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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to be alarmed by sudden weight loss

24 replies

ihaveabreastfeedingquestion · 05/06/2012 09:18

Normally I would be delighted but I haven't particularly been trying to lose weight...I have a 6month old who I am BFing, I have tried to cut down a bit on what I eat as I was stuffing my face, but in 2 weeks I have gone from 11st4 to 10st11, it seems a lot when I have only adjusted my calorie intake a tiny bit. I am so paranoid and always think I have some horrible cancer, please can someone reassure me that I'm being mad?

OP posts:
squeakytoy · 05/06/2012 09:24

I think you are panicking over nothing.. stop worrying. 7lbs in two weeks is not that bad, and weight fluctuates by 2lb or so a day too, so that could realistically be a loss of 4lb in two weeks really.

What was your normal weight before you were pregnant?

TheLightPassenger · 05/06/2012 09:25

so - you've made some effort to cut calories, and lost 5lb in 2 weeks, and are BFing. I wouldn't be worried as some women do find it v easy to lose weight when BFing, and bear in mind many people do seem to lose lots of weight at the start of a diet, as it includes water loss. I wouldn't panic or even necessarily go to GP at this point, but keep an eye on it.

Corgito · 05/06/2012 09:26

I think you should only worry if you lose more than a stone in a three month period when you're not actively trying to lose weight. Half a stone up or down can be accounted for by all kinds of things... mostly fluid retention. Make sure the food you're getting is nutritious, adequate for your needs, and you are drinking plenty of fluids.

chibi · 05/06/2012 09:26

it can be loads of things. This much weight this quickly can be

Water loss
innacurate scales
some actual losw (maybe a pound or two)

it is most likely to be this. fwiw i found that the baby weight didn't really come off til i reduced bf (so after weaning began), and i know this is not uncommon.

if you have a funny feeling about it, it is deffo worth seeing your gp

WhiteWidow · 05/06/2012 09:26

Like squeaky toy said. Your weight can fluctuate by up to 3lbs each day depending in how much water you've had, excercise etc. So it's hard to get a true natural weight. plus you're losing an extra 500 calorie plus because of breast feeding. This makes a massive increased calorie deficit which WILL see you losing pounds.

Just enjoy the fact that you've lost weight for now :D

Trexy · 05/06/2012 09:32

Glycogen stores will have reduced (that's ready-to-use energy stored in your liver) and water weight that goes with it - glycogen stores and water go hand in hand. Its why you often have a decent weight loss in the first week on a new diet but then dribble away a pound here and a pound there afterwards...

wandawings · 05/06/2012 09:33

I lost weight really quickly when breastfeeding. The weight soon went back on when I reduced breastfeeding. How often are you feeding? At the time, I was feeding every 2 hours day and night.

eurochick · 05/06/2012 09:35

When you first start to cut calories, it is normal to have a big drop. It will then level off.

NiceCupOfTeaAndASitDown · 05/06/2012 09:42

This happened to me every time DS had a growth spurt. 9lb in 2 weeks, twice.

itchywitch · 05/06/2012 10:09

If it was diabetes you would feel very very thirsty and pee lots and lots.

Oogaballoo · 05/06/2012 11:13

Could you be eating more healthily than you realise, perhaps? I know that when I'm not paying attention to what I eat I snack on a lot of bad food without really noticing- you could have been doing the same and now that you're focusing more on eating better there's a bigger gap between how you were eating before and are now.

I second water weight and the big initial loss too.

valiumredhead · 05/06/2012 11:17

I lost loads when BF/expressing.

ihaveabreastfeedingquestion · 05/06/2012 12:20

I still feed ds every couple of hours...thanks for replies ladies, feel a bit better now- I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth!

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 05/06/2012 12:23

Thelightpassenger - where do you get 5lbs from?

TheLightPassenger · 05/06/2012 12:28

sorry, that was bad maths, it's 7lb not 5lb.

VickyandAlistair · 05/06/2012 12:29

I lost a stone in 8 days when I was bf!

lovebunny · 05/06/2012 12:50

are there any other hints you might be ill? odd pains? discharges? headaches?

think about what you eat and drink - is it balanced, appropriate? roughly how many calories a day, after you've taken 500 off for breastfeeding?

my guess is you've cut back a bit too far but are experiencing an appropriate weightloss for your intake.

