Breastfeeding mom looking for buddies

I just refound this site yesterday. I am looking to start taking the weight off & could use some support & motivation. My baby is 15 months & still nurses on demand. She prefers that over any other food. I don't want to make her stop, but am tired of all of the extra weight. Last week I started exercising again. I do it at least 5 days a week for a min. of 15 min. I also have 2 older girls who are 7 & almost 9.

Hello,

I just started my "Lose the Baby Weight" campaign last week.  So far, so good.  Lost 4 lbs.  My 9 month old still nurses on demand too but I have decided that I can do both.  You can too.  Just cause we're loosing the weight doesn't mean we have to stop nursing.  It just means we really have to make every calorie count, right?  I have noticed that I feel better just doing something about it.  The exercise has been giving me extra energy too.  You will notice this too.  We can do this together.  

My goal is to lose 10 lbs and get to my pre-pregnancy weight by my baby girl's first b-day and then lose the 10lbs I wanted to lose before I got pregnant by November 1st.  What is your goal?

 Welcome to CC.

I'll add you both as my buddies. I too am nursing my 6 month old baby. I started cc 3-4 weeks ago and have lost 5 lbs. I have been plateauing lately. I have not incorporated any exercise in my weight loss plan. But based on this site I can achieve my goal by October. I'm aiming to lose 20 lbs.

Hi -

I will be giving birth to my second child any day now, and I'm anxious to start breastfeeding, and losing weight (yes, BF takes priority).  How can I do both without sabotaging either?

My goal is to lose 52 pounds in 52 weeks.  My plan is to spend 1 or two weeks eating normally and writing down everything I eat and knock out 500 calories from my daily average.  That way, I figure I'll get enough calories to keep my milk while losing weight.  I'll let you know if it works!

Congrats on being a breastfeeding mom!  I breast fed all my kids (three of them) and just finished up with our twin boys over Christmas.   Well, actually, one weaned right around his second birthday in October and the other a couple months later during the holidays. 

You can work out, eat right, lose weight AND breast feed... especially with your little one being in the 15-month range.  You probably won't be able to do any 3-4 pound a week crash dieting, but that isn't what this is all about anyways, right? 

If you reduce your calories by no more than about 400 to 500/day and exercise, it won't be fast, but it will happen. 

I am NO jock or anything.  I was in the best shape from a physical fitness standpoint of my life (so far) when I got pregnant with the twins, and I was healthy (had boys full term with midwife) during the pregnancy, but I could NOT work out while pregnant.  It was too much for me. 

I started working out again when the boys were about 8 months old, and I ran a marathon on their second birthday -- all while being a breastfeeding mom.  

So, enjoy your baby, enjoy what you are able to give your baby by being a breastfeeding mom and go for it! 

Best,
Zoelda

I have a 6 months old too. I'm also breastfeeding him and i want to lose weight i started the gym march 03 08 and eating less and i have lose 2lbs and 4 oz.

my starting weight is 170.8

now I'm 168.2

my goul is 130 to 135 by my son 1st birthday which is 08 16. that's 35lbs i want to lose in 6 months that's like 10lbs a month.......

Hi,

I have two small children ages 2 1/2 and 10 months.  I am still nursing my 10 month old about 5 times a day.  According to the scale, I weigh less now than when I conceived my first child, but my body is nothing like it was.  I am completely flabby.  I used to exercise almost everyday before I got pregnant.  I really don't know why I stopped.  You are supposed to be healthy while your pregnant, but I guess I used it as an excuse to be lazy.  Recently, I've encountered a bit of a problem.  I've been feeling pressure not to lose more weight by my husband's family.  When we go over to their house, I feel like they are force feeding me sometimes.  Has anyone else encountered this problem? 

My daughter is 9months and i am starting to only nurse her a couple times a day! I have lost 10 pounds since I have been breastfeeding less. I still need to go 20 pounds but i have 1/3 there. I try and do something every day for exercise. I find I always feel crapy about my body because I have 4 sister in-laws who all have more children than me and are way skinner. My one sister in-law have a baby 5 months after me and is back to her preprgnancy weight and she always makes coment on have i am still heavy! It sucks but i am going to stick to my rutine and hopefully the weight will come off!

So I thought that breastfeeding helped you to lose weight?  All the magazine articles say you burn 500 cal. per day just by breastfeeding.  I thought since I was a failure at breastfeeding (first child) I was just doomed to not lose weight as fast as all the only breastfeeding mommies.  Since having my daughter I feel insecure about EVERYTHING.  I'm a failure at breastfeeding.  I'm fat.  I want to lose weight fast, but I gained like 50 lbs on top of the newly wed fat I gained in the first year of marriage!  Now I need to lose at least 60 lbs to get to where I want to be.  I want to be there (140 lbs.) so when I get pregnant with our second I'm not going to end up 50 lbs heavier than I am now (200 lbs.).  I really need support.  Everyone with little babies in my life is skinny...how did I end up so much bigger than everyone else?  And, I eat and eat.  The more I think about how big I am the more I eat.

