Why does Breastfeeding make it harder to lose preggo weight?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. It is really this simple.

actually it's not that simple - I tracked my calories in and out and even with a deficit I couldn't move the last 5lbs. My body refused to let me drop below a certain weight while I was bfing, no matter what I did.

You could also be retaining 5 pounds of water. I know I felt a lot less swollen after I weaned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Please, please, please read my post again and let me know if you really want to challenge me on this: when you consume fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight. I am not trying to tell you that people do not become enormously hungry while breastfeeding. I am not trying to argue that people don't absorb more calories from the food they do eat while pregnant. I am not trying to tell you that people's metabolic rates don't slow down when they are middle aged. But when your daily intake is less then your energy output, you will lose weight.

What you are missing is that a body's metabolism will alter what your body "burns" so that the simple "if you burn more than you consume, you will lose weight" isn't so straightforward. I agree that the premise holds true, but what all of us is saying is that you'd think we'd be burning more than we consume b/c - for example - we are breastfeeding (exclusively in my case) and counting calories (no more than 1500 in my case) and STILL not losing any weight.

If I stick to 1500 calories normally (not breastfeeding), I can lose the weight. Not so when I'm breastfeeding. My body HOLDS ONTO this weight like you wouldn't believe.

[Anonymous]

Just to share my experience (and not get into this debate about "why" in any way), I was very small pre-pregnancy and gained a TON of weight (60 lbs). I EBFed for 8 months, then BFed 2x/day until 1 year. After the initial weight loss from baby, placenta, etc. (maybe 15 lbs?) and the rest of the water weight that I lost a week or two after the birth (c-section and lots of IVs didn't help here) (another 15 lbs, for a total of 30), the rest of the weight came off very slowly over the course of about 8 months. Then it continued to come off throughout the entire time I was BFing, so that by one year when I weaned completely, I was 10 lbs. below my pre-pregnancy weight. I never dieted or exercised, though I did make an effort to eat healthily for the sake of BFing, and there was a brief period where I went dairy-free to resolve some stomach issues DS was having. My pregnancy appetite totally went away after the birth, and unlike other PPs I did not feel like I had an increased appetite while BFing -- I guess I had enough fat stored up that my body didn't need more.

After I stopped BFing I did not gain any additional weight -- despite misguided attempts to do so (in the form of ice cream and other post-dinner treats). I attribute this to the return of my previously very fast metabolism, which has always kept me pretty slim.

I'm very curious to see what happens with pregnancy #2, because I really don't want to be waddling around with an extra 60 lbs this July, but on the other hand I worry about how low my weight can drop during bfing without impacting supply and potentially my own health -- I got closer to the 100 lbs. mark than I was really comfortable with last time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in my experience, i dropped the pounds fast while breastfeeding and ended up 5 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight, which i didn't gain back until after I stopped.

This for me too. I eat a ton of food each day too. I'm in no hurry to stop breastfeeding! It's good for the baby and good for me.