Weight gain while nursing

[MrsC]

Right now I'm at the heaviest weight I've ever been. It's also the fittest I've been in about 10 years so I'm kind of baffled. I'm wondering if it's related to breastfeeding.
For the first 6 weeks after R's birth I lost weight rapidly and was at the lowest weight I've been in years. Then in the span of 4 months I gained 10 lbs. I never gain weight that quickly. I eat about 1700 calories most days, almost never go past 2000. Healthy diet.
I don't know how many bra sizes I've gone up but pre-pregnancy bras certainly don't fit. Most of my pants fit just fine but I do have a tummy which is made worse in part by moderate diastasis recti. I'm working on strengthening that. I started Stroller Strides classes a couple of weeks ago, twice a week and I love it. Before that I was doing a lot of walking.
R is 7 months and nurses every 3 to 4 hours still. He's a big baby, 88th percentile.
I was always under the impression that we were supposed to lose weight with nursing. Has anyone else gained?

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[Thirteen]

I never lost my middle weight until both my kids weaned. Having said that, I definitely have a mom belly now, but it's much less.
New exercise regimen can lead to weight gain (yay, Fit4Mom!), so there's that. Maybe instead of the scale, take some inch measurements now and see if you are in fact losing inches but gaining muscle?

When in doubt, check and see how much quick food (fast food, crackers, etc) you are eating -- that's always my culprit if I notice my belly feeling "squishy".

[MrsC]

Yes, it might be a good idea to stay away from the scales for a while. I've never carried much weight around my middle until now.
Fit4Mom is fantastic! I never thought I'd enjoy a program like that but I really do.
Good point about snacks. I'm a grazer and those calories add up.

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[spotty_dog]

No idea. I really don't feel like nursing is a time for calorie restriction, so I don't really weigh and measure during that season of life. I think I was all kinds of shapes during my ~4 years of nursing, just like I was all kinds of shapes during puberty, pregnancy, etc. Bodies change.

I do remember other nursing moms mentioning that there's a distinct extra 5-ish pounds of padding that many bodies will hold on to as insurance during the time you're nourishing a baby. Could be that?

[MrsC]

You're right, not a good time to count calories and I'm not stressing over it, just curious really. I'vet been cutting out junk food/empty calories but otherwise sticking to my normal diet.
I was thinking about that, the body needing fat stores. Maybe a combination of that and new workout routine.

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[houseelf]

What Allison said.

All three times I kept about 5 additional pounds the year that I spent nursing. It dropped within a month of weaning. It was weirdly exact.

[MrsC]

5 lbs makes total sense. The other 5 I've been battling with for 10 years now.

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[gcuthbe1]

Good to know about fit4mom, I've gotta look into this!

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