Did the breastfeeding diet fail for you?

[violetdragonfly]

To be honest I hated gaining weight when I was pregnant... it actually really depressed me... but I was reassured that it would all come off during breastfeeding. This "idea" helped ease my stress about gaining pregnancy weight....

After my daughter was born I lost about a 1/3 of my weight breastfeeding... as the weeks and months went on the weight never came off. I desperately wanted to start working out, but I could not find time. In the first 3 months my daughter ate every hour on the hour and I was lucky if I ate anything or even used the bathroom. When I went back to work I was pumping so much that I had to eat lunch at my desk just to make up the 1.5 hours I was spending pumping.

Now my daughter is 10 months and the weight is still stuck on me, and it depresses the hell out of me. I don't weigh my heaviest, but none of my old "fat" clothes fit me when I was at my heaviest. I feel really frumpy and fat. I really don't know what to do. I want to work out, but that would mean I would have to chose between spending time with my daughter after work OR working out.

I am so depressed over this that I find myself getting really angry with myself and really jealous of those had success with losing weight breastfeeding (which I have taken to calling a sham of a diet).

Anyone else out there feel this way too?

[jenn_0629]

The "Breastfeeding Diet" isn't intended to lose all of the baby weight. Breastfeeding makes it easier to lose your baby weight, and most of the women tend to lose it faster by doing this. But you still have to put in some work. Diet and exercise, the good ole' fashioned stuff. Dieting will help you to lose the weight, and exercise to tone your body. If you gain 40 pounds during pregnancy, rest assured that it won't be coming off by breastfeeding..There are a lot of other key elements involved.

[ra11en]

It is so hard to find time to get in a steady workout routine with a new baby in the house. And as time goes by, the older the baby gets, the less time you'll have. You can't wait for time to just become available, you have to make it happen otherwise it won't.

To do a more intense workout, try to wake up 45 minutes before the babe to get in a good run around the neighborhood, or on the treadmill while watching the news. This will give you so much more energy to do whatever you need to do throughout the day!!

If that isn't possible, incorporate the baby into a workout! Are you SAHM or do you work outside the home? With a structured home routine, you can identify the best time of the day or early evening to take your baby on a run. Let the wee one enjoy the fresh air in a jogging stroller, or in a trailer behind your bike. Any cardio is good for you!

Dancing is a great workout! Turn on some fast moving, heavy beat music that you can totally rock out to. Hold the baby for some awesome arm weights. Your daughter will have a ball, and you can really get the heart rate up.

Breastfeeding alone is not going to slim you down depending on how much weight you gained, and how easy it is for you to lose weight. You have to put some elbow grease into it. Sit ups and crunchies with a little girl between your legs are great too. Sit her on the carpet between your knees, and give her kisses each time you go up and forward. Do some leg squats, picking her up from the floor and give her a kiss before putting her down again. Working your legs and your arms, and your heart with all the baby laughter. :)

Its too easy to fall into a rut, especially after having a baby. And that is the most important time for us NOT to allow that to happen. Get up, get moving. You'll feel the benefits right away!! Eat a sensible diet, and drink plenty of sugar free fluids (water, 100% fruit juice). Don't starve yourself, that will make the weight even harder to lose. Eat consistently and healthy.

Good luck!

[Samantha Heller, MS RD CDN]

PLEASE do not make yourself crazy trying to lose baby weight in the first year. You have enough to deal with caring for a new baby and everything that goes with it. Be kind and patient with yourself. If you are feeling depressed and cannot seem to shake the blues please talk with your doctor. You could be suffering from postpartum depression or other issues.

It is true breast feeding alone will not cause a rapid or huge weight loss. But the benefits of breast feeding are huge! It is great that you have breast fed your daughter for so long. Breast feeding stimulates the uterus to contract back to its original size and does burn extra calories. Of course what you eat, how much and exercise will make the biggest difference

Focus on making healthy food choices. One easy way to kick start a healthy eating program is to stop eating cheese. I can hear you cringing! But cheese has so many calories that add up quickly and contains a lot of bad saturated fat. Skip the cheese for at least 2 weeks (you will be surprised how much you have been eating) and then go back to low or non-fat versions. Some of them are quite good (some are not!). Choose low or non fat dairy foods such as fat free milk, fat free or low fat cheese, yogurt and cottage cheese. Make 1/2 your lunch and dinner plates vegetables, 1/4 healthy lean protein - fish, chicken, tofu, beans- and 1/4 whole grains - whole wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa (a grain from South America that is now in many regular grocery stores). Drink plenty of fluids. Ditch the soda, fast food and junk food.

As far as exercise: Whether your child is 10 months or 10 years old, it is tough to find the time to exercise. But it can be done. Schedule exercise into your day at specific times just like you do other important appointments. Buy a DVD of dancing, yoga or pilates to do while the baby is taking a nap or at a play date. Get the baby used to taking walks in the stroller with you. Pick some good hills to power up. As tired as you are - believe it or not - regular exercise gives you more energy and will help your body burn calories. It also relieves the blues and reduces anxiety.

