BFing and can't lose the last 10 pounds...

Options
JakquiBug
JakquiBug Posts: 6 Member
And it's killing me mentally. I've always had problems with body image and I'm barely keeping it together. This is my second baby and I just want those last 10 pounds to go awayyyyy. I'm 8 weeks post and I started at 106 and got up to 136 lbs by 39 weeks (I had a repeat c section.) I'm down to about 115-116 and the scale won't freaking budge. It fluctuates between 115 and 117. I watch what I eat. I walk 2 or 3 times a day and I run 4 or 5 times a week. I read that sometimes your body holds on to the last 10 pounds. I guess what I'm asking for is support. Telling me I'm not crazy and that the weight will eventually come off. My husband has been in Afghanistan since January and I just don't have a big support system.

Replies

  • Mshukh
    Mshukh Posts: 24 Member
    Options
    I think there are a lot of women out there in a very similar position. I'm exactly 10 lbs away from my pre-preggo weight and no matter what I do, it doesn't budge...well, I guess I could try being more drastic but I'm not sure if that's going to come back to bite me in the butt if I do. Part of me constantly has a conversation with myself that BF is an excuse that women use and it doesn't make logical sense since cals in v. cals out should produce results based on numbers. But then I try to recognize that maybe it's just the negative voices in my head talking and the weight is coming off...just a lot slower than I had hoped or seen in the past. So I just need to plug along and not get discouraged or distracted. And that's hard to do. So hard. I guess I'm trying to say that you are not alone in this struggle. Not by a longshot.
  • spunkychelsea
    spunkychelsea Posts: 316 Member
    Options
    I just want to say big hugs for having a baby while your husband is deployed! I can't even imagine mine not being here to help. 8 weeks postpartum is still early! I think I plateaued then. Give yourself time, be consistent and it will move. Don't be too hard on yourself. I swear the weight came off easier with my first two kids than this one. I am amazed you're so active now with 2! You're doing great. THe mental game is what's really getting to me this time around. I don't remember being this devastated last time.
  • HeyNikkita
    HeyNikkita Posts: 147 Member
    Options
    I am seven weeks PP and my hubby has been in Afghanistan since January too! Where is home base? We are at Ft. Bragg.
  • JakquiBug
    JakquiBug Posts: 6 Member
    Options
    Oh cool! My husband is in the Marines. We're out in Camp Pendleton.
  • andylllI
    andylllI Posts: 379 Member
    Options
    You aren't crazy. lots of women find their body becomes pretty "thrifty" when breastfeeding...holds on to the weight until weaning. Plus couple that with crazy hunger for many of us. Eat well, stay active, rehab your core and it will all turn out ok.
  • 20carrots
    20carrots Posts: 279 Member
    Options
    I just hopped on to this board to write the same thing! Except, bad news, I'm almost a year PP. Weight was dropping like crazy until the last couple weeks or so. I am 9 pounds away from my "normal" weight and I feel like the 500 BFing calories just isn't cutting it anymore.

    I have heard about the holding on to the last 10 pounds...grr...not sure I want to wean the baby if she's not ready...
  • spunkychelsea
    spunkychelsea Posts: 316 Member
    Options
    I'm almost a year PP. and I feel like the 500 BFing calories just isn't cutting it anymore.

    The 500 calories is for breastfeeding an infant 6 months or younger. Once they start eating solids you're supposed to reduce the calories. I can't remember to how much. There's probably a calculator online somewhere...
  • tinybry
    tinybry Posts: 71 Member
    Options
    I didn't find I ever needed to add 500 extra - I settled at 350 in the end to lose in accordance with the goal I set (i.e. the defecit my normal calorie allowance suggested before adding bf cals in) Now I am feeding my 8 month old 2-3 times a day (he gets two bottles of formula at nursery) I have reduced it to 150 cals (boo!) and we will see if that works... I seem to have hit a plateau lately.
  • JakquiBug
    JakquiBug Posts: 6 Member
    Options
    I've read that eating too little can cause you to gain because you're body is in starvation made. But I'm having trouble figuring out how much I should eat. According to MFP and my fitbit I'm burning between 2200 and 2500 a day with bfing my only issue is I wear my baby most of the day and during my walks. Carrying an 11 pound baby I'm assuming adds to my calorie burn. I'm eating somewhere between 1500 and 1800 calories a day. Ugh. It's just so frustrating.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
    Options
    I've read that eating too little can cause you to gain because you're body is in starvation made. But I'm having trouble figuring out how much I should eat. According to MFP and my fitbit I'm burning between 2200 and 2500 a day with bfing my only issue is I wear my baby most of the day and during my walks. Carrying an 11 pound baby I'm assuming adds to my calorie burn. I'm eating somewhere between 1500 and 1800 calories a day. Ugh. It's just so frustrating.

    "Starvation mode" is a major point of contention around these boards (not this particular one but MFP boards in general)... but sure, sometimes you need to eat more to lose weight, plus sometimes eating too little can compromise your supply. I had the worst time losing while I was BFing, which was for an entire year. I had (and still have) a long way to go to get to where I was before baby #2.

    I actually had to make the choice to keep BFing or quit so I could lose weight. I chose the former, but I can totally understand the desire to quit to lose weight! It's hard enough feeling like we don't have control over our boobs, let alone the rest of our bodies, especially when they're too small for maternity clothes and too big for pre-pregnancy clothes. *sigh* But it's all worth it for our babies, right? :heart: