losing weight while breastfeeding?

mestacy010

I'm having a very hard time losing weight while breastfeeding, is there anyone else having this problem? If you have been successful, do you have any tips? My milk supply is doing awesome, so I'm not worried about that! My son gets what he needs! But he is seven months old so soon he won't need me as much so I'm trying to lose weight, in the past four months I have only managed to lose five pounds!

kristinL16

What are you doing to try to lose weight? Are you exercising? Logging calories? How many cals do you eat per day?
My 4th baby just turned 5 months old yesterday. I lost most of my pregnancy weight within the first month but have stalled out with 10 lbs to go (had been to 5 but gained over Christmas), which is why I started here. After my other pregnancies I remember losing in spurts. I would lose a bunch, then nothing, then all of a sudden start losing again. After my second I weighed less than I did when I got pregnant, but with the others I had a hard time losing the last 5 lbs of pregnancy weight (plus any I had gained between pregnancies). I am hoping the losing starts happening here really soon! Make sure you are eating enough and accounting for breastfeeding calories.

Mumbum78

I lost nothing while breastfeeding!! I just stopped a week ago, and have had some women say they hung on to wieght until after, but who knows!! If you get an answer,let me know too!

JanSmelly

With my twins I didn't lose the weight until they were over a year. The weight came off easily after that and I went on to nurse until they were over 2 and I was 20+ weeks pregnant.

With my 20 month old the weight was gone by 4 months but when she hit a year I gained 5 lbs in a few months. She is still nursing and I am at my goal weight.

IMO I wouldn't stress too much until complimentary foods move to the main part of his diet.

jnbud2002

I'm still nursing exclusively, she's 5 months now, and I've lost a total of 16 lbs and counting since Jan 9th! I was worried about my milk supply, but it's all good, she's growin well! I've been exercising 6 days a week. At first I did about 3 days, 30 mins a day. Then I did 5-6 days a week about 30 minutes a day too. Then I started doing 45-60 minutes. I bought Leslie Sansone's Burn Body Fat, tried the 1 mile for a day, then did the 2 mile for a couple weeks now I'm doing the 3 miles. And today, I just started the 30 DS!! Yikes, it kills! lol. I make sure to eat a breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack (which is sometimes a protein shake). I eat between 1800-2400 cals a day...give or take 200 cals, just depends!

Edit* I also like doing Just Dance 3 on the Kinect! That's good times and you burn a good amount!

yogamom16

Hi, I found it a little hard to lose weight while breast feeding but it can be done. I have been breast feeding for about 17 months and during that time I have lost about 35lbs and I have about 7 more to go. My little one is almost done with nursing and I hope that I can lose the last little bit of weight that my body has been holding on to.
My advice is, log your calories and try to get some kind of physical activity in every day. Just make sure you are eating enough. I always gave myself an extra 300-500 when my baby was that age. Good luck!

aw62101

I lost a lot right after I had Gavin, but was holding on to the last 8 pounds. To be fair, I wasn't exercising much nor keeping track of what I ate. He's almost 6 months now. Now that I'm tracking what I'm eating and exercising (doing Bodyrock.tv's workouts) I'm finally down 5 lbs. I still have a way to go to my goal weight but I'm glad there's finally some progress!

cjhamh

I've found it pretty easy to lose weight while breastfeeding. My daughter is 13 months and I have lost 40lbs. For the most part I do watch what I eat and try to work out as much as I can during the week (which isn't much). I think I saw this in another post too, but my losses came in spurts. I would go a few months with no weight loss and then all of a sudden lose 10lbs easy. Not sure why, but that is what happened. I'm even 25lbs lighter than prepregnancy weight! Your best bet is to keep logging and exercising. If you don't lose weight, I wouldn't worry too much about it because your body is working VERY hard to feed your baby!

melissa44

Congratulations on your breastfeeding ladies I have been a Registered Nurse and a IBCLC lactation consultant for over 25 years. I remember when I breastfed my baby (4 years) I was at my lowest weight 200 pounds. I am now at 228 and so wish I was still breastfeeding LOL

You burn an extra 500 calories while breastfeeding ladies, continue to eat healthy and take your naps and KNOW you are doing the most beautiful and healthy thing your baby could wish for

mimi10453

I lost all my pregnancy weight while breast feeding and my son is almost 5 months. Everyone is different I guess.

kristinL16

When does anyone have time for a nap?

gudolitu

As a fitness professional and breastfeeding mother, I am still trying to get my behavior to match my knowledge, lol! I have read that 70-80% of the weight loss equation is diet, so that is where I should be putting most of my efforts, right? But no….I would rather spend 1.5 hours in the gym or train for a marathon to get the weight off. I am about 4 days away from completing my 1st full marathon and I will have trained 16 weeks for it. Sadly, I didn’t lose 1 pound!!! I have accepted the reality that I have to change my eating habits, especially since I am not 25 anymore . Even with exclusive breastfeeding for 1 year AND consistent exercise, I have never dropped weight easily, and I know the fact that I have not focused on eating better is to blame. My daughter recently stopped nursing at 2.5 and I am sure that my body is still adjusting, and if anything, I probably didn’t adjust my eating to account for the fact that I am no longer breastfeeeding.

http://elosingweightwhilebreastfeeding.com

padams2359

Everyone is different. Your bodies are doing one of the most basic functions of it design, and the only HEALTHY way of literally having the fat sucked out of you. If your body is storing fats, it is because it is doing what it needs to do to get the job done. Exercise if you can, eat healthy, and enjoy the time you have with your babies. In the grand scheme of things, this will be a very short period of time. Just a man with 17 & 14 year old boys opinion. Which I am sure means squat. I am sure your partners have NO problem with your current figures.

