Breastfeeding and weight

Anneysmith

Hello, i am currently a breastfeeding mom of a 3 month old. Anyone in the same situation? Is there a way to input that info into mfp so it recalculates the amount of calories i should be consuming? How much weight loss is safe at this point?

BlendaBrenda

If you type breastfeeding into your food diary a ton of options will come up. It'll add 'negative calories'.
I think -500cal/day is the standard for an EBF infant. As in, you burn 500cal/day just producing milk.

Make sure to drink lots of water!!!

Anneysmith

Thank you!

joosterluce82

I'm breast feeding my 3.5 month old.. Just started this today. I'm literally soo hungry but desperate to shed some weight!!

Ninkyou

If you're breastfeeding, make sure you don't drop below 1800 calories.

You could use your MFP goal and then add in 300-500 calories for breastfeeding on top of that, but make sure you don't drop below 1800 or your supply will suffer. You should also aim to lose no more than 1.5 lbs/week, but should aim closer to 1 lb.

Make sure you keep an eye on your supply!

sinnybri

I second what ninkyou says about supply! I'm feeding a toddler and decided Id chance the lowest a BF mom can go which is 1500cal a day. Now two years into breastfeeding it's safe to say my supply was well established but my supply has really suffered I need 1800cals a day to maintain supply and most women need that. I'm taking fenugreek and focusing on getting my supply back up then the plan is to eat at least 1800 calories a day and up my workouts. You might find that the weight comes off quicker when you are keeping to a healthy amount of calories a day as the body won't go into starvation mode and start storing fat. Remember an exclusively breastfeeding mother is burning an extra 500 calories a day! Take it easy on yourself you are giving your baby the very best nourishment and in doing so decreasing their risk of obesity and loads of other health benefits! X

Anneysmith

Thanks everyone ! Sinnybri, have you tried brewer's yeast? I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with some ground flax and brewer's yeast and i found i was quite engorged the next day, after eating 2 cookies . I'm not sure if it keeps the supply up once you stop eating them though. Yes, more calories but my supply had decreased.
at 1 point i had an over supply and then not producing enough and just as i think i've balanced out, growth spurt.
I had lost a lot of pregnancy weight within a month of giving birth. Probably, even less time. I think too much too quickly. Now the scale won't budge AND i am more active then right after giving birth and trying to count calories. Maybe like my oversupply i have over compensated