breastfeeding calorie counting

MrsMajor87

I've been eating a 1700 calorie diet the past few weeks and haven't seen much of a change physically. I'm breastfeeding, and 5'3. Should I go lower? I'm also working out 5-6 days a week.

deksgrl

You have less than 10 pounds to your goal. You should only be trying to lose half a pound a week. Breastfeeding you should be eating at least 1800, and likely a lot more with working out.

s_irwin80

When I dropped calories, my milk dropped baaaaaad. I would not go any lower. A lot of women plateau when they BF because the body likes a reserve of fat to ensure milk production. Then when they stop, the lose about 10 pounds without really trying. I stopped BF'ing last week and I've already lost 5 pounds.

For now, just enjoy giving your babe the best. Breastfeeding was the hardest thing I ever did, and I wanted to quit every day, but one I got to about 4 months, it was so easy and I loved it.

MrsMajor87

Im so ready to stop breastfeeding. Im 7 months in My goal was to make it to september then stop. If breastfeeding is whats making me not lose the last 10 then it makes me want to stop even more lol.

Briaboo4

I'm breastfeeding a 14 month old so I log that I'm breastfeeding an older baby and add 200 calories a day and I'm still losing without any noticeable change to my supply. If you look up breastfeeding in the database you'll find a few different options and you can choose the one that is right for your current breastfeeding situation (usually 500 extra calories while breastfeeding a younger baby). Also, feel free to add me.

kateangel2312

im the same only trouble is my average cals are 2400 a day. I notice when i eat 1800 a day my milk reduces then i'll have a weekend blow out and theres loads. I am still losing this way but its been half a pound a week for 2 weeks

decblessings

When I was breastfeeding my second child I lost weight quickly and easily. I didn't gain nearly as much with my third, but the weight would NOT come off. Like you, I blamed breastfeeding and thought it would "fall off" when I stopped. Really, I think the difference was that I made a big lifestyle change the first time I tried to lose weight, and I didn't have as much to change/eliminate the next time. Plus I'd been watching calories and cutting calories so long, I must have really slowed my metabolism down. I honestly don't think I was eating enough while breastfeeding, but I was scared to try to eat more. If I could do it all over, I'd look into the Eat More to Weigh Less group on here to work on getting my metabolism back up to speed while I had the breastfeeding benefit. To be honest, I'm still struggling to get the scale to move. Of course I don't know your dieting history, so maybe your story is completely different from mine.

That said - I'm so glad I stuck with breastfeeding. I felt that it was important for myself and my baby, and I'm glad I didn't let my desire to lose weight stand in the way of what I really wanted for my child.

Good luck! I hope the scale starts moving for you soon!

kgeyser

I breastfed my recent baby over 2 years and stopped less than two weeks ago. No increase in weight loss for me. I would not recommend hopes of a big weight loss as a reason to stop breastfeeding.

MrsMajor87

trust me weight loss is not the only reason I want to stop. Im exclusively pumping and just really tired of it at this point. It controls my life. As much as I want to give up I know I wont.

CookingMamaAUS

I found breastfeeding made me very hungry a lot of the time, so I think calorie counting while you're breastfeeding is important just to make sure you're not overeating, and sticking to nourishing food instead. You can lose weight when you're not feeding and your hormones have settled down - for now just focus on nutrition and sensible exercise, and enjoy breastfeeding your bubba for as long as you want to.

likitisplit

trust me weight loss is not the only reason I want to stop. Im exclusively pumping and just really tired of it at this point. It controls my life. As much as I want to give up I know I wont.

Try to hold out for a couple more months. You've either started solid foods or will be starting soon. I simply stopped pumping at 9 months and just fed after work and on weekends, transitioning to formula when I ran out of stored milk. I decided that formula was as healthy as the apple juice they were drinking too and they were still getting the benefits of nursing

At a year, they'll start drinking whole mile anyway, so even if you are nursing, the demand drops a lot. I'm with kgeyser, I haven't notice a big difference in weight loss after weaning.

Hats off to exclusively pumping. I HATED pumping - it's kind of the worst of both worlds - and I only did it at work. But you are doing so much good for both you and your baby. Kudos to you.

deksgrl

Im so ready to stop breastfeeding. Im 7 months in My goal was to make it to september then stop. If breastfeeding is whats making me not lose the last 10 then it makes me want to stop even more lol.

The last 10 pounds is hard to lose anyway. Breastfeeding should not make it harder, provided you are eating enough calories. Your body may actually be holding on to it because 1700 calories is pretty low for the demands on your body.

Amalthea8284

Where is the breastfeeding option on myfitnesspal?

deksgrl

Where is the breastfeeding option on myfitnesspal?

You can manually adjust your Net Calorie goal to account for extra calories for breastfeeding every day, or you can create a custom "exercise" so you log it and it adds calories to your daily goal.

likitisplit

I added a cardio exercise called "baby care."

Another woman simply set her calories at maintenance and let the breastfeeding be the deficit, which I thought was a brilliant idea.

ciseyse

I add it as a meal (other). You can search for it like a food item and add it there. It adds a balance to your net calories for the day.