Breastfeeding and weight loss

[Lala1962]

Hi all. I’m 3 months postpartum after having my little girl in June. We are exclusively breastfeeding.
I was a size 10/12 pre-pregnancy and now am a size 14 postpartum. It didn’t really bother me initially and I think I actually gained a bit of weight after I had her as I had some health issues which are only just resolving and I definitely comfort ate to get me through them and the newborn stage!
I am now at a stage where things have settled down, health issues have mostly resolved and baby is more predictable. However I have now started to actually notice the extra weight (particularly that there is a roll on my back when I twist around which I’ve never had before!) and would like to get back to feeling good about myself.

Before pregnancy I was very fit and I would like to get back to that at some point but my baby is not yet at a stage where I can leave her for too long to get a workout in so will be mainly sticking to daily walking and little workouts here and there rather than an exercise plan. I’m sure I can get back to my old routine at some point so not worried about that too much.

The main focus needs to be food/diet. However I am a bit concerned about how to do this without impacting my milk supply.

Any advice on how to manage weight loss whilst breastfeeding without impacting milk supply? Calorie counting taking extra cals needed for milk into account or just focus on healthy eating?

Thanks!

Hi op,

I was a size 8 - 9 stone before getting pregnant. I put on 4 stone in my pregnancy. Prior to pregnancy I ate very well, nutritious whole foods and minimal ‘junk’ as I trained very seriously. I too breastfed and found initially the weight wasn’t coming off because I was still eating like I was pregnant - what I mean by this is I wasn’t eating loads of food but I was eating crap. I made an effort to not restrict my calories but go back to eating proper foods, I know this is tricky with a baby finding the time but simple meals like rice, chicken and frozen veg, oats for breakfast etc. I’m now 7 months postpartum, still breastfeeding and back to a size 8. I have lost some muscle as I haven’t been able to train as hard due to time restraints but I do believe being mindful of what you eat not just how much will help :)

Thank you! You have inspired me to have oats for breakfast which always makes me feel very healthy and more likely to continue being healthy 😂 You’re right it’s probably best to focus on eating well rather than junk (which I’m very guilty of) and then the weight should start to fall off towards my pre-pregnancy size. My days of biscuits whilst breastfeeding are over 😅

I've found it really difficult to lose weight whilst breastfeeding, but each time it has come off fairly evenly once I stop. Not to say you should stop bfing if you want to lose weight, but more just to say that some women do find it much harder whilst still bfing!

I’ve read that too so not expecting it all to come off (would be nice if it did!) but a bit should if I can control myself given the amount of rubbish I’ve been eating the last 14 weeks 🙈 Definitely not worth giving breastfeeding up for though so if I do make changes and my weight stays the same I’ll just wait until I’ve stopped breastfeeding naturally

At 4 months pp my daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies and I went on a very restricted diet to identify them. I think at one point I had less than 20 safe foods! My supply wasn't impacted!
As long as you are sensible I think you should be ok to make some changes without it impacting your milk supply especially if you make incremental changes rather than a complete overhaul over night!
My daughter only slept if I walked which was great for getting me fit again. I walked for 2-3h a day!
I did an online yoga class for a while which I found easier to fit in with life. I now do a pilates class one evening a week, not having to leave the house helps and it means if my partner was struggling with her I could stop and help. The yoga class was good as you got a recording of the class for a week so I could do it another evening if my daughter wasn't happy at the time of the class.

Maybe for a couple of days try to make a mental note of what you are eating and when to see if there's a sensible swap you could make. Give that some time then look for another.

I didn't lose much weight in the first 3 months but lost a lot month 6/7. It helped when I stopped inhaling a family sized bar of chocolate every other day