dieting while breastfeeding

Okay, it has been 7 weeks since my son was born.  I was 175 before pregnancy, then during pregnancy I went up to 205.  When my son was born, 2 week later, I was at 185.  I weighed again at the same doctor, 4 weeks later, was still at 185.  I am 5'7".  Also, I am breastfeeding my son exclusively.  But I need to drop these pounds!  I don't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, and before I got pregnant I was thinking how I needed to loose about 30 pounds, now it is 40 pounds I need to loose. 

So my question, can I diet?  I am horrible at counting calories, I hate to measure and weight things.  Too lazy. 

I am also trying to stick to a vegetarian diet. 

Is there some kind of a diet plan that I can follow? 

If you don't plan on weighing/measuring/counting, how do you plan to do it?

I think counting is the most reasonable and easy way to 'diet'. You could try walking with your little one, that will help a bit. You want to consume less than you burn, but without keeping track....I don't know how you would manage that.

A vegetarian diet is fine, but everything in moderation.....too many calories of anything can keep you from losing (or make you gain).

BTW, your baby is too cute! :)

Original Post by snowqueen690:

Okay, it has been 7 weeks since my son was born.  I was 175 before pregnancy, then during pregnancy I went up to 205.  When my son was born, 2 week later, I was at 185.  I weighed again at the same doctor, 4 weeks later, was still at 185.  I am 5'7".  Also, I am breastfeeding my son exclusively.  But I need to drop these pounds!  I don't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes, and before I got pregnant I was thinking how I needed to loose about 30 pounds, now it is 40 pounds I need to loose. 

So my question, can I diet?  I am horrible at counting calories, I hate to measure and weight things.  Too lazy. 

I am also trying to stick to a vegetarian diet. 

Is there some kind of a diet plan that I can follow? 

 Honestly, I didn't start dieting until my son was almost 3 months old. You can diet while breastfeeding, but just keep in mind that lowering your cals WILL affect you milk supply. I asked my doc at 8 week checkup about it, and he said to try and remember my pre-pregnancy cal intake, and add 200-300 cals to that. It was about 1800-2000 cals for me. But, I always recommend talking to a doctor.

Shortly after my son was born, he got very jaundice. We were at the pediatrician's once a week for about three or four weeks. At one point, the med student asked if I was eating enough (trying to think of why he was still jaundice....was I not producing enough milk)?

The pediatrician jumped in and said that the body will pull from the mother's reserves and produce milk no matter what. Think poorer countries where food is not necessarily abundant. (Just what she told me)

Now stress, on the other hand, is known to dramatically reduce milk supplies...

Well, I have a 7 month old baby boy.... I was 155lbs pre-preg and went up to 198lbs during and am now down to 164lbs.  I lost weight fast after having him but seem to have hit a slow spot for the past 2-3 months.  For other reasons I am slowly starting to supplement and wean him off of the boob.  I found that while breastfeeding, as long as you get enough rest, and relaxation your milk supply shouldn't be affected unless you carry very small amounts of fat.  A great book for info is " Eat Well, Loose Weight, While Breastfeeding" by Eileen Behan.  But as noted from others, it's going to be way harder not to count calories.  And excercise is essential.

And about the vegitarian diet....you can't loose weight without proper nutrition.  Protein and fibre will help a lot.  If your not already try drinking a protein shake in the morning.  It will help with hunger and engery throughout the day.  It's made a huge difference for my energy levels.  And now I've started loosing weight again.