Moms who are nursing and trying to lose weight

tartsul

hey moms, my daughter is 6 months old and eating some solids, but still mostly bf since she is under 1. i've been exercising lately but i know i need to start being more disciplined with my eating habits. i don't have a ton to lose, maybe 10 lbs. i'm not looking to cut a ton of calories since i need them for nursing, but trying to get a ballpark of what to aim for, calorie-wise. i'm 145 currently.

also looking for some mom friends with kiddos around the same age. mine are 4y, 2y, and 6m. thanks!

DomesticKat

I'm a nursing mom also to my almost 15 month old

I recommend starting out by eating at least maintenance calories for your current weight while breastfeeding since it creates a deficit by itself. Since you only have 10 pounds to lose you could even eat above maintenance and aim for a half pound a week (and I recommend that), but that's going to require you to really focus on logging your food correctly and getting into a routine with that while collecting your own data over time. It can be helpful to track your weight loss with a trending app (like Libra) to see how much of a deficit breastfeeding is creating over time. I've had great success using a digital food scale for increased accuracy when logging. If you're exercising, make sure you're eating the calories you burn from it back.

I've stuck with the recommended pound a week since my baby was born and switched to a half pound a week once I had about 15 pounds to go. I've been able to eat more than MFP's estimates so I've manually adjusted my calories as I've gone along. I made the mistake of thinking I needed to drop my calories at 6 months when he started solids and wasn't exclusively nursing anymore, but I lost too quickly so I increased my calories again. I'm eating 2300 a day at 5'1" and 130lbs.

OblasMummy

Hi I have 6, 4 and 9 months. I’m still breastfeeding and I’m doing what DomesticKat suggested. My maintenance is 1700 so that’s my goal on an inactive day, I also run so some days I’ll eat up to 2000. Im losing 1-1.5lb a week at the minute but some weeks I maintain or lose .5lb. I have about 15lbs to go. It’s taken me since January to lose 17lb so slow and steady.

Importantly on the days I’m starving which could be due to a growth spurt, poorly baby or lack of sleep I’m kind to myself, eat and skip the logging.

ruqayyahsmum

I'm feeding a 2and a half year old (extreme preemie)

My supply is well established so I can eat in a small deficit unless he's feeding alot more than usual

dsboohead

I drank a lot of fluids and ate well rounded meals at what could be more at maintenance.Nursing had me losing a lot of weight. 60lbs I believe. But I also took the baby out for a 3 block round trip. Everyday.