I was also not one of the people who lose weight while breastfeeding. I’m 17 months pp and weaned 5 months ago, and I’ve lost weight/redistributed weight/recomped rapidly since then. It’s remarkable how much the breastfeeding hormones can impact you.
I also saw some improvement when sleep got much better, around 8 months we were down to 1 wake/night and that made a huge difference, too, because sleep is vital for appetite and metabolism regulation and physical health in general.
And it’s worth looking at exercise options that fit into your life right now - taking your baby on a walk, or finding time when your husband is on baby duty and you can exercise or whatever. And focusing on diet composition rather than CICO sets you up for success whenever weight loss is on the table - lots of protein and fiber, limit sugar, the basics.
Thank you. Helpful to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think improving sleep will help with cravings. And you're right, I need to just carve out a window of time to do some excising.
working regularly while taking care of a baby seems so tough to me!
I think doing specific postnatal exercises, like postnatal yoga, is essential to reconnect to your body after it has been so through so much. Maybe you can reduce hours or get some support to join an online class or something?
also for me, my milk supply doesn‘t drop while aiming at a slight calorie deficit
Hopefully she can hire a nanny. I can’t imagine working the full time job of being a mother while also working another full time job simultaneously, especially once kids start becoming mobile.
I can’t work remotely, but one time I had to do a Zoom interview from home on a day I wasn’t working (so I was watching my then-only-child, who was 11 months old). It was an hour long and it was awful. I set him up in a safe area with toys and snacks and water and books, but after 20 minutes my son screamed for me the rest of the time. I think about that instance (from two years ago!) vividly wherever someone says they WFH full time and care for their child without any help.
I don’t know how anyone can work full time from and care for baby. I only work when my baby is sleeping, some days, that’s in 15-30 min intervals only. Would be impossible to focus on both baby and work 😂
It's hard, I'm not gonna lie. I'm lucky to have my mom nearby who helps with the baby some days while I'm working. He thankfully is a good napper right now so I get a few hour to hour and a half chunks where I can focus on work.
Helo if it can help i am eating in a calorie deficit and my milk supply is good and i am loosing weigh. I do eat a lot of voluminous foods good protein good fats lots of veggies. I stay away from processed carbs. I used chat gpt and online calculators to make sure i ate enough calories to maintain my milk supply. I also walk 10 000 steps a day with my baby. You can try it out for 2 to 3 weeks snd if you actually see a drop in your milk supply you can increase the amount of calories.
I think this is the answer. What I did was use a [calorie calculator ](https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?cage=29&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10&cpound=165&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.465&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&ctype=standard) and then add 500 calories to account for breastfeeding.
For example, the calorie calculator says I need approximately 1500 calories per day for weight loss, so I eat 2000. I used the app [fat secret](https://mobile.fatsecret.com/) to track my calories. I focus on eating [1 gram of protein per kg of body weight](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-per-day) and [14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948).
I'm lighter than I was before I got pregnant and my milk supply is perfect. Before I started doing this I was 10 lbs heavier and had more body fat compared to the muscle I have now.
Edit: I also TRY to do strength training 20 minutes per day (after advice from this subreddit) focusing on abs, pelvic floor and posterior chain. I may manage to actually do this 2-3 times a week, but it still helps a lot.
This is so rough. I know exactly how you feel. I’m also about 6 months pp and EBF. I was fed up with feeling frumpy and awkward in my clothes now that I’m back at work, so I downloaded a tracking app and started logging all my food. I’m using Lose it! and I’m set to lose 1.5 a week with my deficit. I’ve lost about 12 lbs in about 7 weeks with no hit to my milk supply.
I was so hesitant to reduce my calories because of my supply but I’m suspecting that’s more “Reddit wisdom” than based in reality. My weight was completely stagnant before this, since I thought breastfeeding would melt the weight off on its own. Turns out I was just eating back what I was burning so I was maintaining the same weight. I’m now within 4 lbs of my pre pregnancy weight. Good luck! Tracking calories and macros sucks but it’s better than feeling like you have no control over your body.
Feeling frumpy is the worst! That actually makes sense eating back the calories burned while breastfeeding. That's awesome that you have had success! I downloaded a food tracker to see where I am adding unnecessary calories.thabks for the input!
