Not losing weight while BF'ing

[NaturalMama311]

Does anyone else have a really, really hard time losing weight while BF'ing?  After I had DD I lost about 20 lbs but then gained it all back while BF'ing.  I started dieting and working out but didn't really start seeing any kind of weight loss until I stopped BF'ing. 

I am now 6 months PP with DS and having the same problem.  Initially after having him I lost about 25 lbs but have gained back at least 10 lbs.  I have been working out 4-5 days a week at the gym - doing an hour long workout including cardio and resistance training but I'm not losing any weight.  The first week of working out I lost 1.5 lbs.  I'm now on week 3 and I'm up 2 lbs from my original weight. 

What gives?  I'm not really dieting because I don't want to starve my body of calories while BF'ing.  Is my body just holding onto every calorie I consume?  Its getting REALLY frustrating when I'm working out an hour at the gym only to see the scale going in the wrong direction.  I know I'm building muscle which weighs more than fat but I don't know how much longer I can motivate myself to workout when I'm not seeing results!  Anyone else have this problem?  Part of my wants to stop BF'ing so I can start losing weight and get my body back but I also want to do what's best for DS.

[amaayeh]

I've always had a very difficult time losing that last bit of baby weight while bfing.  It doesn't help that I haven't stopped bfing in between pregnancies either!!  I'm only 2 weeks ppd, but I can relate again, except this time I'm nursing two (3 y.o. dd and 2 week old dd).  I lost that initial 20 lbs and now it's starting to come back on.  I agree that I can't starve myself, but it's just so hard not being able to lose the weight.  With my first it took me two years to lose it and that was with running 4 miles a day, 5 days a week the last 10 months of that time.  I still didn't lose that last five pounds, though.  I don't know what to tell you.  I'm just not one of those that loses weight bfing, either. 

[MegBoz]

I'm an ACE-certified fitness instructor & personal trainer. I too have lost like no weight thus far. I got serious about eating "clean" (no sweets!) when DD was 6 weeks old- normally I lose weight well with cutting the junk. Well, in over 6 weeks of very good eating & I lost 1.5# That barely counts!

So I got frustrated & ate A LOT more sweets (also an unhealthy coping mechanism I have - & DD has colic, so I'm cutting myself some slack!) & another 6 weeks have gone by... and I gained.... about 1.5#

Craziness!

So my body seems to weigh this much now while BFing no matter what I do.

I suggest you also cut yourself some slack, STOP WEIGHING yourself for a while & instead, to keep yourself motivated, set some fitness goals! :) Here are some ideas:

• How long you can hold "the plank" (on toes & elbows)
• How long it takes to walk/run a mile
• How many 'military style' (on toes) push-ups you can do
• how much weight you can curl or bench press for 8 reps

etc. Try to make the focus on what your body can DO physically, not what the scale says. It's also kinda fun for once, as a chick, to think about being strong & fit instead of stressing over dress size, IMX. :)

[niengolina]

I'll just leave my personal experience...

I have four babies and after my last was born I finally got sick of being asked if I was pregnant even when I wasn't. I started working out regularly but to no avail. I took a hard look at what I was doing and then made some changes and I've lost 30 pounds since last August and am below my pre-baby weight. This is what I changed:

*High intensity interval training. My workouts are only 20 - 30 minutes a day and focus on the largest muscle groups of the body. Fitmarriage.com and fityummymummy.com helped me a lot.

* Smaller portions. This was my biggest problem. I always ate too much at meals, thinking that that was the way to get more nutrients. Instead I switched to a smaller plate and started eating way less, more frequently.

* More healthy fats. More protein. No sweets. Lots of fruits and veggies.

* No grains. This was because I have a gluten and corn intolerance and was trying to get rid of a food-allergy rash that I've had for years. It resulted in large weight loss. I now eat rice because it doesn't give me any issues and only eat it occasionally. My carb/fat/protein ratio is really well-balanced and I have not gained any weight back.

:)