be honest... did bfing help you or make it hard to lost weight

[peanut4us]

I hd been told that part of the magic of bfing was that the pounds just melt off. I'm here to say that they don't. Mind you, I'm NOT eating all that well, but I do work out about 4 times a week, and I'm bfing, so I would think that would count for something.

Mostly, I just feel dumb because it seems like people are like, "haven't you lost your weight yet? are you really bfing? It only took me X weeks to lose it all?"

Grrr. It just makes me feel stupid. But be honest. If everyone else is losing relatively easily because of it, maybe that will be a good kick in the pants. I know you guys wouldn't exagerate just to make me feel bad (not like some other lovely women I know x(.

[alkagift]

Maybe--is that a bad answer, or what? I have lost almost all the weight, I think, but I'm still a size or two larger than I was pre-preg...very flabby and fat in lots of places I wasn't. I think I lost lots of muscle crying my eyes out every day for 6 weeks, hardly leaving the bedroom! So, I have lots of fat to lose.

I think it varies from person to person, but I'm with you--I start work next week, and the last woman in my office to return from maternity leave came back SMALLER than when she left--and she was a size 6 before! I'm sure people will look at me and wonder, "what, has she been living on Twinkies?"

Allison
Mom to Matthew Clayton, 5/19/03

[MartiesMom2B]

Joey:

Hmm I think that bfing helped all the weight off to come off at first. I think all of my weight loss is now due to exercise and diet.

You know I'm almost at my pre preg weight but because I stopped working out when I was pregnant it's like I'm all flab everywhere. I'm still atleast 1 size bigger than I was. It sucks big time. So I'm working my way back to muscles (hopefully).

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Based on my experience last time, I know that my body holds on to weight while I am breastfeeding. When my son weaned at 13 months, I lost 15 pounds in one week. This time, I am still 9 pounds above my pre pregnancy weight and it is not budging. I am just working on not gaining any weight and I will be happy. There is plenty of time to get my body back later, but for now my body belongs to my baby. Feeding her is more important to me than looking good.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[jenmcadams]

I gained 45 lbs during pregnancy and didn't lose the last 10-15 until after I stopped BF. Like a lot of other folks here, I'm back to pre-pregnancy weight, but still a size larger than I was. I'm actually working out a ton for me (5-6 days a week), but didn't really start that until Abbie weaned herself at 7-8 months. I feel like I'm 5-10 lbs above where I'd like to be and I'm in the middle of trying to lose this weight...but it's definitely tough.

Bottom line...I definitely believe my body hung on to some weight while BF.

[emmasmama]

Well, I might not be the best case example because I was only able to *breastfeed* (and when I say that, I mean "pump" despite some heroic measures, because DD absolutely refused to latch on and was a tongue thruster) for a couple of months... but I did not lose an ounce beyond my initial weight loss from actually giving birth while I was pumping. I was totally shocked since I'd heard such great things about the "breastfeeding diet" from my friends. Granted, my milk production was incredibly low, so that could have been the reason? Since I stopped pumping a couple of weeks ago, four lbs have magically melted away (only 30 more to go :( )and I'm not doing anything differently. I've only been doing a little bit of walking as exercise so far and I was doing that while pumping too. I also feel like I get alot of the, "really, you aren't losing that much weight? hmm, that's weird" from people. It's really starting to depress me, as if I don't feel bad enough already that I wasn't successful with bf-ing or about looking like a totally different person carrying around this much extra weight. But, I'm eating really healthy and keeping a journal. Now I just need to step it up from the walking to something a little more aggressive!

Laurie
mom to Emma born 5/25/03

[friedmana1]

It seems from this post that everyone is different, but for me, the pregnancy weight seemed to melt off after I gave birth, except for the last stinky ten pounds. Breastfeeding the whole time, one day after not having anything to wear to a wedding, I finally decided to watch my diet a little - and do WW. And the pounds have actually come off! It's great! My sister and I have been doing WW together, and she's really helped support me. But, I must say, that along with everyone else, my body is definitely different than before I was pregnant - more "curvy" in the hips and chest. He he. At least my husband likes it...

