit in order to get the fiber, rather than juices....  You should get at least 5 servings of fruit/veggies per day; it's recommended that at least 3 of those be high fiber veggies and 2 fruit....... try to stick with apples, pears, etc.... again, lots of filling fiber, without a lot calories.......