Anyone else trying to lose weight whilst breast-feeding?

[KitKat1985]

Hello all. DD2 now 7 weeks old. I'm 2 stone heavier than I was pre-baby and feeling really unhappy about it. I'd like to use the New Year to kick-start some weight loss but can't go too drastic as I'm breast-feeding and don't want to mess up my milk supply. I'm largely thinking about cutting back on sugary things which I think is my main downfall, and trying to do some more walking. Problem is I find breast-feeding makes me really hungry which makes the whole process more challenging. I'm determined to do this though, even if it is a gradual process.

Yeah, I know my nickname isn't the best for this is it?

It's nice to have some other ladies to do this with though.

Has anyone tried overnight oats? I'm feeling like it might be the key to it all!

I've heard people talk about overnight pats Swearwolf but I don't really know what they are? Can you explain them to me?

It's normally oats soaked overnight so they're soft. The recipes I have used:
Soak oats in yogurt and berries, add a little honey in the morning
Or
half a mashed banana and almond milk (can't be normal milk for this one as it goes brown) to oats, chia seeds and a spoon of peanut butter stirred in
Or
Oats soaked in orange juice and grated apple. I then add nuts/seeds and additional fruit in the morning. Depending on what I have in the house.
I normally make it around 8pm and it needs about 6 hours. 40g is around the right portion for oats

Ooh good tips sloth, I wouldn't have thought of grating apple, thank you!

Can I join too? I'm bf my 5 month old and I've over 2 stone to loose. Bfing makes me so hungry sekf every time I try to loose weight my body just craves food so badly until I'm back at the same weight - it's like my body just has a new normal weight and won't shift from it!

The recipe I use for overnight oats is

75g oats
125ml milk
125g low fat natural yoghurt
1 tbsp honey
Approx 100g soft fruit

That's for 2 portions and works out at approx 300 calories each. You just stir it all up in a pot (don't do any of that layering stuff as although it looks pretty the oats won't absorb the liquid) and put in fridge overnight. I like it best with raspberries, tried loads of other fruits but it's not quite as nice as with raspberries.

DH makes his with water and adds berries/yoghurt afterwards. I didn't fancy it but those sound good I'm going to try it. Maybe it will stop me needing 2 breakfasts .

Ahh, thank you all for the explanations / recipes!

I've just put mine together, looks foul but should be delicious - I like yogurt and granola, so this should be similar. I've done natural yogurt, apple juice, grated apple, sunflower seeds and a little peanut butter.

Have tried very hard to stick to 1200 calories on my fitness pal today (well, 1500 really as I'm adding in 300 for breastfeeding), I'm so hungry, I feel like my stomach is eating itself.

I probably haven't had a great day. Toast for breakfast, a beef sandwich and a flapjack for lunch, chilli and rice for tea with salad and yogurt dip on the side.
Could have done without the flapjack but didn't have chance for lunch until 2 and was faint with hunger and caved!
Food shop arrives tomorrow morning so should be able to eat a bit healthier.

I've done similar sloth, we still have biscuits and stuff and I've had a couple, but I figure I've eaten a lot less than I otherwise would have, and I haven't had any alcohol or pudding today. So I feel like it's a huge leap in the right direction, and being too puritanical about it never works for me as I end up caving in too soon. One biscuit will not ruin it so much it's not worth carrying on.

Also, that doesn't sound bad at all sloth, I'd say pretty good going!

Just weighed myself before starting tomorrow and I've put on 4 lbs over Christmas. Hmph. Not sure I've got the energy for making oats but I also need something to stop two breakfasts!

I'm not bf anymore but found weight watchers V effective after each of my 3 babies. You get extra points for bf which makes it quite manageable. It does encourage you to fill up more on fruit and veg rather than biscuits etc which helps!

