breastfeeding/pcos nutrition question - long, sorry

aisha786

I'm utterly confused about what to do. My son is a little over 2 months old and I exclusively breastfeed, no supplementing from anywhere and I plan to continue until he's well over a year old. I also have PCOS and have never been able to lose weight unless I adjust my carb intake to include wholewheat foods instead of white breads etc, but only this in extreme moderation, like once in a while. Most of my carbs come from veggies, not beans, bread, and potatoes. However, I never broke 160 in all of the years of my dieting. I also take Metformin to help with insulin resistance and have resumed that after delivering my son. I'm currently 178 and lack 18 pounds just to get back to my prepreg weight, plus I need to lose an additional 15 more to reach 145, just out of the overweight category.

It's safe to lose no more than 2 pounds a week so that is my goal. So MFP has me on 1200 cals a day spread across carbs, fats, and proteins. If I eat that many carbs I don't think I will really lose weight. Maybe if they are good carbs, but I'm unsure really. I am exercising and buring appx 500 cals a day on my elliptical machine. I committed to 20 mins a day 5 days a week, so I'm trying to exceed that committment. Sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. I have another 2 year old As I've been reading on here about eating the burned off calories (via exercise) I know I need to eat 1200 plus 500 or whatever it was for the day.

So my questions are:

1) will this plan work still for a breastfeeding mom
2) will this plan work for even with PCOS, knowing that I have insulin resistance?
3) should I continue on with the south beach diet (that is what I did before to get to 160 but I didnt exercise and as life would have it I got pregnant after losing with meds etc)


Another moms/ladies with experiences/knowledge? Any help would be appreciated.

Aisha

aisha786

I'm utterly confused about what to do. My son is a little over 2 months old and I exclusively breastfeed, no supplementing from anywhere and I plan to continue until he's well over a year old. I also have PCOS and have never been able to lose weight unless I adjust my carb intake to include wholewheat foods instead of white breads etc, but only this in extreme moderation, like once in a while. Most of my carbs come from veggies, not beans, bread, and potatoes. However, I never broke 160 in all of the years of my dieting. I also take Metformin to help with insulin resistance and have resumed that after delivering my son. I'm currently 178 and lack 18 pounds just to get back to my prepreg weight, plus I need to lose an additional 15 more to reach 145, just out of the overweight category.

It's safe to lose no more than 2 pounds a week so that is my goal. So MFP has me on 1200 cals a day spread across carbs, fats, and proteins. If I eat that many carbs I don't think I will really lose weight. Maybe if they are good carbs, but I'm unsure really. I am exercising and buring appx 500 cals a day on my elliptical machine. I committed to 20 mins a day 5 days a week, so I'm trying to exceed that committment. Sometimes I can and sometimes I can't. I have another 2 year old As I've been reading on here about eating the burned off calories (via exercise) I know I need to eat 1200 plus 500 or whatever it was for the day.

So my questions are:

1) will this plan work still for a breastfeeding mom
2) will this plan work for even with PCOS, knowing that I have insulin resistance?
3) should I continue on with the south beach diet (that is what I did before to get to 160 but I didnt exercise and as life would have it I got pregnant after losing with meds etc)


Another moms/ladies with experiences/knowledge? Any help would be appreciated.

Aisha

cynthiagoodman

I do not know about your condition and all that however I breastfeed both of my children. This is what happened with me - I could lose some of the weight but not all I wanted. The body is designed to feed another person during this time so God made you store some extra fat just in case you go into starvation. So when I stopped breastfeeding I dropped five pounds or so very quickly.

My concern is that your body has to have at least 300 - 500 extra calories a day to make the milk your baby needs. If you cut the calories too much the milk will not have the fat it needs and you may find your supply goes down. I hate to say this (I know you are anxious to get the weight off), but this may not be the best time to get real intense about losing weight.

Hope this help! Congrats on the new baby!

prettyinpink

I do have to say that yes, you can lose weight quicker by breastfeeding! I lost about 20 pounds breastfeeding in the first 6 weeks! But just remember that if you are breastfeeding you are burning more calories and those are calories needed for the baby... about 400 to 600 per day... and you are also working out about 500 calories so that is another amount of calories you need to eat on top of your 1200 per day for regular calorie intake. Just remember to think of your baby for nutrition, you are still eating for two!!! Either way, you will be using weight!!! Just make sure you are not losing too much too quick and I think that 2 lbs a week is too much... I would be patient and cut it back to only 1 pound per week and see how well it works. You will be surprised how many pounds fall off!!

Congratulations on the baby!! Mine is now 14 months ( She is growing TOO fast!

aisha786

Thank you both very much

The thing is that I lost down to 170 after a few weeks of delivering and I got hungry and ate when I was hungry. I gained 8 pounds by increasing my food. I wasn't monitoring my calories, so maybe I was eating too much of the wrong things which was cereal, rice, and some sweetish things. For some reason I was craving sweets so bad.

