Stuck weight while breast feeding- anyone with info

Hi all,
So I am breastfeeding and my son is 15 months next week. I lost 20 pounds after having my son (blood, placenta, him, all of that inside stuff), however I have not shed a pound otherwise within this 15 months. I have been seeing a naturopath for 13 months. We have tried changing my diet, supplements to kick start my adrenals, a whole bunch of natural and good ways t help the body. NO WEIGHT LOSS. She says that it takes about 18 months for your body to completely heal. WHile it is very frustrating, I am trying my best to think about the blessings and to just "wait it out".
My question to other moms that couldn't loose weight until after breastfeeding:

1. Did you weight just fall off ?
2. DId you change anything after breastfeeding?
3. About how long did it take for you to see some weight loss after weaning?

Also, I have heard by so many people "just be happy , you have a son".. or "learn to accept it and be happy you had a baby and now this is you".. amongst other comments. I would like to say that OF COURSE i am happy and in total LOVE with my son. I DO love myself. And.. I know I had a baby however I know how I can look and feel and prefer my body to be in shape. So please i dont want to hear any of that.. I just really want to know about the loosing weight after weaning

Thanks so much all!!

I have 2 experiences, as I have two children.

My first child, I gained a lot of weight while pregnant and lost all of it plus 5 pounds while breastfeeding by doing NO exercise what-so-ever.

My second child, I gained a significant amount of weight as well. I lost 15 pounds immediately after delivery and didn't lose any more weight. I started running and dropped about 10 pounds, and then she weaned about 2 months ago and I have lost another 10 pounds.

Right now, your priority should be nourishing your baby. YES, I understand wanting to get back to normal (I still have 35 pounds before I will be!) but please don't consider weaning to lose weight. While some people don't lose until they do, it's not worth the loss of benefit to your son. Are you exercising? I would see a doctor if you're very concerned, to determine your nutrition requirements and go from there.

Hi! This is just my experience, but I wanted to share. I did not actively try to lose weight while I was nursing. I was afraid of how it would affect my milk supply, etc. I lost a good bit of weight quickly postpartum, around 20 pounds, and returned to my pre-pregnancy weight. Then I gained 10 back. and yo-yoed for a little while. Your body will retain body fat when you nurse to help with milk production. My daughter nursed for over two years. When she finally weaned is when I started actively counting calories, watching what I ate, and exercising more aggressively. This was late August/early September of last year, and I joined MyFitnessPal midway through September to help track everything. Anyway, I've lost 22 pounds since joining MFP, and about 27 from when I initially started trying to lose. I think that giving yourself the gift of time is the best thing you can do for your body as you continue to heal and grow stronger. Now is a good time to establish habits tracking your meals and exercise, but remember that your body needs additional calories if you are nursing. Maybe not as many as in the beginning, since I am guessing your little one is on a mix of solid foods and nursing, but it will still need a few extra. Use this time to get used to tracking, and maybe establish a routine for exercise-- if you haven't already-- by choosing a time and taking some walks.

Hang in there! These days are temporary, and you will soon have the luxury of having your body back!

ETA: to answer your specific questions

1) a net of about 10 pounds doing nothing

2) after weaning, I began to exercise more aggressively and limited my caloric intake

3) I began to see immediate weight loss, although I suspect the initial loss was just water weight.

I have yet to lose any weight while breast feeding. What am I doing wrong?

Nothing. Some people don't.

My daughter is 12 months and down to pretty much comfort nursing and 1 or 2 feedings. I lost my baby weight and more very rapidly in the beginning, then gained 10 - 20 lbs. I wasn't logging what I ate too often but it consisted of a lot of Chick Fil A, Zaxbys and pasta. I ate maybe 2 meals a day and lots of fruit juice- because juice is better than soda right ( insert nutritional finger wag of knowledge here). After a while I got very frustrated and embarrassed with my body and decided to start working out since my supply was very well regulated and I generally felt like crap.

Enter MFP. I was trying 1200 calories and feeling ravenous and still...fat. I've recently focused on eating frequent small meals, finally got a food scale and started logging. I'm currently trying 1700 net calories daily and I can feel a difference. I have way more energy, feel great and as a plus my hair is no longer falling out!

I say all this to say, do the counter intuitive and eat more it might help in a weird way.

No the weight didn't fall off, and breastfeeding can really make you hormonal. The only thing that helped me lose weight was this site. Just track calories and go slowly bc if not you will probably binge bc of starvation... and breastfeeding when you are hungry will make you go crazy! Try walking 2-3 times a week too.

Hey there. I am almost 11 months PP with my 3rd baby and the only thing I can say is it is vastly different person to person and even recovery to recovery. After my first within 2 months you could barely tell I had been pregnant (other than horrid stretch marks) and I was unable to breastfeed him due to his tongue. My second I had the initial 20 lb drop and then nothing for 6 months where I kicked up cardio and massively cleaned up my eating and even then only 5lbs off, I Weaned her at 10 months and by the time she was a year I had dropped to my pre pregnancy weight with little to no effort.

With this one it is proving to be much more difficult to tone up and lose the extra pregnancy pounds even though I gained the least of all 3 while pregnant. I do know my milk supply is lower than with my middle child so maybe my body is trying harder to keep the weight 'just in case'. Also I've found stress is a killer both on weight retention and on milk supply (doesn't help comfort eating either).

What I have done to shed so far around 19 lbs the last 10 months is
A) Stopped logging food, I eat when I'm hungry and I eat as healthy as I can with a treat now and then as well.
B)Get my heart rate up at least 5x a week for 20 min (right now I'm doing the 30DS)
C)Major destressed my life, I do yoga before bed, I make grocery lists and I moved the baby out of our room (2 months now and he's finally sleeping through the night).
D)Most of all I only weight in once a week and I use measurements every 2 weeks, even a small 1/2 inch loss somewhere is still a victory.

