Moms: anyone lost weight after weaning (from breastfeeding)

I lost all my baby weight while nursing. For whatever reason, I could eat whatever I wanted and still lost weight, and it didn't hurt my supply. Lucky me.

Once my son was about a year old and nursing had tapered off, I did not adjust my eating and gained quite a bit of weight. He finally weaned this past April, leaving me with 30 extra pounds. In July I started counting calories and I've lost 25 pounds since then. So yes, I did lose weight after weaning, but it wasn't because I weaned. It was because I started counting calories and eating at a deficit.

For what it's worth, breastmilk is 20 calories per ounce and a typical baby who is not yet on solids eats about 20-30 ounces per day. So you'd want to add 400-600 calories per day to be at maintenance while nursing. I would think that with some trial and error, you should be able to figure out the exact calories you need to maintain milk supply while losing weight. I suspect that most women who think they cannot lose weight while breastfeeding probably could do it, if they figured out the exact calories required. It's still about calories in, calories out, except that you have an extra outlet for "calories out." But is it worth it during this period of your life? Eh, personal choice, but probably not for most women.

I held onto to 25lbs for dear life while breastfeeding!! Then my period started when I was 14 months pp and I thought "yes maybe now I'll finally be able to loose weight" but instead I gained another 7lbs, 4 inches on my belly and retained water like crazy. I constantly looked bloated and felt tired even though I was eating extremely healthy and working out!! It was so crazy!! My daughter stopped Nursing August 10th 2015

With the first two babies, nursing used too many calories for me, so I got underweight (we were poor and i could only eat what we could get). With the second one, I felt like she was eating me, got too skinny and had to cut her off a couple of months early.
With #3, I maintained - weight dropped slowly while nursing, felt healthy.
With #4, I gained more and she was very big, my body held on to extra weight until she was weaned - about 15lb, then it started to go back down, then I got rid of the copper IUD and resolved the serious anemia it had caused, and then the rest of the weight came off.

Those babies spanned a lot of years though, age may play a part - i was 24 with the first but nearly 40 with the last, and our financial situation improved so food wasn't a problem with the second two.

Each of them nursed for 1.5 years, tapered off for that last half year; and for me periods did not ever return until they were all the way weaned. Also i hemorrhaged the first 3 times, bedrest for a couple of weeks, maybe the resting does something to convince the body it's ok to lose the fat.

It can go either way, yes. And YES be hopeful, if your body holds onto fat while nursing, it will likely get a kickstart when you stop.

Nope. All I did was gain and gain and gain. Topped out at 180. Calorie reduction has me at 156 right now and I'm hoping to drop another 25-30 lbs by end of the year.

I was 125 pre-pregnancy, then gained 33 lbs (so up to 158). I lost 20 lbs within the first week post-partum, and since then (baby is 6 months old) I haven't lost a thing! My weight hasn't dropped below 137.5, no matter how little I eat. I also haven't gone higher than 142, now matter how much I ate. I've been weaning for about a month (dropping one feeding a week) and haven't expressed any milk for a week, but the weight still hasn't budged! I've also been super strict about not eating more than 1200 calories for about two weeks. This is totally not normal for me. Normally I lose up to 2 lbs a week if I stick to a 1200 calorie diet.

Do I need to wait til my milk dries up? Does this seem consistent with other people's experiences?

@ohrtorah can you give me an update on what happened while slowly weaning? I’m starting the process now, dropping one feed every 3 days and I’m hopeful to start losing but so far I’m just gaining. 😫😫😫. I’m a fanatic exerciser, clean eater. I’m 5’7 128 pre pregnancy. Gained about 20lbs then dropped it all the first couple weeks postpartum- down to 124. Then with no control myself I gained back up to 130ish, going up and down a few lbs with no ryhme or reason. My baby is 7 months and I’m ready to be done breastfeeding and have my hormones back under control.
Can all the previous posters give updates? 😀

Yes for me. I actually never lose any weight until I wean completely. My body holds on to the extra fat every time.

I guess my end goal is probably to maintain once I’m down to 125. I’m finding as I drop feedings, my body feels super weird and gross and bloated. I’m wondering if anyone tracked their weight AS they were dropping feedings and how dropping feeds affected body weight as the body adjusted for producing less and less milk. It’s more of a curiosity thing I’m so fascinated by how the body does its job.

I did not lose weight until I was done breastfeeding each time. I breastfed three children. The first 6 months, the second nine months and the third a year and three months. Each time I was JUST SO HUNGRY. I could workout, I hiked, biked, ran, lifted, boot camp type stuff, etc at least 4 times a week aside from our daily walks. The second I reduced food intake even a little with the first two kids my supply would tank, honestly when I think back on it that is probably why they started “refusing” and fighting when they did and we weaned. With the third child it was the same. I was a student, renovating a new home, 3 kids, and starting a small business, with a husband who works 80 hour weeks. The second I cut food a little bit my milk supply tanked and I was ravenous. When I was not careful about calories(intake) my baby did not sleep well either. So I maintained my 210lbs throughout breastfeeding. The month after he weaned I was down 20lbs without trying. And the month after that. Unfortunatly then I had to start working, and have been ever since. Lol!!

Every mother is different, and every baby is different. You are still early on in breastfeeding and may find once babe is taking in more you lose a bit, or you may find you just have to work on fitness until babe is weaned and then worry about lowering calories. Some trial and error will tell you fairly qiuckly.

kraisner wrote: »

I guess my end goal is probably to maintain once I’m down to 125. I’m finding as I drop feedings, my body feels super weird and gross and bloated. I’m wondering if anyone tracked their weight AS they were dropping feedings and how dropping feeds affected body weight as the body adjusted for producing less and less milk. It’s more of a curiosity thing I’m so fascinated by how the body does its job.

I wish I could provide data but I did not track my weaning, plus I was bulking from 7-15 months pp so my weight was all over the place!