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Losing weight - breastfeeding

dodizim
dodizim Posts: 3
in Social Groups
Do you loose weight because of breastfeeding???
Every mom I know was telling me that when you breastfeed you loose weight. I don't!! Why? Have no idea...
Do you have the same probem?
Do you loose weight if you breastfeed? if so- hopw much? how fast?

Replies

  • sabgoe
    sabgoe Posts: 65 Member
    Yup, I have lost about 35 pounds since I delivered my son two months ago. I did not really start loosing weight, though, till I started counting calories ...
  • Schnuddelbuddel
    Schnuddelbuddel Posts: 402 Member
    4th baby and all bf. I never lost while bf before this one. Only thing different this time: I'm on mfp and watch what I eat. BF makes hungry so I - mostly- stay away from junk food and have healthier options instead. And I work out more (mostly walking a lot with the kids)

    bf alone means you burn 500 cals a day more, so would make you lose, if you didn't feel hungrier and would eat more (which you should do!)

    I eat around 2000 cals/day plus mostly eat my exercise cals back and I am losing on average 1lb a week. :) I'm now 165lbs, 5'4.
  • dodizim
    dodizim Posts: 3
    I do the same: eating health food, staying away from fast food etc., but...unfortunately it doesn't make my body slimmer :(
    I started counting calories today and we'll see how good/bad or pointless it is.
  • Schnuddelbuddel
    Schnuddelbuddel Posts: 402 Member
    It'll work. Simply writing down what you eat on your log here will make that difference :) Best of luck!!!!

    PS: don't stress yourself... you had a baby in you for 9 months... as they say: 9 months on- 9 months off :)
  • labtracks
    labtracks Posts: 108 Member
    Nope... I'm in the same situation and have been stuck with 15 pounds left for 9 weeks now despite daily exercise and religious calorie tracking... no sign of it leaving. If you do a Google search for "weight loss and breastfeeding" there are many forums with hundreds of responses from different women. Many say the same thing, that they were stuck with 10 to 15 pounds until they stopped breastfeeding and often within 4 to 6 weeks of weaning it went away. I think some bodies are different and just hold onto that weight, it must think it needs it for some reason. Reading those helped me a LOT. I am still trying, eating healthy and exercising, but have decided I wont' beat myself up over not having much loss for now. I want to breastfeed and if this is how my body reacts to that then I'll have to live with it.
    Below is the one that helped me most. The short article says you should lose, but there are 14 pages of responses underneath... read some and you should feel better.
    http://www.babycenter.com/404_will-breastfeeding-help-me-lose-weight_8900.bc
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
    I have four kids (youngest is 6 months old) and I have breastfed them all so I don't know how my body would respond if I wasn't breastfeeding, but I did/do lose weight breastfeeding. Breastfeeding moms burn about 500 more calories per day so it creates a natural deficit. However, I think too many people think they can eat whatever they want when breastfeeding and that is not the case. You still have to stay within your calorie range, whether you are doing it with or without conscientiously tracking your intake.

    I have always gotten to my pre-pregnancy weight quickly without trying (this time I was within 5 lbs by the time he was a month old or so but I gained the least) but keeping it off is the problem. I started MFP to lose the weight I had gained between pregnancies. What I do remember is that with my others I would lose for awhile, then nothing, then all of a sudden lose again.
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
    I will say that for some reason the last 5 pregnancy lbs are stubborn. I do know that I started my first at 125 and got down to 129. When I got pregnant with my second I weighed 135. When he turned one I weighed 122. I then got a different job and created bad eating habits. I weighed 145 when I got pregnant with my third and weighed about 150 when I got pregnant with my fourth. Currently weigh 148. My goal now is 120.
  • sar123bear
    sar123bear Posts: 81
    see my blog on here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/sar123bear - there's 4 posts right now on the topic of weight loss, even while breastfeeding. :bigsmile:

    I'm still steadily losing weight without plateau. Started at 250 on 12/13/11 (highest prego weight), down to 184 now. My goal is 139-140. I'm 5'4".
  • hpound
    hpound Posts: 6
    I agree with this. I lost 20 lbs immediately and the last 10 hung around until I started paying attention to what I was putting in. It's more so being aware of what your putting in and what your expending. ...for me anyways! :)
  • chamcmillan
    chamcmillan Posts: 40 Member
    My son is 4 months and he is my third. I did not breast feed my other two so he is my first breast feed baby. I dropped about 35 pounds immediately. I am almost back to my pre baby weight but these last five pounds are just lingering.
  • diverdi
    diverdi Posts: 64 Member
    Hi. I think it helps as you burn more calories but you still have to watch what you eat. I find I'm hungry all the time, and I tend to eat when I'm tired too so after losing the first 10kg I've been stuck for the last 5 weeks.

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