i want my body back!!!

[veganfamily]

So - i have had 2 kids and i am ready to have my body back. with my 1st pregnancy i was on the ultimate SAD diet! My midwives scared me into hypertension; told me i needed 80 grams of meat protein every day! Practically overnight i swelled up. i started out at 117, and at delivery i was 200 lbs!! Needless to say , i have really bad stretch marks and wierd stretchy skin on my stomach.

What foods should i focus on, and what kind of exercise?
i will take all the suggestions i can get!

thank you so much!
Brandy

[theresaann]

If I can share, when I had my second child, I went from about 114 lbs to 175 at delivery. THat was when I was 32. now I'm 41 and STILL have the last 30 to lose! This issue depends on many factors:

how old you are
how toxic/acidic you are
emotional issues around weight/body image
whether you can excercise regularly

Everybody is different. I find that on raw I lose weight faster, but it's not been overnight. Cultivate patience and consistency. I am 100% raw, and I think that works best, but do what you can. If not 100% raw, maybe follow something like the Halleluiah acres diet (hacres.com). THe more alkaline the faster you'll lose weight....Hang in there! Just be patient, consistent, love yourself, and it will come off!!

[theresaann]

oh, one other thing about exercise-I've found that working out 5-6 days a week is great-2 days of cardio with free weights (I do the Firm workouts, Kathy Smith and Kelli Roberts dvds), and 3-4 days of cardio, at least 30 min-walking or another dvd. It'll come off, you'll see!!! Free weights PLUS cardio work best, I think, but I know lots of people lose weight with regular yoga too.

[rawpriestess]

olive oil for that weird stomach skin massage in

celulite, goes to liquid at 40 degrees celcius, which is about 112 degress Farenheit, so a dry sauna is great, stay in at least 30 minutes, then have a massage, keep doing this, also, rinse off your sweat after sauna,
and to promote even a better sweat, take a hot shower to start your sweat before you sauna, drink massive amounts of water, this wil really help to get rid of celulite, and loose skin.

[newyearspromise]

Hey-

Have the same problem, but got some advice from everyone's favorite raw mamma, Jinjee...and things are actually getting better!

Email she sent me when I asked her about this very problem:



Hi Catherine,

I think that your skin may regain its elasticity with a strict 100% raw
vegan diet that includes daily vegetable juicing along with a two hour daily
workout. The workout should include stretching, strengthening and aerobics.

You should expose your stomach to the sun every day for a half an hour if
possible.

Drink lots of water.

Do lots of abdominal muscle work, a half an hour a day if possible. Pilates,
sit ups, a sit-up bench could be good.

And start all of this as soon as possible. The sooner you start it the more
chance you'll have of your stomach returning to normal or better.

It can definitely be done. But it will take a lot of work and dedication. I
think its worth it! But that will have to be your decision. Your husband
sounds wonderful. But it comes down to how you feel about yourself. If
you're not happy with you then that's going to affect your husband too at
some point.

Some "extra credit" things that may help speed things along and add more
potential to the healing:

- spend five minutes a day visualizing your tummy as you want it to look
- send love to your tummy
- rub daily with vitamin E oil
- get an aloe vera plant and rub the fresh gel into your skin daily
- blend an inch of the aloe vera plant into a fruit smoothie or juice with
your vegetable juice daily
- if you don't have anything against the ancient "chakra" concept, you may
want to work with the chakras. The stomach area is home of the solar plexus
chakra, seat of the will, and some believe it to be the dwelling place of
the divine within us. If you visualize a burning fire there this may
increase the blood flow and stimulation of this area for healing. Here is a
link to an article I wrote about my chakra work:
http://pearmagazine.com/online/chakraw.html
- prayer is also very powerful for healing, perhaps especially in this area
if it is really the home of the divine spark within us
- push sunset colored light into the cells of the tummy skin, into the
tissues of the tummy skin
- rub your skin with a towel and/or loofah to stimulate circulation and
healing

[newyearspromise]

Something Rawpriestess made me remember about great weight loss...

A couple of years ago I was at Air Force boot camp. It was July and August in San Antonio, TX. We had to wear those long-sleeved cammo uniforms (BDUs). Talk about a bunch of sweaty, smelly college students!

Anyway, we constantly drank water, sweat it out about as fast as we could put it in, and showered 2-3 times on most days.

We did a lot of exercise, but it was actually mostly just standing around in that heat sweating our butts off.

When I got home I could not believe how awesome my body looked, and it could not have just been the exercise because I had already been very fit before I went there. But I never looked that awesome, and haven't since...

I have always thought it must have had something to do with drinking so much and sweating so much... ??

[theresaann]

Yes, the sweating thing is so huge. A friend of mine has a far infrared sauna in her house and I sat in it for 35 minutes for the first time last week. OH MY GAWD...I felt SO amazing after. I felt like I had just done a really intense workout, very purged and energized. I know it has something to do with the infrared. I want to get one so much. I am going to become a "sauna squater" at her house- lol!

[veganfamily]

olive oil for that weird stomach skin massage in

celulite, goes to liquid at 40 degrees celcius, which is about 112 degress Farenheit, so a dry sauna is great, stay in at least 30 minutes, then have a massage, keep doing this, also, rinse off your sweat after sauna,
and to promote even a better sweat, take a hot shower to start your sweat before you sauna, drink massive amounts of water, this wil really help to get rid of celulite, and loose skin.

thank you all for your input... but this is more what i am talking about...

I am fine with my weight - in fact, i am quite small. I just have these scarred striped legs and butt with a loose, stretchy, wrinkly stomach to match!

I think i will sauna tonight at the gym! Oh, combining the "lots of clothes and sweating" idea with the sauna.... should i keep my legs and tummy covered to get a jump start?

(i don't want to hurt myself)


***also*** exposure to the sun - I am in minnesota in March...need i say more? Any suggestions?


or should i just move?

-brandy

[veganfamily]

okay - just got back from the sauna.....



that was AMAZING!!

at first i felt trapped but then i just closed my eyes and breathed slowly


yup. you can bet i'll be there often. is there such thing as too often? like, can i go 3 times/wk?

thank you rawpriestess for the recommendation!

[pamojamo]

How often is dry sauna recommended?

[Webby]

So - i have had 2 kids and i am ready to have my body back. with my 1st pregnancy i was on the ultimate SAD diet! My midwives scared me into hypertension; told me i needed 80 grams of meat protein every day! Practically overnight i swelled up. i started out at 117, and at delivery i was 200 lbs!! Needless to say , i have really bad stretch marks and wierd stretchy skin on my stomach.

What foods should i focus on, and what kind of exercise?
i will take all the suggestions i can get!

thank you so much!
Brandy

Oh Brandy, you sound like my body twin. This thread has been a huge encouragement to me.

[theresaann]

you know about skin brushing too, right? use a stiff, natural bristle brush on DRY skin. that would be GREAT before a sauna, or a shower. Really good for helping skin to "bounce back".