I had put on a lot of weight during my first pregnancy and it has been hard to shake it off since. I want to try for a second baby - and get in shape. Want to lose the weight but no drastic weight loss measures... advise please.

I have read that in Japan, it is advised by Japanese doctors and midwife for preggy to gain between 7kg-8kg during pregnancy. It is well known that Japanese women are very good at maintaining their physical appearance after giving birth. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2015/06/03/issues/pregnancy-birth-japan-cultural-primer-foreign-mothers/#.VrrpckX0qJI In most other countries, doctors will often advised preggy to monitor weight gain according to her BMI before pregnancy. Attached table for reference. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-weight-gain/art-20044360 Most of the mommies who I spoke to advised me to gain less than 10 kg so that it will be easier to return to my original weight. For my case, I did not follow a strict diet and have gained 25kg during pregnancy! I lost only 10kg immediately after delivery. I'm exclusively breastfeeding my baby so I managed to lose a lot of weight in a month. I'm a Stay-at-home mom so i spent a lot of time taking care of my baby. I often have to carry him and walk around at him or carrying him in a baby carrier outside. This has helped me to lose a lot of weight too. After 3 months I managed to lose 25kg in total! And by 5 months, I have weighed less than my pre pregnancy weight.