Loosing weight and breast feeding

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charl2712
charl2712 Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a 13 week old son that I've been express breast milk for (due to him being born 6 weeks premature and not latching on properly). I'm now ready to start trying to loose weight as I'm getting down in the dumps about my 30lb weight gain and really want to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 124lbs before i go back to work next March. Really I want to loose most of it before the new year ( which also includes my 30th birthday) and I'm planning to work out 4 times a week for approx 2 hours (or until I've burn 850-1000 calories) and I've put my daily calorie intake to 1600calories, but I'm worried that if I stick to this plan that my supply may decrease and I do want to try and keep giving my boy breast milk until he's 6 months.

Has anyone else done anything like this or have lost weight while breast feeding???

Guess I'm looking for advice, tips and other mummy's experiences x

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  • csec6pak
    csec6pak Posts: 54 Member
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    You're not going to know how it works for you until you try it....but I'll give you my experience.

    I lost weight very easily while breastfeeding and was below my pre-pregnancy weight within 3 months. I did not restrict calories at all; I ate according to my hunger. I started running again at 4 weeks post-partum and did that 4-5 days per week. It never impacted my supply at all; in fact, I had an over-supply.

    However, I have heard some women state that they cannot lose weight while breastfeeding because they lose their supply as soon as they start to restrict calories. You are just going to have to try it and see what happens. If you notice a drop in supply after a week or so, start eating more again. You are lucky in this case that you are exclusively pumping; you can monitor your supply accurately.

    I think that 1600 calories may be too low for breastfeeding. Remember that breastmilk is about 20 calories per ounce. It's been awhile, but I seem to remember that babies eat anywhere from 20-30 ounces per day, so that is 400-600 calories you're burning right there. At a minimum, I'd start with eating your BMR plus whatever calories you're pumping out of your boobs.

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