Weight loss after weaning?

CocoR04 · January 2014

Hi Ladies! I'm still nursing DS and plan to as long as he has interest. However, despite working out pretty hard 4 days a week, I haven't dropped a pound in 6 months. I haven't been counting calories, but I haven't been gorging myself either. Did any of you nursing mamas experience a weight loss plateau while nursing? If you aren't nursing anymore, did you lose or gain afterwards? I thought I'd be a stick by the one-year mark, but apparently I'm the only mama ever who can't lose weight via breastfeeding and working out. Sigh.

ericalee27 · January 2014

CocoR04 said:

but apparently I'm the only mama ever who can't lose weight via breastfeeding and working out. Sigh.

You are not the only one, don't worry! I'm having a much harder time the second time around with BFing and dropping the weight. i'm still nursing twice a day right now, so I'm not completely weaned at this point, but no real movement here either way since dropping to twice a day. SIGH.

ella.mabel · January 2014

If i try to cut back on calories even a little, my supply tanks. This happened with DD too. I didn't gain a ton during pregnancy (because i had GD) so i'm not super worried about it, but it annoys me a little that i have actually gained weight since having DS. I'm really hoping that when i stop nursing i will be able to lose some of what i've gained and get back to my "normal size".

jesuisfatiguee · January 2014

Count me in as a nursing mom who can't lose the weight! I think I actually gained like 5 lbs. This is my first, and I'll BF for as long as DS wants to (which I am going to go ahead and assume will be a couple more years), but I'm hoping to be able to lose at least a little weight as we cut back our nursing sessions to fewer and fewer a day. FX...

PhieryBFly · January 2014

Same here. Can't seem to lose the weight while breastfeeding. It's especially annoying because my sister-in-law had a baby two days before I did and she was back to normal weight within a few months. So I feel like people look at me and assume I'm on the chocolate and skittles diet since she lost the weight and I haven't.

Poppy523 · January 2014

I have two things to say:
First: One of my close friends had a baby a few months ago, and made me feel like a schmuck when she told me she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight by the time she was three weeks post partum. I was super jealous, however, now it annoys the heck out of me when she complains about her supply and how she has to supplement with formula because she cannot keep her supply up. I still love her, but I purposely held onto my weight for a while for BF.

Secondly: I have been told by multiple people, and I have read multiple places that it is very common for nursing moms to hold onto some weight while nursing because your body knows you need the extra fat stores to make milk. Don't know if it is true, but we can say it is. I heard from those same people that they lost weight when they weaned.

Puck1182 · January 2014

@Poppy523 - I've done the same thing. I'm deliberately staying about 5 lbs above my prepregnancy weight until DD weans. As long as my old clothes fit fine, I'm not going to worry about it, since it means I don't have to spend money on a new wardrobe. ;-)

SidraJedi · January 2014

I was about 35lb overweight according to my comfort level (more like 45lb overweight for my BMI) pre-preg. I'm below my pre-preg weight but I lost some of it in first tri before I gained preg weight. I basically lost the pregnancy weight a month or so after delivery and I lost a little extra between months 6 and 8 of BF.

Somewhere around 4 or 5 months PP I tried counting (but not restricting) calories just to see how much I was taking in but gave up when it seemed to be stressing me out (I have EDNOS and it is not recommended that I diet). I have just been eating normally. I try to eat good, nutrient dense food in general. I have plateaued at about 10lb overweight. So, I lost without trying and plateaued without any clear cause.

I think that while BF there is only a far you can go with weight loss, especially when you are usually active and lean. Naturally, as a new mother, your body is geared to thrive for you and your child (that and and your breasts probably weight a couple pounds each). I am not lean so maybe I lost some bc I had some extra?

Anyhow, if you go ask the BFB most of the women will tell you that they lost nothing (or next to it) while BF and that easy weight loss during BF is as elusive as the fabled monster of Loch Ness.

101Mims · January 2014

I had to eat like a horse while BF and so kept almost all the baby weight on. Since weaning I've been really cutting back, and have been dropping about a pound a week since november. So I'm almost halfway to my goal weight.

It was heartbreaking to stop BF, but have to say that it's really nice to have the weight off , and really motivating now as I'm just beginning to see pre preg body again :-)

tamarar5 · January 2014

I was less than five lbs from my prepregnancy weight by about for weeks pp. Somewhere along the way the last five dropped. The numbers on the scale said I was at my prepregnancy weight... but none of my clothes fit. And I was still well over 50lbs overweight. More like almost 100, affording to the Dr charts for my height.

Of course, now I'm preggo again and I still can't diet or exercise enough to drop the weight.

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