My name is Sara. I'm about 178 pounds. I have set my goal at 140 pounds, but I think I might end up wanting to lose even more than that at some point. But 140 is my present goal. I am 28, I am a stay at home mom to a 4 1/2 year old, 3 year old and 9 month old. I am nursing the 9 month old. I started the Leslie Sansone program(walk away the pounds). I am on day 8. I have lost 2 pounds. I am just doing her walking videos. I have not really been dieting, but trying to be more aware of my eating. I am from MN.

My husband and I plan to have more children(God willing), and I would really like to lose some weight before becoming pregnant again to make for a hopefully easier pregnancy.

Thanks for reading this.
Sara

It's good to hear from you, it seems like we are in the same boat!!

We are both mamas, breastfeeding, SAH, married, thinking of having another little one, living in the tundra and losing weight!!!

I have bit more to lose than you, I need to drop about 80 lbs. I've been walking, doing yoga, using a stability ball, and doing some cardio videos. About 3 weeks ago I overhauled my diet and I lowered my cals and carbs, and it's been easier than I thought it would be to eat better. I know I've lost weight but since I don't own a scale it's hard to say exactly where I;m at. All I know is my jeans feel better (better = looser!)

Let me know if I can help you at all or if you'd just like to talk. Good to find another Minnesotan in all these chicks!!!

Hope

Oh, and I am also 28!

Leo is 5 1/2 mos now, and we're working on teething and eating rice cereal.

Later!

Hello Sara and Hope, my name is Amanda. I am not from Minnesota, but I am a breastfeeding mother who would like to lose weight. I want to lose about 70lbs. My baby is just about five months and hopefully is getting on a better sleeping schedule. I have been trying to work out in the mornings if she lets me sleep and have been trying to eat better. Hopefully we can all help each other out on this journey. Good luck with both of your families.

Amanda

HI guys! My name is Angela and I'm in the same boat as you all!! I have a 5 year old and 3 year old and a 3 month old. I'm 29 , stay at home, and I want to lose about 45 pounds. I am on Sugar Busters and trying to excersise regulary. I am breastfeeding my 3 month old, so trying to go slow!!! Looking forward to getting to know you all soon!!

So, Angela, Amanda and Sara:

Have any of you heard that there is some rules around weight loss and breastfeeding? I feel like I've heard something but I have no idea what...lately I get that feeling a lot

Seriously, are you trying to not go below a certain # of calories or something? I think I remember hearing that breastfeeding takes about 400 cals a day...does that sound right? I guess it would be less for me, I've been supplementing with formula and now we have the rice going. But anyway, I've been shooting for no more than 1900 cals a day, and fat less than 55 grams. I know a lot of people are doing less than that, but it seems right for me right now. The only thing I should probably be doing - relating to the breastfeeding - is taking supplements. I ran out of prenatal, and I think we have some Centrum around here somewhere.

Excercising with kids around is a major challange, isn't it? I guess I have no room to complain, I only have 1! We finally got his naps pretty regulated, so atleast When he goes down I know I have time to walk. But now that he's teething everything is up in the air! I can't imagine having toddlers too...hats off to you!

I have heard some things about cutting calories and breastfeeding. I think that is my dilemma right now. I am scared to not eat enough since my baby won't take a bottle at all. I just don't want to lose any milk supply. My other two kids never nursed very well so they were on bottles early and so I am kind of new to breastfeeding this long.

The only way I get to exercise is if I do it early in the morning before they wake up or late at night after they go to bed, (which by then I am usually ready for bed myself). The baby lately has not been consitent in when she wants to eat in the morning so she keeps messing me up. One night she will wake up at 3am and then the next night she won't wake up until 7am. Of course I don't know she is goign to sleep until 7 so I stay in bed waiting for her to wake up, because my luck I will get on the treadmill for five minutes and then she will wake up.

Right now as far as food I am just trying to eat healthier and eat less at each meal. But I am not counting calories. We will see how it goes. Love talking with you gals.

Amanda

I looked on a website called parentsplace.com and this is what a lactation consultant said:


"It was once thought that a nursing mother needed to have a diet that was significantly higher in calories and nutrients than a non-lactating woman. It was often recommended that a nursing mom consume an extra 700 to 1000 calories a day. Today, it is known that this much energy is not needed for sustaining lactation -- an extra 200 to 500 calories per day, over a woman's pre-pregnancy diet will be sufficient.

In 1989 the Recommended Dietary Allowances listed 2700 calories per day as the estimated energy need for lactation. Generally, nursing mothers maintain an intake of closer to 2200 calories per day (Nutrition During Lactation, 1991) and even lower, around 1800 calories, when hoping to lose weight. The nutritional quality of human milk generally remains quite adequate, and often unaffected, even when a mother's caloric or nutritional intake is inadequate

The Committee on Nutritional Status During Pregnancy and Lactation, of the Institute of Medicine, was "impressed by evidence that mothers are able to produce milk of sufficient quantity and quality to support growth and promote the health of infants -- even when the mother's supply of nutrients and energy is limited." (1991)

This does not mean that we should not encourage mothers to eat to appetite, consuming a minimum of 1800 calories a day. Optimally nursing mothers should eat a well-balanced diet, rich in nutrient dense foods. In fact, during pregnancy and lactation many mothers are already well motivated, so it is a wonderful time to encourage healthy eating.

It is important for us to remember that a mother does not need a perfect (or near perfect diet) to breastfeed her baby."

