# Any breastfeeding moms out there NOT lose weight? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449 "2007-03-03T19:23:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/1 "2007-03-03T19:23:35Z")
**Wifecat** is now fitting into jeans one size smaller than before she got pregnant after 6 months of giving tit to **Kidcat II**. And her breasts are huge. I told her that with the lights down low it’s like having sex with a different woman! (She laughed) She does have a high-metabolism, but still. Does 6 months of breastfeeding = massive weight loss? I’ve read that breastfeeding is equal to 500 calories a day. That seems like plenty of reasons to breastfeed (if you can, no guilt/judgment trips here). -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/2 "2007-03-03T19:56:55Z")
I lost so much weight breastfeeding my son that the pediatrician scheduled a ‘nutritional consultation’ for me, just to remind me to eat. As I’ve been heavy my entire life, I was mightily amused at the very idea that someone would think I needed reminding, but they were right after all. With the difficulties of nursing and adjusting to being a mom and not sleeping right, I wasn’t eating well and my poor child wasn’t gaining well enough since I was basically feeding him skim milk. Almost every baby book recommends extra calories for breastfeeding moms, but somehow I’d ignored that little tidbit. Of course eventually he grew up big and strong, but it was rather incredible at the time to realize just how many calories feeding him took out of me. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/3 "2007-03-03T20:30:25Z")
I wound up about 25 pounds lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight with the first kid. Sadly, it didn’t stick. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/4 "2007-03-03T20:38:17Z")
Makes sense! Them calories gots to come from somewhere! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/5 "2007-03-03T20:48:52Z")
Many women lose weight from nursing, but not all of us. I gained more after each of my deliveries, despite breastfeeding. Dammit. You’re actually supposed to eat 600 calories a day more than your pregnancy diet - which is supposed to be 600 more than your pre-pregnancy diet. So a lactating woman supposedly needs 1200 more calories per day than a non-lactator to maintain her weight. Ha. I sadly scoff. Apparently I’m one of those women who should be worshiped in a fertility cult, because I actively dieted, eating less than 1200 calories a day, while lactating, and still put on weight. Bugger. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/6 "2007-03-03T21:55:16Z")
Oh, I should mention my best friend, who gained a ton of weight while nursing, despite not eating anything more. She had been quite sick during the pregnancy and threw up the whole time, so her body sort of went into starvation mode or something afterwards. She gained about 50 pounds, which she wasn’t too thrilled about. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/7 "2007-03-03T23:25:10Z")
Breastfeeding was the best diet I’ve been on. But, if its a lot, go see a doctor. My sister was just diagosed with breast cancer - they were attributing the weight loss to breastfeeding - and with the milk in (and prior to that the inflated pregnancy breasts) the lump wasn’t detectable to the touch. Losing weight was one of the signs… ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/8 "2007-03-04T00:05:43Z")
I gained forty pounds in the year after I had my baby. I breastfed but I’d also quit my job in construction and became an utter sloth from the moment I got my positive pregnancy test. I do not encourage this activity. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/9 "2007-03-04T00:05:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dangerosa] Breastfeeding was the best diet I’ve been on. But, if its a lot, go see a doctor. My sister was just diagosed with breast cancer - they were attributing the weight loss to breastfeeding - and with the milk in (and prior to that the inflated pregnancy breasts) the lump wasn’t detectable to the touch. Losing weight was one of the signs… [/QUOTE] **Dangerosa** , I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/10 "2007-03-04T01:03:06Z")
I didn’t lose much if any baby-weight from breastfeeding, but that’s not why I breastfed, so the fact that I was one of those moms who kept the weight on didn’t deter me from breastfeeding the second child. My friend Connie, on the other hand, dropped weight like snow melting on a summer’s day. Of course, she wasn’t eating much or well, and was stressing about her marriage breaking up, and she’s one of those naturally slim people anyways ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/11 "2007-03-04T01:21:10Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] **Dangerosa** , I’m so sorry to hear about your sister. [/QUOTE] Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MissGypsy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@MissGypsy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissGypsy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/12 "2007-03-04T02:29:59Z")
