Want to Lose Weight but Not Lose My Breastmilk

I did Weight Watcher's while breast feeding but had to up my points to even more thatn the extra points necessary for breastfeeding. I also had to be very sure to consume plenty of water and took a supplement called either "More Milk" or "Mama's Milk" I can't remember which. I plan on joining Weight Watcher's again soon when my new one is about 8 weeks old. Oh and I didn't do fat-free anything. I used regular and counted the extra points and I made a point to eat all my weekly points and to try to average a loss of only 1/2 a pound a week.

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Hello,
La Leche League has a great book to recommend on exactly this topic. I think it's called something like, "How to Lose Weight While Breastfeeding," or something similar. If it wasn't buried in my attic, I'd pull it out to get the exact title. You can go to the LLL website and look on their book section, or perhaps go to amazon and try searching there. I'd try the LLL way first, since I'm sure there are a number of books on this topic but you can't necessarily verify the scientific thoroughness and accuracy of all the offerings. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

Are you sure it won't come off on its own while breastfeeding? It's only been 3 months. I didn't get down to pre-pregnancy weight until the 4-month mark. One walk a day and breastfeeding melted my weight off. Maybe just start walking every day (with little one)? Sorry - without much more info, I'm not sure if I'm helping or just frustrating you...

Cassie

Hi N., you have to work out! Use that and breastfeeding as a tool cause once that's gone it's a lot harder to lose the weight! Good luck.

Exercise, don't diet! You need to continue to eat plenty of good foods to stay healthy and keep up your milk supply. I agree with some of the moms...switch the way you eat and the types of foods you eat. Switch to smaller portions eaten more frequently with plenty of exercise to get your body ready.

Once you stop breastfeeding and the hormones get back to normal...takes several months, you should lose the weight quickly if you are already exercising and eating frequent small healthy meals and snacks. Your body is "programmed" through the hormones to store and retain enough fat for both you AND the baby while you are breastfeeding just in case. During times of famine years ago, this was important however, our bodies don't know that we now have ready access to food and rely on their internal programming to ensure that you and the baby survive. It's actually really cool when you think about it.

Remember that you gained the weight over 9 months and it will take you at least that long to get it off AFTER you quit breastfeeding. Enjoy this precious bonding time nourishing your baby and don't worry about the weight. Your daughter will be done with breastfeeding before you know it...they grow up WAY too fast!

Just wanted to commiserate with you - my milk supply is affected by EVERYTHING. There is a lot of advice that tells you to change the types of food you eat and increase the amount of exercise (all very sound tips.) However, there are some of our bodies that react radically to these changes and the first thing that "goes" is the milk supply. This happened with my first and, now, my second baby.

Hope you find something that works for you. I am not going to tackle this until I am done breastfeeding.

Hi N.,
My advise is to focus on making healthy food choices and try to notice any little unhealthy things you can cut out (I lost almost 10 pounds when my son was a year old when I switched from drinking juice with every meal to water!)

Make sure you are drinking lots of water (sometimes when I try to eat less, I end up drinking less too) since being well hydrated has a lot to do with milk production.

Good luck.

T.

pretty much just echoing some others here..
breastfeeding and extra activity worked for me! 15 months later, I am about 20lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight! I know it was, and is, the breastfeeding that did it for me. well that, plus not eating as much. there are days when my little one keeps me so busy, with running after her, and feeding her almost constantly, that I just naturally eat less. but that's me.
keep up the breastfeeding, and put in a little extra activity, and it'll drop off.

Weight Watchers has a great weight loss program for nursing mothers. Other then that just eat lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, all the basics and expect to lose it slow.
Best of luck and congratulations!

Breast feed, eat healthy and work out.That's all I needed. Pilates works wonders!

