Breastfeeding, The Best Diet Plan For Me, Not For All

While I was pregnant one of the things people liked to tell me the most was about how much breastfeeding will help me lose the baby weight and how much breastfeeding didn't help them lose any baby weight.

There seem to be two different types of people, those where breastfeeding seems to suck fat right off of them, and those who see no effect at all.  Luckily I was one of those people where the fat just seemed to slide off.

I'm now actually twelve pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.  And I gained 55 pounds, so this is quite the accomplishment.  Since coming home from the hospital I've lost about 60, and since my 6 week post-partum appointment I've lost about 35. Some of you have been so nice telling me that I gained "just enough weight for me!"  No.  I gained too much, I was a lazy, hungry, depressed pregnant woman.  55 pounds was too much, but luckily it didn't cause me too much trouble.  And I lost it pretty quick.

It took a little more work that just sitting back and feeding my baby though.  Breastfeeding makes you HUNGRY!  OMG, my appetite is very huge.  I believe I now eat more than my husband does during a typical shared meal. Before, I used to try to give him about 50% more food than me because I was trying to lose weight and he was 155 pounds of pure bone and muscle that lifts things for 10 hours a day for a living. 

The hunger makes it easy to over-eat.  I actually didn't lose any weight from 6 weeks to about 13 weeks post partum, then I really started to exercise, just walking mostly and burned through the rest of the baby weight that way.  Nine months on, nine months off almost exactly.  Then the weight loss slowed down and I dropped just about a pound a month before my son turned one.

I wanted to lose more, so I started running this June and I've lost another 7 pounds or so since then. 

Exercise really has helped me, but I've done the weight loss thing before breastfeeding and I must say that breastfeeding makes it way easier.  I may have a slight problem with my weight when my last child finally weans.  For now I don't plan on trying to wean Cedric before getting pregnant with the next, so we'll have back to back nurslings. 

Also for those of you not in the know, weight loss is safe with breastfeeding, so is exercise and reducing your calories.  There's a bad myth still prevalent out there that you can't exercise or try to lose weight while breastfeeding, I'm living proof that it's not true.  But do let your body recover from birth first!