Holding onto weight while BFing?

[penstamon]

x-posted in BFing but wanted to get some ideas from the fitness mamas

I'm a little frustrated because I weighed myself for the first time since DS was 6 weeks (he is 9 mo now) and I am still up 6 lbs from pp weight. I gained 29 lbs during pg, started out at a healthy weight/BMI (albeit 10 lbs more than ideal). So essentially I lost around 5 lbs in the past 34 weeks!!!!!!!!

I workout 5 days a week-intense cardio and weight training- and I walk and hike many miles daily. The increase in exercise started after the holidays and I keep upping the intensity as I get more fit. My muscles are getting nice and toned but no one would ever know because they are padded with fat still. My diet has always been good (roughly 1800 calories of whole foods a day) and I don't overeat. Despite all these achievements, the fat doesn't budge. My pp clothes still don't quite fit . My dr. said I am holding onto BFing weight, but when oh when will it go?

Did you lose only when you stopped altogether, or was there a magic time that your body decided that it didn't need so much stored?

or am I just blaming this on BFing

[Tara2]

Hi there.

I wish i knew. I am still nursing my 17 mo old DS. I am still 12 pounds over my pp weight! This is a first for me. I always got down to ppg weight in the first year. They say 9mo -1 yr. I say it may relate to maternal age and if this is your first or later baby. Because DS is my third born, and obviously I am the oldest I've been so far, maybe that is why? I do think BF has something to do with it, because some women retain 5-10 pounds of pg weight as long as bf-ing, but I think if your child is 2 or older that should get sucked out of you! LOL. I have been running the last 9 months and you'd think I would be pretty in shape by now... not wholely, it seems.
Still, FWIW I would not wean my son only for the sake of weighing a few pounds less, especially if I am in good shape overall. I assume that sooner or later, as I up my mileage or he nurses less, the pounds will come off.
Good luck!

[LeslieB]

I'm still nursing my 4 year old, but I had a pretty difficult time losing those last few pounds until I started ovulating again when DS was 32 months. Right after that, I found that the extra pounds were so much easier to melt away. I had that fat layer, too, even at 128 pounds. Breastfeeding never helped me lose PP weight; exercising was what did it, but my body fought it. I think it's just what happens with some women.

[RosemaryS-F]

Hi! I wondered this when my ds was littler too. As it turned out I wasn't holding on to weight due to breastfeeding, but rather due to eating too much (although I didn't think I was) Once I found out what my bmr was from the mayoclinic.com website (they have a calorie calculator on there that is great) I lost weight. I subtracted 500 from the level that they gave me and lost 1/week.
You have to keep readjusting the calories as you lose weight, or you'll stall. My guess is that if you're eating "roughly" 1800 calories/day, you're actually averaging about 2200. People always underestimate what they eat. Try a food journal and be religious about it; one like sparkpeople.com. It doesn't allow for breastfeeding though; it'll bounce you over to the sister site babyfit.com, which IMO is really lame. I just would add whatever # calories I thought ds was still getting from me to their range; start with 500 if you're little one is still nursing almost exclusively. If the weight doesn't come off, subtract 100 at a time.
I always lose better when I don't eat back my exercise burn; or if I treat it as bonus (if I burn 500 calories, I can have a 250 treat or something.)
Good luck. I wouldn't give up on your body or make any conclusions until you have exhausted your resources and done a little experimentation!