Can I join please?
DC 3 is 11 weeks old and I need to lose 1.5 stone to get back to pre-preg weight.
I'm doing LOADS of walking but the weight just isn't shifting. With my last two it was 4-5 months before it stayed coming off and mostly when I weaned them. Bf doesn't help me lose weight at all!
I'm not good with following diet plans but I'm going for general healthy eating, mainly plant based, Deliciously Ella style. Have also joined a mums and babies fitness class, starting tomorrow.
Have to keep reminding myself I only have birth 11 weeks ago. It's shit being flabby!

Hi. How's everyone doing?

Having a pretty good day so far. Had a high-fibre cereal for breakfast and beans on toast, and a low fat yogurt for lunch. Haven't snacked at all today which is progress! Also managed about a 30-40 minute walk into town.

Fruitpastille I also did WW after DD1 and found it worked. I'm trying to see if I can do it on my own this time though just to save on the membership costs.

Eaten a reasonable amount but none of the things I planned to avoid so am pleased. Wanted to comfort eat chocolate so much after an afternoon of failed potty training and baby/3 year old taking it in turns to be difficult, particularly in public. Well done kitkat.

Ah this is just what I need!
I have a 17 week old and I'm overweight, ideally I'd like to lose 4 stone but would be happy with a couple at the moment, or whatever it takes me to get into pre pregnant clothes, was big before too.
Trouble is I got into bad habits when preg, using it as excuse to eat my favourites, crisps, choc and ice cream, and bf'ing makes me even hungrier, so easy to snack on crisps and biscuits!
I think I need to have healthy snacks for when I'm trapped feeding for ages, so have got rice cakes, ryvita and veg and humous to snack on. Also I got s Fitbit for Christmas so I'm aiming for 10,000 steps per day! I've done about 8000 today with two walks which wasn't too difficult.
I have a holiday at beginning of Feb so want to lose as much as poss before then, ideally a stone but I know it's unlikely!

8000 steps is really good! Well done ginger. My step count looks poor today as I've not left the house. I've been on a batch cooking and cleaning mission though so I'm classing it as active.
Food wise had a good day today. Porridge for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and pesto salmon with salad for tea. Snacks - an amaretti biscuit with my coffee and a bowl of weetabix just now. Lesson learned about carb free teas! Still felt hungry.

Thanks! Yes cleaning is great exercise. I'd like to do more in the way of batch cooking and snack preparation but baby is very clingy and only really naps in the car, pram or on me food is usually made as quick as poss, hence why biscuits are easy to reach for!
Just depressed myself by looking at the BMI calculator.

Just fallen into the get the kids to bed too late and then be ravenously hungry and send dh out for chips for tea. It's so hard to want to cook healthy things at 9pm and it's hard to eat with the kids at 5.30 anymore as the baby starting food so takes all my attention! Back on the band wagon tomorrow! Well done everyone whose managed to stay on it today.

Ginger - same here. Dp works away during the week so everything I eat needs to take less than 15 mins ideally. Live on fish cakes and salad! With a few meals at my mums . He was home today so I was cooking all his meals for the week away whilst he spent some time with dd.
Daisy - I feel the same. Too early to eat before bedtime but after bed time cooking feels like a massive faff. I rely on quick meals - homemade fried rice, fish cakes, pasta (if I've made the sauce earlier in the day). Could it work for you prepping your meal as you're making the kids meal? I only have one child this is probably impossible, please just laugh at my naivety

Thanks sloth yes you have a point on a good day I will have our stuff ready and pop it in as they start their stories or ready to start after they sleep. I need to get more organised and do this everyday though as probably only 1 day in 7 ATM!

Athousand - We're also trying to potty train our toddler. She's not really 'getting it' either, although we did get one wee on the potty yesterday, but I think it was a fluke.

Well done on the steps ginger!

Sloth - yep, cleaning is actually very calorie burning so definitely counts as exercise I think!

And good luck today Daisy.

Baby KitKat gave me a bit of a rough night last night so feeing a bit lethargic today. Only had a sensible bowl of cereal for breakfast so far today though so that's good.