IntoTheSunset

Anecdotal experience here - I noticed in myself and among all of my friends that during breast feeding it was much more difficult to lose weight - as if the body sort of hangs on to those fat stores because really it's too busy doing other things (like feeding your child) to follow the standard calorie deficit equation. Most of my friends (and myself) immediately lost weight after stopping breast feeding. The little tummy pooch especially finally went away. Even my slimmest friend who never had a weight problem did not return to her pre-pregnancy weight/figure until the breast feeding ended. I think breast feeding moms should focus on being healthy, getting adequate exercise and sleep, taking care of their babies, and giving their bodies a break from the cultural drive to reduce weight during this season of life.

Just my anecdotal two cent though. Other women perhaps have had different experiences with weight loss and breast feeding. I just haven't seen it for myself, despite the infamous "500 extra calories" that our bodies supposedly burn during breast feeding.

Care76

I am breastfeeding my almost 1 year old (he turns 1 on Halloween!). He nurses 4-5 times a day still even though he eats regular foods all day long. I can't lose any weight. I am working out 6 days a week, sometimes 7 if you include walks. I think I am one of those women who will hang onto some fat until after.

I do count my calories and eat a tiny deficit, but I make sure I eat enough for my milk supply (which sucks without supplements and medication). I am hoping with my exercise that I can at least get to fit into my old jeans comfortably even if I don't lose weight.

Losing weight isn't as important as feeding my son. But I would love to have another baby and I need to get strong and fit to try and reduce my chances of SPD which basically put me in a wheel chair if I went to a store. It was absolutely the most painful thing and horrible to have so much pain when i would move. I NEVER want to feel that way again.

terrawater

I'm finding it extremely difficult to lose weight while breast feeding my daughter. I eat clean most of the time, am working in increasing my protein, maintain a caloric deficit, and try to be active everyday and the scale will not budge. I'm hoping that when I'm done breast feeding my body will gift me with some weight loss

k8mariel

My son (my first baby) will be 9 months next week, I have been fortunate enough to be able to exclusively breastfeed him the whole time-AND HE EATS A LOT! Even with starting solid foods since 5 months, he still has about 30-35oz of milk a day! Anyway, I too cannot seem to lose weight. I lost 35lbs within 2 weeks of him being born, then by the time he was 3 months old, I had gained back 7..then..10. So im still up 24 lbs from my pre-preg weight. I have been working out for 6 months consistently. I have a yoga class once a week, 3 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training!-NOTHING!
Does anyone have a success story of significant weight loss after weaning? Im not going to wean him until he is 1 so im stuck this way until then, but I was looking for some hope..

victoria_1024

I found weight loss more difficult before my babies turned 1 because I was just so hungry all the time and worried about my milk supply. I tried MFP when my son was around 5 months old and really struggled and then quit. He turned 1 in December and I started using MFP again in January and have quite easily lost weight this time! He's just about 15 months now and still nursing a few times a day. I log an extra 200 calories a day for BFing calories and don't have any desire to wean anytime soon, so I'm glad the weight loss has been so consistent.

ErinRibbens

I BF both my babies to around age 1 and with both lost weight VERY slowly till they weaned and then it came off easily. With baby #2 I was really watching my diet, running, etc. and still had trouble losing the weight. It was totally worth it to stick with it though!

People are different, one of my friends just can't keep weight on her when she's nursing and I've seen her sit and eat 3 desserts at a time!

lvmamaduke

Congrats on losing the 5 pounds! I have always struggled to lose weight while BFing and tend to gain weight. I don't start to lose until I wean. I just weaned my 24 month old in Jan and have lost 12 pounds since then. Just Keep trying to eat healthy and the weight will come off.

saralynelleroberts

What I've noticed with my 2/3kids breastfeeding I didn't lose anything while breastfeeding. It was only until after I was done it just melted off. I just weaned my 11 month old off completely yesterday. I also got pregnant back to back (11 months apart) and with my 22 month old I nursed her 2 months GAINED weight than after I stopped when I was pregnant when I stopped I lost 50+ lbs while pregnant. Some women store fat while nursing and others dont. Ya you burn an extra 500caks (or so) nursing but you also eat that much extra so I don't think wo good diet/exercise alone I'd rely on losing a lot of weight just nursing. I lost 20 lb after birth bc it was the water I retained while pregnant along with baby weight. Not once have I thought I lost any of that due to nursing alone