Weight loss while breast feeding?!

PurpleJellyean

I have been BFing my daughter for the last 6 months. I plan on BFing until she turns one. Is anyone out there knowledgeable regarding if it is safe to lose weight while BFing? I have read that nursing moms need 500 extra cals a day, but I wanted to get some input from here too.

This topic may have already come up in the past. TIA for any help.

Jess

stella77

All I can say is that I didn't lose any weight while I was BFeeding. And my OBGYN said I probably won't because your body holds onto your weight to protect the supply.

I read that by BFing you burn 500kcal a day. Everyone told me that.. Personally, I didn't find that to be true and neither has any BFing mom I asked about it.

But I guess, if you have a proper deficit of calories, you will lose it either way, except that BFing may make you hungrier.

daybyday

It's been 13 years since I BF my youngest, but I read a good book called "Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding by Eileen Behan, R.D. which was really helpful as I remember. I did get back to my pre-pregnancy weight rather quickly. Hope this helps.

shellgib

Bfing "burns" an extra 500 cal per day, but that doesn't mean you need to eat those cals back. As long as you are eating a balanced, nutritious diet it is safe to lose weight while BFing. Some women lose wt w/out even trying while BFing, while others find it more difficult. Stay within your recommended calories per day and just keep in mind you have a little wiggle room with those extra cals that are burning to make the milk. The recommendation from the lastest research for lactation is to eat a healthy balanced diet and drink to thirst and you should have no problem continuing to make enough milk for your child. If you were to get into too much of a deficit, just like going into "starvation mode" you could impact the milk production. That's my LC speech....
On a personal note....I lost all of my PG weight and then some during the year that I BF without really "dieting" But it did take almost the full year to do it. Slow and steady is the way to go.
Good luck and congrats on the baby and breastfeeding!!

TropicalKitty

I don't have kids, but the women I know who have had them (my mom included) have all said they lost weight while bf'ing. From what they have told me, I agree with shellgib. Your body is doing a lot more work and you may be hungry (and we all know what sleep deprivation can do to your appetite as well!), but eating healthfully is most important - for you and your baby.

Good luck with the wl and congrats on being a mom!

srsimon

Although I don't have kids of my own, my aunt has 1yr old twins, and my mom has a 1 yr old and 3 yr old. Both didn't gain weight while breast feeding, but ate almost whatever they wanted. My aunt is a weight-loss/eat right/get fit nut. She loves chocolate, but tries to restrict it most times. She complained that once she stopped BFing the kids that she'd have to watch what she ate again. So, from what I understand it's kind of natural to lose a little, or maintain. My aunt is very skinny as it is (5'6" ish 120-130lbs) so she didn't really have any to lose.

melodyg

Yes. I lost weight while bf'ing and following Weight Watchers. As others have said, the general advice is that bf'ing exclusively burns about 500 calories a day. If you are introducing solid food and bf'ing less then you may want to add in less extra calories. I think some have added "breastfeeding" to the exercise category on here to add on to your calories... or you could just set to maintenance and that in itself would give you a 500 calorie deficit.

If you just have a few pounds to lose, it may come off more slowly because your body does hold on to a bit more fat... but if you have more than that you should be able to lose some weight over the next 6 months.

My own experience is that I had about 65 pounds to lose and lost about 25 of it over 6 months while bf'ing. Unfortunately... I gained it all back after stopping bf'ing so my advice is to really watch your calories more after you stop bf'ing! (I think mine was a combination of stopping, a bit of depression because I am WAY too sensitive to hormonal changes, and the fact that the past year had been REALLY stressful with working more than full-time, pumping, weight loss, and a host of other life changes. I basically gave up on diet/exercise around the time I stopped bf'ing... so I don't at all put all the blame on that even though I think it did contribute). (For comparison's sake, I lost about 25 pounds in 6 months this time with no bf'ing... so it was about the same rate of weight loss for me)

bloodbank

It's perfectly safe to lose weight while breastfeeding from a milk production standpoint, assuming you have an established supply (which by this point, you do) & you're doing it in a healthful way. I noticed that you're in Ontario - consider checking out some of the government-funded breastfeeding clinics (ie. free to you) around your city and speak to an IBCLC (or check out your local La Leche League!) who should be able to ease any worries and help you build a "plan" if you're having trouble doing so yourself.

For myself, even though I know this^, I chose to wait until my babe was a little bit older (14 months) to start really trying to lose weight so that if I did something stupid and impacted my supply slightly, that my daughter would be just fine (eating plenty of solids, etc) while I fixed it. But mammals are resilient creatures and my now 16 month old still gets plenty of milk - I often joke that my body seems to think I've got twins.