I exclusively breastfeed my baby and I STILL gain weight!

scarlettsmom87

Anybody else? I'm so beyond done. I'm so insanely frustrated. My baby is 6 months old and she only gets my breastmilk and even when I keep my calories around 1600-1900 a day, I STILL FREAKING GAIN WEIGHT. screw you PCOS. I'm gaining about 10-15 pounds a month despite trying not to. Even my doc is baffled.

amyinthetardis1231

How are you eating while bf'ing? When I was nursing my daughter I couldn't get enough fruit (breastfeeding sometimes makes you crave sugar and carbs) and ate my weight in fruit salad. I didn't gain weight at the time but my cravings were noticeably impacted. I've only started losing weight now that I've switched to a low carb high fat way of eating. I don't know if that is compatible with breastfeeding or not, since losing too much weight can negatively impact your ability to nurse. Have you had your hormones checked recently (thyroid, androgens, A1c, etc)?

KnitOrMiss

@scarlettsmom87 - I don't remember what I ate almost 16 years ago with my daughter, but I had that same thing happen. I weighed more after she was born than I did at 9 months pregnant. I'm still fighting back. From what I can tell, having my daughter sent my hormones into overdrive, and threw my PCOS into high gear as well as severely taxed my adrenals, as I was diagnosed with adrenal fatigue and treated, ineffectively.

A low carb high fat diet can be safely done while breastfeeding, but the transition needs to be slow, to allow your milk supply to adjust. What the baby is getting is already in this format essentially already, so it's no worries, as what the baby takes will always come before what your body needs. Also, if you decide to change anything up, be sure to have the panels worked up, as lower carb levels can tax the body more, too.

While not exactly the same, if I had it to do over again to try to troubleshoot the issue, I'd have switch to a lower carb plan 50-100 grams of carbs a day, working specifically on cutting "whites." I would work to increase my water intake and to improve my movement - at least some deliberate movement each day - a walk, yoga, something. This was also around the time that I started having heartburn and ended up having my gallbladder removed, so honestly, I would have worked on improving that, since for me, all things seem to have tracked back to that. I would have added apple cider vinegar and digestive enzymes with my meals, added probiotics and diatomaceous earth, and even fermented products, if my body could have handled them better then... And when all my tests got wonky, I would have pushed for the correct thyroid tests to diagnose my concerns, rather than the standard tests that called me a liar for concern...and I wouldn't quit fighting until I got some answers.

(HUGS) & Congrats!!!