Any BF moms struggling to lose weight?

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shalinimunjal
shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
I'm nursing my toddler (21months old) 3-5 times in evening and night. Working out 4-5 times a day, (30DS and Couchto5K on alternate days). I haven't lost ANY weight in about 2 months :( Really really discouraged. Calories set to 1600 manually. I'm 5'0", 138lb, 35yr. I've changed my diet to mostly clean foods (except spike day when i tried to go way over)..

My diary is public you can take a look.. I tried spike day yesterday (3/3) in order to break the plateu but don't think it worked.

Replies

  • VAPeters
    VAPeters Posts: 17 Member
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    how did you come up with the calories number of 1600? I was adding in breastfeeding calories and wasn't getting anywhere so per the suggestion of a friend who is also bf'ing I changed my activity level to "active" and have finally started to loose.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
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    1600 is based on my TDEE..someone calculated it for me. My BMR is around 1300 and he advices eating well above that and he came up with that #. Not sure if it's too high..should I reduce it?
  • Mindmovesbody
    Mindmovesbody Posts: 399 Member
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    Hi there, fellow BF mom trying to lose and wasn't getting anywhere until I changed my intake. Lost six pounds in three weeks. I'm 5'3 and 3/4" and weighing in at 134.5 now. I BF about 6 times in a 24 hour period and my calorie intake is 1200. I add in -500 per day for breast feeding as well but I still try to stay within that 1200 range and if I don't I get myself on the treadmill. I also found out I had thyroid issues, so they put me on a very low dose of meds. I think that helped with my energy level. I would reduce your intake by something small, maybe 300 calories and see what happens!
  • keanacallon
    keanacallon Posts: 4 Member
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    I would say up your calorie intake. I didn't lose for about 3 weeks and wasn't even including breastfeeding in my diary. The moment I did and started eating an additional 300 calories is when I started losing again. I read somewhere, maybe Babycenter that a breastfeeding Mom shouldn't go under 1800 calories, but I don't know the source to back that info up.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
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    This seems to be the consensus..I am going to try adding 200 cals and see how it goes over the next month. Thanks all :)
  • princessleia1980
    princessleia1980 Posts: 81 Member
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    I struggled to lose and tried reducing cals but nothing happened. So I increased my calories and lost 3.5lbs that week. I've set my cals to maintain so the bf is causing me to lose. I'm losing 1lb a week when I stick to it! 1600 sounds too few to me. I'm on 1900 without adding the feeding. I'm 5'1" 169lbs.
  • princessleia1980
    princessleia1980 Posts: 81 Member
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    Also have you tried cutting down on pasta, rice ad bread. Grains can lke bad for some ppl!
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
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    Thanks princessleia..is that your DD? She's a cutie

    I am trying to switch completely to whole grain and brown rice. Sometimes I have long grain white rice because family won't eat brown rice..I tried. So if I cook for just me, it's brown rice.. Also tried quinoa recently and liked it. I eat wheat pasta when I cook it for me. Getting there slowly :)

    I'm 5'0 139 lb. I am now doing 1800 cals and try to eat my exercise calories. I had a small loss this week so that's something.

    How old is your baby and how much are you nursing in a day??
  • lauracb10
    lauracb10 Posts: 5 Member
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    I was having a really hard time losing weight while breast feeding before I started WW... I think I am doing well on it because I get an additional 10 points because of that.... It is hard to eat as much as they want me to... I need to start eating more... but I feel so over full when I eat anymore than I already am... makes it hard for me to sleep too...
  • In the same boat over here......

    MFP has my calories set to 1650...and I am usually very hungry on that but feel guilty going over.

    My son is 9 months old and I have lost about 5 lbs since he came home from the hospital....this weight is not budging. I have 25 lb to go.

    I am fed up and feeling quite down...

    I also read on other sites that BF moms should not consume less than 1800 calories a day....