Losing weight whilst breast feeding

[madeindevon2]

Ok so I hear the weight meant to fall off....It's not.
I'm doing ww points... 40pp
And I'm back in the gym and running
And the weight is so not dropping off!!!!
Why is this?

How old is your baby? I found I only started losing it after ds was about 6 months. But he does require a lot of effort to get him to sleep so it may be that more than the bf.

I have no idea I'm afraid but didn't wanna read and run

I'm bf my dc3 - he's 12 days today, and since giving birth I have dropped from 13st to 11st 2lb. Baby was 8lb 11oz born and I've dropped wright steadily every day despite eating like a pig

Sorry I realise this isn't what you want to hear xx

Weight loss and weight gain are usually a simple case of calories consumed versus calories used. If you aren't burning the calories you're consuming then you aren't going to lose any weight will probably put weight on. Are you exercising as well as cutting food/calorie intake?

I did WW when I was breastfeeding and found the amount of extra points allowed because of the BFing were the equivalent to loads of food and therefore lost no weight.

I lost a load of weight once my milk supply was established and in particular from growth spurts. But my baby was a complete guzzler, and the fat was being drained off my thighs etc to make more gold top for him...
But, I did also walk a lot, so hard to tell whether it was a combo or not?...

I'm doing WW, DD is 4 months and I've lost about 4st since she was born however, I was extremely overweight before I got pregnant and maintained my weight during the pregnancy. Started WW 8wks ago and lost 18lb since starting plan. I get 53pp per day, that gives you an idea of what I've got to lose, which is prob why I'm losing weight so quickly. I eat very healthily, branflakes for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and meat or fish with potato or pasta and veg for dinner.

I'm with StrangerintheHouse: with both my DCs, I started noticing the weight loss after I'd been BF for 6 months. DS is now 8 months, and I am actually trying to put on weight because I'm far too thin (not in a good way). I'm not managing to do so at all, despite having some appalling eating habits, e.g. eating chocolate while waiting for my lunch to cook. So, in my experience, it does happen, but you might have to wait a bit.

You didn't say how old your baby is - please be careful of trying to lose weight while you're BF. When my DS was a couple of months old, he wasn't gaining weight quickly enough. My HV and GP both told me I should start eating more and resting. I couldn't really rest (my 30 month old DD wouldn't allow it) but I was happy to stuff my face, and DS's weight picked up again. So, reducing your calorie intake and exercising could adversely affect your milk quality.

i could only get back to my normal size when i stopped bf at around 12 - 14 months.

i think your body doesn't like dieting while trying to support you AND baby. i wouldn't bother until you've stopped.

Bloody hell, fhdl34 - 4 stone in 4 months is impressive!

Baby is 12 weeks.
Yes I'm exercising. Gym sessions and running.
Maybe I just gotta accept I'm not gonna be losing much until after stop bf... In about another 12 weeks time.
But I'm fed up feeling fat. I'm 11 stone 11 and 5ft 3. I was around 10.2 Pre preg :-(

12 weeks is nothing. You are not (I assume!) a freak celebrity mother who has to emerge from hospital in size 6 jeans. Your body is recovering from a massive ordeal and needs time to recover - this is perfectly normal!

It honestly makes me miserable reading about the mother of a 12-week-old baby, who is anything but a slob, who is breastfeeding, looking after her baby, and finding time to go to the gym and go running - and who still feels upset and 'fat'. We live in a world where women are expected to be attractive no matter what else they have to worry about, and that's idiotic and wrong. You will lose the weight in time; you are doing all the right things. Stop giving yourself a hard time :)

It is nonsense that you need to stop BF in order to lose weight. BF burns between 500 and 800 calories a day: those calories have to come from somewhere, and will be drawn from your existing fat stores if you're not eating enough. It doesn't happen overnight, that's all.

9 months to gain it, 9 months to lose it....

