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What's the rush?

Keep it simple and try to avoid pastas, breads, rice and anything that comes in a box.

If you're hungry all the time you should consider eating fewer larger meals and see if that helps. For me personally small meals just make me more focused on food.

Now is NOT the time to worry about losing weight You need to give yourself a good 6-8 weeks minimum to recover from birth and build your milk supply. You will be ravenously hungry and that is OKAY. Make wiser choices, focus on foods that are quick, easy to eat, but good for you (ie. nutritious smoothies, nuts, fruits, good hearty red meats [iron], whatever, even better - if you can find a store that provides pre-made/frozen nutritious meals).

You are only 13 days by. I personally don't worry about dropping the weight seriously until 12 months - you are still on a post-birth high and the extreme sleep deprivation starts to take it's toll. Give yourself 9 months to recover. I should follow my own advice, but I find pushing myself too hard after birth always causes a rebound later.

I'll be going through something similar in a few months, so I don't have much advice but am very interested in the replies as well as hearing about your progress. I also wanted to offer you some support!

From what I understand, you're supposed to eat the same number of calories throughout breastfeeding as you did in the first trimester, which is more than maintenance and less than you you're supposed to have in the third trimester (there are a lot of calorie choices calculators out there that'll give you a number to shoot for). It wouldn't hurt to discuss this with you doctor and pediatrician as well.

I'm hoping to give myself a little over three months to body let my body recover from the whole pregnancy thing before I employ any amount of strictness with my plan (aside from making overall healthy choices), and not to support any harsh calorie restriction until I'm done breastfeeding. Of course I'm sure all that is easier said than done, right?

I guess the rush is that I don't want to get confortable at this weight and then either be stuck here for years or keep going up...

I just need to get into the whole "eating healthy" mind set... But it's so much easier boiling some pasta or rice and throw some veggies and call it a dinner than estimating calories, and counting carbs and blah blah blah...

Why can't I have good genes??? Lol

Thank you all for your replies, they are all very helpfull, now it's just a matter of getting things done and stop whining

I guess the rush is that I don't want to get confortable at this weight and then either be stuck here for years or keep going up...

I just need to get into the whole "eating healthy" mind set... But it's so much easier boiling some pasta or rice and throw some veggies and call it a dinner than estimating calories, and counting carbs and blah blah blah...

Why can't I have good genes??? Lol

Thank you all for your replies, they are all very helpfull, now it's just a matter of getting things done and stop whining

I think that was my biggest initial fear as well! I spent weeks fretting over trying to find a happy balance after finding out I was pregnant because I was once comfortable at 360 pounds, and once again at 285. I don't want to get comfortable in the 220 range when I know I can get healthier and feel even better, and I've been afraid of losing all those good habits I'd worked so hard on developing.

So I've continued what seems to be my most important habit, writing in my food journal. The new adaptation I've had to make was to turn to counting/estimating calories rather than focus on restriction like I had when I was losing. The transition was a little easier than I thought, and I think it'll work well for me to transition back when it's time to restrict again.

I hate cooking and counting calories, but I end up doing a lot of prep and planning ahead so healthier options are easy to grab and count. I just spent this morning making breakfast and lunch burritos that can be popped in the microwave on a whim, made some whole grain french toast to freeze and reheat in the toaster, and cooked up some turkey sausage and TVP protein crumbles for the freezer. Earlier this week I portioned out frozen fruit and dollops of greek yogurt in baggies for smoothies, and I made a big batch of salad so I always have lots of veggies to go the my meals for the week. I also keep plenty of fresh fruit and veggies stocked, and don't store pasta, white rice, or any unhealthy "munchy" snacks like chips, cookies, etc.

Anyway, I think we're all entitled to whine a bit while figuring things out. I know I've certainly done my share, lol! I'm sure you'll be fine.

Cieloarge, congratulations! Is this your first baby? If so, I'm extremely impressed that you're even considering exercising or anything besides sleeping!

For me, my first baby was such a huge adjustment that putting on clean underwear each day was an achievement. I didn't start exercising until she was about 8 months old. With my second, I vaguely remember going to the gym a few times when she was about 5 or 6 months old. With each of them, I lost lots of weight fairly easily just from breastfeeding, and took off the last 5 lbs or so with a little more work (at that point, into the mid-130s) when they were about a year old. With my 3rd, I was going to Baby Boot Camp when he was 10 or 12 weeks old, and I was down to the low 130's at 7 months -- but I was super-motivated, as my DH was deployed and I wanted to look good when he got home.

My advice would be to take it eeeeeaaaaasy with the exercise. I recall running a bunch of errands when DD1 was about 2 weeks old and I started bleeding bright red again and had lots of v-area pain. Whether you had a vaginal delivery or c-section, that is some major trauma to your body. Let it heal and let yourself recover.

Stock the house with easy-to-eat healthy snacks -- baby carrots, sugar snap peas, precut celery or whatever makes for less work. Those little cups of fruit in juice (not syrup) that you find in the refrigerator section of the store. Boxed salad. Apples! Whatever you can make with little thought and time. Pasta for dinner is fine -- just throw some broccoli in for the last few minutes of boiling and you've healthied it up!

Take care of yourself, and take care of that sweet little boy, and the rest will follow!

LC shouldn't harm your supply unless you drop your calories too low. I had no appreciable supply issues at 1800-2000 calories and 20 net carbs, and this was after some major milk issues with previous children (I don't have a robust supply on the best of days).

On my LC board, most women are able to nurse low or very low carb and have no problems at all, even just on meat and water. The trick is to raise calories, if need be, to satiety. Low calories are the killer of milk, not a lack of potatoes and oatmeal in favor of green beans and cauliflower.

As for getting back on the bandwagon, I'd push food way before exercise. If you over-exercise postpartum you can set yourself up for long term muscle damage and a much slower recovery. Longer postpartum bleeding would be the mildest issue, to put it another way. I've recovered from a few babies while keeping my weight reduced - it's no sweat so long as you rest, don't make excuses, and don't ignore your body's feedback. If something is amiss like you are exhausted, milk is dropping, or something similar, eat more! Try another 250 calories of fat and protein first, and if that doesn't remedy it then raise your carbs by 5-10 gram increments, each week, until you hit a plateau where your weight is stable but your supply is better. Hold off on the exercise until 6-8 weeks postpartum. I always fight that advice, I want to get back to exercising, but it's so incredibly stupid to do so! Earning yourself a prolapse, postpartum hemorrhage, hernia, or worsening diastasis recti is just not worth three extra week on an elliptical

Congratulations on your baby! I hope some of this helps you out

FWIW from all the research I've done over the years, low carb is FINE, just make sure to increase your dietary fats (moreso than the average low carber). It's worked for us since the dawn of time when bottles didn't exist, and now is no different

Because you're breastfeeding you will be amazed by how many calories you're allowed to eat and still lose weight. I did WW while breastfeeding because they have a breastfeeding plan, so that my milk supply didn't suffer and I found I lost weight much easier than if I wasn't breastfeeding. Don't rush into dieting and exercising, take it easy. It takes ages for our bodies to return to normal after birth. Avoid doing any high impact exercise that could potentially weaken your pelvic floor (this includes abdominal exercise like crunches). When you go for your six week check up, the nurse should be able to advise you better on calorie intake. Making good food choices at this stage goes a long way (hard I know, when all you want to do is eat), avoiding fast food and that extra piece of cake etc. Good luck.