diet/exercise while breastfeeding

sarabig2fit

Hello everyone. While I'm not new to the website, I'm back at it again after having twins. I had lost 175lbs before I got pregnant and quickly gained back 30 while trying to get pregnant and another 75lbs during my twin pregnancy. I've dropped about 55 but I still have some to go.

Here's my dilemma- I exclusively breastfeed. The babies have an intolerance to dairy products (i'm assuming mostly cows milk proteins) and many vegetables (they cause terrible gas) including broccoli/cauliflower, cabbage, peppers, lettuce/spinach, and onions. Since I've lost weight in the past, I totally know I can do it again. I'm just concerned that cutting down my calories will hurt my milk supply. I have tried to cut down, and i'm ravenous most of the time, so I've been trying to eat as well as I can. My milk supply seemed to be on a downward spiral, and then I added more carbs back in and it seemed to come back up.

Most people I know have mentioned that their supply tanked when they began to work out again. I've only done 1 real workout since the babies were born, but get out and walk a few times a week with the babies.

So, that said, I know I can do this, and I will. I am just looking for advice from other moms who bf or have bf'd and diet/exercised while doing so. Bf is really important to me, not only for the bond and nutrition, but for my wallet- formula is expensive, and we have 2!

Please keep in mind that due to issues with pregnancy, I wasn't allowed to exercise, so I feel like I'm starting completely from scratch. My body composition is completely different, as I expected, but I've definitely lost muscle and am hanging on to more fat than ever.

Any advice is welcome! I'd love info from moms who know about my situation. THANK YOU!

Ribbon35

Congrats!!! As a new mother too, I have a 10 month old, I miss BF so much! I stopped at 6 months to return to work. During my BF days, I walked about 30 min dailey and did light arm weights. I will say, the BF helped me so much w/losiong my pregnancy weight & unfortunately, when I stopped and started eating 'normal' heavy winter foods, I skyrocketed right back up another 20 pounds & currently working on losing that. I suggest you keep to a healthy diet & get in any walks you can, which must be difficult w/twins!!! Good luck & have a positive attitude!

sarabig2fit

Congrats!!! As a new mother too, I have a 10 month old, I miss BF so much! I stopped at 6 months to return to work. During my BF days, I walked about 30 min dailey and did light arm weights. I will say, the BF helped me so much w/losiong my pregnancy weight & unfortunately, when I stopped and started eating 'normal' heavy winter foods, I skyrocketed right back up another 20 pounds & currently working on losing that. I suggest you keep to a healthy diet & get in any walks you can, which must be difficult w/twins!!! Good luck & have a positive attitude!

Aw, thank you for your response. i'm back to work, but i pump and they receive milk at home. i totally thought all the weight would come off with bf but i still have some stubborn weight- which i'm positive is fat- that will not come off. i will add in some weights. i need to get a routine down at home. i've considered doing the 30 day shred.. but still get concerned that that will be too much! being a mom is a lot of work! and congrats on your baby!

lizb214

Congrats on your new babies and you should be so proud of yourself for breastfeeding twins! If you just signed up for MFP, I believe it asks a question about whether you are breastfeeding or not and takes that into account when calculating your daily needs... if you signed up before getting pregnant/breastfeeding you can look up breastfeeding in the food or exercise list and it will add calories to your required intake. EBF twins, you probably need 600+ extra calories per day. One thing I've learned is to really make the calories I take in count- lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats (nuts, avocado, olive oil). Oatmeal is good for building milk supply too and drink tons of water. Best of luck!

sarabig2fit

Congrats on your new babies and you should be so proud of yourself for breastfeeding twins! If you just signed up for MFP, I believe it asks a question about whether you are breastfeeding or not and takes that into account when calculating your daily needs... if you signed up before getting pregnant/breastfeeding you can look up breastfeeding in the food or exercise list and it will add calories to your required intake. EBF twins, you probably need 600+ extra calories per day. One thing I've learned is to really make the calories I take in count- lean proteins, whole grains, healthy fats (nuts, avocado, olive oil). Oatmeal is good for building milk supply too and drink tons of water. Best of luck!

this is exactly what i was thinking! i thought that it did ask, way back when, if i was bfing. i should just go sign up again with another email. my doctor says that i need 1000 extra which seems excessive, 600 sounds a lot more manageable. I did recently learn that oatmeal is good, so i've been eating it for breakfast daily! thank you so much for your help, i'll totally keep all of this in mind.

sarabig2fit

i'm not finding breastfeeding as an exercise.. anyone have an idea? when i searched the help section, it said to just add breastfeeding...

i think i'm probably burning about 800-1100 calories a day breastfeeding.

sarabig2fit

never mind, i just added the exercise.

Ribbon35

yea, I had to add 'breastfeeding' into my exercise activity as well, it was confusing.

jmht345

Breastfeeding is in the food database, it will show up as negative calories. Search for it food and there will be many options. It took me awhile to find it too.

mellynat

Congrats on twins! I have been on MFP since 2011 and nursed two of my kids whiled losing weight & using MFP for help . am still nursing my 1yr . Biggest thing is to make sure u are drinking plenty of water. I noticed even when i decreased my calories but drank 1gallon of water a day. I didn't' see a drop in milk. so drink drink drink! also if u see ur supply going down pump more. the more u pump ur body should produce more. feel free to add me. I've lost 30lbs first time i was nursing. and currently down 50lbs nursing my 2nd. and i was not those "lucky" ones who just dropped weight whiled nursing. i had to work my butt off to lose the weight but did it in a way to maintain my supply because i didn't want to lose my milk.

mellynat

u can also find breastfeeding in the database in food. and even add it as the amount of oz of milk u pumped

JenniferNoll

I'm a La Leche Leader, so I have some good tips for you for keeping up your milk supply. As someone said earlier, eat oatmeal. Oatmeal is a great for increasing your milk supply. You can also find Mother's milk Tea at the Health food store. Google "lactation cookies" and you'll find a cookie recipe that increases lactation.

Good luck with your diet and those gorgeous twins!

wdh009

You burn about 20 calories for every ounce of milk you produce! Since you have twins, I'd guess you are producing a minimum of 50 ounces a day, so 1000 calories would be about right. You have to take weight loss nice and slow when breastfeeding, because everything you do impacts you milk supply--so frustrating!!! If you restrict your calories too much, don't drink enough water, don't get enough rest, stress too much about your weight (or anything else) your supply can suffer. And on that note, I've read that when breastfeeding, you need about 13 cups of fluids per day (104 oz)! And you may even need more since you are feeding two. I'm BFing a 7 month old, I've got about 40lbs to lose, I try to net 1800 calories per day, and I'm doing The Biggest Loser At-Home Challenge DVD. I also take 2 Fenugreek capsules with each meal and a multi-vitamin at night to try to protect my supply. I pump at work, so it's easy for me to monitor my supply and notice if there is any change. Oh, if you have a hard time putting baby down to work out, there are some great baby-wearing exercises on youtube!