Any BF moms struggling to lose weight?

shalinimunjal

I'm nursing my toddler (21months old) 3-5 times in evening and night. Working out 4-5 times a day, (30DS and Couchto5K on alternate days). I haven't lost ANY weight in about 2 months Really really discouraged. Calories set to 1600 manually. I'm 5'0", 138lb, 35yr. I've changed my diet to mostly clean foods (except spike day when i tried to go way over)..

My diary is public you can take a look.. I tried spike day yesterday (3/3) in order to break the plateu but don't think it worked.

VAPeters

how did you come up with the calories number of 1600? I was adding in breastfeeding calories and wasn't getting anywhere so per the suggestion of a friend who is also bf'ing I changed my activity level to "active" and have finally started to loose.

shalinimunjal

1600 is based on my TDEE..someone calculated it for me. My BMR is around 1300 and he advices eating well above that and he came up with that #. Not sure if it's too high..should I reduce it?

Mindmovesbody

Hi there, fellow BF mom trying to lose and wasn't getting anywhere until I changed my intake. Lost six pounds in three weeks. I'm 5'3 and 3/4" and weighing in at 134.5 now. I BF about 6 times in a 24 hour period and my calorie intake is 1200. I add in -500 per day for breast feeding as well but I still try to stay within that 1200 range and if I don't I get myself on the treadmill. I also found out I had thyroid issues, so they put me on a very low dose of meds. I think that helped with my energy level. I would reduce your intake by something small, maybe 300 calories and see what happens!

keanacallon

I would say up your calorie intake. I didn't lose for about 3 weeks and wasn't even including breastfeeding in my diary. The moment I did and started eating an additional 300 calories is when I started losing again. I read somewhere, maybe Babycenter that a breastfeeding Mom shouldn't go under 1800 calories, but I don't know the source to back that info up.

shalinimunjal

This seems to be the consensus..I am going to try adding 200 cals and see how it goes over the next month. Thanks all

princessleia1980

I struggled to lose and tried reducing cals but nothing happened. So I increased my calories and lost 3.5lbs that week. I've set my cals to maintain so the bf is causing me to lose. I'm losing 1lb a week when I stick to it! 1600 sounds too few to me. I'm on 1900 without adding the feeding. I'm 5'1" 169lbs.

princessleia1980

Also have you tried cutting down on pasta, rice ad bread. Grains can lke bad for some ppl!

shalinimunjal

Thanks princessleia..is that your DD? She's a cutie

I am trying to switch completely to whole grain and brown rice. Sometimes I have long grain white rice because family won't eat brown rice..I tried. So if I cook for just me, it's brown rice.. Also tried quinoa recently and liked it. I eat wheat pasta when I cook it for me. Getting there slowly

I'm 5'0 139 lb. I am now doing 1800 cals and try to eat my exercise calories. I had a small loss this week so that's something.

How old is your baby and how much are you nursing in a day??

lauracb10

I was having a really hard time losing weight while breast feeding before I started WW... I think I am doing well on it because I get an additional 10 points because of that.... It is hard to eat as much as they want me to... I need to start eating more... but I feel so over full when I eat anymore than I already am... makes it hard for me to sleep too...

Futurefitnessinstructor

In the same boat over here......

MFP has my calories set to 1650...and I am usually very hungry on that but feel guilty going over.

My son is 9 months old and I have lost about 5 lbs since he came home from the hospital....this weight is not budging. I have 25 lb to go.

I am fed up and feeling quite down...

I also read on other sites that BF moms should not consume less than 1800 calories a day....