weight watchers while nursing? and other WW questions

[ktgrok]

My husband really wants to lose weight, and wants to do Weight Watchers.He lost 90lbs doing it many years ago, so wants to go back to it. Personally, I think he just needs to control portions in the evening (he eats fine when out and at work...but in the evenings at home will eat thirds of everything I make.). Anyway, I want to support him, and he has asked for my support. I will do that.

 

However, I also am obese. Weight Watchers never worked great for me, as I tended to be the type to use up all my points early on stupid food and then be hungry. But, maybe it would be easier if we are both doing it? (I lost well on Jenny craig, and fairly well on a paleo style diet..thingst hat focused on what I should eat, not amounts).

 

We'd do the online program. I'm nursing, but I remember that they give you more points for that. I'm less than 3 weeks post partum, and also still nursing my toddler during the day. I'm 9lbs from my prepregnancy weight, but another 50lbs from a healthy weight. (not skinny, just healthy).

 

Any thoughts?

[butterflymommy]

hi :). I can give you calorie advice, which maybe you could loosely translate in WW. At three weeks PP I wouldn't diet at all except perhaps to avoid junk food. I would wait until at least 8 if not 12 weeks just to be 100% certain you won't hurt your milk supply. Also be careful with exercise as too much exertion can trigger mastitis in some women.

 

For a typical somewhat sedentary woman a calorie loss level is about 1200. You need at least 500 calories if you are exclusively BFing. So you need to be eating at LEAST 1700 calories a day.

 

My advice would be at 3 months to estimate what 2500 calories a day would be in terms of points, and gradually cut down from there, watching your supply and baby's urine output carefully. I found that I needed about 2300 a day for ample milk supply, 2000 for adequate, and 1800 for barely adequate. As baby starting eating solids I'm able to get lower but you have to watch their urine output carefully.

 

So in short, you can do WW as long as you're eating at LEAST 1700 a day if not closer to 2000-2500. You will lose weight more slowly at this level but you don't want to risk your supply. I was losing a whopping 1/2 lb a week but it was steady-- I was down almost 20 lbs after one yr post partum.

 

hth!

[VeganCupcake]

I've been doing WW for a bit more than a year, since my DS was six months old. I'm also tandem nursing my littles.

 

I've lost 25ish lbs and am back to my pre-children weight and in the "healthy" range, though I still want to lose more. I have my own "rules" about what to eat, and my rules are pretty strict, but I do find that the accountability in person at WW helps me not goof around so much. I tried doing the online program and I just cheated myself too much (and actually gained weight), so I switched to the in-person meeting program and have had a lot more luck with that.

 

I think doing it with your DH would help a lot with mutual support. They do now suggest eating a lot of Power Foods, of which many are probably paleo--at least the meats, veggies, and stuff like that.

[Night Elf]

My DH and I joined WW together Sept. 2011. We are both lifetime members now. I tried online but didn't last. It was way too easy to cheat and fudge the numbers. We were both successful at the meetings. It took me almost a year to lose 38 lbs. but I truly believe it will be easier to keep off because I've gotten so used to eating well and moderating the not-so-great foods. You said you had a problem eating all of your WW points early in the day. It's easy to do that with any calorie budget while you're on a diet. You just have to be really conscious of how to eat throughout the day. Losing weight took a lot of effort for me. I had to work at it. I failed on WW twice before so I was determined to see it through this time. I'm very proud of myself for reaching my goal. There were times I wanted to quit. My problem time of eating is at night. I learned to save points so I could have them at night. I also learned to make different choices. For example, instead of cookies, I'd have a banana sprinkled with a little sugar-free Hershey's syrup. I had to get a little creative. :)