You’re welcome! And yes, I followed the “buy some new clothes for your new body” advice and it didn’t really help me. Maybe if I could wear leggings every day but hard pants are too honest 😂
I never thought about recomp. And you're right, it hasn't been that long I just thought I would snap back sooner with it being my first baby and being relatively thin before hand. Gotta be mindful of the small changes!
You sound exactly like me. 6 months pp, 15 lbs over, nursing but haven’t shed a pound. I’m struggling with it all. I have no clothes that fit. I don’t want to buy anything for this size because I am trying to loose weight. It’s rough
I’m 8 weeks pp and so far my milk supply is good and I’m eating healthy like I did pre pregnancy (no additional calories). I’ve lost about 65% of my weight. I imagine I’ll stall out around the 10-15lbs left mark
That's awesome! I lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning. I was 10 pounds less than I am now. My milk supply was really poor and LC suggested I increase calories. Maybe I took that advice a little too well, lol.
I'm 6 months pp and about 5-7 pounds away from my prepregnancy weight. Baby is EBF, and if I don't eat and drink enough, I get dizzy spells after nursing. I know my body is holding onto fat bc of that. I need it to produce the milk. I am doing light exercising daily, during baby's nap or even with baby playing next to me, just to reconnect with my body, rebuild my core and pelvic floor. It's deep internal work, it's not a lot (it's not HIIT or heavy weight training), but it feels good, and it feels like it's impacting my body composition. Even with the extra weight on my body, I feel better, less loose, flabby, frumpy, pudgy, lol. I am seeing this time as a slow rebuild / "bulking" stage, if you will. So that, when baby does finally wean, the fat will melt off to uncover all the lovely muscles living underneath 🥲 I am focusing on quality food, sleep, hydration, and movement (yoga, walking, Pilates, body weight exercises) that meets me where I am today. Just a little bit every day adds up! Even just 10 min of moving and reconnecting with my body. We are in it for the long haul, so a marathon mindset helps!
I also WFH while watching my kids and have been going to school online since before I had them. I just had my second baby seven weeks ago and my oldest will be 2 next month. I have EBF both but only just weaned my oldest three weeks before getting induced with my second. I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight before getting ptegnant with baby 2, but it took me a whole year. I didn't exercise at all between kids but now I get up at 5 am to drink coffee and do a YouTube workout like grow with Jo or a full body single dumbbell workout for like 20 min just to set myself up for the day. I also took out of my retirement savings and paid off all extra debt to afford for me to barely work. I work 2-3 hours a few days a week online so I am essentially acting as a SAHM who doesnt work at all most of the time, which helps me be a lot more flexible thankfully.
I too am struggling with my body image because I used to be extremely fit and had a more rectangular build and now Im way more curvy and soft. I habe no idea how to dress my new body type and just want everything to go back to the way it was before. It's hard to be thankful for what our bodies can go through, but give yourself time. Worst case scenario - it takes a few years for your baby to need you less, but you will be able to have a guaranteed workout schedule eventually. A lot of people get a YMCA membership or other gym membership for the childcare so they can work out uninterrupted and get good self-care time.
Here are the changes I have recently made:
- I started going to bed at 9:30 and getting up at 5 or 5:30.
- Squeezing in 10-30 min of exercise per day. Lofting weights gives the best results for me personally.
- Going for walks and getting as many steps in as I can
- Eating way more protein so I am full for longer
- Every meal has mostly protein. Snacks are essentially charcuterie foods with lots of meat and cheese
- Drink tons of water and cut out as much added sugar as possible most days
- I got chocolate protein powder and drink a shake before bed as my bed time snack and dont eat again until 8 or 9 am
- More frequent, smaller meals rather than fewer big meals to boost metabolism
- Have a positive attitude and remember you are making progress by doing these thinhs, not just stuck and miserable forever.
Here is what Ive been through with weight changes, but remember it is just a number. If you are gaining muscle and losing fat then dont care about the number. Take weekly progress pics so you can actually compare them in collages on your phone. Also noticing my clothes starting to fit better helps me a lot.
