Losing excess weight after stopping breastfeeding

[Nothappyatthissize]

I am 38 and had a baby 6 and a half months ago. My whole adult life I have been around 55-57 kg at 5 ft 5 and a size 8-10, without tremendous effort or dieting on my part.

(Pre pregnancy I would go running 3 times a week, wouldn't snack between meals very often, and I would only have takeaways or deserts as very occasional treats).

I didn't gain a huge amount of weight during pregnancy and I was back down to 63 kg shortly after the birth. However, after 6 months of breastfeeding and its affect on my appetite, this has crept up to 66kg. While I know that may not seem like an insanely high number, it's the heaviest that I have ever been, and is worrying me far more from a health perspective rather than vanity.

I am now at the upper end of healthy BMI range (24 ish) and not that far from the overweight category, when I have always been at the lower end (21 ish) . I am aware of the implications of excess weight for heart disease risk, etc. and I am finding that it's far more challenging to run comfortably at this weight.

I read a lot of anecdotal posts from others who said that the weight fell off them once they stopped breastfeeding, as the body likes to conserve some stores of fat while you are nursing, and some people find it hard to shift pregnancy weight until they wean.

I finished breastfeeding 10 days ago, have returned to my previous habits of no snacks between meals etc. and I haven't dropped anything weight wise. What are others experiences of how long it takes to shift some weight once you stopped breastfeeding?

I am contemplating intermittent fasting or something extreme just to shift this weight, although my preference was always just moderation and more exercise (which doesn't seem to work any more like it did before I was pregnant).

@Nothappyatthissize Wow 6 kids! Must be noisy at your house.

I would suggest being consistent with those habits i.e. dietary restrictions and exercise the weight will eventually drop off.

She had a baby 6 months ago- not baby 6.

What worked for me:
Tiny portion sizes
8:16
1 main meal (other meal being plain yoghurt and salad)
Cutting carbs and replacing with veg/ salad
Cutting sugar drastically (hence I didn't do calorie counting)
And lots of exercise

I found this helped distinguish between hunger pangs and cravings. It also helped to 'shrink' my stomach so I became full with less.

@Nothappyatthissize Sorry to revive an old thread, but I wondered how you got on? I’m in the same boat now, with my weight figures identical to yours pre-pregnancy, shortly after and now after a year of bf. I’m not comfortable at 66kg, as I’m only 5.2 and I just don’t feel myself at all, health wise. I’m thinking of stopping bf in the coming weeks, in part so that I can eat normally again and begin to prioritise my health and exercise again. Any words of advice to share from your experience?

Hi @Worrysaurus. I got back to my normal weight, but it took about 6 months from finishing breastfeeding.

Intermittent fasting (not eating until 5pm most days) really helped. I'd have nothing but coffee with milk during the day and then a small snack to break the fast at around 5pm and my dinner around 7.30/8.00pm ish. I wasn't religious about it, so if there was an occasional social occasion that involved eating at lunch I wouldn't abstain, but I tried to stick to not eating anything until 5pm around 90% of the time.

After 5 months of doing this, I was then about 2 kg away from my goal weight when I picked up a couple of gastroenteritis bugs after my DS started nursery, and that finished the job for me 😆.

Wow - well done you! I don’t think I can do anything radical until I completely stop feeding, but will look at intermittent fasting after that, alongside exercising. Good to know that even with a fairly strict diet, it can take up to 6 months. Thanks for sharing!

Yeah, it's important just to stick with it and not get depressed if nothing happens immediately. I'd often have 2-3 weeks of my weight staying exactly the same, and then there would be a sudden drop.

Definitely don't try it until you have stopped breastfeeding though!