Breastfeeding does help you lose weight, however, many women say that their bodies will not release that last 5-10 pounds while they are actively nursing.  For those of us who were breast feeding (myself included) I was certainly able to lose about 50 pounds while nursing the first time and about 32 pounds while nursing the second time (I did not gain as much weight with my second pregnancy).   Oh, and, when I say weight gain, I'm not talking weight WITH baby.  I'm talking the number on the scale TWO WEEKS after the birth of the baby!  The REAL weight gain! 

Nursing also helps with getting your uterus to contract -- meaning in the first few weeks it will help you deflate to normal down there more quickly. 

You don't need to breastfeed to lose weight, and the whole losing weight faster than so-and-so because she breast fed is a horrible mind game to start with yourself.  You are not a failure because you are not breastfeeding.  Grieve about it, but realize you have a healthy baby and start enjoying your blessing. 

I sympathize with you -- veryberrybagel -- it often seems like all my friends lose weight when change (positive or negative) happens in their lives.  And, me, every time the wind blows a little bit -- I'm eating and gaining.  I'm still locked in this struggle myself, so my advice comes not from personal victory but from being in the trench on this thing with you, but the only thing that I've found helps is realizing that the eating/weight is a symptom for me and not the problem.  My problems -- or at least some of them -- are how I deal with stress, issues with entitlement and feeling like I'm owed something and darn it I should be able to eat whatever I want because I want it and issues with rules applying to little old me and not being good at sitting home dealing with kids when I would rather be (guilt, guilt, guilt) working and can't wait until everyone is in school and I can go be a grown up again and not have to deal with diapers and car seats, etc.   So, more info about me than you want, but my point is... that when I treat my eating as my problem I do not get anywhere, but when I see the weight/eating as a symptom of something else that is wrong, I can sometimes make a little headway in the battle.  

I know it is hard, but the more you look at others and wonder why you aren't like them, the harder it will be for you.   I was around 215 pounds after my first child.  I did get down to 135-140ish and stayed there for just over 3 years before getting pregnant and miscarrying (I gained a little weight for obvious emotional reasons there) and I was about 148 when I got pregnant again with our second&third child (twins).  I was 185 pounds after that pregnancy (I was actually over 210 right before I delivered, but I was 185 two weeks after and I am now back in the battle of the last 15 pounds or so to get to my prepregnany weight.   My friends -- they lose their baby weight in 6-8 months.  Me -- it took me TWO YEARS to lose 35 pounds and, hell, I was nursing twins -- so it ain't just the breastfeeding that will or won't help you lose that weight!  I am now hovering there and just can't make headway.  I'm hoping journaling all my food will help me make some progress with this stuff.  

I am an eater.  I know -- and not to offend anyone -- but reading about some of the gals on here who have "difficulty" eating 900-1200 calories a day because that is just "so much food" actually makes me want to eat more!  I don't know WHY I feel this way! 

If you can find a way to fit ANY exercise into your life if you are not already, do it.  Exercise is the only thing I have found that helps me deal with some of my nervous energy/emotional energy besides food.   It takes the edge off some of my more self-destructive behavior (eating mainly). 

I'm blathering, sorry, but your post touched me because I have spent (and still waste) a lot of time and energy feeling the same way about the general issues -- failure/friends all thin/all I do is eat and get bigger, etc. 

Hope this helps in some way.

Zoelda

Well, I am nursing my 4th child, 6 months old, and I have NEVER lost weight from nursing.  I just know that everyone's bodies are different and you CAN'T look at everyone one else around you and compare.  That will make you feel worse.  My sister in law doesn't have ONE stretch mark on her from her kids and she is skinnier than ever...but I am the heaviest I've ever been and have stretch marks all up and down.  My point is VeryBerry, is to not let it get to you.  You are as beautiful as all the rest of us, don't compare.  You are going to get where you need to.  You will. 

nleavitt and everyone,

I am breastfeeding my 7 month old (first baby) girl, and work out when I can, I was at 3 times a week for 45 minutes on the precore per day and occasionally I would do some weight training.  And I do OK with eating, could do better but it could always be worse. 

But this past 3 weeks have been hard on me.  My baby kept me up every hour on the hour for 2 weeks and then I got back into the workout thing when she finally started sleeping again, but that same day I came down with a cold...that turned into a sinus infection. 

