Anyone else breastfeeding and hitting plateau?

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adrianaivanova94
adrianaivanova94 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there! This is my second one and I thought I knew it all; after all I lost 20+ kg in 8 months after I had my first child 7 years ago. This time around is a different story - I'm now 10 months postpartum and I just cannot lose those last 6 kg. I do workout; I follow a program consisting of 50/50 strength training and HIIT. I am not overtraining, I do take rest days. I am also active outside the workouts, I go out for long walks with the baby and my older child every day. I tried cutting the calories a little bit - nothing. I tried increasing the calories a little bit - I thought maybe I'm not eating enough and my body is holding on to the fat so the milk supply doesn't suffer - temporary effect. I wonder, is it the breastfeeding (e.g. high prolactine) which is preventing me from losing the weight? I didn't have this issue the previous time but who knows. So, anyone else breastfeeding and not losing weight despite all efforts?

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  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
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    My own experience was that I did not lose as much weight with the second baby as I did with the first, not while breastfeeding.

    I had to wait until breastfeeding was over before the weight finally came off, the second time round.
  • adrianaivanova94
    adrianaivanova94 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for sharing! Maybe I am eating too much, who knows. I do log everything I eat but I don't have a food scale so the quantities are an estimate which might as well be wrong. MFP tells me I should eat 1640 calories a day, without considering the deficit created by breastfeeding and the expenditure from exercise. With those two added, my net calorie intake goes up to 1900-2020 calories a day. I think I eat around 1800-2000 calories a day, sometimes 100 less or more but maybe I'm wrong. I actually have only 5-6 kg to lose, the rest is gone but neither the scale nor the circumferences have moved even the slightest bit in the past two months so I figure I must be doing something wrong. I'll get myself a food scale.
  • OblasMummy
    OblasMummy Posts: 40 Member
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    I’m breastfeeding my 6 month old (third baby) I’m down 12lbs so far with 14-20lbs to go. I eat around 2000 calories and am losing about 1lb a week. I was averaging 2200 for 1/2lb a week loss but have slightly decreased my calories as she has taken to solids so well. I don’t worry if I go over at times as long as my weekly calories are more or less in line.

    I second a food scale and would love to hear back from you in a few weeks to see if it helps.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    A food scale will be eye opening, plus there's no guessing about how much you can eat. The weight loss winners are the ones who figure out how to eat as much as possible and still lose. It's an inexpensive investment and well worth it.
  • greenjlr
    greenjlr Posts: 6 Member
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    I swear I have no metabolism, I'm eating about 1800 and lucky to lose a pound a week. Ugh maybe the food scale would help and my estimates are off
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    I lost 90 lbs (in a healthy way!) while breastfeeding. I ate 200-400 calories extra to account for breastfeeding, depending on how old baby was and how much he was nursing. I weighed all my food and tracked on mfp. I exercised 5 times a week and ate back half of the estimated burned calories. I was probably eating 2000-2200 calories a day (but I had a lot of weight to lose).

    That was with my 4th breastfed baby. My first three babies, I did try to lose weight and always convinced myself I couldn’t lose weight because of breastfeeding. Or I’d eat waaaay too few calories and my milk supply would drop so I would panic and quit. With baby #4, I realized I could lose weight without starving myself but I did have to track carefully. I also had to increase my protein intake by a lot.

    My “baby” is 3.5 now and I’ve been in maintenance for 2 years. :) I miss my extra breastfeeding calories!!!
  • adrianaivanova94
    adrianaivanova94 Posts: 3 Member
    edited April 2018
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    OK, so I am suddenly seeing progress. Last week I weighed 63 kg and this week I am 60. Some of this is water, if not most of it. I haven't bought that food scale yet :)

    For me it seems the other way around. With my daughter I gained 25 kg (that's about 45 lbs I think). I didn't start exercising until she was about 5 months old. At the beginning I tried to log what I eat on mfp but I gave it up pretty quickly. I also didn't have a clue about healthy eating. I didn't like to cook so I ate mostly sandwiches with white bread and yellow cheese (sort of like Gauda but a lot more fatty :)). I also ate a lot of packaged food; and I also had sugar cravings so I ate a lot of chocolate, waffles and whatnot. Still, by the time she was 8 months old and after just 3 months of regular exercise 5 times a week with absolutely no diet whatsoever, I had lost all of the baby weight and could fit in all of my pre-pregnancy clothes. By month 10 I was very, very fit as I kept up the exercise; still no attention to my food. And I also had a period when I was very slim - breastfeeding, exercising vigorously 5 times a week and running after the toddler every day. I gained some weight back when I stopped breastfeeding her (she was 2 y 7 m old) but lost it quickly.

    Now, baby number 2 - I gained 23 kg; pretty much the same as the last time although I really tried this time not to gain excessive weight. I pay a lot more attention to what I eat, and I have eliminated processed and packaged foods from my diet a long time ago. I started exercising 2 months after giving birth, as advised by my doctor -at first lightly, then slowly getting back into my regular routines. 11 months (almost) later I am still not back to my pre-pregnancy weight; I still do not fit into all my pre-pregnancy clothes - despite the fact that I am paying a lot more attention to everything this time.

    Going to buy that food scale :)
  • Hipp706
    Hipp706 Posts: 28 Member
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    Hi there! My 5th baby is almost one and I’ve struggled to lose weight for the first time. Previously within 4-6mths I’ve been at pre-pregnancy weight and still loosing... this time around he’s a month off turning one and I’m still 10lbs heavier than my pre pregnancy weight. Previously I have been able to just eat what I want. This time it’s like my body is holding on to the weight!
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    greenjlr wrote: »
    I swear I have no metabolism, I'm eating about 1800 and lucky to lose a pound a week. Ugh maybe the food scale would help and my estimates are off

    You should be aiming to lose a pound a week or less while breastfeeding. Sounds like you're right on track.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
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    adrianaivanova94 wrote: »
    Going to buy that food scale :)

    Good!

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