FTM Breastfeeding...missing my size 8!

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deenaspell
deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
edited October 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a FTM exclusively breastfeeding my 9-week-old daughter. Before I got pregnant last year, I lost 32 pounds and looked amazing. I even surpassed my goal weight! Unfortunately, I gained 40 pounds with her and have only lost 18. I'm in love with my daughter, but I'm really having a hard time not getting discouraged by my postpartum body.

I haven't lost a single pound (or inch) since about 3 weeks PP and I've been exercising almost everyday for 5 weeks. It's been mostly cardio like running/walking/squats/lunges. I haven't added weight training in yet, but I was going to start this week. I've read that I'm supposed to be eating between 1500 - 1800 calories (1500 seems really low, but some say up to 2500 and that's way too much for me), so I had my diary set at 1800. I sometimes went over, sometimes ate less, so I just dropped it to 1650 to see if it makes a difference. My milk supply is good - no issues there since I lowered calories. I'm no stranger to weight loss, so I know if you eat too little your body will plateau, too. Just trying things out to see what this new body will respond to.

Anyway, I could use some friends on here who know what it's like to feel like a stranger in their body! Please feel free to friend me.
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Replies

  • Cyndal25
    Cyndal25 Posts: 9 Member
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    This is normal after having a baby, with breastfeeding you need to increase your calories, cause breastfeeding does burn a lot. I don't know about 2500 though. You just had a baby and that's a major change on your body, just give it some time and would suggest you increase you calories.
  • RunningOnWontons
    RunningOnWontons Posts: 138 Member
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    Hmm, I don't have much advice for you, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone...I am currently 36 weeks pregnant myself and wondering about what my body will be like, post-baby. And like you, I'm especially concerned about how exercise (specifically cardio/running) and moderate calorie reduction might affect my milk supply. Going to send you a friend request.

    For what it's worth, I have read that up until 6 weeks post-partum your body still "thinks" it's pregnant, since there are still so many pregnancy hormones circulating in your blood. In fact, I was told by my doc that taking a pregnancy test within these 6 weeks will often give you a "positive" result due to this. You're only 3 weeks out of this time frame, so I'd agree with the above poster to give it some more time. Then, if I were you, I'd begin to gradually adjust my calories downward (and make sure I was logging them accurately) until I saw the scale begin to move.

    Do you mind sharing how soon after the birth of your daughter you were able to start doing cardio and/or jogging? This is something I've been wondering, since I love to run and miss it greatly...have not been able to manage more than a leisurely stroll for the past month or so due to ligament problems related to pregnancy.
  • salenar2014
    salenar2014 Posts: 24 Member
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    having had 3 kids i can tell you your body will never look exactly the way it did before. its dependent on alot of variables but everone is different as is every pregnancy. after my first i lost a ton of weight and was told i looked sick by friends and family (babys now 10). with my second my hips spread and they never went back (she is now 8) and my last pregnancy the weight came off fast but im just not pleased with the way i look (hes now 2). the body takes about a year to completely go back to normal as far as hormones and the like and after that some reevaluation and possibly new goals will need to be set. your not destined to wear mom jeans forever but dont rush it i injured myself pretty bad from exercising with my joint still so loose from delivery.
  • Dawmelvan
    Dawmelvan Posts: 133 Member
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    Just wanted to encourage you....I was an eight pre baby, gained 42 pounds with my daughter. She is now 2 and I'm four pounds away from pre pregnancy weight. It's been a daily battle, eating right and exercising and getting used to my new body...BUT I can tell you, it will come off if you keep up the good work. I thought it would be so much faster.

    Two things: NEVER GIVE UP! BE ENCOURAGED; YOU ARE A FABULOUS FIRST TIME MOM!!!!
  • Dawmelvan
    Dawmelvan Posts: 133 Member
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    P.S. For me what pushed me over the edge to lose more was cutting out processed food and having my calories come from "clean" foods, fruite, veggies, lean organic meat and whole grains.
  • meglo91
    meglo91 Posts: 65 Member
    edited October 2014
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    I've had two kids and breastfed both. Pre-kids I was a size 6. Post-kids I'm a 12 (that's why I'm here). I can tell you that for some women the baby weight just falls off with breastfeeding. That did not happen for me. My body tends to hold onto the baby weight for about a year and then it SLOWLY starts coming off.
    I do not know what your body will do post-pregnancy. Maybe you'll lose all the weight quickly. Maybe you won't. I can tell you that I have a damn hard time getting rid of it, and I have to work really hard to do it.
    Either way, I have two pieces of advice: 1) Don't rush it. Eat healthfully, count calories if you want, don't consume an entire ice cream cake (unless you really, really want to), but don't rush it. Your body just did a crazy thing. It will take some time to recover. You will probably never look exactly like you did pre-baby, but you can get close. But now is not the time to rush into crazy calorie restriction. Relax. Get to know your baby and adjust to life as a mother. Everything just changed for you. Oh, and 1650 might be too few calories. That said: 2) do start exercising and strength training, in a slow and sane way. I lost a lot of strength and fitness when I had kids. I would do crazy things like trying to jog 3 weeks post-partum (nope! ab muscles not up to it) and get frustrated when I couldn't snowboard because my core strength wasn't up to snuff. If I had started smaller and slower and kept going, I would have been better off.
  • galprincess
    galprincess Posts: 682 Member
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    been there 3 times hun I breast fed my 3 babies you are doing great and you cant drop calories while breast feeding really but in my experience I lose 10lbs just from stopping breast feeding I hope that is good news to you to look forward to. I stopped breast feeding my 3rd child a yr ago and im smaller than in my profile picture so it isn't forever you can and will find comfort in your new body and be proud of it , I have stretch marks etc but I have 3 babies our bodies should be celebrated. feel free to add me hun
  • swaggityswagbag
    swaggityswagbag Posts: 78 Member
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    no advice but I found your title and photo combination pretty confusing because I'm used to FTM standing for "female to male" trans men! Very confused at first, haha.
  • naleger2
    naleger2 Posts: 14 Member
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    Hi there,
    I think youre not eating enough and your body is holding on to the weight!!
    I re-started MFP a little over 2 months ago at 7 months PP, my baby had started solids and I breastfed 5-6x a day, i had my calories set up at 2050/day and I was only walking 30mins/day and lost 2.5lb/week!
    I recently lowered my calories to 1800 and im still losing! ( baby is nursing 3-5x a day) and no really exercising!!