I did it while breastfeeding through Weight-Watchers, but what I mainly did was change the foods I was eating to include snacking on lots of fresh fruit and veges (carrots, celery, tomato & cucumber dipped in a mix of cottage cheese and salsa was a daily snack food.) The fact that the frequency of food intake was increased (Breakfast, morning snack, lunch afternoon snack, dinner and post dinner snack) and drinking lots of water meant that my milk supply was not affected. I also stopped eating chocolate and biscuits and had a fat free, low sugar yogurt or plain yogurt with cocoa powder as a sweet dessert when I wanted chocolate.

I lost around 2 pounds a week for 8 weeks.

Also keep up incidental exercise and any walking you can do.

Good luck.
K.

Hi N.,

Losing weight while you're breastfeeding is the greatest way to lose post baby weight because you are already burning upwards of 500 extra calories each day just through breastfeeding, so you could potentially lose a pound a week by doing exactly nothing.

I'm not sure why you lost your milk supply before. I suppose it depends on what you meant by "diet". Obviously it's really important to follow a balanced diet rather than something extreme like Atkins or the Cabbage Soup Diet. Weight Watchers has a great program for nursing mothers, but if you aren't a 'joiner' then I would just recommend cutting out all the junk (or most of it anyway), getting daily exercise (I took a 40 minute walk with my baby every day) and drinking enough water.

Try having a large glass of water before each meal. I find this really effective when trying to lose weight. It has multiple benefits. First, sometimes we think we're hungry when we're reacftlly only thirsty. If you are actually hungry, this will fill your tummy a little and you will probably eat less, but most of all if you are having 3 meals a day it means that you are having at least 3 large glasses of water each day which should help with milk supply.

Good luck. Well done for taking it seriously and not just letting the weight hang around as so many people do. Let us know how it goes.

D..x

Hi, N.,
It looks like you got some great advice from the other moms. I hope their advice helps! Just remember that it takes 9 months to take off what you put on in 9 months. I gained 55 lbs with my most recent baby and 13 months later, I am about 3 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. So, exercise, do not diet and just be patient. Even after 6 months, I was about 25 lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight. It just came off SO slowly! But it did. I lost about 4 lbs every month and eventually got to where I am. Don't diet when you are still breastfeeding. Your body needs the food.
good luck! have faith.

I did (and still do) Weight Watchers. They have a program designed for nursing moms. It helps you lose weight without loosing your milk supply. The biggest thing is to make sure you are eating enough. You have to eat around 500 calories a day just for your nursing sessions. Plus what you yourself need.

I just recently asked this question as well... and I have been struggling with the balance of food intake/milk production and I have concluded that no matter what I do in the way of dieting...it makes my breasts angry. : - ) Whether I adjust what foods or eat more of something less of another....it doesn't matter. I make the most breastmilk when I eat "normally." Which is a bummer for us wanting to loose weight cuzz "normal" includes foods that are not so prone to weight loss! Anyways, I liked the comment I read about enjoying your breastfeeding times and not to worry about the weight for a little while. And I know its tough, but I have taken that attitude and my milk is back and we will just worry about the weight a little later! Good luck...and if you find a way that works let me know! :- )

Hi N.,
I felt frustrated about this, too, when I was nursing. What i found was that as soon as I weaned, the weight just melted away. I think the hormones keep the weight on to make sure we have what we need to make milk. I believe the body has its own wisdom about these things, and that if we can honor it, it will do just what it needs to do. The most important thing is to be nourishing yourself with delicious, nutritious food. Then your body can do what it needs to do, and you will be as healthy as possible regardless of what the scale says. I can also say, that in terms of your long-term energy and health, you are better off not dieting during this time. WIth 2 little one, I am sure you need all the energy you can get!

I hope that this is reassuring!

