First, I am still nursing a 13 month old. I had been sincerely struggling with getting the scale to move even an ounce for months.
I diligently went to the gym and did 60 minutes of cardio, I did spinning at home on my bike trainer, in addition for training for a 5k.

Between that, calorie reduction and the fact that I was nursing.. I did not understand why the scale was not moving!

I decided, no more cardio. I am going to relax and nurse my baby comfy on the couch and continue my calorie reduction.

Guess what? Inches and pounds are finally coming off. I think I was putting too much stress on my body! Who knows, maybe I had higher cortisol levels anyway and the stress of cardio pushed me over the edge.

Anyway, It feels really good to finally figure out what was wrong. Hopefully I can introduce some light weight training instead to help build muscle.

See ya cardio!

First of all, blessings to you and your precious little one!
and good idea to relax and enjoy your baby and do what
you've been doing. That's super great about your health
results, sounds like you are doing the right thing for you!

Exersise is a wonderful thing, but it certainly does not make you lose weight. Best wishes for you and your little one.

It may not make you loose weight but it does help, I dont think you can loose weight by diet alone, At least I havent been able too, I've always had to do both.

It's different for everyone! Remember I am burning extra calories from nursing so that is kind of like my exercise

I know a lot of people who've lost 100+ pounds with no exercise.

I'm glad to hear you've found something that's working for you Don't be surprised if you see the scale go up when you add weight training though, (it will eventually level off). And yay for more time with your baby instead of cardio at the gym!

I believe you can lose weight with diet alone but not with exercise alone. Exercise is important for other things, though. Right now you need to do what's best for your baby and you, and being stressed isn't it. I would accept whatever losses you are having right now. You can always get back to exercise somewhere down the line.

It's great you have found something that is working but anyone reading this thread should understand one very simple fact.

There is always a logical way to explain what is happening with our bodies. Because science.

Keeping everything the same and just stopping cardio would not speed up fat loss. Something else has changed. Exercise does not have the power to stop fat loss.

My guess would be that stopping the cardio has helped decrease your appetite and therefore you're eating less. Exercise doesn't burn that many calories and for many it increases appetite.

Whatever the actual explaination is cortisol is not the reason.

Breast feeding is a full time job, I would have never managed the Cardio with nursing. Focusing on healthy eating and giving that little one lots of love is plenty enough !!

Amen, John. I'm glad OP is now losing but I don't want people to be misinformed about exercise.