Before 1st baby: 145 lb but used to be 135 when fit. This was comfy marriage weight combined with aging and a bad diet. Im 5'4 for reference
Delivery Day with 1st: 200 lb
Home from Hospital: 170 lb
1 year post partum and pre pregnancy with 2nd: 145 lb
Delivery Day with 2nd: 170 lb
Home from Hospital: 160 lb
Today at 7 weeks post partum with 2nd: 151 lb
I am three pp journeys in and I never lost weight nursing. I start to notice marked differences as my LO starts solids and I’m nursing less. Of the things that I can control walking and focusing on nutrient dense foods helped me to feel good, and not put on excess weight beyond what my body clings to hormonally.
Just want you to know that you’re not alone. Reading this I was like “wait I could have written this myself” because it sounds exactly like what I’m going through. My friend and I had a girls weekend just this past weekend and I snapped after seeing myself in the pics. Flabby. Cellulite in places there used to be none. I got really depressed. It’s such an odd thing - feeling grateful that my body created a life and is sustaining that life with milk while also feeling so depressed about not looking like “myself”. I have such a fear of lowering my milk supply. I don’t want to stress so much, but damn…I’d love to look better than I think I do.
I quit eating starchy carbs and focused on veggies and lean protein. I eat when hungry and stop when full. I started doing this 2 months PP I’m now 9.5 and have had zero problems with milk supply. Diet is a HUGE factor is weight loss. You don’t hav to crash diet, keep it healthy. Protein and fruit in the morning, have an apple as a snack, protein and veggies for lunch then again dinner and a little something in the evening.
Anytime you drink water or eat some fruit over sugar it will make it easier to do the next time and those sugar cravings should let up.
My kids don’t sleep. I’ve had 5 ish hours a night the last two week. Im working and raising 4 kids.
If I can make small positive changes I swear you can also! Maybe even just start with water and healthy breakfast in the morning.
Also, this won’t last forever. With my first I didn’t do anything with my weight for the first year. This time I was ready to make changes sooner. There isn’t a “right way” there is just a way that feels best to you.
But, you can eat health and in proper portions and not lose milk.
I was also not one of the people who lose weight while breastfeeding. I’m 17 months pp and weaned 5 months ago, and I’ve lost weight/redistributed weight/recomped rapidly since then. It’s remarkable how much the breastfeeding hormones can impact you. I also saw some improvement when sleep got much better, around 8 months we were down to 1 wake/night and that made a huge difference, too, because sleep is vital for appetite and metabolism regulation and physical health in general. And it’s worth looking at exercise options that fit into your life right now - taking your baby on a walk, or finding time when your husband is on baby duty and you can exercise or whatever. And focusing on diet composition rather than CICO sets you up for success whenever weight loss is on the table - lots of protein and fiber, limit sugar, the basics.
Thank you. Helpful to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I think improving sleep will help with cravings. And you're right, I need to just carve out a window of time to do some excising.
working regularly while taking care of a baby seems so tough to me! I think doing specific postnatal exercises, like postnatal yoga, is essential to reconnect to your body after it has been so through so much. Maybe you can reduce hours or get some support to join an online class or something? also for me, my milk supply doesn‘t drop while aiming at a slight calorie deficit
Hopefully she can hire a nanny. I can’t imagine working the full time job of being a mother while also working another full time job simultaneously, especially once kids start becoming mobile. I can’t work remotely, but one time I had to do a Zoom interview from home on a day I wasn’t working (so I was watching my then-only-child, who was 11 months old). It was an hour long and it was awful. I set him up in a safe area with toys and snacks and water and books, but after 20 minutes my son screamed for me the rest of the time. I think about that instance (from two years ago!) vividly wherever someone says they WFH full time and care for their child without any help.
I don’t know how anyone can work full time from and care for baby. I only work when my baby is sleeping, some days, that’s in 15-30 min intervals only. Would be impossible to focus on both baby and work 😂
It's hard, I'm not gonna lie. I'm lucky to have my mom nearby who helps with the baby some days while I'm working. He thankfully is a good napper right now so I get a few hour to hour and a half chunks where I can focus on work.
Helo if it can help i am eating in a calorie deficit and my milk supply is good and i am loosing weigh. I do eat a lot of voluminous foods good protein good fats lots of veggies. I stay away from processed carbs. I used chat gpt and online calculators to make sure i ate enough calories to maintain my milk supply. I also walk 10 000 steps a day with my baby. You can try it out for 2 to 3 weeks snd if you actually see a drop in your milk supply you can increase the amount of calories.
