Nursing moms

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3mzimmerman
3mzimmerman Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Is anyone else breasfeeding and trying to lose weight?

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  • RoadDog
    RoadDog Posts: 2,946 Member
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    Does that work? Cuz I'm willing to give anything a try at this point.
  • Alleghany
    Alleghany Posts: 200
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    I am currently breastfeeding my 6 month old and I just joined MFP in late April. Before I reached my goal (THANK YOU, MFP!!!), I went into my exercise folder, put in 141 minutes of breastfeeding (burning 400 cals) in the cardio section. It then gave me those extra 400 cals for my food log. Or, you can also log your BF cals by going into your food log directly. To do that, you just enter "Breastfeeding" in the food search and it'll pop up. You then select the ounces (if I'm remembering correctly) and once you hit enter, it'll show up as a calorie deficit on your food log. I prefer to log mine in the exercise log, though. Either one will work.

    If you're breastfeeding, you burn anywhere from 300 to 600 calories a day (which you probably know already). Every ounce of breastmilk you make/expel burns 20 calories so if you know how much you're producing, you'll know how many cals to add to your diet. Everyone is different so this is just a rough estimate. If I feel hungry, I'll eat more as long as it's a smart choice. I was doing great on around 1600 cals per day & I'm 5' 4.5" and currently 116 lbs. Everyone is different but this should give you some idea. You will probably want to try something like this and see if it works for you. The most important thing is to keep that milk flowing for your little one.

    You'll find this site is TONS of FUN and people give you amazing support! Seriously, it's absolute MAGIC as long as you are honest with yourself, log everything and stay in the correct calorie zone that works for you. Again, you'll probably have to play around to see what works best. Don't get too frustrated if you don't lose every week because there were times with me that I would lose every other week but the weightloss was significant enough to cover both weeks. Be careful to eat enough cals otherwise you'll screw up your metab and stop losing. Please read the following links/threads which have invaluable info. I wish I had read these sooner!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/55796-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition

    I hope this helps, Mama! :flowerforyou: Congrats and enjoy that little one!!
  • WifenMom
    WifenMom Posts: 40
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    Haha RoadDog THAT was FUNNY! LOL ..

    In all seriousness though regarding your question ...I've NEVER had success in losing weight WHILE nursing. I nursed all 3 of my kids and retained my weight NO MATTER WHAT I tried. It's like my body NEEDED the xtra fat to keep my bodies ability to produce the milk.
    I would get soooo discouraged. I finally gave up (w/ all 3 I tried ...thinking "maybe with this one it will work") and waited until done nursing to really try to put forth the effort to lose weight.

    THE GOOD NEWS IN ALL THIS - I could eat whatever I wanted for the MOST part - and didn't GAIN weight while nursing. I pretty much stayed the same (very heavy and unhappy though!) throughout and I nursed my last child until he was almost two. He's now 2 1/3 and in the past 10 months I've lost 25 lbs.

    Every woman is different. ..that's my story though!
    Best wishes for success! Laurie
  • fitness145
    fitness145 Posts: 4
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    I am! DS is currently 6 months old and although we've tried some solids he isn't really interested yet so we're still exclusively bf'ing. :)
  • jhmomofmany
    jhmomofmany Posts: 571 Member
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    LOL @ RoadDog !!!

    I'm currently nursing a six-week old... I exercised and dieted while bf'ing my now-two-year-old, too. I did manage to loose a few pounds (and two sizes) while nursing her. I'm hoping to have similar or better results this time. :)

    Thanks, Jen, for explaining how to compensate for bf'ing in the daily log, I've been wondering how to do that.
  • Kristinplus2
    Kristinplus2 Posts: 23
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    I am currently nursing my 2 month old. I have been dieting and exercising for 3 weeks now and am down 6 lbs! I am very happy and both me and baby are very satisfied in the food area. I am not eating my exercise calories either. I started overweight so i have a ways to go! My doctor says as long as i get my 1200 cal. We will both be fine!
  • ecp2698
    ecp2698 Posts: 267 Member
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    I am nursing my DD and trying to lose weight, just started on MFP. I am down 35lbs since having her but still have 30 more to go to get to goal. I get nervous that I am either not eating enough that I should be while BF, or that I am eating too much and won't lose, so hopefully after tracking for a couple weeks, I will figure it out.

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