Pregnancy Fat???

Question

I had my first son when I was 19. I weighed 120lbs before finding out I was preggo and 125 at 9 weeks. When I had him, I weighed 176!! My flat belly turned to a wrinkly goo ball at my midsection. Ok, I came to terms with that. I managed to get back to 135 within the a year, a once size 6 (12 years ago a 6 was like todays 3) I'm 5'8" tall and very thin!! Then, at 145lbs, I get preggo again with my 2nd son. I weighed 184 when I had him. Now...I have plateaued at 150-155. I have a jelly belly that resembles that of a woman 6 months pregnant, my butt jiggles and looks fat. I have fat thighs too. I have stretch marks on my belly, thighs and butt. I have to be careful with strenuous activity as I have PVC's and too much will make me feel like I'm dying. I can't do sit ups or crunches because I have a bad back...I'm stuck! What can I do to get rid of this fatty appearance? My hubby tells me I'm perfect, but I don't feel like I am, I need to feel it when I see it too. KWIM? Help?

FYI...a PVC is a premature ventricular complexes and after 10 minutes of strenuous activity my chest starts to hurt and I get palpitations..

a physical trainer is out of the question as is going to a gym, we simply can't afford that right now...not to mention that where we live, the closest gym is no closer than 45 minutes away!

Answer 1

I answered your question 24 hours ago and then my computer crashed (did an automatic update and just shut down to restart) and I lost the whole answer I was writing…which was pretty long! (your question inspired me and still does…)
And then I had a dream about you who would not benefit from my helpful answer and were like just there in the middle of nowhere (it was only a dream, I’m sure 45 mn away from a gym is not nowhere, and don’t worry…you do not need a gym to get in shape), waiting for it, so here I am again…using Microsoft Word and the automatic saving feature…that is my way of dealing with my dreams.
All that to say that I could have had the feeling of being stuck but I did not because you can always get a second chance. So, please, do not feel stuck because you plateaued, and you have a bad back and PVC.
Think positive thoughts…you have children, and I’m sure they fulfill your motherhood dreams…you have a supportive husband who thinks you’re perfect and I’m sure he will think the same when you’re 90 and have no teeth because he loves you and he’d rather have a happy jelly belly wife than a miserable one because she cannot accept the way she is nor can she change it.
You also have the age of the Internet at your disposal and a willingness to ask for help so people like me can hear your call and answer it. You can also use the Internet to educate yourself about nutrition and exercise. You also can buy or borrow from the library, a lot of books on the subject (not diet books, avoid those at all cost) but books to help you cook in a healthier way or get moving (Pilates, Yoga, Stretching, Cardios, Strength Training…). If you find a book you really like at the library, then you can buy it if you want.

On the Internet, make sure to read on any particular subjects from a lot of difference sources so you can spot the ones with the mistakes. Some people will just write anything and they really have no idea what they’re talking about, just badly repeating what they read and adding mistakes to it. Just yesterday, I was reading that guy saying that if you walk 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, you would lose one pound a week and 52 pounds a year! In your dream! To lose a pound a week, you need to lose 3,500 calories, an average of 500 calories/day and you won’t do that with 3 or 4 30mn of walking only! (I could do it by walking 2 hours every day…a big difference from 30 minutes 3-4 times a week).

You can start a folder and when you find an interesting article on the Internet, just print it out so you can create your own little book.
For example, here you are…a 5”8’, 150-155 woman so you can learn about Body Mass Index (BMI). You want to be in the “healthy weight” category and, by the way, you are (between 125 and 160lbs for your height). You are not overweight which is the categories where you start having health problems because of your weight (really start to worry if you reach 165lbs).
Of course, the BMI is just to let you know you’re not in danger if you have a healthy weight but you’d rather be 125lbs if you do not like the jelly belly and the jiggling whatever. You will look much better if you weigh 125lbs but the BMI is reassuring that you do not have to worry about your health unless you get 40 pounds of pure fat on top of that.
I can’t stand people saying you’re perfect just because you’re in the “healthy weight” category in the BMI. You’re not perfect, just healthy. I understand you if you do not like to look at the 25lbs of extra fat reserve that you seem to have and that you really do not need anyway so why not just get rid of it?

So let’s assume your goal is to get rid of 25lbs of fat…you would need to know your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is how many calories you need every day just to survive. So do some research on that and find out that there is a lot of different ways to calculate it, some including your age (and I do not know yours so I will go with one of the other way): 152.50lbs x 0.453 = about 69 kilograms x 7.18 + 795 = about 1,290 calories a day.
(a man would have to multiply by 10.2 instead of 7.18 and add 879 instead of 795).

