Calories needed while breastfeeding

crissy1110

Hello MFPers! I'm four months postpartum and breastfeeding. I've read from several sources (and my lactation consultant) that an extra 300-500 calories is needed to maintain your milk supply. I'm starting back on the MFP bandwagon and my plan is to add in 350 extra calories to the 1540 suggested calories to lose one pound per week. How do I adjust my profile to reflect those 350 extra calories? Also, is there somewhere on MFP that accounts for breastfeeding women so that it will still show that I'm within the recommended calorie allotment to lose??

ldrosophila

Go to goals on your main home page find the customization tab and you can change them there.

lisapr123

Enter "breastfeeding" as a food and it gives you tons of options. They'll subtract the calories for you.

dandelyon

There are three ways to do it. I would probably just add the extra calories in because then it will proportionally add the macros at the percentage you chose, and you won't be in the red every single day (but the 5 week projection will be way off). I logged it as food with my last little guy but I'm just going to customize it this time

I believe you can also add it as exercise but that feels a little silly to me, especially if it posted to my newsfeed every day.

vim_n_vigor

There are three ways to do it. I would probably just add the extra calories in because then it will proportionally add the macros at the percentage you chose, and you won't be in the red every single day (but the 5 week projection will be way off). I logged it as food with my last little guy but I'm just going to customize it this time

I believe you can also add it as exercise but that feels a little silly to me, especially if it posted to my newsfeed every day.

If you are trying to synch with a fitbit though, you need to log it as exercise or it won't synch - just something to consider...

crissy1110

I believe you can also add it as exercise but that feels a little silly to me, especially if it posted to my newsfeed every day.

HAHA, yes...I can definitely see how that would be a little awkward!

Thanks!

dandelyon

There are three ways to do it. I would probably just add the extra calories in because then it will proportionally add the macros at the percentage you chose, and you won't be in the red every single day (but the 5 week projection will be way off). I logged it as food with my last little guy but I'm just going to customize it this time

I believe you can also add it as exercise but that feels a little silly to me, especially if it posted to my newsfeed every day.

If you are trying to synch with a fitbit though, you need to log it as exercise or it won't synch - just something to consider...

I didn't realize that. It reminds me though, that on the ipad app, the negative calories don't show on your dashboard... it might show that you only have 100 calories left for the day but then when you go into your diary it shows the right amount.

jenluvsushi

When I nursed my last baby, I just set my daily calories to maintenance at sedentary plus a couple extra hundred calories.....whatever I had left over calorie wise for the day was my actual deficit. If you have a 500 cal deficit each day, that ends up to be a pound a week loss. I personally found that trying to lose while nursing did not work with my supply so I will probably have a much smaller deficit this next time. I'll still lose but it may be much slower but that's ok with me....nursing is really my priority and I know I can focus on weight loss afterwards. I will also be focused on lifting more than cardio this time around since I will be eating more.

michelleepotter

When I nursed my last baby, I just set my daily calories to maintenance at sedentary plus a couple extra hundred calories.....whatever I had left over calorie wise for the day was my actual deficit. If you have a 500 cal deficit each day, that ends up to be a pound a week loss. I personally found that trying to lose while nursing did not work with my supply so I will probably have a much smaller deficit this next time. I'll still lose but it may be much slower but that's ok with me....nursing is really my priority and I know I can focus on weight loss afterwards. I will also be focused on lifting more than cardio this time around since I will be eating more.

I like this plan!