Breastfeeding HELP WeightLoss Exercise,

[vspinklove]

I hope someone can help I am breastfeeding I am about 6 weeks pp..I ate very healty during pregnancy,but this bfing thing is making me hunger sweets and carbs(ICKY) I dont have money to go to the gym,but I do have a bowflex at home and slim in 6 I have had good results in the past with that after my first pregnancy but I was formula feeding him ..I am scared that I will lose my milk supply workingout and eating less this time so its feeling harder after this pregnancy

I am normaly a size zero and weigh about 100lbs
I am 5'0 a shorty =o)
Now I am a gross 130lbs =(

I have mostly a big tummy and love handles..I dont know if you can exercise while bfing,but I want to...I want to lose weight,and gain some mucle without getting bulky..I dont know what I can and cant do while bfing and I dont know how many calories to take in,no one ever told me this about bfing just that you would lose weight doing it not my case I have gained weight..Please someone help me I am getting very depressed looking at my size zeros while putting on size 12 or sweatpants=( (CRY)

[michelemaroldo]

First off, you're not being fair to your body at all. You're only 6 weeks pp and this is your second child. It can, not saying it will, but it can take up to a year for your body to get back to normal with diet and exercise.

If you've gone for your 6 week check-up and have the okay from your doc you can go ahead and exercise while bf'ing, it will not affect milk supply. However, dieting will. Your body needs between 300 to 500 extra calories a day to supply the milk so without going overboard figure around 350 to 400 extra calories. If you eat too little you can affect the milk supply, this is NOT a good idea. It's way more important for your baby to get the vitamins, nutrients, fat, and calories from your milk than you worrying about your body. Believe me, you have the rest of your life to get back in shape but only the next 12 months or however long you plan to bf to doing something good for your baby. I'm not downing you for formula feeding the first one I'm just saying it's very healthy to bf, which I'm sure you already know.

As far as diet and exercise - you're lucky to have a bowflex at home, it's something, use it. With two kids you may not find time to get to a gym so use whatever you can at home. Building muscle will help burn calories but you'll probably also need some form of cardio. You can rent tapes from the library and do them inside when the weather is bad and when the weather is nice, put the baby or kids in the stroller and walk!!! It's great for you and for the baby. You can also do floor exercises while holding the baby for resistance training, you can even dance while watching the Wiggles. For diet, don't. Just eat right and eat a variety of foods. If you're feeling hungry it's good, it means your metabolism is burning. Eat small but frequent meals of good "clean" foods.

Don't concentrate so much on your size, weight, or what you used to look like right now. Take it off slow so it will stay off. Don't be so hard on yourself, you are giving the greatest gift to your baby and your body just went through 9 months of traumatic changes both physically and hormonally.

Congratulations on the new baby and keep up the good work, Mommy!!!

Check out: http://www.michelemaroldo.com/2006/1...-baby-is-born/

[BIGDUBBDEISEL]

First off, you're not being fair to your body at all. You're only 6 weeks pp and this is your second child. It can, not saying it will, but it can take up to a year for your body to get back to normal with diet and exercise.

If you've gone for your 6 week check-up and have the okay from your doc you can go ahead and exercise while bf'ing, it will not affect milk supply. However, dieting will. Your body needs between 300 to 500 extra calories a day to supply the milk so without going overboard figure around 350 to 400 extra calories. If you eat too little you can affect the milk supply, this is NOT a good idea. It's way more important for your baby to get the vitamins, nutrients, fat, and calories from your milk than you worrying about your body. Believe me, you have the rest of your life to get back in shape but only the next 12 months or however long you plan to bf to doing something good for your baby. I'm not downing you for formula feeding the first one I'm just saying it's very healthy to bf, which I'm sure you already know.

As far as diet and exercise - you're lucky to have a bowflex at home, it's something, use it. With two kids you may not find time to get to a gym so use whatever you can at home. Building muscle will help burn calories but you'll probably also need some form of cardio. You can rent tapes from the library and do them inside when the weather is bad and when the weather is nice, put the baby or kids in the stroller and walk!!! It's great for you and for the baby. You can also do floor exercises while holding the baby for resistance training, you can even dance while watching the Wiggles. For diet, don't. Just eat right and eat a variety of foods. If you're feeling hungry it's good, it means your metabolism is burning. Eat small but frequent meals of good "clean" foods.

Don't concentrate so much on your size, weight, or what you used to look like right now. Take it off slow so it will stay off. Don't be so hard on yourself, you are giving the greatest gift to your baby and your body just went through 9 months of traumatic changes both physically and hormonally.

Congratulations on the new baby and keep up the good work, Mommy!!!

Beat me to it.

[Eileen]

Congratulations on your baby, and on breastfeeding it. What is your baby called?

As you've noticed, you will get hungry, and you need to feed your baby. Listen to your body, and if you get cravings, make the best food choice that will satisfy them. Breastmilk is a high fat food, so be prepared to eat more fat than usual. Cravings for chocolate is often a sign your diet needs more magnesium. Cocoa is the most concentrated food source.

Don't obsess over dieting, just think of each feed as more calories being sucked off you. And an interesting snippet: the middle of night milk has the higest concentration of fat of all feeds, so don't be in too much of a hurry to drop it.

The good news is that you can exercise, and exercise hard, without affecting your milk supply. The study which seemed to show that babies didn't like the taste of post-exercise milk was deeply flawed and really just showed that many breastfed babies don't like bottles.

Your body will let you know if you need to take it easy. Remember there will be growth spurts where you spend two or three days doing almost nothiing except nursing, and then life returns to normal, or as normal as it gets with two young ones in the house.