Best,
E. Bender, NC, CHN
http://www.nutritionforthewholefamily.com

Simply cut out all refined and concentrated sugar in your diet. (cut out fruit juice, but not fruit). Keep your calories up with 3 good meals a day with plenty of vegetables and make sure you are getting plenty of protein for nursing. Your body will be getting enough calories for energy and milk production, but will be using the storage (fat) on your body (which it is supposed to do) because it won't be constantly getting the biochemical signal to store fat from sugar in the diet (insulin response). Your milk supply should be fine. It takes 3 days to initially break a sugar addiction, and 2 weeks to really clear it.

I did not 'diet' but I drank a ton of water and a full glass before every meal.

good luck!

Hi N.,
I have found that snacking all day long on raw vegetables and apples keeps up my energy and sheds weight. Avoid red meat and eat raw nuts instead. Don't skimp on food, just shift some of your choices. Whole grains versus refined, avoid junk foods, no fried stuff, etc.,
best,
victoria

Have you looked into Weight Watchers. WW offers "dieting" guidelines for nursing mothers. Then when your no longer nursing it allows you to change your points to work with your current lifestyle.

Hi N.,

I agree with the other posts that Weight Watchers is a great idea. They even have a point scale for nursing moms.

I would also recommend exercise. Baby Boot Camp is a fantastic way to get in shape while spending time with your baby. Baby Boot Camp is stroller fitness. You can expect a fantastic full body work out. I own a franchise (not in your area) and just love all the moms in my class. We have found freindship and fun while working out. I have had some great success stories from moms who have shed their baby weight. There are five locations in your area to choose from. Check out:

http://www.babybootcamp.com/locale.aspx

Good luck!

I too, did well on the Weight Watchers diet while bf. They allow extra points for bf mom's.
Give yourself more time. If your milk is compromised by "dieting" you may want to listen to your body saying don't starve me!

Hi N.,

The best way to loose the fat is to increase your level of activity, and change your food choices without 'dieting'. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids. A good way to remember to do this is, every time you feed your little girl, drink a bottle/full glass of water - or juice. (Usually, if your milk supply is decreasing, it is due to lack of fluids.) Also, you'll want to make sure and keep up with your pre-natals.

Instead of cutting out food - change your food choices to more fruits/veggies/whole grains. Eliminate any kind of white flour as it contains absolutely no nutritional value and will only pack on pounds - and lots of them :)

If you're looking for a great exercise routine that you can do from home - check out www.BeachBodyAtHome.com - under products you'll find quite a few routines and one is bound to fit your personality. ex - If you like weights, with no frills, p90x is great. If you like to dance, there's HipHopAbs or TurboJam. Also, they have an online community to help with motivation and with fitness and nutrition information. You can also become an online coach yourself, and receive a 20% discount.

My little girl was born, c-sect, on the 13th of this month, so I'm still waiting to be able to begin a more vigorus routine, but I did just start with the SlimIn6 this am because that routine is very basic and perfect for someone new to working out, or waiting for a c-sect to heal :)

(Insert little disclaimer here that says I'm not a doctor, blah, blah, blah.... :) lol )

Most importantly, have fun with whatever routine that you choose, and above all, as I'm sure you already know, your precious little package is well worth the extra pounds that came with her. :)

Happy parenting. :)

Rene
www.beachbodyathome.com

I highly recamend the Weight watchers program. after my firt child I lost 58 pounds, and after my second I've lost 15 and am still working on it while breast feeding. I did have a week or two when my milk supply went down, so I used Mother's Milk Plus herbal suppliment and got back on track. both of these things are expensive, but I will swear by the Weight watchers program. If you live near the Mountain View area I can suggest an awesome WW meeting time. you can go to one for free to check it out.
L.

Hi N.,

I feel like I am writting to myself. I found some great whole food supplements that are safe for everyone even your children can take them. I provide individuals with information to help them stay healthy.

When your body gets the nutrients that it needs it will release what it does not need. Drinking plenty of good clean water is also important. Bottled water does not count.

If you are interested in information that can help you get fit, increase your milk and detox your body at the same time and make you feel better, let me know.

Have a great weekend.

N. Marie