Question about nursing and losing weight

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merrfinney
merrfinney Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
Ok.. breastfeeding makes me HUNGRY.. all the time.. I don't eat bad stuff, but can't seem to keep under the caloric radar that this site has set for me (1200). I work out a lot too... but my question is, how do you account for the extra calories you need while breast feeding if 1200 isn't enough??? I know nursing burns about 500 calories a day too, but honestly this seems impossible.

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  • merrfinney
    merrfinney Posts: 10
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    Ok.. breastfeeding makes me HUNGRY.. all the time.. I don't eat bad stuff, but can't seem to keep under the caloric radar that this site has set for me (1200). I work out a lot too... but my question is, how do you account for the extra calories you need while breast feeding if 1200 isn't enough??? I know nursing burns about 500 calories a day too, but honestly this seems impossible.
  • debnu1
    debnu1 Posts: 1,568 Member
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    1200 is way too low--try 1700 at least. Your metabolism is higher as you are making the milk, you should aim to only lose a half pound a week otherwise you may effect your milk supply. When I did weight watchers I was nursing and had 36 points compared to the 24 I would have without nursing. The body hangs on to fat reserves while nursing as a safety mechanism, you have to pretend you are not dieting. Your body is telling you you are not getting enough!
  • ktthegr8
    ktthegr8 Posts: 479
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    1200 is way too low--try 1700 at least. Your metabolism is higher as you are making the milk, you should aim to only lose a half pound a week otherwise you may effect your milk supply. When I did weight watchers I was nursing and had 36 points compared to the 24 I would have without nursing. The body hangs on to fat reserves while nursing as a safety mechanism, you have to pretend you are not dieting. Your body is telling you you are not getting enough!
    [/quote
    I agree. The nursing books say to keep it to a half a pund a week. Recalculate your goals to that and your caloric intake amount will change.]
  • justdoingit
    justdoingit Posts: 185 Member
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    Remember too that breastmilk has a bunch of fat in it that the baby needs and guess where this fat comes from, you! So like Debnu1 said, you need to bring up your daily cals to at least 1700. I am not breastfeeding and was on 1200 cals daily and stopped loosing for two weeks. I "fell off the wagon" out of frustration last weekend and ate more (about 1700) and continued to work out and I am down 2 lbs this week already. Who knew!!:smile:

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