weight gain during and after pregnancy

I was at 184 when I found out i was pregnant only 15  months post surgery.  I gained nearly 40 lbs by 7 months pregnant.  I had my baby at 31wks gestation and dropped about 20 of those pounds immediately.  But since then I'm slowly creeping up and up on the scale.  Im started to get anxious and depressed about the weight gain.  I was on modified bed rest through most of my pregnancy so didn't do more than just go to school.  I was great at packing healthy foods to take with me to school but fell into the habit of eating those AND still joining my friends for food court and fast food lunches..  Because the baby was in the NICU for 6 weeks after delivery the fast food habit kept up with me.  She has been home now almost 3 months and I have not yet returned to school.  I joined 24hr fitness and was doing fantastic at going to workout in the beginning but have not been able to drop the snacking or junk food habit that I picked up.  And now I only make it to the gym about once a week on a good week. 

I know I need to get my a$$ in gear with the working out but I also don't know what to do about the eating I've been doing.  I've heard other people say you need to start back over from the beginning like full liquids...does anyone have any advice on where to begin????

I assume you're not breastfeeding since baby was in the NICU for a while - glad to hear baby is home!

You don't NEED to go back to liquids - that may be helpful for some people as sort of a diet "detox" kind of thing, but it's not necessary. You can still snack and still eat out; you just need to make better choices! I eat fast food frequently - cheeseburgers or grilled chicken sandwiches without the buns or a grilled chicken salad (minus super carby ingredients depending on what else is IN the salad), things like that. Focus on protein first and keeping your carbs low. And drink lots of water!

 You don't need to go back to basics or on a liquid diet or any other crash program. Weigh****chers is still the place that is the most successful with helping people to lose weight and to maintain their weight loss. You have the advantage of your surgery which can help you to be satisfied with less food than before your surgery.

My other advice to to use a digital scale and to always weigh yourself every day.  Weight comes on quickly when we let ourselves be in denial. Daily weighing keeps you accoutable, aware and motivated.

Congratulations on your baby girl!!!

You do not need to do anything other than get back to basics - eat a good protein first diet, only complex carbs (no whites!), lots of fluid, vitamins, (get some labs done if you haven't already), and exercise!   You want to get your metabolism revved up and crazy liquid diets will definitely not help with that. 

For exercise, wrap the baby up and walk with the stroller - it'll be good for her and you and will help get you back in the swing of how good it feels to get fresh air and get active again - maybe more of an incentive to get back into the gym a couple of times a week?    I used to walk miles with both my sons - chatting away to them and pointing stuff out (I'm sure people thought I was crazy!) but they both loved it!