Please help me PP :(

amother

OP ↓

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 8:38 am

I am right now 3 months PP after back to back pregnancies. I was always overweight and always struggled to lose. I am 5.10 and about 240 lbs. I have PCOS. I was at my lowest weight before my pregnancies at 198lbs (after losing 40 lbs BH!). I’m struggling so much and the scale keeps getting higher! I’m so depressed about the way I look. Nothing fits. I’m so sad about my body!

What I am currently doing:
Exercising 2-3x per week
Taking walks occasionally when the weather is nice
My job isn’t super active but not a job sitting at a desk either
Intermittent fasting at 16:8
Trying to break my fast with a wholesome meal

I find when I eliminate food then it isn’t sustainable for me so I want to try and avoid doing that and instead add more good foods in my diet.
I also need to work on drinking more water.
Other than that, I don’t know what else will help! The scale just keeps rising!!!
Please help!!

amother

Violet

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 8:50 am

May sound crazy but I lost more when I stopped exercising- it made me very very hungry.

Are you strict with the IF? It's ok to have an off day but the days you stick to ot do you have coffee or fruits etc during fast?

If you're nursing that makes it very very difficult for me to lose weight.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 8:52 am

amother Violet wrote:

Very strict with IF - just water with occasional tea with no sweetener.
I’m not nursing.
I don’t think I want to give up the exercising because in the past, my body responded better to physical activity. But it’s just so discouraging.
I did take a break from most of this over YT, but feels like the number on the scale should at least be the same or lower rather than higher!

OddoneOut1

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 8:57 am

It sounds like you’re living a really healthy lifestyle, but you didn’t give details on what you’re eating.
Are you mostly eating carbs, fats, or proteins?
Are you aware of about how many calories a day you consume?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 9:12 am

OddoneOut1 wrote:

I don’t calorie count, so no, not super aware of it. I try to break my fast with something healthy like salad, quinoa, salmon, eggs, etc. Supper I also try to have a balanced meal but more often then not its just the protein and carb without a vegetable. In between my habits probably aren’t the greatest, but I don’t eat a lot of it (especially on days when I am working). Shabbosim are harder for me and probably have a bit more challah than I should and I also snack more because I am hanging around the house.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 9:26 am

amother Forsythia wrote:

Are you addressing the insulin resistance, gut inflammation, possible thyroid disorder and excess androgens that comes with PCOS? These factors all contribute to holding onto excess weight.

So besides the IF, no. What should I do?
I can’t do anything too drastic regarding cutting things out of my diet because then it wont stick.Im also running on fumes emotionally being PP with a 3 month old and have a 15 month old. I’ve been stretching myself so much to do what I’m already doing…

amother

↑ OP ↓

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 9:36 am

amother Orange wrote:

If you have a thyroid disorder (very common along with PCOS) then getting on medication to balance it out can make all the difference. It’s VERY hard to lose weight when your thyroid levels are off.

I don’t have a thyroid disorder. Had that checked out

tulip3

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 10:58 am

Sounds like you're undereating on the healthy stuff. Protein and a carb for supper isn't balanced. Do you put a healthy fat in there? Why no veggies?
Weigh your food for two days just to see how much protein, fats and carbs you're eating.
You also might be snacking bec two small meals isnt enough calories and youre hungry.
Are you sleeping enough?
.

amother

↑ OP

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 12:14 pm

tulip3 wrote:

Usually the reason I don’t have all the food groups is a lack of time to prep everything and DH likes having a carb. And no, definitely not sleeping enough with a new baby… starting sleep training so hopefully she’ll get better at it.

amother

↑ Forsythia

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 1:52 pm

amother OP wrote:

I don't know if there are any shortcuts to healing gut inflammation outside of diet changes, but there are supplements (and meds) you can take to help with insulin resistance and excess androgens.

Inositol, berberine, ceylon cinnamon, chromium, magnesium, potassium are all very helpful for blood sugar regulation. Metformin would be the rx.

For excess androgens, high cortisol and hormone balancing there's berberine, vitex, saw palmetto, white peony, DIM, reishi, cordyceps, ashwaganda, rhodiola, ginseng, phosphatidylserine. Spironolactone rx.

As for thyroid disorders, so often they're hidden. Most drs only look at tsh and if it's anywhere in the range they consider it normal. When in truth you need to look at tsh, t4, t3, reverse t3 and 2 thyroid antibodies to get a full picture. And you want values to be optimal, not just in range. So unless you did all this, and I advise getting a copy of the results to see for yourself, you may have an overlooked sluggish thyroid.

BmoreBubby

Sun, Nov 03 2024, 7:09 pm

You're doing a lot of great things.

The one thing you are not doing which is why you are not losing, is counting (estimating) calories.

Your body is designed by our Creator to maintain its current weight. You can override that but not by estimation. Your hormones make you crave food to maintain your weight. Get yourself a simple food journal notebook, very inexpensive, and track every food you eat (don't have to weigh it or anything that extreme, just good estimates) and you will then be able to control it.