Breast Feeding and Weight Loss

SammyLynn010
SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been successfully Breast feeding almost 10 months now. I started losing weight and noticed a supply dip and panicked. So, I haven't tried again. However, I want to lose this weight now. Any tips on ways to do it without losing my supply? I have added 500 cals to my daily intake already. I want to start running again but I've heard horror stories of it causing issues with supply and quality of the milk. Any tips would be great! Thanks everyone, in advance!

Replies

  • ac8908ac
    ac8908ac Posts: 6 Member
    When I was nursing I set my goal loss for the week at .5 lbs. I didn't lose my supply and was running the Couch to 5K program. I lost weight more slowly but my supply was never compromised.
  • gaelowyn_pt_duex
    gaelowyn_pt_duex Posts: 135 Member
    keep yourself hydrated, eating high quality foods. when nursing, it's better to have smaller portions of the full fat and "normal" options than go all out fat/sugar free. How old was baby when you first started trying? It's possible your supply is much more established now as well. like previous poster said, I wouldn't try to do much more than 0.5lb a week until you are sure it's not going to affect your nursing. your little one is a cutie!
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    alyssacole89 wrote: »
    When I was nursing I set my goal loss for the week at .5 lbs. I didn't lose my supply and was running the Couch to 5K program. I lost weight more slowly but my supply was never compromised.
    Did running make you LO not want your milk??
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    gaelowyn_pt_duex wrote: »
    keep yourself hydrated, eating high quality foods. when nursing, it's better to have smaller portions of the full fat and "normal" options than go all out fat/sugar free. How old was baby when you first started trying? It's possible your supply is much more established now as well. like previous poster said, I wouldn't try to do much more than 0.5lb a week until you are sure it's not going to affect your nursing. your little one is a cutie!

    It was around 5-6 months -- I had just started a new job and was pumping 5 days a week. I figure that played into as well.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    SammyLynn010 wrote: »
    alyssacole89 wrote: »
    When I was nursing I set my goal loss for the week at .5 lbs. I didn't lose my supply and was running the Couch to 5K program. I lost weight more slowly but my supply was never compromised.
    Did running make you LO not want your milk??

    I've also exercised while successfully breastfeeding. My LOs have never had a problem with my milk when I'm exercising. Even when I go straight from exercise to feeding and I'm still sweaty, they haven't really cared.

    I think that all of the other changes (new job, pumping 5 days a week) had a lot to do with it. Also remember, your baby is more effective at getting milk than a pump is.

    Try a 0.5 lb per month deficit. Log your exercise and eat back the calories (at least half). That should help.

    But also remember, at 10 months, chances are your baby is getting a fair amount of solids, and thus drinking less milk from you. 300 calories for breastfeeding is probably more appropriate now.
  • ThisIsNotAnExit
    ThisIsNotAnExit Posts: 1
    Exercise of any kind does not affect your milk. If the baby is not wanting to nurse afterwards it is because your sweat is too salty. Losing weight while nursing is a slow process. Follow your body on eating, just make sure it is healthy foods and drink like a gallon of water on work out days. Seriously though, you need extra calories for nursing, more so when the baby goes through a growth spurt. So eat like a ton of oatmeal, broccoli, brown rice, etc. and you should be fine.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I've been very successful so far with weight loss while BFing. I have a 10 week old and I started back with MFP when he was about 4 weeks old. I've lost 17 pounds since then and haven't noticed any supply problems at all. My baby sleeps 9-10 hours in a row at night and is gaining weight quickly so I think he's eating enough! :) I exercise about 5 days a week. I have my calories set to lose 1 pound a week and I eat 500 extra calories a day for BFing. I eat back half of my exercise calories. I also weigh all my food so I am sure I am eating enough.

    Is it possible you had a supply dip for other reasons? I've experienced significant struggles with supply dips in the past when I pumped at work, so maybe it wasn't actually related to the weight loss?
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    mathjulz wrote: »
    SammyLynn010 wrote: »
    alyssacole89 wrote: »
    When I was nursing I set my goal loss for the week at .5 lbs. I didn't lose my supply and was running the Couch to 5K program. I lost weight more slowly but my supply was never compromised.
    Did running make you LO not want your milk??

