HELP! Breastfeeding and weight gain.

[MollieTD]

I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. I have an 8 week old EBF baby who is gaining weight brilliantly - unfortunately, so am I!

All the info:
I’ve gained around 0.3kg a week for the last 4 weeks. I’m a seasoned MFP user and have been weighing and tracking everything that goes in my mouth religiously. Currently weigh 66.5kg at 5’7’’ - pre pregnancy, I’m around 58-60kg. Started exercising at 5wks pp - currently run 3x5ks a week, make sure I get my 10k steps a day and some yoga. Previously was running around 40-50km a week, so much less now but I’m factoring that in!

Started with 1800 calories, now reduced to 1600 - and still gaining.

I know that I will be told I shouldn’t be worrying about this yet but I’m so frustrated. Happy to not be losing anything, but why am I gaining?? Is it simply that I’m still eating too much? I’m terrified that I’ll step on the scales in a few months time to find I’m 10kg heavier!

Any insight or tips very much welcome.

Hi OP, thought I'd bump this for you in case anyone knows more than I do. I'm not an expert but my guess would be that you are fighting your hormones quite hard at the moment as your baby is so little. Your hormones (e.g. cortisol) will be telling your body to store nutrients because you are BF and because with a new baby you won't be sleeping very well.

I gained weight in the first 12 weeks after having both of my DC. Between 3-6 months I stopped gaining and after that slowly lost the weight again. I know it's not what you want to hear but I do think it's too early for you to be worrying about this. 💐

Some people lose weight when breastfeeding and some gain! I gained unfortunately as my body wanted to store as much fat as possible!

@SatinHeart thanks for this! You’re right - it’s early days, my body has a different purpose now for a bit and I need to accept that.