Not losing weight, breastfeeding

jkhodge
jkhodge Posts: 2
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I am a mom of 5 kids. My youngest is almost 9 months. I am still breastfeeding, but he is eating jarred food 3 times a day. I nurse him 4-5 times a day. I am eating 1,600 calories a day and exercising 5x a week. Am I eating too few calories? My scale isn't moving. I haven't ever had to try to lose weight while breastfeeding. Usually it falls off by this stage.

Replies

  • mom2bkm
    mom2bkm Posts: 2
    I am also a breastfeeding mama (baby number 3 here) and I've had the same issue this time with the weight not coming off has easily as it has in the past. I too am eating 1600 calories, with my dd eating 1 to 1 1/2 jars of baby food daily. Are you eating back your exercise calories? I have found that eating those back, to where after activity I am taking in 1600 calories that the weight is coming off easier. I hope that makes sense! Good luck!!!
  • Crunchytxmama
    Crunchytxmama Posts: 169 Member
    How long has it been since you've seen any weight loss?
  • LongMom
    LongMom Posts: 408 Member
    How long have you been on plan and not seeing results??? Did you start working out after no activity? Sometimes it takes a while to get going, our bodies go into "defence mode". Don't forget too, muscle weighs more than fat!

    Keep up the good work and I'm SURE you'll start seeing results :)
  • birgithooker
    birgithooker Posts: 68
    I breastfed my son until he was a year old. I had read that for breastfeeding women who are trying to lose weight, you should not go below 1800 calories. So perhaps your calorie intake is too low and your body has slowed your metabolism to accomodate. I am just guessing. And mom2bkm is right. You need to eat back your exercise calories.
  • kingnatalie
    kingnatalie Posts: 163
    Are you eating your exercise calories? Seems like you may not be eating enough. Breast feeding burns and requires around 500 extra calories a day. For example - if you are suggested to eat 1600 calories w/o breastfeeding, add 500 more to compensate for breast feeding 1600 + 500 = 2,100 calories, then you would also add any exercise calories you burn and earn for the day. This is just one thought.
  • birgithooker
    birgithooker Posts: 68
    kingnatalie's response made me think of that too. I added breastfeeding as an exercise. I put in 500 calories and for the time I put in about how many minutes a day I would spend breastfeeding. Then when I would breastfeed my son I would click "breastfeeding" which I had saved under My Exercises and then put in the amount of time I breastfed him, 10 minutes or whatever it was and it would automatically calculate the calories I burned based on what I had put in initially. You can't forget to count breastfeeding as an exercise because if you eat your other exercise calories and forget to eat those, you may still fall in that "starvation" mode.
  • jkhodge
    jkhodge Posts: 2
    I have been on the plan 2 1/2 weeks. I lost 3 lbs. the first week and the scale hasn't moved since. I have been eating my exercise calories, which is usually 200 - 250 a day.

    I have a dull headache that won't go away. I feel hungry most of the time. Usually after a week or so of eating healthy, I no longer feel hungry all the time after reducing calories, but this is different. I'm taking my body's cue and increasing calories. Great idea on adding breastfeeding as exercise. I think I'll do that.

    I don't have a whole lot of muscle tone. That's one of my goals. LongMom, you have a good point. Muscle DOES weigh more than fat. Here's hoping I'm gaining that much muscle!

    Thanks, everyone.
  • thirtyby40
    thirtyby40 Posts: 702 Member
    I nursed 4 babies and never lost any weight (other than initial water weight) until after I finished nursing. It was not until I joined MFP and learned all about starvation mode that I realized that I had been to restrictive with my calories while nursing. I wish I had it all to do over again, my supply would have been better too. The second and the last baby I had real supply issues, both I went back to the gym and started working out 3-5 days a week. Even my personal trainer had no clue why I would not be losing weight, we tracked my food and she thought it looked good... obviously she didn't understand starvation mode either.

    I would suggest eating ALL of your exercise calories, if the scale still doesn't budge add in some extra until you start seeing results. BTW my guess would be the headache is dehydration. You may not be drinking enough to nurse and workout. Also do you have yourself down as very active lifestyle?? Your settings may not be true to your daily activity level before exercise, so again too few calories. If you are running around after 5 kids I imagine even if you don't feel like it you burn more calories than the average joe.

    Best of luck!!
  • sweetteacher123
    sweetteacher123 Posts: 178
    It is natural for your body to hold on to weight while nursing because your body needs that to feed another human being. A lot of women I know do not see significant weight loss during breastfeeding. Just try to be healthy and keep exercising, but know that your weight loss efforts may be hampered a bit while you are feeding your bundle of love!
  • catherine1979
    catherine1979 Posts: 704 Member
    It is natural for your body to hold on to weight while nursing because your body needs that to feed another human being. A lot of women I know do not see significant weight loss during breastfeeding. Just try to be healthy and keep exercising, but know that your weight loss efforts may be hampered a bit while you are feeding your bundle of love!

    Yes, exactly. Your body is designed to hoard that fat to feed the baby. I didn't lose significant weight until my som weaned at 15 months.
  • mowens77
    mowens77 Posts: 36 Member
    ok so I am nursing baby 4 and I have been watching and tracking my eating for about 4 or 5 weeks so far I've lost 7 pounds but I have only been adding 250 extra calories for breastfeeding and haven't been eating those or any excerise calories. I've been a little disappointed in my wt loss, so let me get this right:

    my daily allotted calories is 1330
    breastfeeding calories is 500

    so I should be eating at least 1830 calories plus any excerise calories...?
  • mowens77
    mowens77 Posts: 36 Member
    ok so I am nursing baby 4 and I have been watching and tracking my eating for about 4 or 5 weeks so far I've lost 7 pounds but I have only been adding 250 extra calories for breastfeeding and haven't been eating those or any excerise calories. I've been a little disappointed in my wt loss, so let me get this right:

    my daily allotted calories is 1330
    breastfeeding calories is 500

    so I should be eating at least 1830 calories plus any excerise calories...?

    one more question I am already have trouble staying within my sugar limits, with the increase in calories does that increase the other limits as well?
  • Raphi
    Raphi Posts: 124 Member
    It is natural for your body to hold on to weight while nursing because your body needs that to feed another human being. A lot of women I know do not see significant weight loss during breastfeeding. Just try to be healthy and keep exercising, but know that your weight loss efforts may be hampered a bit while you are feeding your bundle of love!

    Yes, exactly. Your body is designed to hoard that fat to feed the baby. I didn't lose significant weight until my som weaned at 15 months.

    I TOTALLY agree!! I do not know who started the "rumor" that a woman loses all the baby weight by breast feeding, but if you ask me, that is a total urban legend!! I breastfed 2 babies a year each and i gained weight both time (I didn't follow mfb then). It's like your body needs that extra layer of fat to produce milk... Don't get me wrong, I am sold to breast feeding; but for me, weight didn't start coming off before I stopped. Give yourself some time :wink:
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