Jessie James Decker Says She Didn’t Lose Baby Weight Until After She Stopped Breastfeeding

Jessie James Decker gave birth to her third child, son Forrest, in April, and the singer has been open about her weight-loss goals in the months since.

While some moms credit breastfeeding for helping them to lose their baby weight, Decker has had the opposite experience, telling Us Weekly that she only began to lose weight after she stopped breastfeeding.

“When I’m nursing, I’m not anymore, but when I am, I don’t lose weight very well,” she said. “I’m holding on to, you know, extra fat on my body to produce milk for [the baby].”

Along with Forrest, Decker is also mom to daughter Vivianne, 4, and son Eric Jr., 3, with husband Eric Decker.

The country singer has since weaned Forrest and began the South Beach Diet, also crediting trainer Shawn Booth for the results she’s achieved. Jessie joked that while she does like to work out with her husband, there has to be someone else in charge.

“If Eric’s in charge I get frustrated,” she cracked. “‘He’s all about, ‘You’re not doing it right.’ It’s like, leave me alone!’”

Jessie also opened up about her figure in an Instagram post this week where she shared her history with weight and the South Beach Diet.

She began her post by noting that while it may seem like many moms are immediately able to get back to their pre-baby weight after they give birth, that just isn’t the case for most women.

“I know you’ll see a lot of people in the public eye and they drop weight in what seems like five minutes after having a baby and I think we all feel like we should live up to those expectations,” Jessie wrote. “I’ve even been guilty of that myself and thinking I need to rush and lose weight two months after having a baby when I see all these skinny girls post baby but that is just not realistic for the majority of us.”

“I have been every shape and size over the last 4 1/2 years from having children and never had to worry about losing weight until I had kids,” she continued. “I had good metabolism and had always been that way before. Having children definitely changed everything and I’m so blessed and grateful to have my babies as y’all know but it definitely can test your self-esteem when you are used to looking and feeling a certain way.”

Jessie also shared a before-and-after photo illustrating her weight loss journey.

“I got up to 165 pounds with my first baby and being 5’1 it was really hard on my frame and I definitely struggled self esteem wise,” she wrote. “I wish I would have known about the South Beach diet then. This is the fastest I have ever lost weight from all of my pregnancies and I truly think it’s just from educating myself and knowing what to do and having this program right in front of me. My goal now as far as my body goes is to be healthy and happy and fit not ‘skinny’ just fit and healthy and the best version of myself. don’t ever feel like you hit a dead end road or you want to give up or feel hopeless.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Dia Dipasupil