[Cathizzle]

TO be honest, for the longest time, I was jealous of my sister inlaw. She has been always average body type, she had her first daughter 5 yrs ago, been at her highest weight of 200 after she had her, she slowly lost it, got down to her prepg weight before she got pg again w/ her 2nd daughter, she nursed her til she was about well past her 1 yr birthday, she's now a size 6 or smaller. Honestly, it disgusted me that she lost all that weight that quickly. She honestly didn't have a workout routine, she is a clean freak tho, & she did watch what she ate, she laid off the sugar, she completely cut it out of her diet, no caffeine, water 100% juice only. She still doesn't eat sugar, she actually deprives her children of it. I was insanely jealous of her, even after I had my daughter who is 5 months old & #4. Before I got pg w/ her there is 2 yrs between her and my son, I was almost in a 12. I'm almost in a 12 again, Almost. That is b/c I am drinking water constantly, & I finally got it into my head, that breastfeeding isn't the only thing that will help me get this weight off. So I went out and bought me the Biggest Loser: Power Sculpt. I'm wayyy out of shape. I didn't think i had the time to do any of it, w/ having 4 kids & my oldest will be 6 in July. I have to literally push myself out of bed every morning @ 630 or sooner. My 5 mo wakes up about 530 & i found myself the other morning, Saturday, getting up after she nursed, to workout, even after I was done, everyone was still asleep, & i still got another hr or so of sleep. I've been at it for 2 weeks & I saw results real fast. I just bought me a pair of 14 shorts, & they are already really loose. I'm on level 2 of the workout, I had to stop the workout to catch my breath, but i will do level 2 at the kids nap time. NO Pain No Gain. That is what I keep telling myself. ANyway, if anyone wants to buddy up w/ me, join me! My best friend and I live 3-4 hrs away from each other, we get on messenger and talk. She unfortunately is bigger then i & is on prescription med to help her loose weight, but she's only on it for 2 more months. But we're still encouraging each other, she goes to the Y @ 530 in the morning for spinning. Well I need to get my kiddos lunch. But please if you need a buddy, contact me BCMNBS@Hotmail.com Good luck & God Bless.

[splahitk]

... because I stressed too much over weight loss and it affected the quality of my milk.

I kept my daily calorie intake to 1800 or less (easy to do when you're a busy working mom and forget to eat most of the time anyway, right?). I lost the entire 53 pounds that I gained with my son in the first 4 months of his life. My milk went from looking creamy and thick to looking watery and thin every time I pumped for him at work.

Though I was excited to go shopping again and fit into my old sizes (ECSTATIC, in fact) and my son appeared to be thriving, he was eating more frequently, causing me to have to pump more often at work (difficult) and was not receiving quality nutrition. So what the heck was I breastfeeding for in the first place if I was depriving my son of its benefits by not consuming enough good calories??

My son is 6 months old now, and I have put on 6 pounds of weight. My milk looks great, and my boy is already crawling and pulling up onto his feet. I guess I'll lose those extra pounds when he figures out how to walk in a month or so and I have to chase him around constantly!!

[Cathizzle]

W/ my first born, when I first started pg w/ her I was at a size 6, I gained ALOT, so much that after I had her I was in 20/24 somewhere in there. I could FIT into my MOMs clothes. I hadnt looked into the mirror in a month. SO the day I tried squeezing into my 6's, I couldn't even get the jeans up my legs. I actualy called my husband at work bawling b/c I couldn't fit into them. Besides that fact, my diet was horrible, we lived w/ my inlaws, they were bigger ppl and were in love w/ junk food, drive thru, all that. So i Gained even more. I was trying to nurse my daughter, but she was being really stubborn & wouldn't latch on. The consultant I Had pinched me and everything, made me bleed. So that didn't help. So when she finally latched on, she would spit everything up..I mean soaking me and herself. Finally I just put her on formula. We couldn't afford our own groceries, so we ate what they bought. Most of my baby flab came from my first pregnancy. It was horrible..

[CoreyAllers]

Ah I hate seeing girls depressed about gaining a little bit of weight. My GF is about six months pregnant and she is all worried, my mother is skinny like me and is always dieting and I just hate seeing girls all worried about a little bit of weight. I'm sure you look fine, and remember most people in america are over weight...so, just don't stress, theres not enough time for that. Worry about your little one :) I don't know if my message helped at all but I hope it did. The weight will come off eventually, you'll find time to work out and stuff.

[babytimeagain]

I know how you feel. When I was pregnant with my first I wasn't worried about my weight really but my coworkers kept telling me I'd lose all the baby weight when I nursed so I wasn't really worried about it. Yeah I didn't lose even half of it which made me feel like a failure! So this time I'm not setting myself up to expect anything. It is what it is and I'll try my best when the time comes. ;)

[4feet]

I lost about 80% of my pregnancy weight except for that sagging belly, only a little. I didn't do anything special. I tried exercising but not easy with kids at home. I did breastfeed non-stop. I like to credit the losing weight to lack of sleep, constantly moving around (2 boys), not being able to eat properly (missing breakfast), and probably the food that I actually eat. During winter I did walk with my boys out to the park so that my 5 year old can play, almost everyday. This summer is a little hot. My baby's 8 months now and I am back to my pre-pregnancy clothes. I do need to get rid of the belly he he he he