Lose weight after baby and feel like a yummy mummy at last!

Caroline Beattie's joy at becoming a mother was overshadowed by plunging energy levels, chronic fatigue, mood changes, depression and weight gain caused by hormones. Weight loss was a constant battle after pregnancy. The hardest part was trying to lose the muffin top and tummy fat after birth. No matter what she did weight loss seemed impossible. Then she discovered an online weight loss program designed by a naturopath called Mass Attack ...

Lose weight and gain weight – losing weight was always an issue

Losing weight was always an issue - I'd lose weight then gain weight again. It was a constant struggle to lose weight and keep it off so maintaining a healthy weight was impossible. I honestly used to think at times my metabolism had stopped but now I know it was my hormones. As a primary school child I was always considered chubby - you know, my grandfather would call me cuddly and not think it was an insult! And you accept it from your grandfather because you love him dearly, but still...

Like many women, I had my yo-yo dieting years, losing a bit of weight during high school, then gaining weight quite a bit after school. Then in my early 20s, I literally worked my butt off by going to the gym and weight training and really changed my body.

'That's it!,' I said to people at the time. 'I'm gaining control of my weight and body now and staying that way!' And I did maintain it for quite some time - even with the addition of a husband, a house and lots of commitments I only gained a couple of kilos in five years.

Falling pregnant naturally but gaining weight fast

When I was about 27, my husband and I started trying for a baby. We tried for about six months, and over that time all I did was gain weight - about 4kg. I went to the doctor to find out why and he said, 'I can't give you an answer for that. But what I can tell you is that you're three weeks pregnant!'

I was overjoyed, but during the pregnancy I put on somewhere between 20 and 25 kilos! It wasn't because I pigged out during my pregnancy - I ate fairly normally. I had a desk job, so I sat on my butt for eight hours a day, but I'd been doing that for a number of years! Still, despite the rather large weight gain, everything went well with the birth and my son Nathan was a nice, healthy-sized bubba at 8 pounds 14 ounces.

In the months after Nathan's birth, I struggled to lose the weight. I'd go walking with Nathan, I modified my diet but I just couldn't lose weight. No matter what I did, the weight just wasn't coming off. I complained to my dad and he said, 'Perhaps if you started eating better and exercising more, you'll lose the weight.' My comment to him was, 'I use no fat, I eat lean meat, I eat green leafy vegetables, I do everything I'm supposed to do. Any normal person doing what I'm doing would be stick skinny.' And he had to agree.

Tired, depressed struggling to lose weight after pregnancy

By the time Nathan was one I was still stuck around a size 12-14, a good two sizes bigger than my pre-baby size 10. Along with my weight issues, I was incredibly tired all the time and very emotional. When my routine got thrown out, it would really affect me and I would over-react. I remember Nathan's second Christmas, just after he was one, when I was trying to socialise with family while having to keep taking myself away to keep trying to settle this child. I felt more and more stressed and unhappy and before I knew it, the waterworks had started. And then of course, the more people would say, 'What's wrong?' or 'Don't worry about it', the worse I got. I felt like shouting, 'Just let me be tired, depressed, frustrated and miserable on my own!'

It was then that my mum and my sister realised something wasn’t right with me. In fact, they were concerned that I might have post-natal depression. 'Nathan's a really good baby and he sleeps really well most of the time,' they said. 'You just shouldn't be feeling this tired and depressed.'

The doctor gave me the all-clear after blood tests that came back normal. Although I discovered that my iron levels were low and we began monitoring that. But despite eating red meat, chicken breast and broccoli, mushrooms, all the things you're supposed to eat for iron, I just couldn't keep my iron up. This now I know was because of post partum thyroiditis.

I realised I needed to try something new to tackle my problems. We have a family history of weight issues - mum is larger and my dad's always struggled with his weight - and I didn't want to be that person who got to their 40s and 50s and had this massive amount of weight they had to lose for health reasons.

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Online naturopath – finally I started getting answers

Then, while I was at one of the kids' Expos that I came across an ad for an online naturopathic weight loss program called Mass Attack that focused on hormones and weight loss. I went online and filled in a heath questionnaire detailing my symptoms and they came back with a list of hormonal things I was potentially suffering from, including sub-clinical hypothyroidism after birth, ovarian imbalance, and adrenal hypersensitivity. I remember thinking, 'God, I'm a mess! No wonder things aren't working!'

Why the MassAttack online weight loss program worked for me ...

I started eating the foods they prescribed and I have to say, the results were instantaneous! I lost about 5kg in three weeks, just by changing my diet to balance my hormones. It was really easy to follow because once you have the knowledge of which foods work, you can make really easy choices and you just redesign your staple meals around the stuff that you like. And as a mum, the online aspect of the program is one of the best things about it. Going to appointments can be a pain and costly, but with Mass Attack there's a one-off fee and I can order all my nutrients and snacks online, and send them an email if I have any questions.

They're also on hand if I want to give them a quick call. The best part is they call me to check that everything is ok – it really makes me feel that someone is taking care of me.

I think my biggest surprise of the foods that I couldn't eat was broccoli, because I'd always heard you should eat that for iron. But I stopped eating it, and when I had my next blood test, despite only being on the Mass Attack weight loss program for a couple of months, my iron levels had more than doubled!

I visited my mum and she was amazed at how I looked. "Weight loss aside, you just look better!" she said, and it was true. I didn't look tired anymore, there was more life to me, more colour to my face, my skin felt better... and most importantly, my moods improved and I felt better! There were just so many positives.

In fact, within two months of being on the program, I fell pregnant again! I continued with my Mass Attack weight loss program all throughout the pregnancy and only gained about 16kg while pregnant. From behind I didn't even look pregnant, I was all baby! It was just a much more pleasurable experience than my first pregnancy, because I didn't have the extra weight with it. I had heaps of support from Mass Attack during the pregnancy and my son Ben was born a healthy 7 pounds 9 ounces.

Now, Ben is two years old and I'm down to a size 10 skinny jeans, which is great! There's probably about 3 kilos that I'd still like to say goodbye to, but I've got an action plan in place and I'm working towards it. But for me it's not just the weight, it's the health aspect - keeping my iron levels up and knowing I'm on top of it all makes me feel fantastic. I love the fact that I'm able to keep up with the kids without getting tired, run down, emotional and moody.

I'm also much more active now. When you feel confident and good about yourself, you don't restrict yourself in any way. I'm happy to run along the beach with the kids now, which I wouldn't do before. When my friends at tennis comment on my weight loss, I make sure I tell them how I did it. I refer lots of my friends on to Mass Attack, whether they have weight issues or other health issues. I'll say, - Check out this website - it's done wonders for me!'

If you were reading Caroline's journey and thought "this is happening to me" then you should take action now ...

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