Breastfeeding + weight loss
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Anonymous
| How many of you took it too far? I have a history of anorexia and have lost a bit too much weight since giving birth. My supply seems to be ok despite eating next to nothing; I am worried it may not keep up for long though. I also worry the milk I am giving her may be deficient somehow since my own diet surely is (I consume around 500 calories most days). Anyone else dealing with this? I just want to be sure I am not hurting DC. |
Anonymous
| I battled eating disorders for years, but now is the time to think about your child and not yourself. I am BFing exclusively, and LO is six months old. I have not been to a gym in weeks. You have lots of time to lose weight later. If you are committed to BF, make sure you are eating enough to provide sufficient milk. If you cannot put babies needs first, I would speak to a therapist or a doctor. |
Anonymous
| This is OP. LO is 6 months, EBF and 22 lbs - very healthy. If there were any signs that I was harming her in some way I would certainly try to stop losing so much. Once I got below 100 lbs I completely lost my appetite, which, with my history, makes eating extremely difficult. My supply is still enough that I can put a 5-6 oz bottle in the freezer every day so it isn't clear that it is harming anything yet. |
Anonymous
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I think this question is beyond the expertise of most DCUM's. 500 calories is definitely far too little to be healthy for you, but you know that. I have read that BF'ing burns 750 calories a day. I don't know whether your body will use all 500 calories you eat and take the other 250 from your body or whether your baby won't get the nutrition she needs. But, either way, you are going to be in no shape to care of her. Also, you may be permanently affecting her appetite and health, biologically, and you are setting her up for a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits modeled on yours. Get help NOW from a mental health counselor and nutritionist. I feel for you, but the fact you are asking this means you know you are in trouble. Take care of yourself in order to give your baby the best possible start in life.
I would willingly have a disfiguring facial scar if it made a difference in my kids being healthy or unhealthy. You can be "fat" (in your own eyes and, as only you believe, everyone elses's) for your baby girl's health. |
Anonymous
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What about you? You are not eating enough to sustain yourself and feed your baby. So you are robbing your own body but soon your body will stop producing milk. Because you are not eating correctly the composition of your milk is not "as good" as a healthy mom. A recent studied showed the more diverse the diet (and if the mother had maternal fat stores) the more complex the milk was and they believe this complexity is what promotes baby development (good gut flora, brain development, immunity, etc). So you are most certainly hurting your baby in that way.
In addition, you are killing yourself. Cheating yourself out of years of life and years of health. Osteoporosis, heart disease, fertility problems, etc. You are literally ruining your long term quality of life and shortening it. As a mother, all I want to do is live as long as possible so I can see my children grow up and start famlilies, you are cheating yourself out of your future with your children. And what kind of role model are you being for your child? Promoting such an unhealthy lifestyle. Do you want the same for them? You need therapy. You need a nutritionists. You need help. IF you can't do this for yourself (and it sounds like you can't) PLEASE do it for your child. |
Anonymous
| So at 22 months, your healthy little girl weighs almost 1/4 of what you weigh. What will her body image be like when she is 8 or 12 or 15? |
Anonymous
| I realize it may be beyond DCUM's expertise, but there is surprisingly little online about breastfeeding and anorexia. DC is full of gorgeous, skinny moms so I figured someone here would have dealt with it. |
Anonymous
She is actually 6 months.  Good point, though. I do not want her to go through this.
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Anonymous
| This is not a post about breastfeeding and weight loss. Clearly you think your child is healthy and that you are not. This may not currently impact her, but it eventually will--either with her own views of her body or the fact that you may not be available to her in the way you or she would like. Do something about it now. |
Anonymous
| Are you getting any medical care for your eating disorder, OP? Maybe that is a good place to start. Kudos to you for recognizing the signs of problems to come and wanting to do something about it. |
Anonymous
| Are you serious, or a troll? How could you get your baby to 22 pounds EBFing on 500 calories a day? If real you need serious help. Your poor daughter. |
Anonymous
| Op I have a history of an eating disorder and when the weight just started dropping off (although I never got near under 100) I was secretly so happy even though people were telling me I was losing too much. I had to really try to make sure I ate enough to maintain my weight, not just for breast feeding but I knew I didn't want to go down that road again. It sounds like you have already started. I would seek help so that you can be healthy for yourself and your little girl. Good luck, I know it's hard but you can do it |
Anonymous
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Oh, honey, you're hurting your child, but probably not nutritionally, since evidently breastmilk doesn't change that much even in famine conditions (at least according to the nutrient analysis I've seen).
Having a new baby is SO stressful, and of course without help you're going to fall back on your anorexic tendencies. I, too, battled an eating disorder, will always have that lurking in me. But my closest college friend (who also had an eating disorder, even more severe than mine because she refused to seek help for a long time) and I both have something in common: mothers with extremely disordered eating. Please take care of yourself, for your daughter's sake. I still want so badly to be able to control my MOM, to change HER, to help HER, and I realize how much of this I enact upon my own body. It takes a long time, maybe forever, to get out of the habit of disordered eating. Your daughter is already watching you. Really. Hugs. The hormones, everything, about this time are so hard. You need to be kind to your body so you can be around for your precious baby for a long, long time. |
Anonymous
Very serious, unfortunately. I was eating normally at first but as my weight got lower, my appetite decreased. Maybe she is such a big baby she is taking more from me than most babies would? I don't really know how it works. I will probably seek help at some point because I don't want to pass this on to my child. I meant to ask - anyone who has been through this, what happened in the end? Did the weight loss level off at some point or did you breastfeed into emaciation? Did it affect your supply at some point? Did you lose more when you weaned like most women do? |
Anonymous
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When I was BF, I was starving all of the time. I was about 120 lbs (5"6') when I got pregnant. I ate and ate, but still lost weight.
I must admit, that I did like seeing the weight drop off. When I was almost 105, I was at my regular Dr. for a checkup. She was pretty much horrified that I weighed so little. She suggested that I start drinking Ensure or something similar. She also suggested milkshakes. If you just aren't hungry, you could try that. If you are only eating 500 calories a day to lose weight, then you are in real danger. I had multiple broken bones because the baby was taking everything it needed from my stores. My hair and skin looked terrible. Once I stopped nursing, which I'll admit, I did for a long time because I liked being so thin, the weight came right back. It probably took almost a year, but it came back. I'm not happy about it, but it is what it is. For your daughter's sake, please get help. She deserves to go up with a healthy momma. |