Losing weight while breastfeeding??

melliebee
melliebee Posts: 187 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello beautiful, motivated people!

I used to be a very active member of MFP and used it to make it to my goal weight 2 years ago. I just had my sweet little boy one month ago and I am ready to lose the baby weight.

Problem is, I am not able to 'diet'. I have to eat enough to maintain my supply to breastfeed my baby. Does anyone have any tips on how to lose weight while breastfeeding??

I would also love to make some friends to help keep me motivated!!

Replies

  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    Hi there. I dieted and lost those 20 lbs while BF. But IMO, 1 month out is way to early and would just focus on eating healthy, (I gorged on sugar to keep me awake!). I eventually did (at about 6 months or so post baby) WW. They gave a ton of extra points while BF and with the points plus, I was eating extra fruits/veggies all of the time. I never did figure out how many calorie per day that I was eating, and still losing, so I cannot give you any advice on that (but I've heard that one WW point is approx. 50 calories, so I had 32 points, which is the lowest that they would let you go while BF and b/c I only had 20 lbs to lose, so I estimate that I was getting approx. 1800-1900 calories per day (50 x 32, and then I always had the extra fruits/veggies which were no-points on the plan).
  • rekite2000
    rekite2000 Posts: 218 Member
    Add 500 calories to your limit if you are exclusively BFing (I did it under cardio as it will add to nutrient also). After about 2-3 months (I had a strong stable supply), I reduced calories by 20%. If my milk supply decreased, I would have increased. I lost about 20lbs, but stopped counting and gained it all back!
  • lemur_lady
    lemur_lady Posts: 350 Member
    I think at one month your supply is still in the rocky stage where it can be upset quite easily. Unless it happens naturally I wouldnt start dieting yet. When you do start make sure to add at least an extra 500 a day for the milk. If the weight comes off too fast then up the calories a little.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    yes it's safe to diet while breastfeeding... just keep the deficit small and keep an eye on your milk supply

    basically, the body stores fat during pregnancy so that it can sustain breastfeeding... in a sense this fat is *for* breastfeeding, so it's okay to slowly lose it. A lot of women lose this fat while breastfeeding without even trying (because that's what it's for)... of course not everyone is the same, some women do struggle to lose fat while breastfeeding, but I mentioned it to show that it is safe to lose fat while breastfeeding.

    be sure you're getting a balanced diet including plenty of protein, calcium, iron and vitamins and minerals generally, plus enough essential fatty acids (you need them for yourself and they go into your milk for the baby). Aim to lose 1lb a week and no more, and eat back breastfeeding calories as well as exercise calories (exclusive breastfeeding is about 500 cals/day, but bear in mind it could be more if baby's going through a growth spurt so if you or your baby is more hungry than usual or if you find that your baby's feeding more often/longer than usual don't be afraid to eat extra as feeding longer/more often is the baby's way of signaling to the breasts to make more milk......... after baby starts on solid food or if you do mixed feeding, then adjust the breastfeeding calories number downwards).

    Water is also important for milk supply, in fact dehydration will dry up your milk more quickly than lack of nutrition will. Personally, I found the best foods for maintaining a good milk supply are meat and fruit.

    If you do the above then really you and baby should be fine and you can slowly lose weight while breastfeeding.

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