FTM Breastfeeding...missing my size 8!

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  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    naleger2 wrote: »
    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!!

    :)
    Dang...I might up my calories then. It's just terrifying to do that. I'm sure you understand. I would love to lose 2 1/2 pounds a week! Nice!
  • Kmhornak
    Kmhornak Posts: 42 Member
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    I look at it this way, it took you 9 months to gain that baby weight. It's going to take some time to lose it. I would ask your OB about a good calorie goal each day and then have your settings reflect that. Just give it time, you will start to lose. Hormones really play a factor in anyone's weight loss, so I am sure that has a lot to do with it.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    meglo91 wrote: »
    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.
    I totally agree with everything you said. It's just hard to change mindsets when you're so used to having no restrictions and a body that responds. I think my post-baby body is awesome. I don't think I look terrible, I just hate not fitting into anything in my closet and feeling out of shape like I "let myself go". I can't wear anything I own right now. Scratch that - about 4 outfits that aren't nursing tanks...
  • susanb573
    susanb573 Posts: 111 Member
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    I always lose while breastfeeding to a certain point but can never lose that last 8 pounds until I stop. I breastfed long term each time and when I finally stopped those last pounds would come off. Enjoy your baby, be active when you can, try to mostly make smart food choices, and the weight will drop.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
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    deenaspell wrote: »
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    so...what IS an FTM?
    It means first time mom :-)

    I have literally never seen it used that way... but definitely am used to seeing it designate someone's transition status.
  • jdt242
    jdt242 Posts: 106 Member
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    A few tips to help your weight loss journey;

    - Rest. With a new baby, and a breastfed one at that, your sleep will be interrupted, so make sure you get enough rest. Tiredness can lead to overeating, but it also slows weight loss in my experience.
    - Walk. With a new babe, go for long walks. Babies love to sleep and your body will live the gentle exercise of walking - just fast Enugu to raise your heart rate into "fat burning area" c. 130bpm.
    - Eat regularly. Small meals - 4 to 6 a day. Loads of veg. More veg than fruit. Sounds like you had it sussed at 1800cal. A purely by baby will have you burning between 350 and 500 extra calls a day. Don't bank on those calories, but don't be without them either. Your body will continue to produce the right milk, even ona restricted diet, but life is short and there is no point in suffering at this precious time.
    - Drink water. Lots.

    I am still bf at 16 months. I haven re told the body holds onto at least 10lbs while bf'ing...Ive enjoyed that excuse, but now it's time to get the body I want.
  • ajhouse
    ajhouse Posts: 584 Member
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    I also lost weight before getting pregnant (40lbs) and gained over 50 during pregnancy. Baby will be 4 months this weekend and I am only a few lbs from prepregnancy. I am back in my smallest pants, but the body is definitely different. I lost about 35 pretty fast, but baby was big (10lbs8oz). I came back to work when she was 10wks and have been doing MFP since, and have lost 15 more.

    Every body is different and finding what works for you may take some time. I do notice when I eat less, the scale doesn't really move, but when I eat my goal it does.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,641 Member
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    is FTM from the bump?
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    jdt242 wrote: »
    A few tips to help your weight loss journey;

    - Rest. With a new baby, and a breastfed one at that, your sleep will be interrupted, so make sure you get enough rest. Tiredness can lead to overeating, but it also slows weight loss in my experience.
    - Walk. With a new babe, go for long walks. Babies love to sleep and your body will live the gentle exercise of walking - just fast Enugu to raise your heart rate into "fat burning area" c. 130bpm.
    - Eat regularly. Small meals - 4 to 6 a day. Loads of veg. More veg than fruit. Sounds like you had it sussed at 1800cal. A purely by baby will have you burning between 350 and 500 extra calls a day. Don't bank on those calories, but don't be without them either. Your body will continue to produce the right milk, even ona restricted diet, but life is short and there is no point in suffering at this precious time.
    - Drink water. Lots.

    I am still bf at 16 months. I haven re told the body holds onto at least 10lbs while bf'ing...Ive enjoyed that excuse, but now it's time to get the body I want.

    Good advice. Your wee one is taking a large percentage of your calories each day, leaving you in what I can only assume is a deficit, anyway, plus you're exercising and creating even more of a deficit. 1800 may even be a tad low.

    You're doing great. Give it time and enjoy yourself!

