Breastfeeding and losing weight

vemaddox

I had my baby almost 6 months ago and I am ready to start losing weight. I am still breastfeeding though. Are there any other moms out there that have/are breastfeeding and losing weight? Any tips?

kristengregson43

Breastfeeding momma here! My babe is 3 months old, I haven't weighed myself for a while but just trying to focus on eating within my calorie range ( what MFP gives me plus 300 for exclusively breastfeeding) and exercising regularly. My thoughts are not to really focus on the number on the scale at the moment just to be consistent with tracking and exercising!

chelliebabe2000

Breastfeeding is a gym session u don't have to workout to achieve. Monitor your intake and your body will do the rest.
No your milk quality will not decrease if you are consuming adiquate amounts.
Just don't crash diet or you will lose your milk and you will both struggle from it.

bendyourkneekatie

I've lost 15kg while breastfeeding. I set mfp to maintenance and let the breastfeeding be my defecit. I eat 50-70% of my exercise calories (I work out 6 days a week, either running or hiit at the gym). I'm still feeding my 19 month old (though we'll be wrapping up soon), and I'm the slimmest and fittest I've ever been.

DON'T drop too low too quick. I dropped too low at the start and was miserable, angry, and exhausted (in addition to how miserable angry and exhausted I already was at having 2 under 2 at the time...).

HotMama115

I gained 80 lbs with my pregnancy(& tried really hard not to). My daughter is 3 months and I have lost 50 lbs. so far. I've really focused on eating veggies and lean protein, I also eat all organic food. I did splurge over the holidays though. I also got a Fitbit and have a personal walking goal for myself that I daily try to reach. I have a treadmill that helps but my little sweetie would not let me do anything without holding her for the last 2.5 months so I sometimes pump and give her a big bottle so she will most likely nap. That way I can get my exercise in. I plan on running once I lose a little more weight. I recommend bamboobsies (sp?) for the nips so your sports bra doesn't rub up against it. I also lose 2 lbs a week if I track my food on here as oppose to the times I don't, I'm not as successful in my weight loss. Drink lots of water and I drink coconut water too, it's better for you than Gatorade. Good luck and way to go with breastfeeding for 6!

Lleldiranne

I'm still breastfeeding my 15 month old. He is my 5th. So this isn't my first rodeo

Not all women lose easily while breastfeeding. My experience seems that maybe half do. So, first of all, have patience. Work on making the best food choices possible and developing good exercise habits (you can workout when lactating, most babies don't care). Be active with baby - go for walks and on other outings. Play active games. Make it fun for both of you. Eat the kinds of foods you want your little one to eat (lots of vegetables, fruits, etc)

I wouldn't give yourself more than 300 calories extra for bf, if baby has started on solids. But don't drop too low, either. Make sure you are drinking lots of water, and then listen to your body. If you start to feel run down or overly tired, increase your calories a bit or reduce your exercise amounts. Also develop the habit of logging regularly and accurately, it will make a big difference.

Remember, you are still your baby's primary source of nutrition. So developing nutritious habits is important, both for your milk supply now and for the example you're going to be setting for years to come. When your body is ready to let go of the weight (if it's being stubborn now, like a lot of women are) having those habits in place will really help. And if your body is one of those that makes it easier to lose weight, those are the things that will help you along. For me, it was always close to a year post-partum before I was able to lose much weight, but after that point, things got easier even though I wasn't yet weaning.

Just stick with it. Develop a healthy you for you and your baby. HTH

LKArgh

vemaddox wrote: »

I had my baby almost 6 months ago and I am ready to start losing weight. I am still breastfeeding though. Are there any other moms out there that have/are breastfeeding and losing weight? Any tips?

I have breastfed 3 kids, always I ended up at a ridiculously low weight towards 1 year or so. Breastfeeding burns a lot of calories, so if you eat as you woudl to maintain weight, the weight falls off. Just do not get into the mindset of "I must eat for two, or my milk will be gone". No need for 1000 calorie diets obviously, and this would hurt, but eating as you normally would, will help you lose weight.

bendyourkneekatie

aggelikik wrote: »

vemaddox wrote: »

I had my baby almost 6 months ago and I am ready to start losing weight. I am still breastfeeding though. Are there any other moms out there that have/are breastfeeding and losing weight? Any tips?

