Breastfeeding! Help with nutrition.

Graceraeg

I am still breastfeeding my 13 month old son. He breastfeeds 2 -3 times a day emptying each breast. I'm guessing maybe he is getting about 25 ounces of milk. How much more should I be eating? Sometimes I find myself starving but I want to lose some weight"

3dogsrunning

I thought I read somewhere that it is around 25-30 calories an ounce but I think that might be a little high since most sources say around 500 calories per day for exclusively breastfed babies. At that age, I believe the figures are lower since he is on food as well now.

You could try changing your calorie goal to maintenance and letting your breastfeeding create a calorie deficit for you.
Try that for a few weeks (more than 2) and see if it works. Or you could try changing your goal to lose .5 lb a week (that is what I am doing now but I log and eat my exercise calories ).

It's ok to do a calorie deficit, you just don't want to drop too low.
Play around with the number and find a spot where you aren't starving and your milk supply isn't affected and you still lose weigh, even if it is slower.

Graceraeg

Yea I eat around 1200 calories mon- Thurs. Then Fri sat and sun I feel starved!

VBJONLY

Graceraeg wrote: »

Yea I eat around 1200 calories mon- Thurs. Then Fri sat and sun I feel starved!

You need to bump your calorie up to 1500. When I was nursing that is how many calorie I was taking in and also recommended.

melodyg

500 calories for exclusively breastfeeding babies, as mentioned above, and the standard I've heard is 50-100 extra calories per feeding session for babies getting solids. I would only aim to lose about a pound a week while bf'ing, so if you add back in the extra calories for bf'ing then you are really trying to eat at whatever MFP has for your maintenance calories. I always found kellymom.com to be a great resource! http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/#guidelines

3dogsrunning

Graceraeg wrote: »

Yea I eat around 1200 calories mon- Thurs. Then Fri sat and sun I feel starved!

1200 is too low for a lot of women who aren't even breastfeeding. You should probably be eating more. Put your stats into MFP, choose maintainance or .5lb a week and see what it recommends.
I am between 1800-2000 calories a day and more on active days. With a 6 month old.

ashes1017

You should definitely be eating more calories while bf. I breastfed my daughter until she was 20 mo. Go momma!

LKArgh

Breastfeeding burns about 300-500 calories in general. If you want to lose weight, there is no reason to eat these calories on top of what you would normally eat, it will not affect milk supply or your health. If you are eating at your maintenance (i.e. as you would pre kids) and not eating extra calories, it should be enough. There is no reason to starve yourself, and no reason to try to eat more either. Are you drinkign enough water? When I was breastfeeding, I remember being constantly thirsty, and as stupid as it sounds, it was easy to confise with hunger.

Graceraeg

I drink like 8-10 cups of water a day. I know its not thirst because I can drink 2 cups of water and still feel hungry 20 min later. I have my calorie intake upped to 1700. It just seems like so much though. I already have a hard time with getting enough protein. I think I'm going to try eating more healthy fat. Thanks everyone. I love kellymom.com its an awesome site.

My_Butt

Main concern while breast feeding is for your child. Any deprivation of food for yourself has a direct consequence on your child. Instead of cutting calories so much, add in an exercise to tone things. You can stay the same weight, appear smaller, and not jeopardize your child's health. I went for walks with my sister all the time after she had her babies. I used to put my niece in the kangaroo pouch thing so I had extra weight to lift.

kristydi

kojiro44705 wrote: »

Main concern while breast feeding is for your child. Any deprivation of food for yourself has a direct consequence on your child. Instead of cutting calories so much, add in an exercise to tone things. You can stay the same weight, appear smaller, and not jeopardize your child's health. I went for walks with my sister all the time after she had her babies. I used to put my niece in the kangaroo pouch thing so I had extra weight to lift.

If I remember correctly you'd have to be literally starving before your milk lost much nutrition. You're much more likely to lose your supply. And we're not talking about a newborn here.

Having said that, I agree that the OP needs to eat more calories. I'm nursing my 2 year old less than you are OP, maybe 2 times a day and she rarely empties a breast. I lose half a pound a week if I eat around 1590 calories a day and eat back most, if not all, exercise calories.

Here is a helpful article from kellymom.com, a research based breastfeeding site. (The breastfeeding info is research based, not so much on the weight loss advise at the end of the article.)

kat03316

Graceraeg wrote: »

Yea I eat around 1200 calories mon- Thurs. Then Fri sat and sun I feel starved!

You are not consuming enough calories. Eat lots of protein n good fats too

krithsai

I'm breastfeeding my 9 month old and MFP recommends I eat 1590 calories to lose 1 lb a week. I also add in "breastfeeding" as part of my diary to allow me an additional 300 calories.

I'm finding that when I restrict my calories too much, my weight loss stalls. When I went ahead and ate per appetite this weekend but watched what I ate, I suddenly dropped 1.5 lbs. I've heard that while breastfeeding your body tends to hold on to fat if you don't fuel it sufficiently.

ashleysmalls86

Can I drink protein drinks while I'm breastfeeding?

krithsai

ashleysmalls86 wrote: »

Can I drink protein drinks while I'm breastfeeding?

Sure! Just keep an eye on baby to see if she's getting gassy or constipated because their guts are a little underdeveloped and may react to protein. Most babies do just fine though.

mystuffperez

Any good protein shakes while BF?.
I have a mid day crash and I know a protein shake would help make it to dinner w/o binge. I am afraid to try any because I Am exclusively BF my 3m old.