Hi all. I'm new to this forum. The reason I am posting is because I am having a very difficult time getting back into Schwarzbein after having a baby. I read her first book a couple of years ago and experienced an extreme weight gain (I had been dieting). I read SPII, changed to a low saturated fat program with 25g carb meals with 20g carb snacks. I started to lose exactly 2 lbs a month for several months and also had better energy. Then I got pregnant. I sort of followed as best as I could but probably ate more. I gained 20 lbs while pregnant and thought everything would be fine. After I had the baby, I became extremely hungry with horrible cravings. I lost all the weight in the first 2 weeks, then began gaining it again to the point of now being at my end pregnancy weight again, four and half months after it ended. I will admit that I have indulged alot in these postpartum months, some of it being sweets, alot of it being peanut butter. I hate being fat and this is what I have focussed on quite a bit, but I'm starting to think I need to give up the notion of weight loss while I am breastfeeding. Everytime I try to lose weight, my postpartum depression rages, I have horrible cravings, and I yell at my kids alot. I am however very afraid to eat. Can someone give me some advice on how not to gain weight on SPII? I suppose not cheating with sweets would go a long way. I have a huge temptation to cut out alot of fat because of the calories, but then this would not be her program would it.

Basically, I guess I'm just really desperate for some encouragement right now (although what I probably need is a good swift kick in the butt).

Jende, you sure have your hands full with a new baby, post partum issues and trying to take off weight. My advise is to go back to basics. Eliminate chemicals first...do that until you are comfortable with that. Then cut out sugar and sugar substitute...until you are comfortable with that. Eat healthy whole foods no matter what. Then go and cut out caffeine. You can self medicate as you are cutting these things out of your diet.

I would concentrate on eating well and trying to stay with in the limits of the right carb load for you. Do not worry about the weight. Try to get some exercise if you can. It sounds like your hormones are a wreck! I would get that checked out if you can. You need to not be so hard on yourself. 20 pounds is not much to gain during pregnancy. The baby probably weighed at least a third of that.

I really feel we need to love ourselves enough to not eat the things that we no are not good for us. I have a lot of food sensativities and allergies. When I eat things knowingly or unknowingly I feel horrible. It is a job just to eat healthy. Once you get the hand of it you will feel better.

I hope this helps. Reward yourself for the goals you accomplish not the things you do not achieve. In the Zone (which I was trying to follow) Dr. Sears says if you mess up on one meal or snack start again with the next meal. There is no such thing as failure. Just hop right back and do the best you can. I would also get the stuff that is tempting you out of the house. The kids and spouse or partner do not need it either. I make my husband take his treats to work. That way I do not have to be tempted by them.

Take care and keep us posted on how you are doing. It has taken me a year to lose 32 pounds. This is without exercise, because it exhausts me.

Marianne

Wow Marianne, thanks for the advice . Losing 32 pounds in one year is phenomenal in my opinion. I agree that if I mess up I should just put it behind me and get right back on track. I wasn't doing this for the past few months. I also couldn't seem to stop at just a little bit of sugar. I would keep eating sugar to the point where my arms would feel weak and I would feel a little light headed. I don't know how I ever used to tolerate that stuff without feeling bad. Luckily I don't have any issues with caffeine or chemicals so there is just the one addiction to work on. I have eaten cleanly for 3 days now (I reallize that's not much), and started feeling really even and in control again. Isn't it amazing how crappy food can take over our lives? I'll try to ignore the weight thing for now so as not to be afraid of eating good whole and hearty food. You're right, 20 pounds was not much of a weight gain for pregnancy and maybe my body has some healing to do because of it. Just a theory. I also read somewhere that prolactin increases appetite, and I think trying to fight my appetite right now just puts me on rollercoaster of starvation and overeating.

Am I a hormonal wreak? I've either been pregnant or breastfeeding for over 9 years now, so probably .

Thanks for your post. I really appreciated it. Everyone in my life who follows Schwarzbein has had marvelous results with it and don't understand what my problem is.

Jende, you are welcome! Just love yourself and keep on keeping on!

Take care,

Marianne

Jende,

I'm no expert, but here's what my experience has taught me.

1. The post-partum hormonal chaos is not all in your head, nor is it your fault. Your hormones play a huge role in your emotions. Having struggled w/ post-partum depression and PMS for years myself, I've learned not to make any major judgments or pronouncements about my life when I'm hormonal; it's just not easy to see things clearly and objectively when you're in that state!