I looked at another spot and it said that breastfeeding women who want to lose weight should be somewhere between 1600-1900, and that the calorie drop shouldn't happen too drastically or it might affect the supply.

I think I may have done it too suddenly, because I have noticed that I've been using more formula than usual...but then again he is at his 6 month growth spurt...so who knows?

But it is good that we are eating healthier and thinking about what goes into our bodies and therefore into our babies!!

Hi Hope, I hope I do this right(this is only my second post).

It is great to "meet" you. I never expected when I posted to find someone so similiar. And in MN too!!

That is great that your jeans feel better. I'm sure that must be a great feeling. I'm looking forward to that happening....some day.

I'll try to respond to the other posts soon. Thanks for the welcome.

Sara

Hi Amanda,

I'm glad you posted. I think it would be great to have a support team of other nursing mothers. Do you have any other children?

Take care,
Sara

Little one needs me, will try to write more soon.

Take care ladies,
Sara

Hi Angela,

I was just going to respond to your post when the baby decided he was not content to be held on my lap anymore!!

Anyways, I'm glad you wrote. You sound like you have a similiar family to mine. We have an almost 5 year old, a 3 year old and then a 9 month old.

I think it is a good idea to go about it slow. I know for me I sure wouldn't jeopardize the breastfeeding part for anything!

How is Sugar Busters working for you?

Take care,
Sara

I found this online a couple weeks ago and had it saved in my emails:

Eat at least 1500-1800 calories per day
While nursing, you should not consume less than 1500-1800 calories per day, and most women should stay at the high end of this range. Some mothers will require much more than this, but studies show that going below this number may put supply at risk.

Make dietary changes -- decrease your fat intake to 20-25% or less of total calories; keep your protein intake up to prevent loss of muscle mass (Recommended Intake of protein for nursing mothers is 65 grams/day for the first 6 months and 62 grams/day between 6 and 12 months).

Weight Watchers and Body for Life are generally considered to be fine for breastfeeding mothers. Weight Watchers has a program specifically aimed at nursing mothers. As always, avoid cutting calories too abruptly or losing weight too quickly.

I just wanted to comment that losing weight is important to me, but giving my child the very best food(breastmilk) is even more important to me. I am not willing to compromise my milk supply to lose weight. I decided to start exercising and not count calories for now. I am kind of on the mentality of one change at a time. Exercising for about 10 days now is a big change to me. I am trying to not eat if I'm not hungry, and also try not to eat so much, but if I'm still hungry, I will eat more. I have cut down on my pop drinking...I allow myself one cup a day.

Have any of you already been losing weight? If so, what seems to be working for you? What is harder for you...exercising or eating better? For me, it's harder to eat better. I love food!!

Did you guys gain weight with pregnancies or were you already at this point before having a child? I was about 140 when I got pregnant with my first child...I'm only 5' so that is a bit over the supposed guidelines, but looking back at pics, I think I looked pretty decent. I got up to 190 with my first pregnancy(I ate like there was no tomorrow, and never exercised). After I had my daughter I was losing weight pretty easily, at my 6 week check up I was down to 170 something, but then I kind of used nursing to be an excuse to eat more, and still no exercising, and then when she was 9 months old I got pregnant with my second and I think I got up to 180 something with him, then lost a bit after him but then started to gain again. I have to admit, I was really lazy (except for chasing after 2 toddlers!). I didn't put on as much wait with my 3rd, but was still carrying around a lot of weight from the first 2 pregnancies. Also, each time I tried to start losing weight, it seems like I got pregnant again(I had 2 miscarriages between my second & third child).

Each time I thought of losing weight since my 3rd was born I was a little scared of getting pregnant again, but now I'm like, hey if I lose weight, super, if I get a baby instead, super! (We do not use birth control for religious reasons), and we would like a big family. I just would really like to be able to lose some of this weight first so I could have more energy and be healthier.

Whew, enough from me, right!?! Hope to "chat" with ya'll soon.
Sara

Hey Sara, it was good to hear from you.

I was overweight before I got prego, I have been for my whole adult life. When I was younger, in my teens/early 20's, it wasn't great but I carried it okay so I never worked very hard to get it off. But now after having Leo and going through an uncomfortableeing pregnancy, there are no more excuses!!

After he was born, it seemed like I was sitting all the time...nursing, holding him, being exhausted (!), and I gained even more weight. Now I am just sick of it! It needs to be gone! Plus, I was on bedrest for the last 2 months of the pregnancy, and I feel that it could hve been avoided if I would have been in better shape. Don't want to do it again like that. I don't want to be fat in all our pictures with him!

I have had problems with my milk supply since the second month, I have really struggled with it. We finally gave in and supplemented with formula, and now its about 50/50. So, I guess I'm not as worried about being on the diet, expecially since I am right around 1800 cals a day. I'm more worried that Leo will grow up with an overweight unhealthy mom like I did!! That's where all my bad eating and food hang ups came from, and I don't want to do that to him. So yay for us, trying to make our lives better for us and our kids. I wish that I was able to breastfeed exclusively, I would probably be more protective of the supply like you were saying. But, I drink as much water as I can remember to have, and I try to feed often to keep it up.

Things are going pretty well, I feel like I look smaller when I see myself now, t-shirts go on without me having to stretch the waist! So that's good.

Hope all you moms are well, and your famillies are good.

Hope


PS - How are all your excercising/eating plans going?