No Rush To Loose Extra Pounds

This week I was very disappointed at Fat Club because I didn't loose (or gain) any weight but stayed the same!! In 6 weeks I have lost 5lbs - not good enough!! I have organised a school reunion - on behalf of someone else - on the 17th July and I really don't feel like I will be going. And then there is the Classic 80's Rock Night on the 30th August for which I should like to be able to squeeze into my tight jeans!!

Got sent an email today from The Food Doctor http://www.thefooddoctor.com/ discussing celebrities and the desire to be thin straight away after giving birth. This is what it said:

Trying to copy celebrities who are back in skinny jeans weeks after giving birth is unrealistic and dangerous, new mothers are being warned. It can take women six months or even a year, not weeks, to shed the weight they put on in pregnancy, say experts. Crash diets and intensive exercise programmes are not only likely to fail but can harm mother and baby. The advice comes from Germany's Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.

The Institute's director Professor Peter Sawicki said: "Often, the extra effort women have to make to look after a new baby and breastfeed after giving birth means the kilos just melt away without effort. "But for about half of all women, the weight will not go away as quickly." Those new mothers still in their maternity wear weeks later should not rush to do punishing exercise classes, says the guidance, but should instead follow a sensible diet and build up slowly to more strenuous exercise. "Even though many magazines have 'get your bikini body back quickly' diets on their covers, promising women they can achieve their ideal weight in time for summer, it is not getting quick results that counts the most. This is particularly true after pregnancy. It is normal for it to take three to six months for women to lose the weight they gained in pregnancy," it says.

Louise Silverton of the Royal College of Midwives agreed with the advice. "We would discourage a rush to lose weight after pregnancy, it places undue strain on the mother's body when she needs her strength to look after her baby, and the evidence suggests that slow and sustained weight loss, if needed, is the sensible option.

The Food Doctor says; As with any crash diet, the effects are short term, and likely to do you more harm than good. This is even more likely the case when you have just had a baby, and these latest suggestions really highlight the importance of sensible and steady weight loss after a pregnancy. If you are breastfeeding, then you need around an extra 500 – 750 calories a day. What is important to ensure is that you eat the right sort of foods to keep your energy up, whilst also replenishing all those lost nutrients, getting you back to your old self. Some good choices are porridge oats, brown rice, oatcakes, wholemeal bread, bulgur wheat and pearl barley. And don’t forget as many fruit and vegetables as possible, to really pack in those vitamins and minerals. As with any kind of weight loss, if it is done sensibly, and over a reasonable period of time, then it is far more likely to stay off, and avoids the slippery slope into yoyo dieting. It is also a far healthier way to do it, and helps establish good eating habits.