    I've also exercised while successfully breastfeeding. My LOs have never had a problem with my milk when I'm exercising. Even when I go straight from exercise to feeding and I'm still sweaty, they haven't really cared.

    I think that all of the other changes (new job, pumping 5 days a week) had a lot to do with it. Also remember, your baby is more effective at getting milk than a pump is.

    Try a 0.5 lb per month deficit. Log your exercise and eat back the calories (at least half). That should help.

    But also remember, at 10 months, chances are your baby is getting a fair amount of solids, and thus drinking less milk from you. 300 calories for breastfeeding is probably more appropriate now.

    He still is up all hours of the night but he does he less throughout the day. So I'll try 500 to see what happens and then if it isn't enough I'll switch to 300. Thanks!
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    ThisIsNotAnExit wrote: »
    Exercise of any kind does not affect your milk. If the baby is not wanting to nurse afterwards it is because your sweat is too salty. Losing weight while nursing is a slow process. Follow your body on eating, just make sure it is healthy foods and drink like a gallon of water on work out days. Seriously though, you need extra calories for nursing, more so when the baby goes through a growth spurt. So eat like a ton of oatmeal, broccoli, brown rice, etc. and you should be fine.

    Good to know!! I need to get back into running, so this really helps!! Thank you!!
  • SammyLynn010
    SammyLynn010 Posts: 293 Member
    victoria_1024 wrote: »
    I've been very successful so far with weight loss while BFing. I have a 10 week old and I started back with MFP when he was about 4 weeks old. I've lost 17 pounds since then and haven't noticed any supply problems at all. My baby sleeps 9-10 hours in a row at night and is gaining weight quickly so I think he's eating enough! :) I exercise about 5 days a week. I have my calories set to lose 1 pound a week and I eat 500 extra calories a day for BFing. I eat back half of my exercise calories. I also weigh all my food so I am sure I am eating enough.

    Is it possible you had a supply dip for other reasons? I've experienced significant struggles with supply dips in the past when I pumped at work, so maybe it wasn't actually related to the weight loss?

    Wow! I'm so jealous your baby sleeps that much at night! My babe hasnt ever slept that much haha!

    It's probably pumping and not drinking enough at the time. Thank you so much for your help!
  • HaleysHeartfeltJourney
    HaleysHeartfeltJourney Posts: 27 Member
    My LO is 9 months and my supply hasn't dropped since starting exercising, but you could take Fenugreek, it'll boost your supply, and it helps lower blood sugar some, as well as a few other health benefits. Also, nurse on demand or pump between to keep supply up. Its supply and demand, the more baby demands, the more you'll make. Also, a friend of mine ran daily, and did those marathon runs (not accurate with the name, but I'm not a runner) and nursed her son until 18mos. (: My LO still nurses a LOT, and is on solids. But he nurses more than most 9mos old I believe, so I understand your concern because with as much as my LO still nurses, even at 9mos old, I'd be very concerned, because he's constantly nursing plus eating baby food 3x/day.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Unless you try some starvation diet or are dehydrated, supply i snot affected by what you eat, what you noticed was probably a coincidence, baby going through growth spurt etc. So, monitoring your calories is perfectly fine. Also exercise does not change anyting. I do not know if some extreme training of several hours per day, i.e. if you are an elite athlete preparing for the olympics could affect your supply or the milk taste, but for the usual exercise routines, it changes nothing, do not worry.
  • emmavagg
    emmavagg Posts: 27 Member
    victoria_1024 wrote: »
    I've been very successful so far with weight loss while BFing. I have a 10 week old and I started back with MFP when he was about 4 weeks old. I've lost 17 pounds since then and haven't noticed any supply problems at all. My baby sleeps 9-10 hours in a row at night and is gaining weight quickly so I think he's eating enough! :) I exercise about 5 days a week. I have my calories set to lose 1 pound a week and I eat 500 extra calories a day for BFing. I eat back half of my exercise calories. I also weigh all my food so I am sure I am eating enough.

    Is it possible you had a supply dip for other reasons? I've experienced significant struggles with supply dips in the past when I pumped at work, so maybe it wasn't actually related to the weight loss?

    I would absolutely love my 14 week old to sleep that long! Like you I have lost a lot of weight since having my baby (21lbs) and I think its mainly down to breast feeding :)

    This app has been a real eye opener as to how much sugar I eat and has helped me cut back.
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