To think the “breastfeed and the weight will fall off” thing is a load of shite?

[Pantalaimon88]

I have an 11 month old. I was sold the whole “BF makes you lose the baby weight!” I lost an initial stone in the weeks post baby, which I’m guessing was fluid. Since then, I have maintained and I’m 1.5 stone heavier than pre pregnancy.

I log my food intake and try to keep it as low as I can, but from experience if I drop below 1700 cals a day, I feel very lightheaded and unwell. Pre pregnancy I’d eat 2000cals a day and easily maintain my weight. I go on walks with the buggy, I spent 3 months religiously pounding on an exercise bike during DC’s naps, lost not a single lb. It actually feels as though my body is holding onto the extra weight deliberately.

I’m so depressed by it all, I hate my body. I was going to BF to natural term but I’m considering stopping when DC is 1, mainly for this reason. Nothing I do seems to change my body in any way. I thought once DC was eating proper food and BF dropped significantly, perhaps it would pick up. It hasn’t.

Has anyone else found this?

Definitely rubbish. I barely gained weight when I was pregnant however in the 2 and a bit years breastfeeding I skyrocketed a massive 4 stone. I've now lost the weight in on the 3 years since stopping and now I'm pregnant again 🙈😂 here's hoping it doesn't happen this time when I'm feeding.

Not what you want to hear, but I'm currently ebf my 2 month old and I literally can't eat enough. I weigh less now than I ever have and have to constantly be eating to not loose any more weight!!

I think I feel depressed as I was always very skinny as a kid and young adult. Since my late 20s I had to work a bit harder but was never bigger than a size 12 (I’m 5’7”). Now I’m a 14-16 and my BMI is just shy of the obese category. It just feels alien to me and I hate it.

I completely agree. I’m still breastfeeding my eleven month old and weigh more now than I did postpartum. I walk six miles a day with the pram so it’s not through lack of exercise! It was the same after my older DC too, I lost weight as soon as I stopped BFing.

I was thinking the same yesterday. I can’t eat less as I feel rubbish and so much hungrier plus I need sugar for energy. My DD is 5 months and still feeding every 2 hours and I walk everywhere.

I didn't lose any weight at all while BF - plus I was ravenous and ate whatever was closest to hand, so lumps of cheese and biscuits. Stopped BF at 16 months and gradually went back to normal weight.

I was exactly the same OP, initial loss then nothing til I stopped BF. I say just stop now if it’s making you miserable.

It totally depended on child with me. Lost a ton with first!!! Back in jeans I hadnt worn for years and smaller than pre pregnancy!!! Was looking forward to this with my second. 2 years later I still have like 5-10kg to get back to pre pregnancy. You are all your baby needs whatever your weight though x x x

I lost some initial weight (a stone) but am still (3 years later) at least 1 stone over my pre pregnancy weight but to be honest my body shape is completely different (wider hips bigger boobs etc) so I just don't think I'll ever get back to that original weight 😢

I know my diet isn't great at times though as DC still doesn't sleep through night and I've worked full time since DC was 5 months so I do sacrifice healthy eating occasionally for just a hit of sugar to keep me going

I've promised myself that I'll try and lose at least 1/2 stone in the next 6 months but just done second cycle of IVF and some of the drugs you take definitely dont help with weight loss 😬

I totally agree OP - it was total bollocks for me! Breastfeeding made me so ravenous I ate like a fiend; and despite a lot of buggy-pushing when not breastfeeding, breastfeeding itself entailed A LOT of sitting.
I guess it depends on the person!

I never lose weight using my exercise bike - the only thing that has any effect for me is weights. Maybe give those a go? A simple set is not expensive and there are routines on Youtube.
Please don't hate your body OP, our bodies go through a lot of changes through the years, be gentle with yourself.x

I out weight on my back too and I hate it 😢

Breastfeeding makes me really hungry. I’m exhausted and stressed and unhappy so I reach for starchy carbs. I can’t drastically restrict calories without affecting my milk supply. My child clings to me and constantly wants milk so it’s hard for me to get free time to exercise. The result is that I can’t lose any weight. It makes me so angry and jealous to see other people becoming stick thin with no effort - why isn’t it working like that for me! Yet again I get the shitty end of the stick.

