Weight Loss?

I used to be overweight and now I struggle to keep my weight up. Part of it is nursing a baby but most of it is change in my diet. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my old way of eating, but then I think about constipation and realize it will never be an option for me again. I had heard that a high fiber diet helps with weight loss. I guess it's true!

Lactation is just a phase of your life when your body is in a different equilibrium. When you stop breastfeeding your body will find a new balance. Meantime, just do what you have to do to stop fading away or ballooning out, whichever is happening.

The thing about excess weight is that fat builds up on the inside as well as the outside. There is more intraabdominal pressure if there is more mass in the torso, specifically in the abdomen and pelvis in this case. I guess really fat people have lots of fat around their heart too, which cuts down the space available for the lungs, so their oxygen supply is further compromised.

Cut down the mass in the abdomen and pelvis and you make more space available for the organs to adjust themselves into safe and comfortable positions. However, some women also think that the extra fat has some pessary function, and that they are worse off POPwise when they lose it.

There are so many variables with finding the right body weight, and I am sure that proportions of different food types in your diet will affect your metabolism, and that in turn will affect your body composition and body weight which seems natural and comfortable for your body.

You just need to find what is OK for you, even if the figures say you are too fat or too skinny, or your BMI needs to be higher or lower. Otherwise you can end up fruitlessly chasing something that you are not, and that can be very frustrating and damaging to overall wellbeing.

Cheers

Louise

You just need to find what is OK for you, even if the figures say you are too fat or too skinny, or your BMI needs to be higher or lower. Otherwise you can end up fruitlessly chasing something that you are not, and that can be very frustrating and damaging to overall wellbeing.

Excellent observation, Louise. I totally agree.
Jane

Hi -- I'm new here and have been obsessively reading everything. Thanks for all your wonderful posts! The info on this site gives me LOTS of hope for healing and regaining full functioning of my body -- and for not freaking out about things not being as they should be "down there."

I'm 62, gave birth vaginally to 2 normal-sized children without tearing or prolonged pushing, and discovered a cycstocele (didn't even know what that was) about 5 months ago when the EST ring that I was using (to counteract vaginal atrophy) would no longer stay in place, especially when having a BM. I spent a lot of time taking it out, having a BM, and putting it back in. I wondered "what is that bulge in my vagina?" so I took myself to the gynecologist, then to the urologist, etc. I have a mere Stage 1 cycstocele and probably a rectocele. And a "gaping introitus" according to my urologist's notes. Talk about feeling bad about myself!

In the last year and a half I lost 80 lbs -- not particularly fast, more to shed. I did this by following a food plan that includes no wheat or dairy (casein), no sugar of any type, and 3 meals/day of weighed and measured portions of protein (meat, eggs, fish, poultry, tofu, beans -- the equivalent of 4 oz/meal), vegetables (about 40 oz/day), fruit (2 servings/day), whole grains (up to 1 C/day), oat bran (3 T/day) and fat (1 T/day). So, I get LOTS of fiber. I am never constipated. I have food intolerances to casein (in all types of dairy products) and I know that I react addictively to wheat products. Other whole grains don't seem to trigger compulsive eating or indigestion. No more bloating.

So, while this weight loss is wonderful in so many ways -- arthritis in my knee isn't troublesome, I can fit in an airplane seat, I'm flexible, I'm not constantly in pain, I look better -- I'm pretty sure it contributed to my POP in two ways: 1) the "pessary effect" of lots of abdominal fat (where I stored 90% of my weight; I still have an overhang) keeping my pelvic organs in place, and 2) the loss of estrogen which is stored in fat. This estrogen loss -- why I started using the EST ring -- contributed to deterioration and weakness of my vaginal tissue which, in combination with poor posture, allowed my bladder and rectum to protrude into my vagina. The obesity, of course, put pressure on my pelvic floor -- and I'm sure this is why my urologist sent me to a pelvic floor rehab specialist who gave me a variety of kegel exercises as the cure-all. I haven't been compliant and have been very discouraged about this. None of these kegels are like the ones Christine describes; hers make a lot more sense and seem easier to do. Another contributing factor, I'm sure, is that I did basically as little moving as possible for about 30 years (too painful, too awkward) and my sitting posture was slumped and curved over -- lots of computer work as a tech writer for 18 years.

So, I am VERY excited about and grateful for the ideas proposed here about posture, explanations about the effects of an incorrectly tilted pelvis, etc. Already the tip about "tying my shoelaces" while I sit on the toilet has helped me completely empty my bladder. I also adjusted my office chair so that the seat pan tips forward, and I catch myself slumping and remember to lengthen up through the top of my head. Whether or not this is the placebo effect, my my mostly-constant bladder pain is less.

Thanks for being here,
- Cat

Welcome Cats.Crotch

We had another member a couple of weeks ago who had lost a lot of weight in the last 12 months. I cannot remember her username, but you could look back about a fortnight. I am sure you could find it quite easily going back throught the pages. Alternately use the search box and put in suitable keywords. The gist of it is that your connective tissue doesn't revert as quickly as the fat disappears. It might take some time to shrink it all back, and even then you might have some belly skin that is chronically loose. I got that on one side after a very difficult second pregnancy. It has stayed the same for 24 years, but now my reproductives have slowed down, age 56, I notice I have it on the other side as well. (Sigh ...) No more bikinis. ;-)

Hey, well done losing all that weight. I admire that sort of determination. I can see that your body is thanking you already!

Cheers

Louise