Breast feeding making me lose weight slower?

[bohemianbint]

Sorry - wasn't entirely sure whether to post this in here, but anyway...

DS is 12 weeks old and exclusively breastfeeding. A lot. I went on a diet/healthy eating plan for life about a month ago, and whilst I have been losing a fairly steady 2 pounds a week, I'm a bit gutted because I thought BF was supposed to turbo charge weight loss and I'd expect to lose at least that amount if I wasn't BF.

Has anyone else found this happening?

your ds is only 12 weeks old
save the diet for a few months

It is probably good that you are losing weight slowly as you need the energy for feeding but I didn't lose and ounce when I was breastfeeding. I was gutted!

2 lbs a week is a lot to lose IMO. Last 2 times I bf I lost weight steadily over the year each time, but that last stubborn 1/2 a stone didn't come off until I finished (and it dropped off very suddenly). I assume there is some hormonal/biological reason for this to do with fat reserves while bf!

My GP said that some people store fat in the body to breatfeed so don't lose any weight. You are losing 2 lbs a week which is just right.

Oh by the way I've just started on bf ds3 and am feeling very heavy and out of sorts, so I do understand how frustrating it is!

2lb a week is good going, well done.

I bf dd2 for 19months, never dieted, in fact ate whatever whenever, and lost the weight in the last 8 months or so.

I always lost all my huge preg weight with bf - have never been on a diet - but not all this time. I have thyroid probs so this may be the reason

I didn't really start losing weight properly til ds was 6 months old (he was excl bf til then) don't know what it was, others on here have commented that the real weight loss didn't happen until 6 months. Maybe its the sudden realisation, or maybe as goingfor3 says your body holds on to the fat while you're full time bfing, and the weight falls off once you're starting to wean and the demands on your milk falls.

Or.... it could have been that I was eating too many cakes with my afternoon cuppa

Thanks for the replies - I suppose 2lbs is alright, but I need to lose about another 20lbs just to get my BMI back into the healthy zone, so I can afford to lose it a bit faster! Always put a ludicrous amount of weight on when pregnant and am determined to get it off asap this time as I don't feel good about myself. I was hoping BF would be a perfect time to give it a boost but it doesn't seem to be going that way!

bohemianbint - although it took me a while to lose the baby weight last time, I'm convinced that bfing helped me regain my shape - in particular my waist was a lot slimmer.

If you have 20lb to lose, at 2lb a week it will be gone in just 10 weeks!

No, I hardly lost any weight while bf.

Came off faster with dc2 when I stopped bf earlier than planned.

2lb a week sounds great - you have a much better chance of keeping it off if you lose it slowly, ime.

You'll be running around after your ds soon enough and then the pounds will be falling off... you won't have time to eat because you'll be scraping food off the ceiling/floor/walls/your face

I know some people who really shed weight quite dramatically when bfeeding, but they are definitely in the minority. Your tummy goes down quite quickly but I find a sort of 'puppy fat' layer remains. I started to properly lose weight six months as others have said- but I've been pg again soon after stopping bf both times, so will have to wait and see this time.

DD is 15 weeks and b/fed and I've put weight on in the last 5 weeks

That's what happened to me chequersandroastedchestnuts! DS has reached 6 months so hoping it all jusst melts away now!!!

I think after DS1 I ate chocolate and cake willy nilly, and it came off fairly slowly...But I didn't lose it all between pregnancies and now have even more to lose. I didn't bother for the first 2 months, but again, found I was putting weight on so thought I better do something. Am only doing Slimming World, which is a really good sensible plan and great for BF mothers, but I know before I was pregnant I could lose up to 4lbs a week, whereas now it's stuck at 2. And 1 this week, hence the being a bit glum about it! Ah well, will put it down to biology and try to be patient.

2lbs a week is a lot. it's not healthy or feasible to lose more, you would have to drastically reduce your calorie intake which would endanger your milk supply - not to mention your health.

2lbs a week is BRILLIANT. Blimey, I wish I'd lost that when I was breastfeeding

Blimey - I thought underactive thyroid meant you lost weight slower?!

Leonie - v similar weights with me too. Was also about 13.5 when I got pregnant this time, went up to about 16.6! (8lb 10 baby) but am now down to 14.1. So I suppose I have lost 2 stone in 3 months. But am nowhere near 12.5! And I'm always legging it somewhere after DS1 and we walk a fair bit.