It's works for some, it didn't for me.

It is. So is 'Stop drinking booze and the weight just falls off.' Didn't lose an ounce and I hadn't changed my diet at all.

Totally agree Op. It’s a load of rubbish.
I hardly put on any weight during pregnancy. However, I put on over two stone during breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding left me ravenous and I remember one particular day when I ate twelve pieces of bread at one sitting.
Once I stopped breastfeeding all the weight fell off.

Ah yes, if I tried to cut my calories in any way my blood sugar would drop. I lost the weight after I stopped feeding. I do think my belly shrunk faster than it would have if I'd bottle fed, but my thighs didn't change

I have heard that many women hold on to the last 1/2 stone or so until they stop BF.

This was not my experience. I am slim anyway, but when BF I lost all the baby weight plus more pretty quickly. I have never known a hunger like it.

Logically it should make you lose weight because of the energy used to produce milk, but I know it's more complicated than that.

I put on a half stone when I stopped breastfeeding.I could eat what I liked when breastfeeding and still lose weight but I also had an over active thyroid at the same time.Everyone is different.

Lots of women stubbornly hold on weight when they bf. Funny, it’s not something that’s mentioned in the marketing campaign.

The upside is that the weight often falls off when you’re done. It’s happened me with both babies. I stopped and the weight just melted off. Easiest weight loss I’ve ever had.

I didn't lose weight either until i stopped BF. 3 years later I've still not got my waist back.

It worked for me. After each pregnancy and breastfeeding I ended up half a stone lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. I didn't feel hungry though, and was probably eating less than when I was actually pregnant. Thinking back, breastfeeding actually made me feel a bit nauseous.

Ignore the people telling you that you would if you ate less/did more. If your body doesn’t want to lose, then it won’t.

I drastically cut calories at one point, lost a bit, then put five pounds straight back on after a couple of days of ‘normal’ eating.

Anecdotally (based on things I’ve read here and chats I’ve had in real life) it seems to really vary. I’ve breastfed two babies: with DC1, I regularly ate my own body weight in chocolate and the weight fell off. With DC2, I had to make a concerted effort to cut calories (and was then successful in losing weight). I think I had similar levels and types of active-ness (some ‘exercise’, loads of walking with buggy/sling) with both, but there are six years between them so perhaps that counted for something.

I gained weight when DC1 weaned - unexpectedly, because that was so gradual (he was nearly 4 and had only been having a quick bedtime feed for ages before then, so I can’t imagine he was taking many calories in...). DC2 still feeding so waiting to see whether that’s going to be the same or different this time around. It is inexplicable and fascinating stuff! But ‘the weight just falls off’ did ring true for me first time around.

I could have written this, especially looking fine from the side but front on I am as wide as a bus lengthways.
I dropped loads in the 3 weeks after birth and felt great. Now, a further 10 weeks down the line, I'm really much bigger.
This week I've eaten a whole French stick while sat on the sofa cuddling and feeding my baby so it might actually be my fault.

I personally think this comes down to genes.
When pregnant with my first I ate anything I liked. I put on 3 stone (too much considering I started at 9 and was tall). I did no exercise and didn’t make any effort to lose the weight after. In fact I used the breastfeeding an excuse to stuff cake. I breastfed for the first year and by the end of that year I had lost the 3 stone without even trying.
With my second pregnancy, I was really careful about what I ate, swam a mile a week, walked miles, even did Zumba every week for the first 7 months. I still put on exactly 3 stone.
I was on a mission to shift the weight afterwards. I tried really hard, despite breastfeeding I was strict not to stuff cake, got back to my exercise regime almost immediately and monitored my weight loss.
It still took me a year to lose the weight.
I think it comes down to how your body is made.