    Give yourself time!!!
    It took 9 months to get there, enjoy your daughter, at 9 weeks pp you dont want to interfere with your milk supply by not eating enough!!

    :)
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    Post pardum bodies ARE depressing. You are only 9 weeks out! Give yourself some time. For some women the weight will not drop off while nursing. Stick with the 1800 (or bump it to 2000) and just be very very patient.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    swaggityswagbag wrote: »
    no advice but I found your title and photo combination pretty confusing because I'm used to FTM standing for "female to male" trans men! Very confused at first, haha.
    HAHAHA! Oh lawd!
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    Cyndal25 wrote: »
    This is normal after having a baby, with breastfeeding you need to increase your calories, cause breastfeeding does burn a lot. I don't know about 2500 though. You just had a baby and that's a major change on your body, just give it some time and would suggest you increase you calories.
    Yeah, 2500 seemed a bit crazy, but different bodies, I guess? Thanks! I'm breastfeeding about 8 or 9 times a day right now. I think that's roughly 450 or so calories.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    BusyRaeNOTBusty wrote: »
    Post pardum bodies ARE depressing. You are only 9 weeks out! Give yourself some time. For some women the weight will not drop off while nursing. Stick with the 1800 (or bump it to 2000) and just be very very patient.
    Thanks! I'm definitely trying to constantly remind myself what my body did for me and for her over the past year. It's discouraging thinking I won't be able to lose weight until I stop nursing because I want to nurse at least 6 months. I guess we'll see about the weight loss!
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    It took you 9 months to grow that baby, 6 months to lose the weight is NOT that long.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    RunningOnWontons wrote: »
    Hmm, I don't have much advice for you, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone...I am currently 36 weeks pregnant myself and wondering about what my body will be like, post-baby. And like you, I'm especially concerned about how exercise (specifically cardio/running) and moderate calorie reduction might affect my milk supply. Going to send you a friend request.

    For what it's worth, I have read that up until 6 weeks post-partum your body still "thinks" it's pregnant, since there are still so many pregnancy hormones circulating in your blood. In fact, I was told by my doc that taking a pregnancy test within these 6 weeks will often give you a "positive" result due to this. You're only 3 weeks out of this time frame, so I'd agree with the above poster to give it some more time. Then, if I were you, I'd begin to gradually adjust my calories downward (and make sure I was logging them accurately) until I saw the scale begin to move.

    Do you mind sharing how soon after the birth of your daughter you were able to start doing cardio and/or jogging? This is something I've been wondering, since I love to run and miss it greatly...have not been able to manage more than a leisurely stroll for the past month or so due to ligament problems related to pregnancy.

    I actually started walking about 2 weeks after. I had a vaginal birth with no complications, so I felt good. I only walked though - nothing else, and not every day at first. I think I walked about a mile 3 times that first week.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    salenar2014 wrote: »
    having had 3 kids i can tell you your body will never look exactly the way it did before. its dependent on alot of variables but everone is different as is every pregnancy. after my first i lost a ton of weight and was told i looked sick by friends and family (babys now 10). with my second my hips spread and they never went back (she is now 8) and my last pregnancy the weight came off fast but im just not pleased with the way i look (hes now 2). the body takes about a year to completely go back to normal as far as hormones and the like and after that some reevaluation and possibly new goals will need to be set. your not destined to wear mom jeans forever but dont rush it i injured myself pretty bad from exercising with my joint still so loose from delivery.

    Oh no! I'm sorry you hurt yourself. That sucks! I've been holding myself back a lot so I don't do that. I love playing tennis, but I haven't played it yet since the birth. I'm just doing a lot of walking/running/lunges and squats. I really hope it doesn't take a year to get my body back. :-(
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    galprincess wrote: »
    been there 3 times hun I breast fed my 3 babies you are doing great and you cant drop calories while breast feeding really but in my experience I lose 10lbs just from stopping breast feeding I hope that is good news to you to look forward to. I stopped breast feeding my 3rd child a yr ago and im smaller than in my profile picture so it isn't forever you can and will find comfort in your new body and be proud of it , I have stretch marks etc but I have 3 babies our bodies should be celebrated. feel free to add me hun

    So you didn't lose any weight while breastfeeding?? :-(
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    so...what IS an FTM?
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    so...what IS an FTM?
    It means first time mom :-)

  • marlyu
    marlyu Posts: 24 Member
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    9 weeks, hon? Enjoy that baby, take it easy, focus on your eating, and add exercise as you are able. There's truth to the 9 months to gain, 9 months to lose mindset. You'll get there.

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