Hi,
I don’t really know where to start but I think this is the place to try – sorry it’s a bit all over the place.
I’m feeding my daughter she’s 9 months old but allergic to dairy & tomatoes so I’ve cut all dairy & tomatoes out of my diet. I’m off it for over 3 months now but my weight hasn’t budged. So much for dropping dairy and the weight will fall off.
I lost 28lbs ish when I was trying to get pregnant and I didn’t in anyway keep my weight in check while pregnant and in the first few months after she was born so I’m now bigger than ever before. I’m hovering around the 200lbs mark. I’ve been putting on weight since she was born. I could blame any number of things but mostly I just didn’t watch what I was doing.
My biggest worry with cutting calories (which is what I did before) is feeding her. While she’s not totally dependent on me for food anymore we still haven’t found an appropriate milk for her if my supply takes a dive (and I don’t want to stop feeding yet).
I started the 30DS on Sunday so if I get to do it today that’ll be 5 days – which is the most I’ve ever stuck with it before. It usually hurts my knees but this time round they don’t seem too bad.
Before I got pregnant I had started running and was up to about 5 miles on a treadmill. I managed 1k on Saturday pushing the buggy and I thought I’d die. I don’t want to do too much too soon but I really need to do something and I’m just not sure what is ‘safe’ while feeding.
I was only brave enough to start the 30DS when I read that people here were doing it and feeding with no issues. I’m drinking as much water as I possibly can and I have 2 bowls of porridge every day to keep my supply up (made on oat milk). I usually put molasses in it, I know its sugar but again its meant to be a great boost for supply.
I had been pumping +5 oz every morning but since starting back to work that has dropped to 2.5 oz if I’m lucky and nothing I do seems to be able to bring it up again. I have a freezer of milk but she’s working through it pretty fast and I don’t really have a plan for when it runs out.
I find it hard to keep below 2000 cals as I’m up at 5.30 for work so I’m pretty hungry by lunch time and dinner. I’m trying to limit my snacking to fruit and carrot sticks (and hummus).
I’m so disorganized that I don’t even know how many calories I am eating I’m guessing based on what I used to eat way back when I was keeping a record of it. I’ve tidied up my diet in the last few weeks so most of the junk is gone. Chocolate and Icecream were already gone but most of the other fun stuff is gone now too. I’m just wondering is there anything really basic that I’m not doing and I should be.
Thanks.

I'm 55, so it's been a LONG time since I've nursed...but I don't think much has changed over the years. As I recall, your milk production will increase the more often you nurse (or pump), since frequency of nursing sends a signal to your body to increase the supply. I nursed my son during a period of time when I was very ill (nothing contagious or harmful to him). I was barely eating much of anything and, when I did, I threw up...but I had no issues with my milk supply provided I nursed him often.

So, perhaps part of the problem is you're only pumping once a day. Would it be possible for you to pump more often and/or actually nurse the baby during the times you're home? That way, you'd send a signal to your body that more milk is needed. Just a thought.

Thank you for that. I am trying to nurse her as often as I can but thats only once in the morning and a few times in the evenings. Hopefully it will be enough.
I cant pump at work but I'll try pumping extra at home, I'm not sure if it will work the pump isnt great.
Thanks again.

My supply never diminished no matter how much I ate or didn't eat. But I did find hydration made a difference. So I'd say you may be able to cut calories more, but make sure you drink plenty of water.

Thanks for that i'm doing my best to up my water intake. Will be slow to get the weight off but it will go!

With my second baby my supply tanked whenever my dieting involved too lottle calories. I actually ended up losing most of my suplly and had to stop nursing at 7 months (he was sooo hungry!). Now I'm pregnant with my third and just accept the fact that the "hardcore" dieting needs to wait till after she's weaned or almost weaned. Good luck!!

Thank you, Keeping my supply up is more important than losing weight for now so I might just focus on exercise and keeping baby happy. I'll worry about the weight when she's weaned and til than any weight that comes off is a bonus.
Thanks so much for all the advice.

I'm still nursing my 13 month old son and lost 40 lbs. What helped me was drinking a huge amount of water, pumping every morning, carrying my son in a baby carrier on my back, and squeezing in Jillian Michaels workouts when possible. But the biggest factor was tracking what I ate... keeps me accountable. I stick to 2000 calories a day and have lost steadily. Good luck

Thank you so much for that. I am trying to drink more water and I'm counting calories now too. I find I'm eating more than I normally would. I think any weight I lose is a bonus as long as I can keep baby happy then I'm happy. I've started exercising but gently. I did 10 days of the 30DS but its too hard on my joints (the jumping jacks were the worst how bad is that). I couldnt even kneel on a soft mattress from the pain so I had to swith to jogging and I can move again now.
Its good to know that it is possible to lose some weight while nursing. Thanks again.