Breastfeeding mom of 8 week old

Hi mama. I've bf 3 children, currently still bf my 2 year old 2x a day. Honestly, I didn't really focus on losing weight so early on! I spent the first 12 weeks just enjoying my babies and incorporating some daily walks and lifting into our daily routines. I tried to eat healthier, but felt ravenous for the first few months! Once my children began solids, it became easier to set my calories at 1800 and to actually not over eat. It also became easier to exercise more as they got older.

Oh, honey. Your life is going to get so much easier. Please, just survive for now. You'll find the energy to care again in a few weeks or months and it won't be so hard.

If you decide to count calories, bump up the normal estimates by 500 calories to account for milk production. Personally, I was ravenous with my first. I ate trail mix in the middle of the night while feeding. And know what? After 6 months, all the baby weight was gone.

My body hang onto weight while nursing, and I was never blessed with a baby who slept so I was always exhausted.

I made sure I walked daily for my own mental health. The weight loss had to wait.

You are in the thick of things now. Try to go for a walk and try not to worry about it just yet.

JLN85 wrote: »

Good for you! When I'm so tired I feel like I can eat all day! I'm trying to make healthier choices, but getting any exercise, even a walk, is hard.

Be gentle with yourself! Being a mom is hard enough. (((Hugs)))

My milk was low and i was tired and A dr friend told me " girl please!!!! You breastfeed! You are literally eating for 2 now . You uave to eat more to make more milk AND have energy" so i listened!!! My milk production double and i started feeling like myself again. My son is 2 and just quit breastfeeding. I just started dieting last month and ive lost almost 10 pounds now. My son was worth waiting for weightloss! Enjoy girl. Love yourself and u wont get this time back but u can always lose weight later. Xoxox

Nursing burns a ton of calories. My midwife said it was something like 500calories a day to produce the milk plus whatever calories the baby drank. I didn't exercise much when mine were born either, just gentle walks. I still steadily lost weight except for last ten pounds which came off when they weaned. I exclusively breastfed until they were 6mos and started solids, then I breastfed as much as they wanted until they weaned...it naturally tapered off on its own. My little sis had twins that she breastfed exclusively and she said when one was done eating, the other one was hungry so she felt she was a milk machine. Lol! Hang in there and focus on bonding with your baby and healing up from the birth. Try and eating healthy nutrient dense foods.

On a side note my first baby had colic and I discovered what I ate affected her. For example a single bite of salsa kicked off three hours of her screaming in agony complete with projectile vomiting. I figured out anything I ate that was acidic caused her colic to act up. So I went on no acid diet....things that are high in acid are numerous! Tomatoes, tea, coffee, OJ, cranberry, milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, citrus fruits anything spicy, sour patch kids, sour gummy worms.etc. I ate a lot of chicken and rice and root veg...for about a year... let me tell you. But it worked and no more colic! Almost overnight! So I only mention this because what we eat can sometimes affect our baby.