I think this is the answer. What I did was use a [calorie calculator ](https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html?cage=29&csex=f&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10&cpound=165&cheightmeter=180&ckg=65&cactivity=1.465&cmop=0&coutunit=c&cformula=m&cfatpct=20&printit=0&ctype=standard) and then add 500 calories to account for breastfeeding. For example, the calorie calculator says I need approximately 1500 calories per day for weight loss, so I eat 2000. I used the app [fat secret](https://mobile.fatsecret.com/) to track my calories. I focus on eating [1 gram of protein per kg of body weight](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-protein-per-day) and [14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/high-fiber-foods/art-20050948). I'm lighter than I was before I got pregnant and my milk supply is perfect. Before I started doing this I was 10 lbs heavier and had more body fat compared to the muscle I have now. Edit: I also TRY to do strength training 20 minutes per day (after advice from this subreddit) focusing on abs, pelvic floor and posterior chain. I may manage to actually do this 2-3 times a week, but it still helps a lot.
Yes! The more exercise the better!
This is so rough. I know exactly how you feel. I’m also about 6 months pp and EBF. I was fed up with feeling frumpy and awkward in my clothes now that I’m back at work, so I downloaded a tracking app and started logging all my food. I’m using Lose it! and I’m set to lose 1.5 a week with my deficit. I’ve lost about 12 lbs in about 7 weeks with no hit to my milk supply. I was so hesitant to reduce my calories because of my supply but I’m suspecting that’s more “Reddit wisdom” than based in reality. My weight was completely stagnant before this, since I thought breastfeeding would melt the weight off on its own. Turns out I was just eating back what I was burning so I was maintaining the same weight. I’m now within 4 lbs of my pre pregnancy weight. Good luck! Tracking calories and macros sucks but it’s better than feeling like you have no control over your body.
Feeling frumpy is the worst! That actually makes sense eating back the calories burned while breastfeeding. That's awesome that you have had success! I downloaded a food tracker to see where I am adding unnecessary calories.thabks for the input!
You’re welcome! And yes, I followed the “buy some new clothes for your new body” advice and it didn’t really help me. Maybe if I could wear leggings every day but hard pants are too honest 😂
Give yourself time. I honestly didn’t feel back to normal until 2 years out. I didn’t get back to pre-pregnancy weight until I stopped breastfeeding.
[удалено]
I never thought about recomp. And you're right, it hasn't been that long I just thought I would snap back sooner with it being my first baby and being relatively thin before hand. Gotta be mindful of the small changes!
You sound exactly like me. 6 months pp, 15 lbs over, nursing but haven’t shed a pound. I’m struggling with it all. I have no clothes that fit. I don’t want to buy anything for this size because I am trying to loose weight. It’s rough
I’m 8 weeks pp and so far my milk supply is good and I’m eating healthy like I did pre pregnancy (no additional calories). I’ve lost about 65% of my weight. I imagine I’ll stall out around the 10-15lbs left mark
That's awesome! I lost quite a bit of weight in the beginning. I was 10 pounds less than I am now. My milk supply was really poor and LC suggested I increase calories. Maybe I took that advice a little too well, lol.
I'm 6 months pp and about 5-7 pounds away from my prepregnancy weight. Baby is EBF, and if I don't eat and drink enough, I get dizzy spells after nursing. I know my body is holding onto fat bc of that. I need it to produce the milk. I am doing light exercising daily, during baby's nap or even with baby playing next to me, just to reconnect with my body, rebuild my core and pelvic floor. It's deep internal work, it's not a lot (it's not HIIT or heavy weight training), but it feels good, and it feels like it's impacting my body composition. Even with the extra weight on my body, I feel better, less loose, flabby, frumpy, pudgy, lol. I am seeing this time as a slow rebuild / "bulking" stage, if you will. So that, when baby does finally wean, the fat will melt off to uncover all the lovely muscles living underneath 🥲 I am focusing on quality food, sleep, hydration, and movement (yoga, walking, Pilates, body weight exercises) that meets me where I am today. Just a little bit every day adds up! Even just 10 min of moving and reconnecting with my body. We are in it for the long haul, so a marathon mindset helps!
