Breastfeeding

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bonnivillaman
bonnivillaman Posts: 8
in Food and Nutrition
I am trying to loose weight and am currently breastfeeding my 5 week old. Any advice welcome!

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  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I've heard, although I've never looked for it myself, that you can search under food for breastfeeding and it'll give you extra calories. I'd set your MFP weight loss goal to 0.5lbs / week then add that extra in every day.

    However, I had a really hard time losing weight while breastfeeding myself. I basically couldn't do it without sacrificing my milk supply. Some women have their weight just melt off by nursing. I was not one of them. Annoying. I basically gave up on weight lose until I was done nursing each time.
  • angfish
    angfish Posts: 12 Member
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    making milk burns tons of calories!! The baby weight will melt off you at first...just be aware that over time you'll be making less milk and will need to adjust your calorie intake/exercise level.

    Ask your doc at your follow up visit what your calorie intake should be... you definitely don't want to reduce your nutrition too much right now.
  • silversong24
    silversong24 Posts: 409 Member
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    I would give yourself more time for recovery if were I you. If you do go ahead and start now, make sure you eat enough food to compensate for nursing, and don't push too hard with exercise just yet. Your body has just been through a majorly rough year, treat it gently =)
  • Hirundo
    Hirundo Posts: 148 Member
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    Well you are on a very good start since breastfeeding burn between 500 et 800 calories/day... Eat well, enough, drink a lot of water and go out to push that stroller ! Or try baby carrier ! ;)


    But dont rush yourself... That little thing is more preccious than anything in the world, your milk is the best gift you can give to him/her .... Dont spoiled everything just loose weight faster that you are meant too...
  • ckenning
    ckenning Posts: 71
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    I was just talking about this today. I've been on MFP for 1 month and have lost 20 pounds. I am nursing my 3 month old (we suppliment one bottle a day with formula). Recently noticed my milk supply decreasing...I use to be able to freeze bags throughout the week, now I am not. I work full time, so I have to pump at work -- I was thinking of adding an extra pump time either during the day or in the middle of the night. If that doesn't help to increase my milk within a few weeks, I was going to increase my calories by 200 /day as well.
  • muntymeyer
    muntymeyer Posts: 1
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    I'm curious about the same thing! My baby is 8 months old and I've put off this weight loss thing too long, in fear that it would affect my milk supply. Does anyone know, once you have introduced solids to your child, how many calories you need to consume for breastfeeding?
  • TwinMamma09
    TwinMamma09 Posts: 140
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    If you really want to keep your milk supply, I would not worry so much about the calories right now. Just eat right and get your nutrition.

    I nursed twins and I had to fight hard for my supply. I was pumping at all hours of the night and it wasn't until I was close to weaning (18months) that I started restricting my calories. My weight melted of at that point because I was still nursing a little and restricting calories.

    Good luck and keep giving that baby your liquid gold!!!
  • Autumn1206
    Autumn1206 Posts: 126
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    I've heard, although I've never looked for it myself, that you can search under food for breastfeeding and it'll give you extra calories. I'd set your MFP weight loss goal to 0.5lbs / week then add that extra in every day.

    However, I had a really hard time losing weight while breastfeeding myself. I basically couldn't do it without sacrificing my milk supply. Some women have their weight just melt off by nursing. I was not one of them. Annoying. I basically gave up on weight lose until I was done nursing each time.

    Thank you! I thought I was the only one...I did not lose a single pound until after I stopped breastfeeding
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    I couldn't lose weight in the first six months breastfeeding, period. My supply had to establish, and any workouts I did ended up effecting my supply negatively. I picked up running again when she was about 7 months old, and found that it didn't have any effect on my supply at that point. Since then, I started running and eating healthier, along with watching calories,and I've been able to drop all the baby weight, and then some. But in the very beginning, it definitely was not an option.

    Anyway, the main thing I had to remember is that breastfeeding does NOT burn enough calories to just eat whatever. It burns about 300-500 extra, which is about an extra bowl of cereal a day, on the medium to large side. It isn't as much as people think. For the most part, what I've had to do is snack. All the time. I basically spend my day grazing small meals here and there, because that, more than eating extra calories, helped keep my supply up. And drinking a gallon of water a day, haha.

    Anyway, good luck! You'll have to figure out what works best for you, but remember, stress is a huge killer for supply, more than moderate exercise of calorie restriction. So if you embrace working out here and there, and eating healthier, your body will adapt remarkably well. I've been training for a marathon while still exclusively breastfeeding (mine doesn't show much interest in solids yet, and she's nearly a year), and my supply is still going strong!

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