Breastfeeding burns calories? True?
aniamanning
Posts: 18 Member
Hey! So I had my son two weeks ago, and I am breastfeeding him I am 23 years old 5'9 and 130 lbs. I usually exercise but I had a csection and my doc told me to wait 6 weeks to heal (and I'm not taking the risk) so how many calories is my son using up?
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Replies
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Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.3
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rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
Yes, generally the average amount is 500 for exclusive breastfeeding and around 300 once solids start being introduced.1 -
rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?0 -
aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
@aniamanning
I can't answer that without knowing how you got this number
Is 1500 calories the number MFP gave you?
If so, did you set a weight loss goal with MFP?
If so, how much?0 -
To add, when I was nursing I set MFP to maintain and logged exericse. I allowed the 500 calories from nursing to create my deficit for 1 lb a week. Once we added food in, I changed my weight loss goal to .5 lb a week (so 250 calorie deficit) and the other 300 from nursing kept me at around 1lb a week.0
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Unless you made a typo with your weight or height, you are already on the low end of the healthy BMI (19) do you really need to be worried about weight loss right now? If you want to continue to breast feed you need to ensure you are consuming sufficient calories and nutrition to sustain not only yourself but breastfeeding as well.11
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aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
Depends entirely on what your maintenance calories are.
Be careful not to create too high of a deficit, though, or you may not produce enough milk.2 -
tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »Unless you made a typo with your weight or height, you are already on the low end of the healthy BMI (19) do you really need to be worried about weight loss right now? If you want to continue to breast feed you need to ensure you are consuming sufficient calories and nutrition to sustain not only yourself but breastfeeding as well.
Good point. I totally missed that.0 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
@aniamanning
I can't answer that without knowing stats.
Is 1500 calories the number MFP gave you?
If so, did you set a weight loss goal with MFP?
If so, how much?
I got 1500 from websites saying to not go below 1500 or it will affect the supply. I set mfp to 1200 though for weight loss0 -
aniamanning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
@aniamanning
I can't answer that without knowing stats.
Is 1500 calories the number MFP gave you?
If so, did you set a weight loss goal with MFP?
If so, how much?
I got 1500 from websites saying to not go below 1500 or it will affect the supply. I set mfp to 1200 though for weight loss
Why would you do that?4 -
3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
@aniamanning
I can't answer that without knowing stats.
Is 1500 calories the number MFP gave you?
If so, did you set a weight loss goal with MFP?
If so, how much?
I got 1500 from websites saying to not go below 1500 or it will affect the supply. I set mfp to 1200 though for weight loss
Why would you do that?
Lol what do you mean0 -
tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »Unless you made a typo with your weight or height, you are already on the low end of the healthy BMI (19) do you really need to be worried about weight loss right now? If you want to continue to breast feed you need to ensure you are consuming sufficient calories and nutrition to sustain not only yourself but breastfeeding as well.
I'm not sure how much to consume0 -
aniamanning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »3dogsrunning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »rankinsect wrote: »Well, not "burns" in the sense of exercise, but all the calories that are in that breast milk are calories that are leaving your body, so they are actually "calories out". Around 500 calories/day I believe is what I've seen.
So if I ate 1500 calories, and he uses up 500 does that mean the calories for that day are 1000? And I would lose about a pound per week?
@aniamanning
I can't answer that without knowing stats.
Is 1500 calories the number MFP gave you?
If so, did you set a weight loss goal with MFP?
If so, how much?
I got 1500 from websites saying to not go below 1500 or it will affect the supply. I set mfp to 1200 though for weight loss
Why would you do that?
Lol what do you mean
You read that you should not go below 1500 or risk affecting supply (which is a legit point), then set you goal below 1500. Why?
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Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?0
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aniamanning wrote: »Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
Yes. Assuming you are producing enough to feed the baby without having to supplement, you are producing roughly the same amount which requires the same amount of energy. There are always variables but your weight isn't one of the factors.1 -
aniamanning wrote: »Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
So are you currently 150 with a goal of 130, or are you 130 now? 130 is already on the low end for your height. And as a new nursing mom, you don't want your BMI to drop so low that your body stops producing milk. Plus, you need proper nutrition to heal in these first several weeks. I'd say you need to talk to your doctor about your diet plans ASAP to make sure you're on the right track health-wise.4 -
aniamanning wrote: »Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
So are you currently 150 with a goal of 130, or are you 130 now? 130 is already on the low end for your height. And as a new nursing mom, you don't want your BMI to drop so low that your body stops producing milk. Plus, you need proper nutrition to heal in these first several weeks. I'd say you need to talk to your doctor about your diet plans ASAP to make sure you're on the right track health-wise.
I'm 130 now, and I just want my son and I to be healthy0 -
Would eating 1500 contribute to weight loss even if I didn't breast feed?0
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I would recommend not creating too big of a deficit. You are only 2 weeks post partum... Let your body heal and get established with breastfeeding, then slowly create a deficit. Your priority right now needs to be to heal from your c-section and make milk.1
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aniamanning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
So are you currently 150 with a goal of 130, or are you 130 now? 130 is already on the low end for your height. And as a new nursing mom, you don't want your BMI to drop so low that your body stops producing milk. Plus, you need proper nutrition to heal in these first several weeks. I'd say you need to talk to your doctor about your diet plans ASAP to make sure you're on the right track health-wise.
I'm 130 now, and I just want my son and I to be healthy
Your doctor knows you better than we do! Give him/her a call.2
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