I gained weight while breastfeeding, but it just made up for the weight I always lost during the last trimester. My “morning sickness” only came during the last two or three months of my pregnancies. Guess I’m backwards, in some ways. Slightly related, I hardly ate anything while I was nursing. I experienced nausea almost every time I nursed, so I was never hungry. Gained weight, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/13 "2007-03-04T04:04:29Z")
I didn’t lose tons, although I also wasn’t nursing exclusively. I’ve heard conjecture that some people’s bodies reserve some poundage when nursing, so it will have calories available for the nursing baby during possible drought/famine/poor caveman hunting season. But that could be complete and total hogwash. ---
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/14 "2007-03-04T11:24:40Z")
I couldn’t believe how _hungry_ I was while breastfeeding. With both kids. I would be literally _ravenous_. The first time around the last five pounds hung on until I quit breastfeeding when the kid was around 9 months. Second time around it was the same deal but I quit at 7 months because I kept coming down with mastitis. I’ll never forget that hunger, though. Nursing moms must really need those calories. ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/15 "2007-03-04T14:12:13Z")
[QUOTE=Caprese] I couldn’t believe how _hungry_ I was while breastfeeding. With both kids. I would be literally _ravenous_. The first time around the last five pounds hung on until I quit breastfeeding when the kid was around 9 months. Second time around it was the same deal but I quit at 7 months because I kept coming down with mastitis. I’ll never forget that hunger, though. Nursing moms must really need those calories. [/QUOTE] Spencer is ten months old and I _still_ have that hunger! My husband doesn’t understand how I can be ready for lunch three hours after breakfast. I’ve got a baby to feed. However, I have dropped about 15 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I attribute most of that to working in a two-story building that feels like it’s 100 yards long. I’d love to drop another 15 or 20, eventually. But that will have to come through serious exercise and change of eating habits. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/16 "2007-03-04T16:04:26Z")
I breastfed for three months, and due to low supply issues, my midwives actually told me to eat whenever I was hungry as well as drinking a ton of water (the first two weeks, I barely ate at all - not good - but I had very little appetite after my c-section, and I kept forgetting to eat). I dropped 20 lbs in the first month of nursing, and then 1-2 lbs every week after that, despite eating practically every flavor of ice cream that my local supermarket carried. I loved it! It’s a great weight-loss plan :D. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/17 "2007-03-04T16:21:05Z")
I lost, but even while actively dieting and working out five times a week, it took 14 months before I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight; it wasn’t until I dropped the ‘extra’ calories that any weight came off at all. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/18 "2007-03-04T19:40:31Z")
I _lost_ weight during my pregnancy, mostly because of stress (unemployed spouse, new computer system at work, evil boss from hell, etc.). I had pretty bad morning sickness, to the point that my boss thought I was faking so I could get out of my work assignments. Also, I mostly craved vegetables and meat once the nausea subsided. After the Princess was born, I weighed 20 pounds less than I did at the beginning of the pregnancy. Unfortunately I gained it all back afterward even though I was breastfeeding, because of all the extra calories I ate during that time. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/19 "2007-03-04T19:51:48Z")
I didn’t lose any weight until I stopped breast feeding. I nursed my son for 9 and a half months. Like your wife, my breasts became (and sadly STAYED) enormous. I gained more than 2 cup sizes, from a small C to DDDs (which are really too small, but I ain’t paying 75 bucks a pop for custom bras!). My breasts have never gone back to their original size and my son is now 15 and a half. He IS however 6 foot 3 inches, so that breastfeeding thing really pays off! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449/20 "2007-03-05T12:57:23Z")
I did not lose or gain weight after the first month or so of breastfeeding. My weight stabilized at about my pregnancy weight. While I was breastfeeding, I was hungry all the time and ate a lot more than I usually do. I got used to eating a lot during my pregnancy, because I was diabetic and diligently watched my diet, blood sugar, weight and ketones so that I would gain the recommended amount and no more. Nausea made it very difficult. After pregnancy, the nausea was gone and eating was much more pleasant. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-breastfeeding-moms-out-there-not-lose-weight/394449.md?page=2)