Breastfeeding burns calories? True?

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aniamanning
aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
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

  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
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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.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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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.
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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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.

    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?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    edited August 2016
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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?

    @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?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    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.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    edited August 2016
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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.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    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.
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    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
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    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?
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    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
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    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 consume
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    edited August 2016
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    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?
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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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.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    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. :)
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    jenilla1 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
  • aniamanning
    aniamanning Posts: 18 Member
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    Would eating 1500 contribute to weight loss even if I didn't breast feed?
  • Bearbo27
    Bearbo27 Posts: 339 Member
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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.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    aniamanning wrote: »
    jenilla1 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. <3

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