I've always heard that bf melts the weight off pp... Though apparently only if you don't eat a ton of crap, as I'm discovering. 
Then my community health nurse mentioned that the hormones actually hinder weight loss, which I've never heard of before, so I'm curious.
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I have heard it just depends on you. I think for most people it helps, but a few people I know swear they couldn't take off those last few pounds until they weaned. So, who knows?!
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It worked for me. I was at my prepreg weight by 6-8w. In fact, when I stopped nursing at 14w, I gained about 5-6lbs back because my eating habits were still that of a nursing woman's.
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I don't know if it helped or not, but I didn't really eat that great (ie ate everything I normally would) and weighed less than I did before getting pregnant.
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I think it helped in the beginning but then it didn't help one way or the other. I gained weight as soon as I stopped though.
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I just voted "other" BFing (or in my case, pumping), makes me EXTREMELY HUNGRY, so it's hard not to eat constantly. I also only exercise sporadically at this point as my LO is not a good sleeper and I'm just too exhausted. However, even with eating like an absolute pig, I've *very slowly* lost 32 lbs of the 45 I gained.
Of course, 20 lbs came off immediately within days of having the baby. The other 12 have slowly been coming off over the last 4 months.
I would hardly call that "melting off", but considering I'm probably eating 3000 calories a day, that's not too shabby.
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I think it really depends on your genetics. My answer, confusingly, is "both."
I gained 29 lbs. with DD and lost all but 3 by my 2 week appointment. I was wearing my pre-preg jeans by 1 week pp. I don't think that was BFing - just luck and good genes. I also found that I had to really EAT and not work out to maintain my supply. That, plus being on a progesterone BCP (side effect is weight gain), has made my body hang on to a bit of fat around my midsection that was not there pre-preg.
At 10.5 months pp, I am about 5 lbs. below my pre-pregnancy weight, but my body is not the same - I am thinner in my legs and arms, but have that darn extra padding around my belly and hips. My mom swears that will melt away as soon as I stop BFing (because it did for her).
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Nope. Still up 25 lbs.
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i still have about 5-6 lbs to get back to pre-preg weight but the weight just melted off with DS2. With DS1 (who was not nursing), it took me about 12 months to get back down.
That said, I have much larger cravings for sweet things so that may be why these last lbs aren't coming off.
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I'm really hoping it's "hinder" because I'm still BF and am still 5 pounds above my pre-baby weight. Fingers crossed that those pounds disappear once I stop BF!
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Nope, it did not help at all. I was still up 16 pounds when we weaned last week at 5 months pp. It didn't help that I had to stuff my face to maintain my paltry supply. Now that I'm done, I'm back to dieting and hopefully it will come off...
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@grizz: Good lord woman, where are you hiding the weight?! I'd never have guessed you had 25 to go.
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I think that it helped my stomach get back to normal, though it took about 3 months for it and my hips to magically shrink back to size one day. I think cutting down to 2 sessions made a big difference, but it also coincided with me going back to work. So, I began eating less, nursing less, and moving more.
So, I don't know. One way or another, I am 15+lbs less than I was when I got pregnant.
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I was one of the lucky ones that couldn't get rid of the last few until we were down to two nursing sessions a day.
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Definitely helped but most of the weight came off between 3 and 9 months pp.
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@NurseMommy: absolutely not!
I do not see how bf could possibly help wl. Honestly I have gained weight. I am much hungrier than when I was pregnant plus sleep deprivation. ..
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I chose other. While I definitely think breastfeeding helped get most of the baby weight off, I think being on a dairy/soy free diet for DS's MSPI has made the biggest difference. I'm about 10 lbs below pre baby weight. It's hard to tell though because I was back in my pre baby jeans 4 weeks pp before he was diagnosed
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HINDER. And I just weaned at 15 months.
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I had the exact same experience as @TurtleDoves: Lost 40 lbs by 6-8 weeks PP, obviously my body is no where close to being the same as before baby though. I might have been lucky to lose all the weight fast but I got the stretch marks to make up for it.
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It hinders my weight loss. The moment I weaned, the rest of the weight melted off! While I was breastfeeding, no amount of healthy eating or exercise helped get rid of those last 10 lbs.
