to think all this breastfeeding ought to be 'snapping me back into shape'?!

[thelollipoplady]

Baby weight stubbornly remains and is not only hanging out in my tummy region - but has also migrated to bottom and thighs. Seven weeks in with a hungry big baby boy. Surely I should have at least lost SOME weight?!

Or is it just a myth propounded by the pro-BFing lobby....

No, I do not think it is (I am sure someone will tell me otherwise if it though), but I have got friends that only lost the weight when they stopped bf.

Unless you do what I did - which is live on brie straight out of the fridge... And I did not lose the weight that easily (although it did go eventually)

i lost straight away, but then the remainder stuck, until about 6 months when she started having food too, then it came off a bit more. As soon as i stopped totally (11 months) i got even skinnier.

I'm not losing it either. Its all love handles and bum

I found it hard to lose weight when bf and have lost more since I stopped. Think it's a myth tbh, as many women eat more when bf anyway

It isn't a myth. You use up calories when bfing.

However, your body might also hang onto fat reserves when bfing in case of a sudden famine. It's for the good of your baby.

I'm still bfing at 2.3yrs, run 5 times a week and am hanging on to the last little bit.

At 7 weeks I wouldn't be worrying just yet!

I never lost weight until I stopped bf-ing either.
My womb 'snapped back' to where it should be pretty quickly and I think that was helped by bf-ing.

But losing weight? It didn't seem to do much for that. However, I did have a huge appetite while bf-ing so that probably had something to do with it. If my appetite had reduced after birth then maybe the bfing might have had an effect on my weight.

I lost weight quickly, probably too much and ended up looking scrawny (I wasn't trying to lose weight btw). You do end up feeling starving hungry when you are bf so I suppose it depends on what you end up eating and what other activity you are doing. I am a naturally fidgety person and got bored in the house so would walk for hours every day as well, so that probably contributed as much as the bf itself.

You just need so much food when BFing. Its no time to worry about weight loss. I remember a friend being horrified when she brought out a large sponge cake for tea and I ate 3/4 of it.

showofhands - no-one is debating that bf uses up calories, but the fact is that women bf tend to eat more, and so store fat easier, and therefore tend not to lose much weight in this period. Some may luckily lose weight, yes, but I think many women end up frustrated as it's so often quoted that bf is great for losing weight, when in many womens' experience, it's just not!

I am another who is just fat when breastfeeding . It doesnt matter what I do, I dont lose weight. I have been really stressed out lately and so busy I genuinely didnt eat - could get to the evening and realise I hadnt eaten all day type of thing then pick at tea. This has been going on for about 2 weeks.

Have I lost any weight? No I've put on 2 pounds .

I think different people react to hormones in different ways - just like when I go on the pill and pile on the weight in weeks. I only dont put on much weight whilst pregnant as Im sick the entire time.

It came off me when I stopped last time.

sympathies peppa
My body refuses to lose weight unless I eat a really low calorie diet and particularly don't eat in the evenings. I wouldn't do this when bf and so am only now able to cut calories and lose weight

renerusso - I don't think that you need so much food when bf-ing, just that for some, their appetite increases.
I think you need around an extra 500 cals a day.

My uterus went back to normal size very quickly, so has my waist, but in total I haven't lost much weight at all, probably due to all of the cake I eat.

If I have a day when I eat less, I wake up the next day feeling noticeably slimmer.

I'm not eating more than I was pre this baby neither am I more sedentary except maybe because of the lack of school run.

Maybe once you stop bf, you will notice a really big difference. I always felt my boobs drew from a ' huge tank' of milk making materials deep in my tummy, so that when I eventually stopped, the whole front of me seemed to subside hugely! Also, I was refuelling on any carbohydrate within reach when bf.
Don't worry!

When I was breastfeeding, I put on weight! Probably because it made me so hungry and I just grabbed the nearest thing...

I am bfing my 21 week old and I have started keeping a food diary. I have been surprised at just how many extra snacks I am having, but I am just hungry!