Has anyone felt this way, or is it me?
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| Sat, 10-01-2005 - 1:12pm |
Hi...
I have never posted on this board before, but it looks like a nice place to come for support, so here goes. I am 36 years old, and I had my baby daughter in March of 2004. Ever since then, I feel like I can't lose weight. If anything, I eat very little, and my weight is still creeping up. I feel awful. I feel like I get bloated easily, and I just feel generally icky. I had anorexia/bulimia when I was a teen/college student, but that is long in the past. Since then, I have been healthy weight-to-slightly heavier over the past many years. I didn't gain a lot during pregnancy, so I thought I'd have no trouble afterward, but now I feel heavy and blah. I am 5'5"-5'6", medium frame, and I am 185-190 pounds, though if you saw me you wouldn't think I weighed that much.
This is such an unpleasant feeling for me, and it frustrates me because I am otherwise very happy with my life. My clothing still fits, but I feel like everything on my body has shifted downward, and I feel heavier in my stomach than ever before in my life.
I just wanted to know if anyone else has felt this way, and if so, how did you get through this? I can't stop thinking about this bloated fat feeling. I feel old and yucky. Help!
Thanks for your advice!
Liz

Hi Liz,
Welcome to the board.
Sure have/do. You are almost parallel to me. I'm about the same height and weight and I'm 35. (and I agree with you, I don't think I look as heavy as the scale says). But I know my body shape has changed as I got older. This is the most I've ever weighed, but I'm wearing a size 14 or 12, when I was a teenager and then again in my 20's I was wearing size 16, but I weighed less than I do now.
I totally agree with Monica's advice and I will just add my 2 cents too. Track your intake for a few days, write down everything, every pop, every teaspon of sugar, every bite of cake. Just keep track and look for anything repetitve. There are might be a recurring theme in your diet that you will see if you track it. We all know about the "bad" things like pop (diet or regular), alcohol, candy, chips, salt but some things that are "healthy" may still be causing you weight gain or bloating, things like juices (lots of hidden sugars), dairy products or even lettuce (my mom has a hard time digesting lettuce and she tends to get bloated). Also watch your "bad" carbs like white bread, white rice and watch your fiber, a lot of people now days aren't getting enough fiber to really help their body digest food properly. So those are just some suggestions that I have for you to think about.
Also take into consideration your lifestyle. Having a baby totally changes your lifestyle, it changes how and what you eat and it changes your activity level or type of activity, and then there are all the other psychological issues involved with being a mom.
So that's all I have to offer for now, but stick around the boards and we'll all encourage each other!
PS. You may want to check out fitday.com for help tracking your intake. I've been using it for a few weeks and I love it. You can enter in your daily food and it will track everything for you, including your nutritional information for the day and you can view various reports based on your food, activities and weight. I probably sound like a walking advertisement for fitday.com because I keep ranting and raving about it, but I think it's really a great tool or weapon in the battle of the bulge!
Thanks so much for the advice...I created an account at FitDay. What a neat site! It looks like my calorie intake is okay, if today is any indication...it was a pretty typical day, so I guess I'm okay with it...maybe I'll cut back a bit more. The site really makes you take a look at what you do and what you eat, doesn't it? Also, I am trying to do some aerobics...hard to get into the habit, though.
I will have to keep coming to this site for support...it is so nice to find other people in the same boat!
Thanks again!
Hi!
Thanks for the feedback .I am supposed to go to the doctor soon to get some test results...cholesterol, etc., so I will ask about the weight thing then. It just feels so frustrating sometimes...I feel like I don't eat nearly as much as I used to, yet the pounds just don't leave willingly! And, like you, I have fat that seems to want to head south on my body, which is bothering me! I am trying to exercise...I think that will help, but it is hard to make myself stick to it. This site definitely helps me feel inspired, though!
Thanks again!
Liz