Any breastfeeding mommas??

quarterhorses

I had a baby about a month ago and am starting to think about climbing back on the weight loss wagon. Only thing is that I am breastfeeding and don’t want to do anything to mess up my supply. Are there any moms out there with any info or suggestions? I’m not sure how aggressive I should be with my weight loss and calorie goals or if I should set my goal to maintain because I have heard breastfeeding in itself burns quite a few calories. Just looking for some suggestions if any mommas have them. Thanks!

kmguh

I was above 2000 calories daily while breastfeeding. It takes more calories to breastfeed than it does to be pregnant, which makes sense since the baby is bigger. When your baby is 4 months old, you’ll need even more calories.

I recommend eating whatever you feel like eating for a few days and logging all of it to get a feel for how many calories you’re consuming. If you’re not happy with the direction the scale is going, drop your calories by 100 or so. Just be aware that to maintain your supply, you’ll have to go up in calories for a few months until your baby starts solid food. Because of this, I didn’t really get serious about losing the baby weight until mine was about 8 months old. I breastfed until 17 months.

quarterhorses

Thanks so much! I think I may be trying to start weight loss too soon and instead I need to focus on eating healthire for now. Thanks for sharing your experience!

ARGriffy

I did slimming world in the end whilst breast feeding as they have extra portions of certain carbs and dairy so I knew I would be safe supply wise and to be fair it did work for me x

CPMama18

I’m 4 months post partum. Breastfeeding and wondering the same thing. Calories about 2000? Is that the verdict.

Melmomof3

I’m still breastfeeding my 15 month old and aim for about 1600 calories, but most days I go over that by 100 or 200 calories. Some days I even eat up to 2000 calories. I’ve lost 97 pounds in 15 months by tracking calories & breastfeeding, no working out or anything yet. I can’t seem to lose these last 8 pounds though 🤔 So I’m thinking I need to exercise and/or reduce my calories to lose the last little bit.

Asher_Ethan

I have a 1-year-old. No longer breastfeeding, but I found that setting my diary to gain half a pound a week put me in a slight deficit.

quarterhorses

Thanks for the input everyone!

FoxAndOpal

I have a 10 month old and a newborn, so I am tandem nursing and I’m currently losing about .5lb/wk eating 2500-3000cal/day. I’m ravenous so cutting to low calories just doesn’t work for me. I suggest dropping very slowly just to ensure your supply doesn’t suffer.

baleighbee

If your sweet baby is only a month or two old. I would find the correct calorie range for you to lose weight and then add 400-500 calories onto that and just drink lots of water.

sarahq81

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

I have a 1-year-old. No longer breastfeeding, but I found that setting my diary to gain half a pound a week put me in a slight deficit.

Great advice thank you, I’ve been really struggling to know what to aim for

kimny72

Have never breastfed myself, but have seen many long-timers post that after a few months of not worrying about the weight and just recovering, they ate maintenance calories, and let the breastfeeding create their deficit.

hesn92

I wouldn't try to lose weight yet at this point. I'd wait a couple months at least. When I was nursing I just set my goal to maintain current weight and let the breastfeeding take care of the deficit. It worked for me.

quarterhorses

Thanks everyone. I have set my calories to maintain and am not being too strict about it. I know now isn’t the time to be hard on myself but I do want to use the breastfeeding calorie burn to my advantage. 😄 I’ve been doing it about a week and so far everything seems to be going well!