Spiritedwolf · 05/06/2012 13:10

Since last year when I made a decision to lose weight, I've weighed myself almost every day. Its interesting to see the ups and downs (occasionally I've had as much as a 5lb difference in one day - both ways) though obviously as a larger lady one pound is a smaller percentage of my weight than of yours.

As people have said, all kinds of things affect your weight on a day to day basis, and your weight changes through the day depending on all sorts of things food, fluid, exercise, clothes etc. Add into that the effect of breastfeeding too. So you should try and weigh yourself at the same time/situation each time (e.g. before breakfast, after first morning feed in your nightwear/naked).

The really obvious and (so far) unmentioned reason why your weight dips dramatically at the start of a diet (though fluid and other mentioned reasons affect it too) is that you have cut down the quantity of food you are eating, so there is less physical weight of food in your system.

The first time I ate out (huge meal) after I started weighing myself was a big shock. I went up pounds after having been losing it for weeks! The thing is, it was temporary, a few days after eating my new normal sized portions again, those pounds disappeared again (and I had still lost weight.. graph continued general down trend, it didn't level then begin dropping again). It was the sheer weight of it in my system, not a permanent addition. Obviously if you normally eat large portions then your system is fuller, and you will also store some of those extra calories if you are gaining weight too.

So that first weigh in after eating less includes a drop in the quantity of food you are digesting at any one time.

Obviously keep an eye on it, if you keep losing weight faster than you expected and are comfortable with then maybe you've cut out too much and need to eat somewhere in between your old and new normal to maintain/lose weight more gradually. Remember that your maintence requirements will change depending on your activity levels, breast-feeding etc. So once you are at your comfortable weight that you are maintaining, if you then stop breastfeeding you'll need to slightly decrease your food intake to stay the same.

Obviously get checked over by your GP if you are still worried and/or advice from a nutrionist about healthy eating.

Again as Oogaballo suggested, you might have been eating more unhealthily before than you thought, just because you weren't focused on it, so your healthier diet might be more of a change than you expected it to be.

This is a bit of a stealth boast though! Wink Envy I'm pregnant and my weight loss is on hold (can't wait for that first post-birth weigh in week!).

Daily weighing in isn't usually recommended as it can make some people obsess about losing weight (because they want it to go down each time). I haven't found that, I just find I am more mindful about sticking to my new healthier habits and a bit fascinated by the general downward trend despite daily ups/downs.

Spiritedwolf · 05/06/2012 13:12

Course its a slight upward trend at the moment because of stuffing my face being pregnant!

CaliforniaLeaving · 05/06/2012 16:31

Breastfeeding caused me to lose a ton of weight quickly with the first baby, pity it didn't with the second.
I went from 9stone 3 to 7 stone in a very short period the doctor was even concerned. Then they saw my giant baby and I'm a 4 foot 11 inch mum Once he weaned I stopped losing and gained a little.

Nagoo · 05/06/2012 16:41

Weight falls off me when I BF, I always end up thinner than before the pregnancy. And that's with eating a shedload of cake. So if I cut out the cake I'd waste away I think.

I agree with the PP who said it's probably a growth spurt so you are giving more to the baby too.

loislaine · 05/06/2012 16:59

It's probably nothing as it's not a dramatic amount, but just keep an eye on it continuing to go down - I discovered that I had an overactive Thyroid, caused by pregnancy, when my son was approx 6months old. I hadn't really thought much about the weight loss, I thought it was down to breastfeeding etc, and I didn't even notice the other symptoms until after diagnosis (heart palpitations etc)

What made me get checked out was, I felt like my hair was coming out in huge amounts when I washed it (obvs this happens after pregnancy but it seemed to be never ending). Blood test showed up overactive thyroid. I refused treatment as wanted to continue BF, and it did return to normal on it's own.

If you're worried about the weight loss, get a blood test, only takes 5 mins.

Bagofholly · 05/06/2012 18:38

I could poo that.

SherlockGnomes · 05/06/2012 19:01

Grin holly

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