I have breastfed 3 kids, always I ended up at a ridiculously low weight towards 1 year or so. Breastfeeding burns a lot of calories, so if you eat as you woudl to maintain weight, the weight falls off. Just do not get into the mindset of "I must eat for two, or my milk will be gone". No need for 1000 calorie diets obviously, and this would hurt, but eating as you normally would, will help you lose weight.

I will say that for some of us, "eating as you normally would" can be a bit tricky to measure when breastfeeding, as hunger can be increased beyond the actual additional caloric requirement. That's one reason calorie counting has been so helpful for me while breastfeeding (and while getting into running: the runger is real!)

LKArgh

katem999 wrote: »

aggelikik wrote: »

vemaddox wrote: »

I had my baby almost 6 months ago and I am ready to start losing weight. I am still breastfeeding though. Are there any other moms out there that have/are breastfeeding and losing weight? Any tips?

I have breastfed 3 kids, always I ended up at a ridiculously low weight towards 1 year or so. Breastfeeding burns a lot of calories, so if you eat as you woudl to maintain weight, the weight falls off. Just do not get into the mindset of "I must eat for two, or my milk will be gone". No need for 1000 calorie diets obviously, and this would hurt, but eating as you normally would, will help you lose weight.

I will say that for some of us, "eating as you normally would" can be a bit tricky to measure when breastfeeding, as hunger can be increased beyond the actual additional caloric requirement. That's one reason calorie counting has been so helpful for me while breastfeeding (and while getting into running: the runger is real!)

Aboslutely. I have also noticed that in the usually sleep deprived state of having a young baby, confusing thirst for hunger is very easy. I know it sounds silly, but it happened to me a lot. Probably my brain thinking that I couldn't be possibly needing THAT much water.

Janehds0284

I gained 20kgs and lost 15kgs so far in 12weeks. Any diet is not necessary, you still need to eat for your breastfeed but just make sure you eat plenty of healthy food and not starve yourself. Mine is lots of veggies, fruits and drink plenty of water. I have carb and sugar here and there but not much. I go for a walk 5 days a week as a minimum, if I don't walk I do some other exercise such as weight lifting or yoga. You don't need to do 1-2 hrs a day, some day 15-30mins is still ok, I'm sure carrying baby around or house work you will already burn a lot.

If you are not losing weight at all probably mean you still eating way too much more than you burn.

I know I gained a lot because I have been eating a lot and it's all about sweet and carb. Now that I don't pregnant anymore I change my eating habit and weight will just come down itself.

I only start calorie counting 1-2 weeks ago, basically I'm still eating the same way but just want to see how many calories I did a day / track my exercise and see result.

Ps. I try low carb 2-3 days but waste of time. Eating normal I still loose anyway. Good luck feel free to add me I have my diary open!

JackieMarie1989jgw

I am still breastfeeding my 9 month old. I lost some weight on my own during the first 6 months without dieting, but after he started eating solids my weight plateaued, which is why I'm back on here.
To use myfitnesspal while breastfeeding, you need to make sure you give yourself an appropriate number of extra calories for milk production. You can do this by first setting your calorie goal based off your weight and everything as normal, then search "breastfeeding" like you're adding a food to your food diary. It will give you two options, 500 extra cal or 250 extra cal. I use the 250 one because my baby is on about 50% solids now and I dont need to produce as much anymore. If you are exclusively breastfeeding, you should use the 500 calorie one, though. When you select one it will add that many more calories to your allotted amount. You have to add it every day. Make sure you eat those calories, you need them to make milk!
Even though it seems like a lot of extra calories, I found that my appetite had increased so much with breastfeeding that even with those extra calories, I was eating less when I was using the food diary. It's only been a couple weeks but I have lost a couple pounds and dont feel too deprived. Milk production hasnt suffered either.Best of luck!

KMBarnes1981

While most people lose weight easily breastfeeding, it's not applicable to all. Despite cutting calories my weight didn't drop until I stopped breastfeeding completely. I'm just saying don't put too much pressure on yourself. Make sure you are leading a healthy and active lifestyle and the weight will come off when it's ready to.

JLPersall

Breastfeeding 4 month old just started counting calories a month ago. I eat around 1750. Just trying to get my excercise up. I think I did the same with my daughter and lost 55 pounds with her but I hiked 4-5 times a week. Feel free to send me a friend request