I had my beautiful baby girl 4 weeks ago and am breastfeeding. I have been watching what I eat but have not lost any weight. I'm not sure what to expect with breastfeeding. I do not want to take in to few calories but I also would like to lose some weight gradually until i can start exercising. Anyone out there had a baby after sleeve and can shed some light or tips on starting weight loss while maintaining calories but breastfeeding?

You should consult your Dr. It's been years, but I breastfed both of my kids. Your body needs extra calories and nutrition to produce healthly milk for your baby. I personally do not believe that you should diet while breastfeeding.

You need to eat while nursing, but it's not much more - I was told an extra Calcium rich snack a day is about the difference in calories you need over your typical intake.

You burn approximately 500 calories a day if you exclusively nurse or pump.

I'd start by tracking your intake if you aren't already. Before looking at anything else, see if you let your habits slide while pregnant and if you're eating more than you realize. It happens - the hormones make us want to eat (me, anyway) and without tracking it's easy to miss it or slip into denial.

Were you in loss or maintenance before pregnancy? I was in maintenance. I had to shift into loss again, which is kind of tough, especially while nursing. I only cut my calories down to my pre-pregnancy maintenance levels, or roughly 1,400-1,600 calories a day. That's what worked for me - you have to go back to what was working for you.

If you were in loss and eating very restricted calories I would caution you about returning to that before weaning. You may very well compromise your milk supply and it's very hard to get back.

It takes time to shed the final pounds. How much did you gain? I lost a big portion of my gain in the first few weeks, but have been fighting the last fifteen pounds for nearly four months now. They come off very slowly (I've 7 pounds to go, and have since weaned my daughter) so be patient. Disclaimer: I'm being a total hypocrite here, because I'm not feeling very patient, myself. Maybe by reminding you, I'll remind myself, too.

In any case, the most important thing is your supply. The weight is definitely coming off of me and I just have to be sure that I don't slide into poor habits and it keeps coming off (albeit at a poky pace) so as long as you're okay on that front, I wouldn't worry. Even if it's frustrating and we want our bodies back now!

Congrats on your new addition - it goes so fast. I'd forgotten how quickly it flies by as my twins are nearly six, but my daughter is already four and a half months old and it's amazing because I feel like I just had her!

~Cheri

Idk about the nursing thing but my surgeon told me when I'm ready to lose baby weight go back to my post-op diet & start over & it should fall off!