In my experience some mothers lose loads of weight while BF and some can't shift the weight at all, no matter what. Unfortunately I am in the second category. I only lose the weight once I stop, or at least until my DC get to 9 or 10-month old.

thank you for comments. Maybe it's sad but I can't be truly happy this size. I am embarrassed to be fat :-(

I don't think 'celebrities' have anything to do with it actually. It's not nice to feel uncomfortable in a body that's larger, and just different, to the one you know. I'm bfing my third baby and tbh I just seem to be one who doesn't lose a pound til I stop or severely cut back on feeds. With dd, that was at 10 months, I stopped feeding and lost about 3 stone in a matter of months, no effort required. With ds, I fed him until he was nearly 3, but I lost no weight at all til he was about 18 months old, and again it just fell off. Ds2 is now 5 weeks old and I lost about a stone in the first few days after delivery, but not an ounce since, despite having a healthy diet and a ridiculously active lifestyle. I'm about 20 pounds over my pre pregnancy weight and it's frustrating knowing that, for me personally, breastfeeding certainly inhibits weight loss. If you want to feel miserable about my attitude then go ahead. I know plenty of women for whom, despite the percieved wisdom being that bfing is great for weight loss, the reality is just the opposite. Trust me, if it was all as simple as calories in, calories out while breastfeeding, I would be a twig.

monstertuft I am 5ft 2in and was tipping the scales at just shy of 23 stone when i got pregnant , that's 14 stone above the top of my healthy weight range. I used to binge eat all the time prior to getting pregnant (because we had joint fertility issues) but when I got pregnant naturally after telling me it was unlikely to happen, everything changed. I just lost my need to binge, I adopted a healthier diet and more or less maintained my pre-pregnancy weight throughout the pregnancy. Thankfully, despite my weight, my pregnancy was problem free - my BP actually went down and I still weighed around 23st when I gave birth. So even though 4st in 4 months sounds impressive it's really 4st in just over a year and I still have 10 stone to lose to be even touching the top of a healthy weight range. I worried my eating problems would return once I'd given birth and although I still think about food all the time, I don't have the desire to binge like I once did. If my DD was not gaining weight at a satisfactory rate I'd stop WW immediately because breastfeeding her is my priority, not dieting despite my obvious weight problem. I know everyone says children change you but she really did change me, from the moment I got my BFP. I don't feel I changed much after she was born, I felt I went through a lot of change as soon as I knew of her existence. She's our whole world. Sorry, bit of a ramble and hijack there

Giving fhdl34 a big hug cause us shorties (just shy of 5 foot over here!) need to look after each other.

Fuckity... Thanks. Good to know others in same boat. Buts it's just frustrating. Nothting fits and I feel fat and frumpy :-(
I'm not striving for some kind of celeb size 6 look. Just to be back in clothes that make me feel good about myself.

I wasn't suggesting that we should all stop caring about what we look like (well, it would be nice if we could do that, but it's not going to happen!). I know that it feels awful to be bigger than usual: I have felt it myself. The point I was getting at is that 12 weeks after giving birth is a bit early to start beating ourselves up about not being back to our normal size. Looking after a not-even-3-month-old is enough to worry about, and is pretty much a full-time job. To feel that we have to look fantastic while getting up several times a night, trying to keep the house from looking a complete shit-hole, and finding time to eat anything remotely healthy is just ridiculous.

So, if you're BF, exercising, and eating reasonably healthy, you WILL lose the weight - it takes a bit longer than 3 months, that's all.

I weigh Ahem nearly thirteen stone. I need to lose three and a half. Could anyone doing weightwatchers proponents tell me how many points for bf three month old. Thanks x

I finally got back to pre-baby weight when DS hit 7 month, am still BF 4 x daily (and BLW) so interested to see what my weight will do over the next few months. The weight loss really took off after 4 months without my doing anything different so 12 weeks is nothing

lovemychocolate they don't tell you how to calculate your daily points allowance anymore, if you're doing online they work it out for you and if in class, the leader tells you. I guess it's so you're tied into paying. But for exclusive breastfeeding you get 14 extra daily points until you wean them and then if you continue to breastfeed as well it drops to 7 extra per day. I started WW 8wks ago on 56points per day. Now dropped 18lb and on 53points per day. I think they work them out based on your weight and height but i don't know the formula.