[3kidzmom]

Hello everyone. I am a mom of three, beginning the journey again to shed "pregnancy pounds". I am on the WW CORE program, which has worked for me in the past. Would love to hear from other moms how they are doing it and what is working for them.......

[almostheaven]

I've just stuck with what I'd been doing...exercise and healthy eating. It seems the last few pounds are hanging on and I may have to wait until I finish nursing and drop my calories to shed them, but the big pregnacy pounds came off.

[tinagilbert]

wow you guys really are an inspriation!! i am starting weight watchers for the first time. i also just had baby #3. it seems alot harder to get the weight off this time!! he is 6 mos old and i am still 214. what do you suggest as far as add-ins with the diet so i make sure i am getting what i need while i am nursing??

[almostheaven]

I haven't added anything. I've been eating healthy (lean meats, lots of fruits and veggies, trying to get in my dairy - since I'm not a huge milk fan, and whole grains). I counted calories for a bit when I was close to goal before. But since pregnancy and now nursing, I don't count anymore. I eat when hungry. I just keep eating the right kinds of foods.

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

what do you suggest as far as add-ins with the diet so i make sure i am getting what i need while i am nursing??

The same thing that goes for healthy eating for anyone else goes for you, only ideally you'll be even more careful. (Note I said "ideally," I don't manage to do perfectly, & sometimes not too great.) Don't cut your calories down too far. Make sure you eat fruits & veggies as much as you can manage. Taking a prenatal vitamin still is a good idea, but your body can utilize the real stuff found in real food that much better.

My mantra is this: the closer it is to its natural state, the better it is for you to eat. Shorter form: Don't eat it if you can't tell what it came from. If you look at a french fry, it doesn't look a whole lot like a potato, does it? Nor does the Texas food of the gods, chicken fried steak, look a whole heck of a lot like a piece of beef. But it's very hard to go wrong with fruits, veggies, and lean meats.

Weight Watchers, if memory serves, allows an extra serving of milk (3 instead of 2) and an extra teaspoon of healthy oil (again, 3 instead of 2) each day for breastfeeding mamas. It's a good idea to make sure your intake of protein and fat doesn't dip too low. I've had several women tell me that when they tried to follow a very low fat diet while breastfeeding, they couldn't lose weight until they added some fat back in. Not a written-in-stone rule.

I just checked La Leche League's website for nutrition info, and they back up my as natural as possible theory, and also say that gradual loss with a calorie intake of around 1500 - 1800 calories a day is advisable. For myself, I was most successful losing weight while keeping calories to 1600 - 1800 each day.

(Gotta get back to that...)

[Erinyes74]

I've been doing BFL and had lots of success with it. Even with minimal exercise (daily walk 30-40 mins, 3x weighlifting sessions per week) I've been able to shed 44 lbs in 13 weeks (and the baby was only 6 lbs)! And I haven't been an angel about the composition of my nighttime meal!

I imagine the weightloss will slow down now that I am close to my pre-prego weight, but I find I am not hungry at all (despite the extra 300+/- cals/day used to make milk) and my supply still seems quite robust (that ain't the only thing that still seems ro'bust'! ). So I'm planning to ride the breastfeeding weightloss train as long as I can!

[alinnell]

My first go-around with weight loss occurred when my son was 6 months old and I gave up breast feeding him. I chose a low calorie and low fat regimin and lost about 70 pounds (some of it was still pregnancy weight). It took me about 6 months to lose it. I maintained for about 5 years and then stress took over and over the next 5 years, I managed to get right back to where I was (and then some).
I started anew last January and have subscribed to this being a lifestyle change rather than just another diet. I eat little or no processed foods, I stick with whole foods, and I try to keep it low fat. I will not give up carbs or do anything terribly drastic. There are some things that I absolutely refuse to give up and therefore I still eat them, but in moderation now.
Good luck to you.

[aphil]

I would like to add that while your babies are young and are solely on breastmilk alone (no cereal, baby food, etc. yet) that you should be careful dropping your calories below 1800. That is actually probably the lowest you should be at during the first few months of nursing. When the baby is a bit older and you are no longer the sole food supply around the clock, it is then safe to go a bit lower.