nursing & trouble with weight loss

[Ariella]

i was just wondering if any of you mommies had any ideas for nursing and weight loss. I am high raw the only non raw things I eat currently are potatoes and veganaise. the weight is just not coming off like I had hoped. my baby is 9 weeks and thriving! She is getting so big and is so healthy :) I do work out 1 to 2 hours per day which includes resistance training 3 days per week. I can not go totally fat free as when I was doing really low fat my babes stools turned green and she was not gaining - so she was not getting what she needed from my milk, she was not getting enough fat. SO that being the case anybody have any suggestions?? I would sure love to hear them!! :) I need to get these 15 pounds off before there is a chance of us conceiving again.

Thanks in advance for any advice :)

Ariella

JUICE PLUS+
www.juiceplus.com/+dj73561

[truthseeker]

Baby is 9 weeks and you want to get pregnant again already? More Power to you Raw Mommy !!!

Ok here's the thing, you just had a baby and your body is playing supply and demand right now, and baby is probably demanding of your body. This early in the game your body is maintaining the weight to keep what it will need to feed baby...as you stated. It's a primal thing. It's also part of natural child spacing. Your body wants to handle only SO MUCH demand. So it protects itself. Talk about smart eh?

Is this your first baby? Have you given thought to what it will be like to have your children so close together...for you I mean. All of mine are 2 years apart, before I conceived I gave much thought .... to what it would be like for them, but not myself. It's was hard. Now having said that hear me when I say....I LOVE our family structure.

You could probably buck the natural cycle of things, but it won't be easy.

I have read ...can't remember where though...about how natural child spacing benefits the children. Reasons for this are to ensure that the child receive full care, attention, nurturing, bonding needs that an infant needs. This goes WAY back to, well, you know the caveman days ha, ha. Like I said it's primal.

Here's a link and a bit about this subject matter for you to read.

All the best to you.

http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleade...Jan99p128.html

from the
Center for Demography and Ecology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Survey Estimates of the Contraceptive Effect
of Breastfeeding in the United States
Steven P. Martin
CDE Working Paper No. 98-13

Why is close child spacing a concern?
When a mother becomes pregnant again immediately after her first birth, both she and her children could suffer adverse effects. Infants conceived within 12 months of a previous birth, and especially within 6 months, often have lower birth weights because the physiological stress on the
mother retards fetal development (Miller, 1991; Lang et al., 1990). Largely through the effects of low birth weight, short pregnancy intervals cause poorer birth outcomes in general (Hollander,1995). However, even though close birth spacing increases risks for infants, extremely closely spaced births are relatively uncommon. Also, even women with closely spaced births have a low

overall incidence of low birth weight babies in the U.S., so close birth spacing is generally not a
critical health concern.

[Goldenrod]

General rule of thumb for losing pregnancy weight is that it took nine months to get there and it's going to take time for it to leave. Some women will hang onto the last 5 lbs until they totally quit nursing. It's their bodies way of protecting their milk supply.

If you are planning to breastfeed for an extended period, getting pregnant when you're baby is less than a year will greatly affect your supply. Most women lose their milk at some point during pregnancy, which means you would need to supplement with formula. And it is hard on a body that so recently gave birth to go through another pregnancy so soon.

Mine boys are 2 3/4 years apart and I can tell you that the first year was really hard to fulfill both their emotional and physical needs. Think long and hard before you space them really close together.

[vegggeeemom]

Very interesting thread.
My son is a year old and still strongly nursing. Nurses more than he eats food.
That being said, I would not have it ANY other way! This is the way I choose to space my children.
I have been fretting that I could be pregnant this soon with him still needing so much of my attention already. But, if it happens, it happens and we will be thrilled.
But, from experience with my other son, you won't drop the weight until you are done nursing. He nursed until he was 22 months old and then when he stopped I did lose the weight.
Also I am 100% raw for 28 days now and my son is thriving. He is 12, almost 13 months and he has not been effected by me going raw. I get plenty of fat from avocados, olive oil and the occassional nut. That desire for nuts has gone way down.
But, this early after having the baby, I'd not worry about the 15 pounds that you have to lose. If you go raw you WILL lose that weight without even trying.
I have lost weight in the 28 days I've been raw and have gotten rid of cellulite that I notice skinny people can't get rid of!
If you wanna read what I eat, it's in my journal! I ate ALOT in the beginning of raw and did alot of dishes, but my desire to do that is going way down.
Anyhow, if you wanna talk more I can help you as much as I can with what I know about the subject!
You're doing an awesome job giving that little one a great start with nursing!!

[Ariella]

hey there -

i just wanted to clarify that we are not trying to get pregnant right now BUT since we are not using any birth control i am concerned that it could happen before I get the weight off. this is my 2nd child. my son is 3. we had a miscarriage last may (2004) so 3rd pregnancy. With my son it came off pretty quickly, but it was when I stopped nursing that I gained weight with him.

How long does your body stay in primal mode before the weight starts to drop? anybody know? any tips on jump starting the weight loss?

thanks again for the advice and comments.

Ariella

JUICE PLUS+
www.juiceplus.com/+dj73561

[truthseeker]

Like Goldenrod mentioned, it's your bodies way of protecting your milk supply. And also protecting your child by means of making sure her needs are met.

I agree from much of the reading and experience that I have gone through....3 children all 2 years apart nursed 1st to 18 months, 2nd to 22 months and 3rd is just about weaned ...I know most people fall off their chairs when they hear of a 4 year old child that isn't 100% weaned. It's actually the norm in most of the world.

You will S..L..O....W....L.....Y notice the weight come off over the time of about 6 to 8 months (even if you only notice it in how your clothes fit). You will notice weight loss when her nursing sessions are spaced farther and farther apart and become less frequent. But mostly you'll notice it toward the end of your nursing carrer.

Generally when a mom is nursing the weight will just come off on it's own with in the course of 9 months to 1 year....Generally.

[IamLoved]

Hi

I just wanted to pop in here and say that I have lost all of my pregnancy weight by eating raw. When I got pregnant with our last baby (who is now 10 months old and primarily nursing) I weighed 160. (Which was way too much for me to start off with), and after I had her I weighed 205. Anyways now I am down to 140. I started eating raw in April when she was 5 months old at 185. Needless to say I am very happy with the results of eating this way and I feel healthier too. I still need to lose about 20-30 or so pounds (I am only 5'). So the weight loss WILL happen.

We are not using any birth control either. Our children have come pretty close together too. They are spaced out 3 years, then 13 months, 16 months, and 22 months.

I can totally understand your wanting to lose your baby weight before getting pregnant again. I stuggled for years with this. All I can say is that eating this way, which is so very healthy, is the best way to eat for pregnancy, nursing or any other time in your life and I would imagine that if you did get pregnant again and were eating this way, that you would not gain a lot of excess weight.
Am I making sense? I hope so.
Good luck!