Hello, im a 26 yr old mother who just recently had her fourth child 6 weeks ago. I have been wanting to get back into the shape i was 3 years ago after the birth of my third child but have lacked motivation.
Im currently 5"5' tall and 120 pounds. while i am at a healthy weight for my height, i can assure you it is 120 pounds of pure fat lol. my hips hang over my jeans and i feel disgusting!

so my question is, how many carbs should one take in per day to lose weight? what is a normal calorie intake, what about fats? what are 'good' fats and 'bad' fats? i dont eat very healthy or very often and i rarely drink water. when i do eat (which is usually only 1-2 times a day) i tend to over-eat. im not active but would love to start running again, whats the best way to do this? i am so sorry for all the questions lol, i just feel so lost to all of this!

im sure i will think of more questions after i hit the post button lol.

Well, I'm not exactly the most experienced person here, but I'll give an attempt at answering your questions. The most sure-fire way to lose weight is to cut your calories. However, you don't want to cut them too drastically or it could backfire and your body will go into survival mode and turn everything you eat into fat. THe general consensus around here is that you should try to eat 10-12x your body weight in calories per day. Nevertheless, these calories cannot come from just anything. Depending on how strict you are, many people try to aim for around 40% protein, 30% carbs, and 30% fat per day. (The reason for so much protein is to prevent you from losing too much muscle mass as your body starts to burn energy). If you aren't that strict, there are a few general rules to follow: eat lots of clean foods, try to avoid too many "empty" carbohydrates (ie., too much sugary foods (no non-diet soda!), eat wheat vs. white bread, avoid white rice, etc.), try to get most of your fats from "good" fats like peanuts and fish, watch the animal fats, and try to not have any carbohydrates after 6 pm. Also, try to break the habit of eating 1-2 big meals a day in favor of at least 4-5 smaller meals (ie., breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, snack) Doing these things alone will help you lose fat for awhile, but if you are really serious, you wil definitely need to start doing cardio of some sort (elliptical trainers are a favorite), even if it's just walking for 30 minutes a day, and some sort of resistance exercise (even if it is just lunges, push-ups, calf raises, and sit-ups). Hopefully that answers many of your questions. Good luck. You've found a great resource here. God Bless, Jeremy

Wow, you're 26 and have 4 kids? :eek:
Wow, you had a baby six weeks ago, and you're 120 pounds now? :eek:

I had two kids, it took me a year to lose the weight with the first one, and closer to a year and a half on the second one.

I have no advice right now, I just want to say that I'm amazed at your dedication. :tu:

THe general consensus around here is that you should try to eat 10-12x your body weight in calories per day.

Eek, no! 1200 calories per day sounds way too little!

I've read that 15 x your body weight in calories is maintenance level for someone with moderate metabolism. Since you don't need to lose weight (you want to lose fat and gain muscle), you should aim for more in this range.

Personally, I've been successful in losing fat and gaining muscle without ever counting calories, just by eating better quality food.

Welcome tashimarie! :tucool:

I have a couple of suggestions you may want to consider:

Breastfeed: It burns about 500 calories per day
Walk: Put your baby in a snuggly and walk up hills outside. It's good exercise (this is what many buff body builders do, minus the baby in the snuggly), and it gets you outside and having fun together. And the baby weighs about 10 or 12 pounds, so that makes it more challenging.
Eat well: I've seen the greatest improvement in how I look and feel by changing my diet. I eat about every three hours, and my meals consist of healthy foods that I enjoy (banana and peanut butter, cottage cheese and pineapple, chicken breasts and salsa, Egg Beaters omelet)
Be patient: This is something I constantly need to remind myself. We all want "results yesterday," but must force ourselves to focus instead on the distant future--months and years from now. Envision how you want to look and act at that time, and become that person. Transforming yourself is a process of becoming, not an overnight fairytale as before and after shots will lead us to believe.


If you are exercising, breastfeeding, and eating "clean," you probably shouldn't restrict calories too much. Not cutting too much means not eating below whatever your basal metabolic rate is, in my opinion. There are many ways of figuring out your BMR, but I use this one:
http://www.hussman.org/fitness/bmrcalc.htm

I hope this helps, and if you have more questions--ask! :D

(One more thing--take a before picture with your gut hanging out. It will be very motivational when you want to give up! And how happy you will feel when you can see your progress, rather than just using the scale as a measure of your success:))