2. The fact that our female hormones tend to roller-coaster is not our fault, but we can help -- or hurt -- ourselves immensely thru what we eat. I was an emotional mess as a teenager, then someone suggested I get tested for hypoglycemia. Sure enough, I had it, and when I started eating right (very little refined carbs, focus on protein and fiber, NO refined sugar), I got a lot more clear-headed. Not perfect, but better. Over the years, tho', I abandoned that way of eating. I've been on SPII for over a month now, and I can tell a big difference in energy. My husband says I'm a different person, too. My body is changing for the better, but it's slow, and takes patience.
One caution: Breastfeeding is a special state, and I'm not sure that's the time to try to do something radical w/ your diet. I'd like to see some sound medical advice/research on the subject.

3. Looking back, I think my big mistake food-wise was going low-fat after pregnancy because I was trying to lose weight. I was naturally skinny as a kid and teen; when I started eating to control my blood sugar, sweets were off limits but fat was not, so I never worried about "fattening" foods. Cheese in, on or w/ anything, especially! And I never put on a whole lot of weight, except a little when I went on the Pill. (Hormones again!) But after I had babies, it was like, "Wow, look, I'm fat! I better diet!" And since the common wisdom of the day was low-fat, that's what I ate. And I continued to eat more and more low fat, but over the last 12 years of eating that way, I've worked back up to what I weighed at 9-months pregnant!

4. I sympathize w/ your sugar cravings! I still get them a little, but not like I did before I went low-carb. And when I do, I try to stop and think about how I'm going to feel the next morning: puffy, sluggish, and probably headed for a migraine. And I ask myself, "Is it worth that?" And most of the time, it's not!

Okay, off my soapbox now. Hopefully, there's a nugget or two of help in there! Hang in there; just keep eating healthy and it'll happen!

janana

P.S. I gained 40 or 45 pounds during pregnancy!

Thanks Janana. I can really tell my hormones are raging right now, for example, I've grown somewhat of a moustache over the past month . I need to learn to be more patient with this post-partum thing.

How do you tell if you are hypoglycemic? I've been wondering recently if I am having this problem. After eating foods like pizza or sugary stuff, I really noticed how badly I felt. I expected to have lots of energy because of all the carb and calories that I had just consumed, but the opposite happened. I felt tired, my arms and legs felt kind of heavy as if they weren't getting any oxygen, and I was foggy in the head. I also have to eat frequently through the day, if I get too hungry I get extremely moody and can't concentrate. Does this sound like hypoglycemia? I've been eating well for about a week without cheating and feel alot better .

From what I have read low cortisol or burned out adrenals and low blood sugar are very common. I just read on my healthcare website alot about this topic. If I do not eat every 3-4 hours I get confused, very crabby, cannot think, hard to talk or get the words out, tired, weak. Sometimes I get a headache. From what I read that is very common. What is really hard is that sometimes I am not even hungry, feeling full from my last meal or snack.

I have noticed when I eat the 5-6 times that is recommended and eat "clean" if feel much better.

Hope this helps.

About hypoglycemia.... First, the disclaimer: I'm not a health professional; this is just my understanding based on my personal research and experience.

If I'm remembering right, there are two kinds of hypoglycemia: one where, for some biological reason, a person's blood sugar is constantly low; then there's "reactive" hypoglycemia, which is where your body reacts to incoming carbs and sugars inappropriately, with a delayed release of insulin, so that your blood sugar first spikes, then drops drastically. During the spike you may feel briefly energized, but then when the crash starts, you may feel various symptoms. I get crabby and can't think clearly; other possible symptoms are light-headedness and nausea. For me, it will sometimes also trigger a migraine.

The only way to tell for sure if you're truly hypoglycemic is to get a "fasting glucose and insulin" test from a doctor.

Another thing that I meant to tell you, Jende, is to be cautious about going extremely low carb (like Atkins or early South Beach prescribes) if you're susceptible to emotional lows. Dr. Swarzbein explains that one of insulin's functions is to carry serotonin (a feel-good hormone) to the brain. Now, here I'm out on my own conjecture: If you're eating so few carbs that your serotonin level drops, you may experience some degree of depression.

When I first started the Swarzbein program, for a week or so I was going pretty extreme and probably not eating enough carbs. I felt totally wiped out and constantly "down." I studied the book a little further, upped my carbs to an appropriate level, and instantly felt much better.

A more solemn warning: the wife of a man I know had struggled w/ depression for some time. When she went on Atkins, her depression worsened to the point that she became suicidal.

So it's important, I think, to hit the right balance of carbs, fats and proteins. And I think listening to your body will help find what that is.

Thanks Janana. You are definitely right about not going too low on the carb. I wouldn't do that anyways. For the past 2 weeks I went back to 25g at meals and 20g at snacks. This is what I was doing over a year ago. I wonder if it is enough for breastfeeding though. Sometimes my energy is great and other times it isn't. I don't know if this relates to the carbs or if it is part of the healing process. I usually crash after supper. I also started having a headache last night and it's just starting to go away later today. I don't usually get headaches, but looking at the last couple of threads, they seem to be going around. I just wish I knew if more carb was required to heal while breastfeeding.