A question for 2nd+ moms.....

longingtoholdher2010

So I have been seeing posts asking about what you are planning on doing to lose the baby weight or what you did after you had your last LO to lose the weight. My question is, if you have worked out for most of your pregnancy and your body is still "conditioned" to exercising, did the weight come off faster for you even while breastfeeding? Also can you lose weight by just getting exercise since you can't diet while BFing? I have remained pretty active during this pregnancy, but am planning on EBF and am worried about how the weight will come since I am getting married next fall, I really want to be able to dress shop and try on the sample sizes. How long did it take you to lose the weight while you were still BFing? Sorry that was a lot of questions. TIA 

mom2amelia

I EBF and did weight watchers starting when Amelia was a few months old. They add on 10 extra points a day for nursing moms, so it's totally fine! I was back to my PP weight before starting WW, but I wanted to get down lower. I also started walking everyday as soon as I was healed. I can't answer your question about working out while pregnant since I never did!

ashleywebber

The first time I was pregnant, I started out overweight, never exercised, and had horrible eating habits.  I continued that during my pregnancy and gained 53 pounds (was 85 pounds overweight the day I delivered my son).  I started watching what I ate and portion controlled (but ate if I was hungry/how much I needed to be satisfied) while BF. 

I joined Weight Watchers since they have a BF program (10 extra POINTS per day).  I ate every POINT (daily, BF, weekly, activity) and lost 2 pounds a week most weeks (my milk was fine).  I started exercising gradually since I never worked out before (like 10-15 minutes a day) and worked up to being able to do 2 hour workouts. 

I lost all the weight plus 10 pounds (total of 95 pounds) and a lot of fat (got down to 17% body fat) in 22 months. 

I am pretty much back to needing to lose the same amount since I gained weight back.  I know WW and working out will work again.

mlc92404

I just had my second a week ago and I've done nothing but BF and pump a few times a day.  I was a touch overweight before getting pg (5'6" and 157 lbs) and I've already lost 20 lbs.

Gabe&Dana

I gained 45 pounds with DD and was back in my pre-preg jeans at 8 weeks. I didn't work out right away- DD had colic, so I was basically up bouncing and swaying most of the day, add BF'ing on top of that, and DD having a dairy allergy ... I lost 22 pounds 3 days after giving birth and was back to my starting weight at 6 weeks. 

kg_08

As far as exercise during pregnancy, I did a lot of walking and that was about it. I gained 30 lbs, and lost 20 of it by 1 week PP. Now at over 5 weeks I still have the same 10 lbs to lose. Pretty soon I'll be starting ab workouts to get toned again, but some women actually end up hanging on to a bit of weight until their LOs are weaned.

Frankie

While most of my friends told me the line "Oh, if you're going to breastfeed you'll just see the weight melt off."  I ended up nursing DD until she was 15 mos old and unfortunately didn't lose the last 5-7 lbs until I completely stopped breastfeeding (even though absolutely nothing changed with my diet or exercise routine of working out 3-5 days per week).   

JasmineBrooke

Someone just asked this on the October board so here's my copy/paste:

With DS, I was one of those freaks who started out underweight and still developed GD.  Because of the strict GD diet, I only gained 35 lbs.  I breastfed and along with daily walks, lost all the weight within 6 weeks.  When DS was 7 months old, I started playing roller derby and ended up in the best shape of my life.  Of course, we don't have any leagues here in the Middle East but I still plan to exclusively BF and to get back on skates as soon as possible.  I'm six years older now though and haven't been nearly as active through this pregnancy so we'll see how it goes! 

nosoup4u

I didn't lose all the baby weight until DS was a full year - I was 25 lbs over my usual weight for months and months. I finally started a hardcore work-out class when he was six months old, and it never affected my supply - I made sure to drink enough and eat enough to keep it up. I could have started working out sooner, but we didn't have the cash to do it until then. I did end up with a c-section, and I really think that had a lot to do with it taking so long to get the weight off, as it's a longer recovery than vaginal birth.

longingtoholdher2010

Thanks for all your input ladies!!! It sounds like a pretty good amount of you lost the weight pretty quickly. I am hoping that at least even if the numbers don;t really drop down on the scale all that much that at least I am still losing clothes sizes. I have always been the type that people thought I was a lot lighter than I actually was so I used to live by the philosophy that the number on the scale don't matter as long as you look good. So either way it goes, hopefully I will still be able to get into a wedding dress. lol.