Loosing Baby Weight

I would say you have enough to worry about without that. I breastfed three kids on average about 18 months each and ate what I wanted and exercised when I could and the weight all came off. Try to eat healthy food and not junk and try to walk or run 3x a week and it will happen.

Don't forget weights with your workouts. Don't only do cardio. Weights will help you build lean muscle that will keep the calories burning when you're not working out.
And real weights...I'm not talking 5 lbs. The older you get, the harder it is for your body to maintain muscle mass. You have to help it out where you can.
I'm at my leanest when I'm lifting heavy (think: curls with 15lb dumb bells, etc.....) and I can always feel my metabolism speed up during one of those rotations.

Definitely don't want to cut calories too fast or you will most likely diminish your milk supply. Best instead to replace not-so-healthy foods and snacks with lots of healthier ones. Make sure to drinks tons of water...will help you feel full and help maintain milk supply. I really didn't try to lose weight until 6 months post-partum when I hit a plateau as well...weight watchers really helped me (I dropped 20 lbs from my pre-preg weight) while still nursing...about 1-2 pounds a week.

I was always jealous of the people who only had to breastfeed and lost extra weight too! lol. Good luck!

Hi- I think you are on the right track with the 30 minutes of exercise and definitely eating right is important. I recently found out about a 90 Day Health Challenge and for me my goal is to lose 30 lbs. I can testify that it works because I am down 15lbs and that is without working out. I love sharing the challenge with people because I have tried other things like Weight Watchers and never got the same results as I have with this system. A side note that it is safe for women who are pregnant and lactating mothers. Let me know if you are interested and I will provide you with some information.

I agree with CAE. The best results were when I planned ahead. If I had fresh fruits and veggies, washed and cut, it was so easy to grab healthy snacks. I would not just "go with the flow" because it will turn into unhealthy habits and rationalizing that the breastfeeding or exercise will take care of it. Just make a shopping list of all kinds of healthy snacks. If you google "healthy snacks while breastfeeding" you will get lots of ideas. You can also google "healthy meals while breastfeeding" and get some new ideas that will make healthy eating fun instead of a chore. I forgot how good healthy food tasted until I started getting new ideas for mealtime.

Hey S.,

Good for you. I didn’t read the other posts but just so you don’t get discouraged – with both my LOs I breastfed for a little over two years. The initial weight did come off pretty easy but the last 5-10 were hard, especially with the last child. And OMG – the hunger with the last one was crazy. I could be sitting eating dinner and I would start getting hungry while eating!
I’m almost done breastfeeding the last one and finally after two years of 30-60 minutes of cardio 4-5 times a week I finally got rid of the last few pounds. Funny thing – I don’t “lift weights” because, well, my LO was about 8 lbs at birth and of course she just kept growing. I can’t even imagine try to add more “weight lifting” into my regiment considering how tired I am after a couple of days at home with the girls. However, we are also a pretty active family in general so I forgo the weights as I feel like I get similar exercise day-to-day.

My main form of exercise – jogging. I found that jogging has helped me more overall than the 40 minutes of stair climbing or swimming or jump rope. I also make sure to stretch afterwards. Yoga is great for overall strength and flexibility.

Of course good nutrition is good but if you are like me at that stage - I couldn't help but eat more. I still get cravings for meat... lots of meat. Nice thing about working out regularly is you can eat more =)

With my first two pregnancies, I did drop about 2 pounds below pre-pregnancy weight by 6 months, and all I did was 30 minutes of exercise a few times a week. I also ate a lot of cake!

Just give it some time.

I had 4 kids including twins and lost everything with each pregnancy. Nursing helped a lot. With 4 kids under 6 yrs old I was crazy busy so preplanning was key to staying strong and getting back in shape.

Keep a lot of fruit and veggies ready to eat. I'll clean and cut up celery, carrots, and radishes while I'm cooking dinner and throw them in the fridge for later just so I don't have to do it when I'm starving. Concentrate on getting good protein (chicken or fish) and lots of fresh produce plus plenty of water and the last of the weight should just fall off. I usually stay away from things like crackers, cookies, pretzels, etc because I find it far too easy to overeat that stuff. I can overeat on veggies and not put on a single ounce.

I found getting the weight off with #2 to be harder. For both it was that last 10 pounds that was the hardest. The thing that worked for me with the 2nd was to get a personal trainer and work out with him once a week. The rest of the week I would do my own workout at the gym. With my second I still have 6 more pounds to go and it has been over a year. My goal is to drop the rest this year and go back to my trainer. Sounds like you are on the right track with what you are thinking. Best of luck.

The hardest thing for me , is controlling my appetite & making good choices. I really have to pre-plan my meals & snacks. I also try to make healthy snacks ahead of time, so I can just grab them. Good Luck!