So you need about 1,290 calories every day (take off about 5 calories for every years older than 20 because the older you get, the less you need…) just to survive. Whatever you do, never eat less than your BMR, otherwise your body will get into starvation mode and adapt to lower BMR so you’ll end up needing even less. This is the reason some people eating almost nothing cannot lose weight and some other people eating normally keep gaining weight.
Have about three 400 calories meals and a 100 calories snack as long as you need to use your 25lbs fat reserve. Anything you do, any exercise, your body will have to use your fat reserve in order to get the necessary fuel because you will just eat enough to stay alive, not to move around.
25 pounds of fat is 3,500 calories x 25 = 87,500 calories of you moving around. 87,500 divided by 350 days = 250 calories so you will need to exercise enough in order to spend an extra 250 calories a day. It would take about a year to lose those 25lbs in a very easy way. You could also lose 25 pounds of fat in 25 weeks (about 6 months) by exercising more and eating a healthy diet of no more than 1,300 calories/day. Also, you might lose 25 pounds of fat but hopefully gain 5 pounds of muscle so the scale will just register a total weight loss on only 20 pounds.
If you learn about nutrition, you will find out that you can eat only 1,300 calories a day and not get hungry. Learn to cook with a steamer, a microwave or a rotisserie, never with added fat. Do you own low calorie dressing for your salads, do not eat as much as your husband…
Drink as much water as you can to flush out anything that could make you retain water (salt...).

If you learn about exercise and getting into shape, you can find out that some ab exercises are good for a bad back
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/42/1676_53729.htm

Do not do sit ups but you can do crunches if you make sure to gently press your lower back to the floor, the whole time, while you’re doing the crunches. In fact, stronger abs will help support your back.

Attack your problems from all sides:
1. A good (= fulfilling) low calories diet that is at least 1,290 calories, as long as you need to use your fat reserve (after that, you should eat more and keep exercising).
2. A lot of stretching so you’re more flexible and avoid any physical injuries.
3. Strength training so you build muscle, get stronger and get your metabolism in higher gear.
(if you’re out of shape, you will experience soreness for about two months until you get in shape)
4. Cardio to make your heart stronger and use your fat reserve.
Because of your PVC, you cannot do high intensity cardio (like 80%) but you still can do low intensity (60% or lower). Low intensity cardio will start to use your fat reserve after about 20minutes of exercising so keep going and going like the Energizer bunny. (take the number 220, substract your age to get your MHR, Maximum Heart Rate and then calculate the percentage for the intensity).
You can also walk a lot, and use between 80 and 100 calories a mile.

So tomorrow, just go for a walk.
The next day, do some bicycling or dancing or whatever you like to move around.
The next day, go for a walk again.
Then take a rest day where you can surf the net or go to the library to educate yourself.
Then do some weight training and exercises.

Every day, do a little and eat a little and learn a little and lose a little of your fat reserve and gain muscle mass and get in shape.

This is the hardest part, the beginning. You will be often sore, your routine will have to adapt, you have to change the way you cook, the way you eat…

But then, you will get there, you will be in shape, thin and muscular, full of energy. You will be able to eat what you want with your high metabolism and you will like yourself in the mirror and your hubby will still think you’re perfect.

I wish you good motivation.

Answer 2

Eating healthy is the first step. Eating fewer calories and eating lotsa fruits, veggies, whole grains dairy etc.
As far as working out, there are alot of ab moves that actually improve back problems, but I would contact a professional. Can you afford a personal trainer and explain your situation? They are trained to deal with many different body types and situations.
Good Luck!

Answer 3

find daily calorie intake calculator on the net, enter all your stats and it will tell you how many calories you need a day to maintain, take off 300-400cal off that number and thats how much you need to lose.
eat 5-6 small meals a day (eat every 2-3 hours - it optimizes your metabolism)
5-8 servings of fruit and veggies a day
8 glasses of water
have complex carbs for breakfast - they give you energy
have protein (lean meat, legumes etc) for dinner - repairs muscle
cardio exercise 4-6 times a week for 30-50min (ideally 45min because the first 20-30min body burns carbs and only then starts burning fat), light weight training (more muscle=faster metabolism)
dont consume foods that are made of white flour (white bread, cakes, pasta etc.), sugar loaded foods (cookies, icecream, candy etc) and nothing fried, oily.
ofcourse you can spoil yourself once in a while with a little treat:)