Nursing mom that has got to lose baby weight plus some!!!

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eannhaynie
eannhaynie Posts: 13 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I had my second baby girl in September and unlike last time my weight loss stopped after only losing 20 of the 35 pounds... I was already bigger than I wanted to be before I got pregnant so now I can't even fit into my "fattest" jeans that I bought last time post baby! I have got to change this and get back to a body I can be proud of and comfortable in fast! Because right now the only clothes I'm comfortable in are my stretchy loose lounge pants and you can't wear those out in public! Anybody know of a good diet/exercise regimen for a mom that is exclusively nursing? Can't wait to start losing some pounds!!!

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  • hilton9
    hilton9 Posts: 24 Member
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    Hi! My name is Rachel. I had my baby boy in September too. I literally just joined this site. I was heavier going into my pregnancy than I wanted to be and ended up gaining 43 pounds while pregnant. Now, like you, I can't even fit into my "fat" jeans. I'm ready for a change. Let's do this!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    You can't lose weight and provide the nutrition your baby needs at the same time. It's common knowledge that your breast milk provides all the nutrition your baby needs, but that's only true if you are getting the proper nutrition yourself. When you're breast feeding you need to get about 300 calories more, just like during pregnancy. If you start exercising a lot and cutting some calories your milk won't have what it needs. Now that you're not pregnant your body takes care of you first, not your baby. So if you're intent on breastfeeding, you need to get the extra calories. You can exercise, but you have to eat the calories to replaced what you've burned.

    I know how you feel about wanting to lose the weight, but you have to do what's best for your baby.
  • SassyStef
    SassyStef Posts: 413
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    Yes NoAdditives is right.....you need to continue to eat those nursing calories to provide adequate nutrition for your breast milk. Keep taking your prenatal vitamins as well.
    You can def work out and nurse too. Stay hydrated too lol I would get so dehydrated when I was just going for walks and nursing lol
    You can do it lol
  • evelazquez78
    evelazquez78 Posts: 20 Member
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    I am pretty sure that Weight Watchers has a program for nursing mothers. Maybe you want to check that out. I also had a baby in September -- congrats to you!
  • BriannaSkye
    BriannaSkye Posts: 135
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    I had my baby in February and lost about 15lbs while still breast feeding, it can be done. I ate the healthier fats like avacado, lots of salads with chicken, fruit and lots of veggies and walked as much as I could. I had no problem whats so ever with not enough milk so I know I was eating more than enough. I am weining my son off at the moment and continue to lose weight although it is easier now that I am only feeding him once a day. WW as metioned has a programme for nursing mothers, maybe go to 1 meeting find out about it and then take what you learnt from that an apply it here (I think WW is abou $14 a week these days)

    So yes you can actually nurse and lose weight at the same time!
  • ecp2698
    ecp2698 Posts: 267 Member
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    I disagree, I think you can lose weight while exclusively nursing, it just is not safe for you to do it “fast” and restrict your calories. I started here when my DD was about 3 months old and I added 500 calories a day to my daily calories and I lost an average of about 1lb a week and still was able to eat healthy (and plenty) and had a great milk supply.

    Good luck, just be patient and remember that it is most important right now to keep up a healthy supply for your baby. The weight will come off eventually!
  • MarthaSM
    MarthaSM Posts: 9
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    Hi, congrats on your baby! I gained 60 lbs with my second pregnancy and lost 40 of them with Weight Watchers while I was nursing. I moved on to this afterwards because it's free. Anyway- as a nursing mother I was eating 9 additional points (I read somewhere that each point is about 50 calories) so if you want to go with myfitnesspal I'd probably select the option to lose weight at the lowest rate and make sure I stay at AT LEAST 1500 daily calories (after calculating your calories earned from exercise) and make sure you drink ALOT of water. As far as exercise goes, I REALLY like the Jillian Michaels DVDs, my daughter's 2 now but when she was really small I enjoyed doing the 20 min one 30 Day Shred and Yoga Meltdown (you WILL burn calories) ! And later on (as she grew more and I wasnt as sleep deprived) I liked the 40 min ones she has. They're ~ $7 at Costco
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I disagree, I think you can lose weight while exclusively nursing, it just is not safe for you to do it “fast” and restrict your calories. I started here when my DD was about 3 months old and I added 500 calories a day to my daily calories and I lost an average of about 1lb a week and still was able to eat healthy (and plenty) and had a great milk supply.

    Good luck, just be patient and remember that it is most important right now to keep up a healthy supply for your baby. The weight will come off eventually!

    What I meant was that you shouldn't TRY to lose weight. Weight loss can happen naturally while nursing, even when you're eating the proper amount of calories. But to cut calories or not eat exercise calories does put your body at a deficit which will affect the quality of the breastmilk, even if it doesn't affect your supply.

    I know too many women who made every effort to lose weight, and did lose plenty, while breastfeeding and their babies were behind developmentally.
  • jeannewafa
    jeannewafa Posts: 11
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    Don't diet! I had my son at the very end of July and JUST stopped nursing and am now slowly losing weight. Exercise is how you will get your body back, dieting while breastfeeding will interfere with milk production so eat healthy but eat plenty of food and drink tons of water and just get a good workout in. It'll come off! Plus, the body holds onto extra body fat while breastfeeding (no, not 30lbs or anything but a few) so that'll change when you stop. :)

    I agree with NoAdditives, you can lose weight but I find it hard to believe a doctor would tell you it's ok to diet while breastfeeding. If you're overweight, your doctor may ask you to change how you're getting your calories (more fruit/veggies, less sweets and carbs) but you need extra calories to produce breastmilk. But hey, everyone's different, my experience tells me that exercise is a key factor and weight is coming off slowly now that I am no longer breastfeeding. Good luck, you deserve to look and more importantly, FEEL great!

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