Breastfeeding - STARVING. Normal while dieting?

scriptie

Hi there! I have been using MFP on and off for the past couple of years. I was very succesful last summer, starting in August to October when I had to quit dieting for the well being of my daughter. (I lost 15 lbs from MFP, after losing an initial 13 after giving birth)

I started counting calories when my daughter was 1.5 months old. My TDEE was calculated to be about 2000, so I set my calories to 1800 because I was exclusively breastfeeding. I had an easy time with it and never really felt hungry like people say you do when breastfeeding. I now think it was because I wasn't making enough breastmilk for her. I quit counting calories in October for fear that cutting my calories was causing supply problems (it was a whole host of other things).

ANYWAYS. I just started again a week ago. I feel the same motivation and want that I had then and the scale is starting to budge again. My daughter is 8 months old now and is breastfeeding still. I feel a dramatic difference in how I feel now with the dieting, as she is obviously taking in a lot more breastmilk than before! (yay for that) But OH MY GOD I am starving.

I am wondering mainly if this is a normal feeling I'm going to be having now until she weans, now that her intake has gone up. And any tips or tricks from anyone who has breastfed while losing weight?

Thank you!

WinterSkies

The starving feeling was my life for the first three months- my daughter nursed non-stop in the evenings until she found her thumb at 12 weeks. I think I was ALWAYS hungry. It's totally normal, as nursing full time can burn at minimum an extra 500 calories per day, or more depending on how much your baby is taking in. The hunger will definitely lessen as your daughter cuts back feedings, and at 8 months, it won't be too long until she starts doing so if you've started solids. I found the big turning point was around the 9-11 month range.

I started on MFP when my daughter was around the same age as yours. Initially, while she was almost exclusively nursing, I took the MFP recommendation for calories based on activity level and added 500 calories per day to account for nursing (there are entries in the food database that you can use). Around 10 months, I bumped it down to 300/day, and then 200/day around a year, when she was only nursing 2-3 times a day. Throughout that period, I found that I was able to lose 1-2lb/week without feeling overly hungry. I think it was around 14 months or so that I stopped adding extra calories for nursing, as my weight didn't budge for a while. That did the trick.

Your best bet is to start by adding a set amount of calories per day, eating that amount for a week or two, and tweaking based on your results, at least in my experience. And enjoy the extra calories while you can I was really sad when I didn't get my extra snack every day!

Equus3nMom

I can only say that not only does breastfeeding make me ravishing lynneurso@townisp.com hungry, it's all carb/sugars I crave. My 3 month old started sleeping 11 hours through the night last week and my supply plummeted. I had to supplement him with some formula already so I decided to wean.

Now I'm here ready to get on with reclaiming my body, but that breastfeeding hunger is no joke. With both of my kids I did NOT lose weight BF'ing like they say will happen. I was always hungry, couldn't eat enough to maximize my supply and it packed on the pounds.

Sued0nim

TDEE 2000 + 500 calories for breastfeeding (gradually tapering off as she eats more food) means your cut is at 2000-2250


Lots of protein, healthy fats and wide range of nutritious vegetables

chocolate and red wine too

carbs also good for satiety - I find a mix of carbs, protein and fats best to be honest - you know ... food

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