Losing The Baby Weight, Part 1, 0-6 months Postpartum

6 years ago, at age 28, I lost enough weight that I weighed less than I have since 7th grade. I felt good about myself and was more physically active because it was easier to move. At that time I was eating a mostly grain-free, sugar-free diet. And yet, even with a restricted diet, calorie restriction, and regular exercise, I was never able to get slimmer than 191 lbs.

After 2 years of being able to maintain my weight loss, I began slowly putting the weight back on. It seemed like no matter what I tried the scale kept going up. Finally at the beginning of 2011, at around 250 lbs, I had to do something. I managed to lose 17 lbs, at the rate of 1 lb per week, and then I got pregnant. I gained 60 lbs during pregnancy, but lost 20 with the birth. Then PPD hit, and I went on Zoloft. I gained 10 lbs in 3 weeks! My hypertension returned.  In the several weeks following I slowly lowered my average daily calorie intake to 2,250 and started exercising moderately, I didn't lose any weight, I actually gained a little more.

I decided to get off Zoloft. The only real cure for high blood pressure is weight loss, and this was just not possible on Zoloft. It also was not the magic pill I was hoping it would be. Honestly, for anxiety I prefer SAM-e, and it has the added benefit of supporting my joints. I'll never really know if the Zoloft helped that much, if it was time, or fish oil, or forcing myself to get active again and eat better. To be honest it was the Zoloft that was making me too tired to exercise, and want to eat so badly.

But even once I got off of Zoloft I still couldn't lose any weight. Until the week I ran out of Oatmeal. For years I've known that gluten causes me to bloat, probably a histamine reaction. This does two things, my joints ache all over making it painful to move, and I want to eat more and more gluten-a common reaction to a food allergy. I've suspected Oatmeal did the same thing, yes, even gluten free oatmeal. Well I was right. I lost 8 lbs that week, and another 1.5 lbs the week following.

My first goal is to get back to the weight I was when I left the hospital the second time. I am 1.5 lbs away from that goal.  My second goal is to get back to the weight I was before I became pregnant.

Since I have long studied weight loss I know the two biggest misconceptions about weight loss and I will share them with you.  Exercise does not help you lose weight.  It actually makes you hungrier.  But exercise is important to be healthy and strong.  Secondly, it's not how much you eat, it's what you eat and how often.  Since fat stores get used when we go for long periods without an insulin response, you will lose weight going for long stretches without eating (like at night when you sleep) or if you eat foods that don't spike insulin such as protein and non-starchy vegetables.  The reason why calorie restriction works is because it keeps you from eating too much of the foods that keep you from losing weight.  You can read all about this in Gary Taubes Why We Get Fat.