Hi

Thanks for your enquiry. For most women it is quite hard to get back to their pre pregnancy weight and as long as they are still within their healthy BMI it’s fine for them to settle at around half a stone above. However, if this isn’t acceptable to you, you CAN get the final half a stone off, but it may take rather more dedication than the first half stone, which, as you found, can come off quite easily.

First can I stress (not just to you, but to all other newbies) quite how important it is to fill in you diary and not miss days or have days when you guestimate or forget snacks. If you can, it’s best to do it as you go along during the day so you don’t forget anything you’ve eaten!

Second, hard as it is, please do not to despair if you don’t lose for a week or two. In the general scheme of things it’s not a lot of time, especially as you’ve lost weight at a faster than average rate in the first few weeks. This is a plateau phase and usually the make or break time for most dieters. If during this phase you can stick with it and keep the faith this is in itself as successful as losing several pounds!

Exercise teamed with calorie control can undoubtedly help with managing your weight, but right now it is the intake side of things that will undoubtedly be having the bigger influence. When you do exercise I would recommend you stick with the weights part of it as recommended, as resistance exercise helps raise your metabolism so you burn more calories all the time, even at rest. If you put on a lot of muscle you may also weigh slightly more than someone who is the same shape and size but you’ll be able to eat more calories without putting on weight. This is unlikely to happen hurriedly though, and if you’re worried about the impact of resistance exercise on your weight you should take your body measurements and watch how they decrease too – it’s very motivational!

I do hope this helps,

Best wishes.

Angela