Looking for more friends- Intermittent fasting and/or breastfeeding moms out there?

brilliantwords
brilliantwords Posts: 97 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Ive been around MFP a LONG time and a lot of my friends arent really around anymore so Im looking for others who may do intermittent fasting, and/or breastfeeding moms trying to lose weight? :smile: Ive done IF in the past, and am about to jump back on board with it...starting with 14:10 fasting/eating window!

Replies

  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    I'm breastfeeding, but I'm in maintenance now. I lost 35lbs last year though while breastfeeding. My LO is 18 months now, but he was 6 months when I started trying to lose weight, and 13 months when I went into maintenance.
  • brilliantwords
    brilliantwords Posts: 97 Member
    ExistingFish wrote: »
    I'm breastfeeding, but I'm in maintenance now. I lost 35lbs last year though while breastfeeding. My LO is 18 months now, but he was 6 months when I started trying to lose weight, and 13 months when I went into maintenance.

    Ill add you. :) My baby (my 2nd) is 9 months. I didnt really lose much so far because we had a lot of other medical issues with babe going on so it wasnt my main focus, but now that things are fairly normalized, Im going to get back into things.
  • rcervetto
    rcervetto Posts: 60 Member
    My daughter is 21 months now, but I lost ~25 pounds on here in 4 months while breastfeeding in late 2017 (she was 4-8 months in this timeframe). I didn't do IF, but I set my calories to maintenance and let BF create my deficit (~500 calories). Ate a semi-low carb diet, as I find protein and fat provide me with more satiety. Some moms find they are ravenous and can't lose weight until they stop BF. Don't stress too much, feeding your LO is more important right now than weight loss. Drink LOTS of water. Have faith, the weight will come off eventually!
  • brilliantwords
    brilliantwords Posts: 97 Member
    edited January 2019
    rcervetto wrote: »
    My daughter is 21 months now, but I lost ~25 pounds on here in 4 months while breastfeeding in late 2017 (she was 4-8 months in this timeframe). I didn't do IF, but I set my calories to maintenance and let BF create my deficit (~500 calories). Ate a semi-low carb diet, as I find protein and fat provide me with more satiety. Some moms find they are ravenous and can't lose weight until they stop BF. Don't stress too much, feeding your LO is more important right now than weight loss. Drink LOTS of water. Have faith, the weight will come off eventually!

    Youre right- I do tend to struggle losing while BF, but Ive done it. Its just hard because Im ALWAYS hungry. I can easily eat as much as my husband. With my son, (my first), I ran with the jogging stroller most mornings, tracked etc and couldnt budge a single pound until 4-5 months PP, and then I lost about 25-30 lbs within 4 months doing the same things.

    So Id hoped this time around would be the same story- but baby #2 is 9 months and im only 5 lbs less than I was at 1 week PP haha. :neutral: Ive given myself a lot of forgiveness because weve been through a lot in her first 6 months (baby was in heart failure (CHD), in and out of hospital, feeding tubes/exclusive pumpin for 4 months pre-surgery as she was too sick to eat at all on her own), open heart surgery, etc) So weight loss just couldnt take priority obviously. Thats why im feeling more ready now. She's thriving post op, and BF with no end in sight, so theres more room for normal things... and I need to feel better about myself for sure. :smile:
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    I started with making exercise a habit for 2 months before I even started tracking my food, when LO was 6 months. Didn't lose a single pound until I started tracking, go figure. But getting in the exercise habit helped. I went from gym 2x a week to 3x a week and started tracking when he was 8 months.

    I started at 2400 calories and was losing, then my losses stalled so I went down to 2100, lost on that for a while, then down to 1850, then losses slowed, so I went 1650 on non-workout days and 1900 on workout days (IIRC), so I took a minimum deficit approach to losing in order to not mess up my supply. I was rarely excessively hungry, I did pay attention to my macros as I was lifting when I went to the gym so protein was important. I focused on protein (1g per pound of estimated lean mass, about 120g when I started) and a fair amount of fats, carbs to balance. No more than 45% carbs, so fat just kind of filled in after protein. Keeping the protein and fat up helps you not to feel hungry or deprived. Also drinking lots of fluid with all the milk production.

    I stopped tracking in maintenance or I'd say look at my logs, I found myself becoming obsessed (and still losing in maintenance) so I just track my weight now. If it gets out of whack, I will start tracking again. I've stayed in my weight range almost completely, around the first of the year my cycles returned and I bloated and retained enough water to push my over my desired range. I thought I had gained holiday weight but after my period it just vanished.
  • seankicks1
    seankicks1 Posts: 23 Member
    I’ve been doing intermittent fasting for the past month now feel free to add me. Currently doing a 22:2 fast:eating window
  • Sasha24201
    Sasha24201 Posts: 39 Member
    I have done intermittent fasting before and am thinking about starting back. Having a difficult time getting back into dieting right now.

    Anyway, feel free to add me! 😊
  • Nmt100
    Nmt100 Posts: 36 Member
    I'm not sure I could manage breastfeeding and intermittent fasting. I'm still exclusively pumping for my 10 month old at the moment and I'm set at a 0.5lb loss a week and because I know how much milk I produce each day I adjust my calories accordingly. However, even at 0.5lb loss I'm still ravenous all the time!
  • proudmotherof6
    proudmotherof6 Posts: 40 Member
    Hi! I'm Lani and I'm new here but would love to be friends. I have 6 kids and my youngest is 1 week old so I'm breast feeding as well. I must admit I've never heard of intermittent fasting but now I want to try. How would you suggest I start?
  • proudmotherof6
    proudmotherof6 Posts: 40 Member
    Oh ease add me because I have enough no idea how to add people yet lol smh
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
    I just want to add a caution to maybe talk with your doctor before trying to do IF while breastfeeding. I don't think of those two things as being compatible. Depending on how many times per day you breastfeed, your body may need more consistent energy input to support milk production.

Categories