Weight loss while breastfeeding?

roseredgal

Currently breastfeeding my son and would like to lose some baby weight but without affecting my milk supply! Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks!

chornak05

General advice is to eat at maintenance or slightly below and let bf create your deficit.

sissidevore

i did it. i was exercising about 4 hours per day on an elliptical, and eating about 1300 calories. i didn't have any trouble with supply, and my second son never even latched. he was a nicu baby, when i had him i was over 260lbs (i gained over 100 lbs iwth each baby! been pregnant 3 times)... it took me only about 2 months to lose the 100 lbs. but if you wanted to do it less extreme you could do just regular exercise and not cut your calories to low. honestly it didn't effect my supply what so ever. (exclusively breast feed 2 babies for 1 year each)

Fisherw12

Remember that everyone's caloric intake needs are going to be unique. If you are eating a balanced diet, drinking water, and maintaining good nursing habits, your supply shouldn't be effected by exercise.
Every body is different, mind you. I tend to hold on to about 10 "just in case there's a zombie apocalypse" pounds no matter what I do.

Congrats on your little one! And kudos for asking. Navigating the way breastfeeding takes on our bodies is quite the journey. Remember it takes about 72 hours to boost, and about 24 to decrease. If you notice a dip in supply (not always in size or "fullness") then you can usually reverse it by nursing often.

Good luck!

MiniMightyMom

Firstly, congrats! My son is 8 m

MiniMightyMom

8 months. Im hanging onto the last 10, i assume because my body thinks he needs the cushion haha. Stay hydrated, and pay attention for signs of baby not getting enough. Otherwise, just keep trucking

NotGnarly

My son is almost 6 weeks old and I gained 38 pounds with him. I still need to lose about 6 pounds to be at my pre pregnancy weight. I've breast fed all four of my kids for a year or more. In the past I would use weight watchers which I think is pretty much 2000 calorie diet. Also when I followed a nutritionist recommendation she had me eating 2000 calories.

Now with this baby I don't track calories or anything. I just eat as much meat as I want and I also eat fruits and veggies. I don't care too much for grains so I rarely eat them. I also cut out milk because it makes baby colicky and it also makes me constipated or gives me horrible stomach cramps.

Since I'm pretty much eating a whole foods diet I'm losing about 2 pounds a week. I eat as much as I want so it doesn't feel like I'm on a diet which is good.

NotGnarly

Also I haven't had any issues with my supply

youngmomtaz

While you figure out what works best for you just pay attention to your supply and your little ones nursing habits. I found that if I ate any lower than maintenance for my weight at the time my supply would tank and I would have a very cranky baby for a few days while I built it up again. My guys all had severe reflux and did best if I pumped off some of the thin milk first so they had an abundance of fatty hind milk and that kept their tummys happier, so we had some different circumstances as well.

On the opposite end of things some women can cut quite a bit and babies don’t seem to suffer and continue to grow according to guidelines. Everyone’s body’s heal, produce, and react a bit differently.

Good luck, take it slow, and enjoy that babe!!