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I didn't lose the last 10 pounds until I stopped lactating. It really seems to be a person to person thing.
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Both?
I BF for 4 weeks and was actually 2# below my PP weight by 4 weeks but then I stopped BF'ing and now i've gained back probably 5# because I kept eating like I was pregnant/nursing.
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Nope! I can't drop these last 15 lbs to save my life.
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I think it definitely helps but only if you're cautious what you eat. If I eat light the night before, my scale is always lower. Meanwhile, I can pig out the day before and the number will either stay the same or go up 2lbs. I'm using nursing as an excuse to eat bad. I need to curb that because once I stop nursing, oh man....
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It's helping me. it's helping so much that I'm terrified to stop breastfeeding because I'm eating like a trucker with a case of the munchies and it won't be pretty without nursing to counteract it!
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No experience, but I've heard it helps drop some but a lot of people hang on to an extra bit until they stop nursing.
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@MoonMoon: exactly this.
I was back in pre-preg jeans within about 3 weeks. I eat everything in sight and am still always hungry.
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@Ocean girl: @MoonMoon: I hate you both.
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I think it helped in the beginning but has hindered losing the last bit. I dropped 25lbs really quickly after giving birth. I am 4 months PP and am still holding onto 5lbs. I've read that your body holds onto some of the weight while breastfeeding. I am just going to assume that's why I can't drop the last 5lbs and not because I just stuffed my face with pizza
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@MoonMoon: @Ocean girl: yep!
i got back to my pre-preg weight quickly which i don't think had anything to do with BFing, but my weight dropped a ton after 6 months and still BFing. i'm now down the weight i was in college and every time i see a friend i haven't seen in a while, they say i look amazing. so it helped me drop the 15-20 pounds i've been carrying around for the last 7 years!
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I don't think it did anything for me. I still have 1 final 4-min. nursing session to drop, and I'm praying the remaining 15 lbs. melts off. I would be so happy!
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I think it depends on the person. Mine melted off, along with 10 more I wasn't expecting to lose. I got that 10 back but I did lose my awesome D cups when she started eating solid foods.
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Melted the weight off me, nursing 3x a day at 12m and people are starting to tell me I look too thin
I love the license to eat gobs of buttery cookies and popcorn, etc. but ready to have a few curves back once we wean.
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I'm 10 weeks pp and 2 lbs under my pre pregnancy weight.
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Worked for me, is it sad I'm excited for baby #2 and hoping it helps me melt some weight off
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It's definitely helping me. I lost all the pregnancy weight in less than two months and by three months I was ten pounds lighter than when I got pregnant (though I was the heaviest I'd ever been when I got pregnant). I'm eating more than usual though not way way more, and I'm more active because this kid loves walks- I ised to have to walk for hours to get her to sleep- so I'm sure that helped too. But I have such a sweet tooth now- going to really have to be careful when I wean.
However my weight is in different places than before (mostly boobs and tummy now). I have enough milk, so I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.
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Definitely helped. At 4 months pp, I was 10+ pounds below my prepregnancy weight. At 10 months pp, I'm still there. And believe me, I eat CRAP. I have a horrific sweet tooth and I usually indulge it with no shame. I am trying to get better, becaue I know that as I drop pumping sessions at work, my metabolism is going to change again. But damn it, it's the holidays, and it's TOUGH to avoid all the sweets!
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It helped until about those last 10 lbs.
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It definitely helped with the initial weight loss! I was below my pregnancy weight at 3 months pp but then after we weaned at a year I gained ~10 lbs back and those pounds have been hard to shed...
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It definitely helped me but took a while. I didn't watch what I ate and really didn't exercise other than walks with my LO, but starting around 4 months the weight just melted off. By 5.5 months, I was below pre-preg weight with a flat stomach again, wearing pants a size smaller than normal. The only thing that kept me from all of my normal clothes were my still larger than normal boobs!
I weaned at 13 months when I was 12 weeks pregnant so it's hard to say what my weight would have done once I stopped. Hoping for the same luck this second time around!
I do not see how bf could possibly help wl. Honestly I have gained weight. I am much hungrier than when I was pregnant plus sleep deprivation. ..
I love the license to eat gobs of buttery cookies and popcorn, etc. but ready to have a few curves back once we wean.
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