I had an epiphany today about postpartum weight loss and breastfeeding. Most people know breastfeeding helps a mother more easily lose weight after giving birth but I always just assumed it was from the baby taking calories from the mother which the mother wasn’t replacing. Well, today it occurred to me that maybe for me it’s a different reason. I have never had a baby that didn’t insist on nursing while I was eating also and I’ve found that it’s not that easy to eat a full meal when you have a baby on your boob! For me, it causes me to eat less because I get bored of trying to eat my meal over the baby and usually don’t finish (or now know not to take as much to begin with). This is just my personal theory, of course!
The weight issue is one that probably every mommy has struggled with at some point in her life. Whether is how much you gain during pregnancy or losing it after baby arrives, it never seems to go the way mommy wants or expects.
I am no exception. As a dancer I’ve always been very conscientious of my weight though I’ve never actually dieted. If my weight goes up unexpectedly I just try to eat healthier and exercise more until it stabilizes. I don’t obsess over it, I’ve just always been very aware of what’s going on.
However, I have been on a weight yo-yo for over 6 years. In that time I’ve lost and gained a total of over 200 pounds (112 lost, 106 gained). My yo-yo adventure started when I broke my foot and couldn’t dance for 12 weeks. I lost a pound a week of muscle weight. 9 months later I got pregnant with Honeybun and I’ve been pregnant, breastfeeding or both ever since.
I gained around 30 pounds with each pregnancy (give or take a few pounds) but lost a lot breastfeeding. With both Honeybun and Sugarplum I was back to what I now realize is my “normal” weight by 2 months postpartum and lost a pound a month more while breastfeeding full time. After starting to wean, I gained about a pound a month back. With Honeybun this was only 3 months before I became pregnant with Sugarplum so I started my second pregnancy 7 pounds less than the first and gained the least during her pregnancy. (Fun Fact for those who knew me 10 years ago: I weighed less the day I gave birth to Sugarplum than I did at the end of my freshman year of college!)
I think the more kids we have and the busier we get in life the harder it becomes to lose the baby weight (aging probably doesn’t help either). I don’t feel like the weight from Doodle’s pregnancy is coming off as quickly as it did with the girls, but I know I will get there eventually. I know breastfeeding will help and my new teaching schedule won’t hurt either. I guess I’ll just have to “weight” this one out! (haha…see why I didn’t pursue comedy?)
That may be the other thing I miss the most about EBF – I lost a lot of weight when I BFed Ells! (then gained a lot back when we moved to FL – rollercoaster.) Hopefully things start to work in our favor and hopefully I can get to the gym this week! :)
I do think whether breastfeeding or not, it gets harder to lose weight with each baby. I know I don’t eat as well as I did after the first. There is just so much else to do you tend to fall into what’s quick and easy (peanut butter and jelly anyone?)