Putting on weight even when dieting ? Please help

[Jooo123]

Hi everyone I had a baby a few months ago and lost a lot of the weight straight away ! The last month or two I have tried to eat healthy but I just seem to be gaining weight, this really upsets me as I have always had weight issues and low self asteem, I'm good a sticking to healthy eating when I have the right frame of mind but this is really disheartening and I feel horrific and to embarrassed to go out incase people laugh at me , any advice on how to keep going would be great

[Jooo123]

Thank you for your replies - I do a lot of walking with the pram most days and try to eat lots of chicken and vegetables , I have also tried slimfast ? I don't sleep very well due to baby but also have overactive bladder so I'm up and down all night ! I'm only 5 foot 1 and 180 pounds - I have done a professional sport all my life so still carry a lot of muscle so dont look as big as it may sound , I just feel so uncomfortable and will do anything to get the weight off , I have had treats over Christmas but I feel one bad day or two and I put on a few pounds that don't go away ! Thank you all for your help

[Paxiled]

There's your problem.  If you're used to working out regularly and you stop, it turns to fat.  You gain weight.  Once you became a serious athlete you pretty much condemned yourself to working out the rest of your life -- which isn't the worst thing.  You need to find a way to get back to the kind of exercise your body is used to, because your metabolism has slowed down once you stopped.  And of course, you have to eat a lot less than when you were using a lot of fuel -- you're not using it now in the same way.  Your hormones are also different now, at least somewhat.  I know being a Mom is a lot of work, but do you have a husband who can take up enough of the slack to allow you to get to working out again?  Otherwise, you will have to radically alter your diet from what it was, as again, you're not burning like you used to.  

[Paxiled]

And forget the Slimfast -- it seldom works for anyone very long.  A permanent dietary change is what you need if you're not going back to your intense exercise routine.  And as you probably know, those hard-earned muscles will turn to fat if you don't work them.  Give it some time, though, you're a new Mom, which is a lot more important right now, but at some point, your body is probably just craving its usual work output.

[Barb135]

What's your actual height and height?  Perhaps you don't have as much to lose as you think you do...

Are you getting any exercise to use up the calories you're eating?

[Paxiled]

First, don't let other people judge you for you, and they're probably not as occupied with you as you think they are.  Second, maybe you're not eating as healthfully as you think you are.  What's you diet like?  Third, it will take time -- and slow weight loss stays off.  Fourth, you don't mention if you exercise -- are you able to find time to regularly exercise?