For breastfeeding mamas, 1,200 cal a daysafe?

tiffinijo

I always stayed around 1600 cals. And lost weight and never lost milk supply. So it depends on the person. Maybe you can try 1200 cal for a week and see. But read your body for signals to see if you need more calories... although it seems kind of low bc lets just say BF burns 300. Then you are only consuming 800cals. That isnt sufficient for day to day long term weight loss. You wanna stay healtht n strong for that child

tmoneyag99

You need to eat enought to breast feed. When I nursed I couldn't diet because it *killed* my supply levels. I hope the same is not true for you.

If it were me I would cut back ***slowly*** Log your food for a week or 2 to see where your calories are coming from and see if there are places where you can cut 100 here and there and then increase movement. See what it does to your supply (drink plenty of water) Keep logging to see what your kCal is.

Just cut slowly to see what your optimal supply/weight loss/kCal ratio is.

tmoneyag99

VintageFeline wrote: »

For mums who are exclusively breastfeeding the recommendation is 400 extra calories a day or as many as you need to keep your supply up. Some mums can't create a deficit at all until baby is weaned. So while you don't need as many as that, you do need extra, plus you're a mum! That's hard work, you should definitely be eating more than the bare minimum (which is what 1200 is). Also, in switching out two meals with protein shakes, on so few calories you are going to struggle to meet basic nutritional needs. Protein shakes generally only have protein with few other nutrients.

Also I would be careful drinking protein shakes and the quality. Some shakes can have a high metal content that can be passed through to your baby. I would also worry about mercury concentrations. Please make sure that you talk to your doctor and your child's pediatrician about your diet. I will never understand why the medical community doesn't treat a nursing mother and child as one symbiotic unit.

JacquiH73

rodsteph777 wrote: »

I am doing the two protein shakes and one meal a day diet.

Breastfeeding or not I wouldn't recommend the "slimfast" diet plan to anyone. It's simply not sustainable over the long term and it's a sure way to gain weight back quickly even if you reach your goal weight on it. A sensible balanced diet consisting mainly of healthy wholefoods. Shakes are just a bunch of processed sugars and proteins and added vitamins.

If you want to deprive yourself so badly why don't you try depriving yourself of excessive meat and dairy by eating two plant-based meals a day and having a small amount of meat and/or dairy once a day? That would be much more nutritionally beneficial for you and your breastfeeding little one. Just some food for thought.

RGv2

sodaceratops wrote: »

For me, it would be safe to eat 1200 calories a day and not have my milk supply hindered by it. Every woman is different and I can't say the same for you. I definitely don't believe people when they say that you need an extra 500 calories a day if you're overweight and breastfeeding.

1200 calories alone is cutting at TDEE -50% for you already. To think that's enough for you to sustain yourself, plus a solid milk supply I find highly questionable...

Katiebear_81

VeryKatie wrote: »

Nope, you'll lose your milk. Plus starve your baby of nutrition while losing it.

Nothing under 1800 will do, and you'll want to eat back exercise calories. Depending how tall you are, even that may not be enough.

This is not true. What WILL happen, though, is that your body will give EVERYTHING it has to produce good milk. It will literally pull calcium out of your bones, etc. Your health will suffer a lot if you are not eating nutrient dense food at an appropriate calorie level. Your baby will be fine... but you will not be. It's not worth risking issues with your own body just to be thin.

I agree with at least 1800 calories, and eating back your exercise calories. If nursing is important to you, consider waiting until your baby is weaned before getting really serious about trying to lose weight. It's totally ok if nursing is not that important, and you want to supplement your baby with formula and you can cut down on feedings so you can lose a bit more aggressively. But you have to decide that.

This is a short season of long days... soon your baby will be eating food and not needing to nurse, and then you can get more aggressive in your weight loss.

Anyway - I'm a stranger on the internet, and what is important to me might not be the same for you, and that's ok. I did try to diet aggressively when I was exclusively nursing, and my milk dried up within a week. I was able to relactate through extra pumping, fenugreek, and crap tons of oatmeal. But it was very frustrating experience. I decided after that to focus on good nutrition for myself, and to cut back on the excess treats, etc. until my baby was eating more solids. Then I went and lost 50+ lbs

inertiastrength

1200 is the minimum for someone who isn't breastfeeding, I would think you'd need about 400 more than that at least but I'm not sure. Best to speak to a physician who knows your medical history.

mrsmeteor

fascha wrote: »

1200 is the minimum for someone who isn't breastfeeding, I would think you'd need about 400 more than that at least but I'm not sure. Best to speak to a physician who knows your medical history.

Agree, your doctor is the one who should be advising you on this.

I nursed all my children and there's no way I would have been able to do it on 1200 calories a day, but we're all different.

emilygduran

I had almost your exact stats when I started using mfp in November except my nursing toddler was slightly older. I was able to lose weight quite easily around 1600 calories, shakes and restricting to 1200 isn't necessary and might be harmful.