Aimee

Mother to Leah 10/26/02
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/home.asp

[khakismom]

Same with me. Before I had my first DD, I was built like a stick, straight up and down. Now I have hips and curves. And for me, BF worked wonders. I dropped all the preg weight (about 28 pounds both times), plus some. The extra came back when I stopped BF and resumed my bad eating habits. So now I am doing WW too--let's hope it works. I have this horrible fear that I'm stuck with "this" body forever...

...Maureen

Mom to
Kathleen 3/22/01
Ellen 6/4/03

[Sandy]

For me it did seem to be the case. I am still breastfeeding at 16 months and have lost all my pregnancy weight and then some. I actually had to buy new clothes because my prepregnancy pants would fall off without a belt. I know that it is not diet and exercise as I really haven't been watching what I am eating and while I exercise it is not on a consistant basis. Alexander is a pretty heavy baby and has been so since month 2. At 16 months he is about 28lbs. Carrying around has been my most consistent exercise. We do go walking or hiking when we can.

My main thing is that even though I weigh much less than before my waist is still larger than prepregnancy. Probably a sign that I should start watching what I eat and exercise regularly.

Sandy
mom to Alexander Thor 3/16/02

[lizajane]

our babies are the same age. i think bf has helped me get off the initial weight, but now walking and watching the ice cream intake is helping. i think weight watchers is FANTASTIC and def. worth a try. you get to eat a lot more as a nursing mother, so it isn't as hard as one might think! i am now 4 pounds up and fitting in most of my pre-preg clothes. (just not quite as comfortably as i would like) i am about to start taking ww seriously (i just use the info i have from a few years ago without going to meetings) so that i can get into ALL of my clothes before the season change!

[lizamann]

BF'ing is not really helping me at all. I gained about 40 (yikes!) pounds while pregnant, lost 20 almost instantly after baby, and the rest has completely stalled out. I feel like I eat way less than before I was pregnant, so that's depressing. The weird thing is that though I'm still 20 pounds over my pre-pregnant weight, I'm only one clothing size bigger. Maybe when I lose it I'll be smaller???

BTW, exercise seems to have no effect on my ability to lose weight. I spent 6 months training for a triathlon 2 years ago (6 days a week, 1.5 - 2 hours of vigorous cardio) and didn't lose a single ounce. After the season was over, I really watched my diet and then the pounds just fell off. Really weird.

Beth

[Calmegja]

I'm on baby 4, and I can't lose the last weight until weaning, and truth be told, my weight doesn't budge much at all until around 6 months postpartum. Then I'll lose a good chunk of the weight, enough to be in my normal size, but not quite me. I'll hang onto 5-7 pounds until we've weaned, and then it falls off. I have always reaturned to my original pre-pregnancy weight. Always.

I exclusively breastfeed, and I waited, with every child, for the magical breastfeeding weightloss to set in. Never happened for me.

[houseof3boys]

The magic breastfeeding diet didn't work for me either. It clearly depends on the individual! I gained almost 50 pounds with my pregnancy which I blame on bedrest for 2 months. I had a voracious appetite for about 6 weeks after DS was born so I was eating like a maniac. It kind of tapered off a bit and now I think I have a "normal" appetite again, and I try to eat somewhat healthy. I still have dessert and cheese (my weaknesses) in moderation every day. But as Karen (stillplayswithbarbies) said, my body belongs to my baby so I am not fretting about getting my old body back so soon. I have about 15 pounds to lose still but it isn't about the weight, it is about the softness and flabbiness that has taken over. I won't be wearing my pre pregnancy clothes for a while and have started to buy new mommy clothes for my new body. I was getting depressed wearing my pregnancy clothes and the bigger pre-pregnancy clothes, so I just bought some cute new stuff 2 sizes bigger than my "normal" size. Don't get me wrong, I look at pictures and see how much bigger I am :-(, but I think once my body gets less flabby and the stomach gets a little firmer I will be happier. So big deal if I am a size 8 instead of a size 4...I am more womanly now!