I have no idea what to eat anymore. I don't know where I am going to get those extra 'good' calories from and how I am going to lose instead of gain. Somehow I feel so scared of creeping over 180. Really... I am very scared.

Aisha

PS your daughter is very cute. The time does go by fast. I can't believe my first son is already 2 y 3 m old. I want him to stay little and keep cuddling with me hehe..

pam0206

My hat is off to you for even FEELING like working out. Between the fatigue of getting up with the baby and the hormonal rollercoaster.....geesh! I'm with Cynthia on this one, though. I nursed both of my daughters (one year each) and each time, I held on to some of my baby weight until I stopped nursing. GL and try to give yourself some time. :flowerforyou:

mommyskis

Congrats on your new baby! Since you are nursing exclusively and your baby is so young, please be careful. You might want to talk to a doctor or nutritionist about this - you sure don't want to put your health or your precious baby's health at risk. I know you are scared about your extra weight, but a few more months won't be the end of the world. Just giving birth has put your body through so much already!

mknott

I have to completely agree with what everyone else has already told you. This is not the time to be counting calories except to be making sure you eat ENOUGH calories! I just stopped breastfeeding my little girl, she is 10 months old now. I work full time and so now I can use my breaks for exercise instead of pumping. Due to breastfeeding I never gained any extra weight after she was born, and in fact I did lose some weight very slowly - just by trying my best to watch that I didn't eat too much fats, sweets, etc. Knowing that I was providing the nutrition for my baby it was important to me to eat right! But of course I still messed up sometimes. Working out while your baby is so little - good for you!!! You are so lucky because that will make you strong and build your muscle mass which will help you burn the fat when your body is done breastfeeding. As soon as I quit breastfeeding, I joined MFP and started watching what I ate more closely and getting more exercise. I'm dropping weight 1-2 pounds per week and I'm ecstatic about that! Be patient and make sure to eat right, eat enough, compensate for the calories you burn, and continue your exercise if you have the energy, that will help you in the long run. Congrats on it all!!

aisha786

Gosh you are all so supportive and nurturing. I am sure many feel like I do about their weight in that it's such a sensative area and really has so much relationship with how we feel about ourselves and our happiness. It does for me anyway. I want to do what is best for me and for my baby of course. He was born prematurely, at 33-34 weeks because my appendix not only ruptured but I became septic and the surgery has a high risk of preterm labor. But there was no choice in taking that risk. It was all very traumatic. Apparently though my appendix had been inflammed off and on for a number of years, in other words for a very long time I was walking around with an appendicitis that could rupture any time. I had the same symptoms with my first son at 33 weeks and went to the hospital but they didn't realize it was my appendix because everything moves. It didn't rupture but it was one of the worst pains ever in my life. I remember having this pain off and on for a few years before that. So the surgeon told me that it ruptured and the infection spread everywhere inside and inside it's very sterile. The blood circulation was cut off called for a long time, years. Anyway, I always wondered why I felt bad and I always had elevated white cells. The drs always asked me if I was feeling alright. I said ehh I'm alright. Fatigue and feeling bad is so common that they don't really look too much into it. I chalked it off to all sorts of things.

The reason I'm writing all that is because I feel like I'm becoming a new person. Things that I can't believe I went through, lived through, and I gave birth without an epidural - not my choice but I didn't have a choice. Like I said, it was EXTREMELY traumatic how everything happened. I can't believe our health system is like this in America. As you can tell I have a little bitterness left, but that is passing more and more everyday. I managed to go through all of this, things I couldn't have imagined I would go through....and I have a healthy litle baby, very little but healthy. And, so losing weight was something I could never fully accomplish and I think I can do it. I pushed a baby out with NO meds AT ALL. I couldn't walk and was shivering to death from infection from the appendix issue... I CAN do this. I have motivation and belief.....I am just trying to figure out how to really accomplish this. I want it so bad.

I guess the time isn't now to try to push myself too hard since I'm feeding my baby, but I want a new life. I don't feel like I've been living. I feel like I've been passing my days with my daily routines. My weight is extremely important to me because it's hard to have energy to enjoy my toddler and newborn when I can hardly keep my eyes open. It's gotten better since my newborn sleeps through the night, well at least 5 hours anyway straight.

I know I didn't face the hardest test in the whole world going through this ordeal, but it was enough to change how I feel. It was like a big kick in the bum. So I was hoping to utilize this motivation to get me through the changes and adopt a new lifestyle.

Aisha

mommyskis

It is so hard having 2, isn't it? Even if you aren't counting the calories, this can still be the start of your new life! Just making healthy choices like eating an apple instead of a donut is awesome. And exercising - that's incredible too. After I had my baby, I waited 2 months before I even went for a walk. If it ever warms up, think of the great work out you'll get pusing 2 kids in a stroller! Breastfeeding such a little one WILL help you lose weight, it just takes awhile. Also since she was premature, you really don't want to do anything that might lessen your milk supply. Good luck on your new life!