  • mamafelfleh
    mamafelfleh Posts: 17 Member
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    I was exactly in the same place! I gained 50 pounds and lost 20 pounds after I left the hospital! My weight loss than stalled forever. I didn't try to lose weight until 8 months postpartum. My baby is a year old now and I am below my pre-pregnancy weight! I would say never go below 1500. I used to pump so I knew approximately how much milk I produced which was around 25 ounce, 25*20=500 calories extra a day. If you exercise you should add more. My advice is to take it easy, and focus more on keeping your supply up. Also when you get more sleep you will lose faster. Good luck and don't stress about it! Nursing is the best thing you do to your baby and will be all worth it at the end.
    P.S: I'm still nursing and losing weight.
  • HanamiDango
    HanamiDango Posts: 456 Member
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    Everyone is different. I have seen many stories of mothers not losing any weight till they stop breastfeeding and others just lose weight without doing anything.
    Like others said, it took you 9 months to gain weight, so please give it time and enjoy your baby. Think of it this way, 18 of 40 pounds is almost half, slow and steady.
    As for me, I did not try to lose weight until after my last baby was one (she will be 3 in Dec). I was still nursing her but she also had started solids. I was just first starting out than, but I use another site that didn't let me choose 2lbs, only 1lb per week. In 5 months I lost 22.4 pounds. Not a lot, but I was not weighting and measuring anything and not taking things very seriously. I started out at about 2300 calories as a goal and went over, a lot, I say I avg 2700 gross. I was also a 245lbs at start.
  • 30Purple
    30Purple Posts: 252 Member
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    I am in the same boat. I gained 35 and lost 20 within the first couple of weeks. The last 15 have held on! I had gained after my wedding, too. Ideally, I'd like to lose about 50, but we'll see. I lowered my calories last month and lost 2 lb, but also dropped supply like crazy. So, I am trying this again! Feel free to friend me if you like.
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    ajhouse wrote: »
    I also lost weight before getting pregnant (40lbs) and gained over 50 during pregnancy. Baby will be 4 months this weekend and I am only a few lbs from prepregnancy. I am back in my smallest pants, but the body is definitely different. I lost about 35 pretty fast, but baby was big (10lbs8oz). I came back to work when she was 10wks and have been doing MFP since, and have lost 15 more.

    Every body is different and finding what works for you may take some time. I do notice when I eat less, the scale doesn't really move, but when I eat my goal it does.

    Wow, you're amazing! Congrats!
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    _John_ wrote: »
    is FTM from the bump?

    I've seen it on a lot of pregnancy/baby websites. I didn't realize it meant anything else until I posted on here!
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    firstsip wrote: »
    deenaspell wrote: »
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    so...what IS an FTM?
    It means first time mom :-)

    I have literally never seen it used that way... but definitely am used to seeing it designate someone's transition status.

    I've never seen it used the other way, but that's probably because I'm used to mother/baby message boards where it runs rampant. There are tons of acronyms on there and I was lost at first. I really never meant to confuse people on here!
  • deenaspell
    deenaspell Posts: 227 Member
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    jdt242 wrote: »
    A few tips to help your weight loss journey;

    - Rest. With a new baby, and a breastfed one at that, your sleep will be interrupted, so make sure you get enough rest. Tiredness can lead to overeating, but it also slows weight loss in my experience.
    - Walk. With a new babe, go for long walks. Babies love to sleep and your body will live the gentle exercise of walking - just fast Enugu to raise your heart rate into "fat burning area" c. 130bpm.
    - Eat regularly. Small meals - 4 to 6 a day. Loads of veg. More veg than fruit. Sounds like you had it sussed at 1800cal. A purely by baby will have you burning between 350 and 500 extra calls a day. Don't bank on those calories, but don't be without them either. Your body will continue to produce the right milk, even ona restricted diet, but life is short and there is no point in suffering at this precious time.
    - Drink water. Lots.

    I am still bf at 16 months. I haven re told the body holds onto at least 10lbs while bf'ing...Ive enjoyed that excuse, but now it's time to get the body I want.
    Great advice! I definitely try to do them all. Good luck on your journey!
  • mrsdenno82
    mrsdenno82 Posts: 13
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    First of all, Congrats :) My daughter is also 9 weeks old. She was born August 19th.

    Ok, I am on my 4th baby. Breastfeeding. Here are some facts.

    - Your body spends pregnancy preparing for your baby thriving. Because of this, you will hold on to SOME extra weight. However, this extra weight is your body's way of reserves in the event of famine, a missed meal, missed day of meals etc. Our bodies do not know we live in 2014 and there is fast food on ever corner. So, since you are not in a third world country (I assume) you do not NEED to leave extra weight on your body.

    - It is ideal to add about 300 calories of GOOD nutrition to what you were eating before. People forget that 300 calories is a full fat yogurt and a handful of nuts. Not a extra meal.

    - Take time to evaluate if you are eating enough of what you NEED. Not enough calories. I see a lot of "don't cut calories, add this or add that" on mom forums. It's simply not true. Actually, the LL recommends not counting them at all. Simply eating when your body is hungry. With that being said, your body needs more protein and more good fats. A good meal or snack is (a proper serving) oatmeal and a boiled egg. Try making your own trail mix (so you know what you are eating) and having that between small meals.

    - You should be eating several tiny meals a day that are minimal in sugars. Avoid HFCS. Excessive Dairy can cause reactions, sensitivities and even allergies in BF babies. Most other foods are fair game. Spicy food etc upsetting baby is a myth. You should be avoiding the wrong things because they are bad for you. Not for any other reason.

    - Once you are able, your body needs intentional calories burned to lose weight. Do not even ADD calories burned to your calculator from BFing. Actually, act like those calories do not even exist. Reality is you burn between 100 - 400 and nobody really knows which end you are on. You could actually be only burning 70 calories a day. Or you could be burning 500. So, if you have a daily goal of burning 400 calories a day exercising.. then exercise. Do not burn 250 on the mill then add BFing as the remainder. It doesn't work like that.

    I hope that helps. The biggest thing is do not compare yourself to anyone else. Some lose, some maintain, so even GAIN. Your body is made for this and knows what to do as long as you give it the best chance to do so.

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