Post-pregnancy setpoint--Here I am again
 

I was hoping I might get some advice/support/friendly suggestions, especially from moms who have breastfed. I had a good loss the first 2 weeks of my plan (10 pounds in total), but last week I only lost 1 pound, which put me smack dab at 246--a weight I have not been able to drop below since I had my son 11 months ago. I thought my body might be resisting dropping below that point because I was nursing and it was trying to protect the milk supply. My son still nurses at night, and sometimes for comfort, but that's it, so hopefully that won't be an obstacle this time.

I'm determined to bust past this setpoint. Now my only one pound loss might have been because I ate out 3 times last week and didn't make the wisest choices. Still, I don't want to take a chance that that was all it was. So here's my plan: my normal eating plan is to eat 3 meals a day, no snacks, no sweets, and no starchy foods at dinner. I'll follow that, and in addition, this week I'm planning:
--no meals out
--limit non-whole grain carbs to one serving a day
--eat a smaller dinner.

Exercise:
-Step aerobics 5x a week
-Take the stairs at work
-Do pilates or power yoga every night
-walk everyday during my lunch hour

Any other suggestions? Have any other moms experienced this? What worked for you? thanks!

Darlene, I have this problem at the 200lb mark. As you see I am at 195 and having a really hard time getting under. Soooooooo...I totally know how you are feeling. Tweaking your plan is the best thing you can do right now and see if you get results from that. Just make sure that you don't trick your body into thinking it is starving though. If that happens you are not going to see loss. How many calories are you going for? It's great that you are putting so much effort into getting past this "stuck" weight phase. Also, some weeks you are going to lose more than others. Don't freak out to bad over that. When I first started one week I'd lose a pound and then the next week 4 pounds. It can greatly differ. I'm sure others will tell you that also. Water weight plays alot into it also. Just keep those things in mind. You are doing a wonderful job!!

Thanks, Tammy for the encouragement and advice! And you are an inspiration--I can't wait to be in Onederland (although now I'm looking forward to being in 220-land ;) ). To answer your question, I don't count calories b/c it's not something I feel (now) that I can maintain. For breakfast I eat 2 eggs and 2 slices of whole grain toast, or 2 slices of whole grain toast with 2 Tbsp of almond butter. For lunch, I usually eat a low-fat meal (like lowfat mac and cheese, or spaghetti with ground turkey), and for dinner I usually eat some sort of meat and a salad or other non-starchy veggies. However, I think my portions have been too big, so this week I'm going to be conscious of the portions I'm eating.

I don't think I'm eating too few calories. In fact, I think I've been eating too many.

Darlene,are you keeping a journal? Usually this can tell you where you might be going wrong. Are you doing carbs or cals? I started with carbs but it quit on me after the first couple weeks so switched to cals and did much better. :goodluck:

Well my stuck weight is where I'm at now. I can't seem to get and stay below 260. I think tammy gave you some great tips. Sometimes it takes trial and error to find what works for you.
I know you said you don't think counting calories is something you can do long-term but it might be worth it to do for a couple of weeks to see just how many calories you are taking in.