DomesticKat Member

I think the struggle often comes from trying to create too big of a deficit at first by not knowing breastfeeding burns so many calories all on it's own. Restricting calories too much leads to binging, which leads to inconsistency and yo-yoing, which leads to women thinking they can't lose weight while breastfeeding. By…

Yes, if you're logging accurately you really don't need to create a deficit on top of breastfeeding. It creates one for you. It is more challenging to figure out the "calories out" while breastfeeding and it can take longer to lose weight for a variety of reasons, but CICO still applies.

Thanks, friend!

Congratulations on your baby! I'm so sorry your family is being so insensitive towards you. That is horrible of them! Breastfeeding burns a significant number of calories per day. Unfortunately, none of us can tell you how many it burns because it's dependent on the nursing habits and demand of your baby. This will go up…

I'm still here! My one year old went in for surgery almost two weeks ago and he had about a week of recovery that kept me busy. He's back to his normal self, but between my sleep issues and him sleeping like a baby I haven't been getting enough sleep. I feel super on-edge and haven't been able to relax after all that went…

Because the harm is unknown. The research doesn't exist. There is no reputable source that endorses a low carb diet for lactating mothers because of that. You are more than willing to overlook that despite having nothing to substantiate your claims and potentially cause harm to strangers on the internet and their nursing…

The researcher's choice to highlight protein in their study does not confirm your assumptions. It simply means they did not study it. Just as choosing to use certain examples of restricted diets does not mean those are the only restricted diets one should avoid while breastfeeding. Secondly, from the other article: "Two…

Neither article you posted discussed the intentional restriction of an entire macronutrient because that's not what those studies are about. The fact that you didn't find the information you wanted in two articles doesn't mean that carbs are nutritionally irrelevant for the nursing mother. There is no study that…

Neither of those articles are relevant here. Neither has anything to do with Keto. In fact, they caution against exclusionary diets while breastfeeding because they can lead to micronutrient deprivation, for starters. There is no scientific evidence to support low carb while breastfeeding. None. To suggest otherwise is…

You don't need a special diet to lose weight. Has your doctor not told you that breastfeeding uses a lot of calories? Did you not read the information that was provided above? You can eat a wide variety of whatever makes you feel happy, energized and satiated. Track your food consistently and accurately in MFP (a food…

At minimum, you should be eating at least at maintenance for your current weight if you're exclusively breastfeeding. You should not have your account set towards a deficit. Breastfeeding creates a big deficit, 500+ calories, so it's in your best interest to eat more if you aren't currently doing so. I know of no reputable…

I think you have your answer as to the importance of following a well-designed program. I follow a full-body program 3 days a week and don't generally experience DOMS unless I have something else going on, like lack of sleep. A proper program will be balanced and arrange exercises and rep ranges in order to allow you to…

Congrats on your baby! It really depends on what your goals are. If you're still looking to lose, just keep doing what you're doing and aim for smaller losses every week by eating more. Strength training can help maintain the muscle you have while you lose. If your goal is to improve your body composition and stay the same…

My stomach looks similar and I have diastasis from having five children. Mine starts just above my navel and ends below so it's concentrated in that area. Bloating and poor posture makes it look worse. The muscles don't lay flat anymore, even with minimal fat they bulge permanently. I just try to work on having a strong…

Updated progress photo. From a size 14 to a size 4.

Normally at lunch for an hour. I have a full-body strength program I do three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday). I've done workouts in the evening in the past but lunch works out best for my current schedule.

I'm losing a half pound a week now and once I see a new low, I'll bounce back up toward my previous low for a while before dropping back down to a new low. It's sort of a two steps forward, one step back kind of thing. It's actually become really predictable so it's kind of funny. I tend to see new lows at the beginning of…

Maybe she needs to hide the evidence from him? Who knows.

I think there's a whole lot of missing pieces here and none of them have to do with vegetables. Confusing, to say the least. OP, good luck with your quest for more veg, from the sounds of it that's the least of your issues.

No, because if I'm understanding correctly, he doesn't let her buy vegetables in the store because he gets impatient with visiting the produce aisle....

I've gotten rid of most of the big stuff. I'm not planning to wear it again ;) I've kept some nicer jackets but that's about it. I've been gradually buying smaller sizes as I need them.

What makes you think you're drying up? Is your baby not growing properly? Are they not peeing and pooping according to the proper frequency for their age? That would indicate a milk supply issue. How your breasts feel or how you perceive your milk supply or how much you pump is not an indication of a lowered supply. Watch…

I don't talk about it unless I'm asked. Most of my friends have jumped on various fad diet bandwagons at one point or another. Unless they do something seriously dangerous, I don't bother trying to convince them otherwise. They've talked to me about my weight loss so they know what I did already. They have to come to the…

Not eating vegetables is one thing, but not letting you go in the store and buy them is not picky eating. That's something else entirely. What happens if you go and buy vegetables anyway? He can eat whatever he wants because he's an adult, but he doesn't get to tell you how to eat. So buy and eat what you want and worry…

450 on average. My typical breakfast is Greek yogurt, frozen fruit of some kind, and protein granola. Plus coffee.

Eating healthy is not the same as eating enough. Try to think of healthy weight gain as an indicator that you are getting enough nutrients to help your baby thrive in-utero. It's a sign that your baby is growing as they should be. It requires more calories to maintain your actual weight during pregnancy because more of…

Also MFP is not equipped to tell you how much MORE protein and additional macros you need during pregnancy. But you do need more of them. A registered dietitian associated with your healthcare provider should be telling you that. Not strangers on the internet.

Here's the thing about pregnancy. When you are pregnant, your calorie needs go up because it takes energy to build a human. Of the normal weight that you gain during pregnancy, only a small portion of that is fat. The rest of it is the weight of your baby, your growing uterus, your amniotic fluid and 50% more blood…

That's disappointing and not evidence-based at all.

I eat a similar cookie that's made locally. It's two big chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream and is 600 calories for the whole thing. I think 800 calories would be a good estimate with the extra caramel and pretzel pieces. So 400 for half would be my guess.