Q: I recently gave birth to my 3rd child, I had no problem losing weight after my other two. I am gaining weight now ,instead of losing. I have been exercising and watching what I eat, and still continue to gain weight. I was talking to a friend some time ago, and after her 2nd child she had gained about 65 lbs. I can not remember what the problem was but she had talked to her doctor and had some procedure done, the doctor said that she would not be able to have any more children now but she lost the weight after. What could my problem be due to?

A:A combination of factors are responsible for weight loss being so difficult as we grow older, even with each passing year. Unfortunately our bodies do not keep up as our age progresses, thus what we could do even a couple of years ago, takes a mammoth task presently. You might like to ask your doctor if there are any investigations that might bring up reasons for your slow weight loss. Once you have got all reports cleared out of the way, you may like to set a more realistic goal for yourself and be content with the slow progress. As you say, you have been watching what you eat. Combine that with a good aerobic program of brisk walking or swimming or cycling 3-6 times a week for 30-40 mins each time. If you can not get that much time in one shot, even smaller time periods done frequently in a day are good. Thus if you do not have 30 minutes to spare, try and get 3-4 bouts of 10-15 minutes each throughout the day! Muscle strengthening and stretching exercises also help in toning up. So if you can not lose all of it, try toning your body to give it a supple look. Most of all, give yourself time and with a certain amount of patience, you can achieve a realistic goal.