It takes 9+ months to grow a baby, which means it’ll take your body that time and more to be “normal” again
I also WFH while watching my kids and have been going to school online since before I had them. I just had my second baby seven weeks ago and my oldest will be 2 next month. I have EBF both but only just weaned my oldest three weeks before getting induced with my second. I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight before getting ptegnant with baby 2, but it took me a whole year. I didn't exercise at all between kids but now I get up at 5 am to drink coffee and do a YouTube workout like grow with Jo or a full body single dumbbell workout for like 20 min just to set myself up for the day. I also took out of my retirement savings and paid off all extra debt to afford for me to barely work. I work 2-3 hours a few days a week online so I am essentially acting as a SAHM who doesnt work at all most of the time, which helps me be a lot more flexible thankfully. I too am struggling with my body image because I used to be extremely fit and had a more rectangular build and now Im way more curvy and soft. I habe no idea how to dress my new body type and just want everything to go back to the way it was before. It's hard to be thankful for what our bodies can go through, but give yourself time. Worst case scenario - it takes a few years for your baby to need you less, but you will be able to have a guaranteed workout schedule eventually. A lot of people get a YMCA membership or other gym membership for the childcare so they can work out uninterrupted and get good self-care time. Here are the changes I have recently made: - I started going to bed at 9:30 and getting up at 5 or 5:30. - Squeezing in 10-30 min of exercise per day. Lofting weights gives the best results for me personally. - Going for walks and getting as many steps in as I can - Eating way more protein so I am full for longer - Every meal has mostly protein. Snacks are essentially charcuterie foods with lots of meat and cheese - Drink tons of water and cut out as much added sugar as possible most days - I got chocolate protein powder and drink a shake before bed as my bed time snack and dont eat again until 8 or 9 am - More frequent, smaller meals rather than fewer big meals to boost metabolism - Have a positive attitude and remember you are making progress by doing these thinhs, not just stuck and miserable forever. Here is what Ive been through with weight changes, but remember it is just a number. If you are gaining muscle and losing fat then dont care about the number. Take weekly progress pics so you can actually compare them in collages on your phone. Also noticing my clothes starting to fit better helps me a lot. Before 1st baby: 145 lb but used to be 135 when fit. This was comfy marriage weight combined with aging and a bad diet. Im 5'4 for reference Delivery Day with 1st: 200 lb Home from Hospital: 170 lb 1 year post partum and pre pregnancy with 2nd: 145 lb Delivery Day with 2nd: 170 lb Home from Hospital: 160 lb Today at 7 weeks post partum with 2nd: 151 lb
I am three pp journeys in and I never lost weight nursing. I start to notice marked differences as my LO starts solids and I’m nursing less. Of the things that I can control walking and focusing on nutrient dense foods helped me to feel good, and not put on excess weight beyond what my body clings to hormonally.
Keto has helped me tremendously. Hasn’t affected my milk supply at all
Just want you to know that you’re not alone. Reading this I was like “wait I could have written this myself” because it sounds exactly like what I’m going through. My friend and I had a girls weekend just this past weekend and I snapped after seeing myself in the pics. Flabby. Cellulite in places there used to be none. I got really depressed. It’s such an odd thing - feeling grateful that my body created a life and is sustaining that life with milk while also feeling so depressed about not looking like “myself”. I have such a fear of lowering my milk supply. I don’t want to stress so much, but damn…I’d love to look better than I think I do.
I quit eating starchy carbs and focused on veggies and lean protein. I eat when hungry and stop when full. I started doing this 2 months PP I’m now 9.5 and have had zero problems with milk supply. Diet is a HUGE factor is weight loss. You don’t hav to crash diet, keep it healthy. Protein and fruit in the morning, have an apple as a snack, protein and veggies for lunch then again dinner and a little something in the evening. Anytime you drink water or eat some fruit over sugar it will make it easier to do the next time and those sugar cravings should let up. My kids don’t sleep. I’ve had 5 ish hours a night the last two week. Im working and raising 4 kids. If I can make small positive changes I swear you can also! Maybe even just start with water and healthy breakfast in the morning. Also, this won’t last forever. With my first I didn’t do anything with my weight for the first year. This time I was ready to make changes sooner. There isn’t a “right way” there is just a way that feels best to you. But, you can eat health and in proper portions and not lose milk.