Dieting and weight loss

kmdendy

I am just looking for dieting tips.  I exclusivly breast feed my 5 month old girl.  Would pumping more often help with weight loss?

How old is your baby?

How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy?

How much weight have you lost?

Was baby #1's weight loss different from baby #2?

Peanutz21

my LO is 4.5 months.  i gained about 25-30 pounds during pregnancy. i am about 5 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight.

if you are still EBF i wouldn't recommend dieting TOO much because you still need to keep up your adequate nutrition for your BM production.

also, if you pumped more you would likely create an oversupply issue.  i would say pumping extra for weight loss only is a bad idea but thats just my opinion

jnnfrrose6

Despite what you hear, EBF doesn't necessarily mean the weight will just fall off.  For some women it does, for others it doesn't.  I'm in the 2nd category and got to my pre-pregnancy weight with DS right around his 1st birthday, which was also right around when he stopped nursing.  It seems to be continuing with DD.  The best thing to focus on is exercising and eating right.  Dieting isn't goo because your body needs the calories to produce milk for you LO, but eating healthy calories is of course going to be better for you.  Also keep in mind that your body changes with pregnancy so you may carry weight (and lose it) differently than you did before.

yvanehtnioj

I gained 35, down 27 @ 18 weeks pp. Most of that came off in the first couple weeks, the rest has been slow but steady 1-2 pounds per week while eating 2000 calories most days. The last 8 pounds seems like it wants to stay for a bit. I added in strength training so that my muscles will be toned when the rest of the weight comes off....whenever that is.

eta: I've been exclusively pumping since 3 weeks pp. I do think that back when I was pumping 30+ oz per day I was able to eat much more and still lose weight.

yepyepsms

I gained about 30 with both of my kids and lost that within three months with both. I walked a lot with both on maternity leave and ate when hungry, (a lot!) but 90% healthy. The other 10% was pizza on weekends, beer, a cookie, etc.

With both kids it stops after that. I have a good 20 to lose that shouldn't be there but my body hangs on while I'm EBF to that extra poundage. I have tried a little dieting and more exercise but it just doesn't work. I'm either hungry to the point of feeling ill and/or my supply suffers.

When I weaned my first at a year it started coming off again. I got Pregnant again three months after weaning so not sure how much I could have/would have lost.

Joel&Layna

I gained 45. Am 13 weeks PP and still have about 15-20 to go. Totally sucks! I didn't mentally prepare enough for the PP body. I've been doing T-25 and shakeology. I like bc I barely have 25 minutes a day to work out! Be kind to yourself mama

macbook

I gained 45 pounds too - honestly i was eating healthy the whole time, my body was retaining a lot of fluid and of course, fat. I have a four month old and have 15 pounds to go. I can tell its not going to come off easy:( but honestly, women shouldn't put too much pressure on themselves. It will come off with time and the last thing you need is feeling pressure about yet another thing. 

shackbarth1982

Best advice I can give is don't look at the scale too often! I don't bf anymore but I'm below pre pregnancy weight now. I just didn't stress about it and ate healthy. My baby is 3 months and I gained 20. Ive heard it's harder to get weight off with the second but that's probably dependent on the person. There's no time for me to eat more than a couple snacks somedays until my husband gets home so I'm sure that doesn't hurt!

shackbarth1982

Try finding fitness classes where you can take your baby. I love those!

macbook

Its so interesting hearing about peoples weight gain during pregnancy, I feel like I gained so much in comparison to others but honestly I didn't eat a lot or eat unhealthy at all. I guess peoples bodies are all different. And I hear that people gain different amounts with different pregnancies. 

jmarkert527

What worked for me was a low carb diet. I still get all the protein and calories I need for breastfeeding, and I've lost 50 pounds in 4 months.

Mimaloo

DD is 5 months old. 

Honestly, I still have no idea how much weight I gained during my pregnancy. I didn't want to focus on it AND I was heavier than I would have like to be before I got pregnant, so at every doctor's appointment I stood on the scale backwards and reminded the nurse not to say my weight out loud to me. 

As of 10 days ago, I am back into my pre-pregnancy pants. So now anything else I lose is just getting me back to my pre-pre-pregnancy weight. 

I'm not disciplined enough to stick to low-carb/no-carb diets (those aren't good long term solutions anyway) or weight watchers. I won't measure or weigh out my food, but a friend of mine is a Beachbody coach and talked me into the 21 day fix/challenge which emphasizes portion control. It is the easiest thing I've ever done and has helped me lose the rest of my baby weight. I've also been running 2 miles every other day (with a few days or a week off here and there when DH travels for work). 

Feel free to PM me if you want more info or a contact person - this program is really great and is done long distance. She set up a private FB group for whoever is doing the challenge. 

IBackBevo

I think it is fine to diet after your supply is well-established. Check out kellymom.com. I have had a hard time losing weight with number 2 but I am down 30 lbs. Lo2 is 5 months. I am using my fitness pal app and working out 4 to 5 days a week approximately.

Maladroit

How old is your baby? 4 months

How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy? 15#

How much weight have you lost? 35#...but I wasn't hungry much during pregnancy and when I delivered, I hemorrhaged a bit, felt really crappy for 2-3 weeks after, so didn't eat much, I'm BF'ing and my appetite still isn't back yet - by the way, my supply sucks.  It's not a healthy weight loss, admittedly, but I'm finally not losing anymore.  Don't want to brag, just showing the other side of things.

sailorjuno

pumping will just make your body produce more milk, which will make your breasts heavier.

my baby is 7 months. i'm still breastfeeding.

How much weight did you gain during your pregnancy?  

went from 135 to 175.

How much weight have you lost?

i went down to 145 within the first month postpartum because baby kept me so busy that i didn't have time to eat much.

Was baby #1's weight loss different from baby #2?

i don't have more than one baby.

overall, i recommend keeping track of the calories in everything you eat.  never exceed 2500 calories. try not to go below 2000 either so that you can keep up your health to have enough energy for yourself and good milk for the baby.  there's a great app for iOS devices called "mynetdiary" which helps with tracking calories and losing weight.  for exercise, just do some walking everyday.

JaniseCookston

I don't think pumping more often would make a difference for your weight loss.

My baby is 10 months old. I gained 35 pounds during my pregnancy. I have lost all of it plus an additional 6 pounds.

We exclusively breastfed through four months old and then started to introduce table food but we still maintain our regular nursing routine of about five times a day. I started exercising again postpartum at 4 months when I was still 13 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight. After two months of exercising and no weight loss I started tracking my calories using My Fitness Pal. The weight started coming off and I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time baby girl was eight months. I wanted to keep going and have lost an additional 6 pounds. I am transitioning to weight maintenance now.

So for me, calorie counting made all the difference when it came to weight loss and neither the exercising or "dieting" affected my supply.