Even if doing all those things didnt actually result in a weight loss yet while breastfeeding they have made me feel so much better, stronger and confident that I'd still be happy to do it.

Do you know how many calories you are eating now? Unless it is very low already I wouldn't worry about cutting 200 more. We are so well nourished in this day and age I think your milk will be fine and even if it dips - your little one is 15mos old and you are planning to wean.

I've nursed two singletons and twins. Weaning had zero impact on my weight loss/gain. I wasn't working any kind of specific diet, wasn't tracking calories, no fitness program. Soooo - I just noticed what I noticed with no over-riding goal to lose weight so might not be relevant to you.

I did gain and lose an astonishing amount of weight in my pregnancies but the weight loss was before I weaned, not after.
#1 - gained 65, lost 75. weaned at 20mos
#2 - gained 75 - lost 60. weaned at 26mos
#3 - twins - gained 90, lost lost 65 - weaned at 16mos

I was *famished* when I nursed. I'm sure I lost so much so easily with the first because I was at a caloric deficit. With only one baby I wasn't cooking meals. I just snacked mostly (on healthy stuff but still) and had one meal and if I was busy at work I'd skip meals and I was waaaay more active with just one baby. The other two I was cooking and serving meals and snacks (and eating them, lol) and much less active. I also moved into town and the magic appeal of food from a drive through or gas station had emerged,

Again, thanks so much! I didnt think I would get do much wonderful feedback.

To answer your questions:

Honestly I am not quite sure how many calories I eat, but I dont think that I eat enough. Its not cause Im trying to cut them back, its just between full time work and an active 15 month old my meals are fast and on the small side most of the time. In the first 7 months I as they say "over produced" milk. Now I am just "normal". I do go one an hour brisk walk with my son once a day after work, and we have got some hills here! One thing that could be a high contributor is that my son still doesn't sleep through the night so I am very sleep deprived for 15 months now.

I guess Ill start tracking my calories and hopefully start seeing some changes soon

Eating enough while still eating mindfully has been a bit of a challenge, but I feel AMAZING! It's incredibly how much more energetic I am now that my body is getting a proper amount & balance of fuel :-)

I am also breastfeeding my toddler, she's 16 months, and I don't plan to stop any time soon. I have also had a hard time losing weight while breastfeeding. With ALL 4 of my kids. It's not impossible, its just much harder for me. This time around i have been not calculating the extra cals for breastfeeding since i work full time and don't pump anymore (i pumped until she was 14 months). And working out a few times a week for 1-2 hours each time helps too, pretty much all cardio at this point for me. i try to drink lots of water too but sometimes i know i am not getting enough. feel free to add me and we can encourage each other!

There is also a group that has some good information on BFing and calorie/weight loss and general support. If you go to the Community Tab then "Groups" and search for "breastfeeding support" you can add to it there. I have at least found it interesting to read through some of the threads and see other moms going through the same thing.

I gained 23 lbs with my son, lost it all within 8 days of having him. At 7-8 months pp I started going to the gym but still ate tons and lost 10 more lbs. Got pregnant again when he was 9 months. He self weaned at 13.5 months (16 weeks pregnant). Gained 46 lbs with my daughter. At 2 months pp I finally stepped on a scale and had only lost 22 lbs. Started counting calories and lost the rest of the 24 lbs and another 12 lbs ( I was overweight before my kids and these losses put me into a healthy weight). Got pregnant again when she was 7 months old (we wanted small gaps - this was on purpose). BUT no matter how much I ate or drank my supply plummeted with these pregnancy hormones. I had to go on prescription meds to continue my supply until she was a year old (then I quit the meds but not nursing). I am still nursing her just once a day (and I don't think I"m making anything so I don't even count it in my calories at this point) and am almost 30 weeks pregnant. So far I've gained 16 lbs - so I'll probably gain 25-30 total hopefully. For me breastfeeding HELPS, BUT it's not the only thing. I was taking my kids on walks several times a week and watching what I ate - and the walks were either wearing the little one and pushing the bigger one or pushing both in a double stroller - so more intense than just walks by myself.

Best of luck when you do wean. I have no clue when my daughter will give up her night nursing - but I WILL cut her off before this baby comes because I only plan on nursing one at a time. I was lucky my son decided when he was ready and quit with only trauma to me (I was so sad he didn't need me anymore! but relieved since it hurt and I was tired). And best of luck dropping your weight. We give our children our complete body for 9-10 months then loan them parts of it for quite a while afterwards, at some point we do need our body back and make ourselves and our health a priority.

I breastfed my daughter for two years. Within the first year I dropped tremendous weight. I was 170+ after having her then was down to like 116 by 12 months. I cut out three major things, which were all the things they reccomend if your child is sensitive to your milk (which mine was) MILK, ANYTHING TOMATO, AND CHOCOLATE! I also cut out Bread and starting used tortillas.

I really really think that these things affected my weightloss. But after 12 months it started to affect my milk supply too. But my little one nursed twice a day after 12 month. It also matter about the content of your milk. Mine was very high calorie with low fat content. I had it tested lol. I did not exercise during breastfeeding either.

I also had no caffeine during breastfeeding either. It was water only or the occasional glass of wine here and there.

I wouldn't bother trying to exercise while breastfeeding or cut out too many calories. After I stopped breastfeeding I gained back 5 lbs but I think was only because my boobs were empty most mornings when I weighed myself.