But anyway, nleavitt, You said you lost more wieght after you started to cut back on the amount of times your fed per day, do you know why?  It seems to take forever to lose some weight and I thought they said you would lose more when breastfeeding.

I have lost ALL the weight from the pregnancy (42 Pounds lost all in the first month), now I am working on Post MARRIED weight.  I would like to drop the 50 that I gained after I got married (my husband loves fastfood, but I got him into subway... better then Hardies) plus an extra 10 for good messure.  

What is the best thing to do while I am under the weather and not able to workout and what is the most realistic goal for me to lose this amount.  I was hoping to have most of it gone by her first birthday,  I think I was go hopeful.

ANy tips would help.

Thank

 

WOW!! I thought I was the only one to nurse until my daughter was almost two. I nursed her until she was about 19 mo. To be honest with you...I didn't notice my baby weight to start shedding until AFTER she turned two.  Since you have begun to work out you are already on the right track.With dedication and hard work you will see the results in no time at all!!

Original Post by qnewt98:

WOW!! I thought I was the only one to nurse until my daughter was almost two. I nursed her until she was about 19 mo. To be honest with you...I didn't notice my baby weight to start shedding until AFTER she turned two. Since you have begun to work out you are already on the right track.With dedication and hard work you will see the results in no time at all!!

My DS just weaned at just over 3.5. I am a firm believer in the benefits of child led weaning. :) However, I lost all of my baby weight within the first month a kept it off for over a year.  My DS started to cut back on nursing around the same time and I didn't cut my calorie intake.  I really think that's why women cannot seem to drop the extra weight after a year or so of nursing  We don't cut our calories when we need too. I could have cut calories early than his weaning, since his nursing was more for comfort, and immunities rather than nutrition (I know this debatable..but lets save that for another thread) But I decided to just keep going until he was finished...and I would then focus on myself.

One week after he is weaned I got on CC.  Here I am..my goal is to get healthy..even if that means a healthy weight.  :)

Good luck Mamas. Breastfeeding has been such a wonderful experience for me.  My DS is the textbook breastfed baby.  :) 

ugh!  I nurse my twins round the clock. The more baby food and snacks I offer the more they nurse.  They are almost one and I did loose the weight that i Gained with them , But my Daughter is 27 months and still need to loose that weight.  I don t sleep and the more I try to loose the Weight the more I stay the same. My body wants to hold on for some reason. I am a tired mother of 5 and I want my body back.   Need a buddy that understands the whole nursing thing and a motivation boost.

Lilojem,  Keep the faith.  The one thing to keep in mind, as I am sure you know with 5, is that this too shall pass.  For everyone of my DD phases, I have to remind myself that this will work itself out and she will grow out of it. 

We have just started the weaning process over the past month or so, and she is just now starting to even out.  I have been getting tired of the nursing and the pumping thing over the past few months.  She mangled my nipples making nursing painful and pumping is just a chore, so I decided, since she doesn't like bottles anyway to wean her off bottles at daycare and just nurse in the morning and at night before bed.  We will eventually wean off of those, too.  I did notice that the less I was emotionally into nursing the more she wanted to do it.  I think she felt like she needed to be closer to me and that I was pulling away.   She became very whiny.

So I decided that when we were home, I would nurse as much as she wanted.  I always offered something else first (the sippy cup is now her best friend), but if she wanted to nurse, I would cuddle her up and sit and nurse until she got bored.  My milk supply is dwindling, so boredom sets in a lot quicker now. 

At first she took me up on it.  For about 2 days, she wanted to nurse non-stop.  So I got nothing done but it seemed to be enough to bore her.  She is a very active 11 month old and to just sit still and nurse all day goes against the grain.  I also made sure to talk to her like she was a small baby when she was nursing.  Then when she would get up and play or eat supper or drink from her sippy I made sure to praise her for being a big girl. 

Now, like I said, we are down to twice a day and she loses interest in about 10 minutes.  I think she will wean herself off the last two nursing sessions by herself in time (or my milk will just go away). 

In the meantime, I have been able to lose the last of the baby weight since starting the weaning process.  A great portion of that is due to counting my calories per day (and making sure I am eating enough to reach my BMR) and exercising 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. 

So my advise, for what it is worth, is to give in on your own terms.  Just like you made a weightloss goal and a plan to get there, make a weaning goal and a plan.  You know your babies and there temperments so you know what will work best.  For my DD, if you tell her she can't have something, that will be the only thing that will satisfy her.  Maybe your babies are similar and you can get them to self wean by over offering. 

You will get your body and your independence back.  But I know how you feel.  There are some days where the outlook is dark.  Remember, this too shall pass and you will look back on the time that you spent nursing as time well spent.

Good luck.  Let us know how it goes and what you did to make it work.