Breastfeeding and not losing!!!

adaouk
adaouk Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I need a bit of help. I'm 5'7 and 174lbs. Have about 30 to lose. My baby is 13 weeks. I've been eating around 2000-2300 calories per day. Exclusively breastfeeding and working out three times a week for half hour and walking most days. I've been doing this for almost two months now with not one pound lost!!! I'm getting demotivated and frustrated. Any help would be great!

Replies

  • adaouk
    adaouk Posts: 8 Member
    Thanks so much for the reply! You're so right. Just need to take it easy. Was just worried I'm either not eating enough or eating too much.
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
    I had always heard that BF makes the weight just melt off. I found out through my own experience and research that this is not true. Not all women have great success with weight loss while breastfeeding. I held on to all my weight until we weaned, then it came off. Of course over the last few years I gained it all back, plus some
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    Are you weighing all your food? Do you eat back exercise calories? Do you log absolutely everything?
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    I found it was extremely difficult to lose weight while I was breastfeeding. Even the smallest deficit would hurt my milk supply. Once my little one weaned himself it was 10x easier to lose the weight.
  • suzan06
    suzan06 Posts: 218 Member
    My body wouldn't drop weight until I was done nursing. This is very common- especially those last few vanity pounds- your body really wants to conserve enough fat to keep making milk in case you suddenly eat nothing.

    It sucks. Especially when everyone around you talks about weight melting off while nursing! Nope - try the opposite.
  • lissmayer
    lissmayer Posts: 86 Member
    edited October 2016
    On the positive, the extra calories I get from nursing my toddler ROCK. :) For me, toddler nursing is a whole different ballgame.
  • Sarahthiele86
    Sarahthiele86 Posts: 2 Member
    I'm 5'7" and currently nursing as well. My doctor told me if I eat about 2000 calories a day I should lose about 1 lb per week, if I'm exercising I should aim for 2500. With this app I couldn't find any option to tell it I'm breastfeeding so it tells me to eat around 1975. I do workout about 5 days a week and eat between 1900 to 2100 and I seem to be consistently losing weight.
  • Mrsrobinsoncl
    Mrsrobinsoncl Posts: 128 Member
    I also didn't lose any weight until I was done nursing, if I tried cutting calories while still nursing my milk supply hurt. I finally relented and just went with it until he was weaned, then I could take the weight off.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Sarahthiele86 wrote: »
    I'm 5'7" and currently nursing as well. My doctor told me if I eat about 2000 calories a day I should lose about 1 lb per week, if I'm exercising I should aim for 2500. With this app I couldn't find any option to tell it I'm breastfeeding so it tells me to eat around 1975. I do workout about 5 days a week and eat between 1900 to 2100 and I seem to be consistently losing weight.

    If you search "breastfeeding" in the Food Diary it will give you negative calories--there are several options in there and you can pick what best fits your schedule.
  • adamyovanovich
    adamyovanovich Posts: 163 Member
    My wife started losing weight about 5 months after having baby boy. She was eating 1500 cal, plus the breastfeeding calories MFP gave her, she lost 25 pounds, now she can't lose anymore, her body wont let her without it hurting nursing. So she has accepted it and eating maintenance until she is done nursing, then she will go back to losing her last bit.
  • ArmsandCharms
    ArmsandCharms Posts: 133 Member
    I never lost weight while breastfeeding. I kept hearing all these womens stories about the weight just falling off while breastfeeding. After much research, I discovered that (as we all know) everyones bodies are different. My body went into almost like starvation mode, storing everything it could to produce enough milk. I actually lost more when I increased my caloric intake. I am no expert, but that was my situation.
  • MaiteOS75
    MaiteOS75 Posts: 1 Member
    I LOVED lissmayer's answer and she's right :).
    I've also had 3 kiddos and altho I wasn't able to breastfeed my 1st two after 5 months (
  • ChristinePearlFNP
    ChristinePearlFNP Posts: 72 Member
    I am nursing my 8 week old son and breastfeeding is my main priority but I also want to lose weight. What I did was put in losing two pounds per week ( it gave me 1650 per day) then instead of entering breastfeeding every day as exercise or doing anything like that I just went to my settings and customized my calories to 2150 (+500 for exclusively nursing). I also ensure I drink PLENTY of water. I have consistently been losing 2 lbs per week and my milk has stabilized. If I exercise I eat back about 75% of what my fit bit says I burned during my workout. It's working great for me so far. I'm down 30+ since his birth (7 lb 10 oz baby). The lowest my cals has been was around 1900 maybe one or two days that I was very busy. I also use a food scale and weigh in grams so I'm super accurate. Hope this helps! Add me if u wanna! Good luck.
  • dydn11402
    dydn11402 Posts: 103 Member
    i absolutely cannot lose weight while breastfeeding. if im not careful, i will actually gain. i read an article once how women release prolactin while nursing and in some women, that affects weight (the body holds onto the fat in order to produce milk), libido (low), ovulation (no period), and others things like low energy, fatigue, etc.
    not all women react this way but i guess we are the lucky few :)
  • lissmayer
    lissmayer Posts: 86 Member
    mitch16 wrote: »
    Sarahthiele86 wrote: »
    I'm 5'7" and currently nursing as well. My doctor told me if I eat about 2000 calories a day I should lose about 1 lb per week, if I'm exercising I should aim for 2500. With this app I couldn't find any option to tell it I'm breastfeeding so it tells me to eat around 1975. I do workout about 5 days a week and eat between 1900 to 2100 and I seem to be consistently losing weight.

    If you search "breastfeeding" in the Food Diary it will give you negative calories--there are several options in there and you can pick what best fits your schedule.

    Or you can make breastfeeding and exercise and set it for 200-500 calories, whatever is must accurate for your stage of nursing.
  • adaouk
    adaouk Posts: 8 Member
    Had to up my calories to about 2500 sometimes more depending on exercise as my milk supply took a hit. I'm averaging about 3000 calories out with workouts and breastfeeding and was only eating around 2100. Don't know if I'll still lose which kinda sucks but feeding my baby comes first so trying to get that in my head. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated. Plus I'm finding it hard to eat that much!! I feel so full!
  • lissmayer
    lissmayer Posts: 86 Member
    adaouk wrote: »
    Had to up my calories to about 2500 sometimes more depending on exercise as my milk supply took a hit. I'm averaging about 3000 calories out with workouts and breastfeeding and was only eating around 2100. Don't know if I'll still lose which kinda sucks but feeding my baby comes first so trying to get that in my head. Any words of encouragement would be appreciated. Plus I'm finding it hard to eat that much!! I feel so full!

    You are an awesome mama, working so hard to make milk for your sweet baby. And before you know it, baby will be bigger and getting calories elsewhere, and the baby weight will just pour off!
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    I found it was extremely difficult to lose weight while I was breastfeeding. Even the smallest deficit would hurt my milk supply. Once my little one weaned himself it was 10x easier to lose the weight.

    This exactly. I couldn't eat at a deficit without hurting my supply, which wasn't great anyway.

    Give yourself a full year to lose the baby weight.

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