Q for breastfeeding moms

auncangco1

I have a lovely little 3 month old that i exclusively breastfeed. I know that we get an extra 500 calorie allowance for the bfing. With being a full time mom with a full time job, I don't have much time to exercise. Thank Goodness for that 500 calories, right!? At this point, I'm actually afraid to exercise since it would be very difficult to make up for an additional calorie deficit. Should I be content with my 1200 calorie status quo or should I go ahead and try to make a bigger deficit for myself? I don't want to go about this in an unhealthy way.

SCUBAMomofTwo

(Not a breast feeding Mom but a former breast feeding Mom and former L&D nurse)

If you are breast feeding, you need MORE than 1200 calories!! If you continue to take in too few calories your milk is going to dry up. A bare minimum would be 1600 calories; 1200 for you and 400 for making breast milk. That is a bare minimum. When I was working we actually encouraged new Moms who wanted to lose their "baby weight" to do so with 1800 calories and regular low impact exercises (like brisk walking while pushing baby in stroller) 4x/week or more.

mrs_dwr

I agree - eat your calories! I bf'd my first child and lost weight by exercising, not by cutting calories. This time around, I'm bf-ing twins and eating an extra 800 calories plus exercising, which means I'm aiming for about 2300 cal/day. ! So far I've lost 7 lbs in 6 weeks (my twins are now 5 months old).

auncangco1

maybe i should clarify...i eat a total of 1700 each day from food, the 500 cal deficit is from bf-ing. is that ok? i'm worried about exercise bringing down the total bc i dont want to affect my supply.

qtiekiki

As scuba said, I would do low impact exercises, like walking. If you want to do more high impact exercises, I would definitely up your calories intake. Also wanted to commence you and all the other breast feeding mommies for taking charge of your fitness. I didn't start exercising until recently, and my youngest is 2.

jillsusanne

I am also breastfeeding my almost 4 month old and wanted to peel off the last few pounds which is why I joined MFP. The 1800 calorie minimum was also what I heard. MFP's recommendation for me was 1700 calories plus the 500 calories for BF. Total of 2200 calories a day in order to lose 1/2 lb. a week. I know I am anxious to lose the weight but I also want to make sure I don't dry up so I try really hard to eat all 2200 calories plus most of the calories I burn through exercise. I walk, run, and do some ab work for the most part. Slow and steady is the only way when you are breastfeeding I believe... I generally post a small loss each week (anywhere from .2 to 1 lb. so far each week).

tpittsley77

Hi! I am the mom of a 3 year old and 3 month old little girl. It's great to see posts from other breastfeeding moms. I am currently down 12 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight, and want to lose more weight, but don't want to sacrifice the well-being of my baby to do so. It's great to know that I am not alone in this!

dreamy885

Glad you posted this, I am a BFing mom to a 2 month old

urqumeli

Just joined and am trying to figure this losing weight while breastfeeding thing out. MFP recommended that I consume no more than 1200 calories/day. Do I add another 500 for the breastfeeding? Love nursing my son who is 6 months old now, and have no plans to stop until he's at least 1 year old. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!

urqumeli

Oops never mind just read nurses response Thanks!

Yooperm35

I added an exercise to MY list called 'baby' and it was 500 calories- so right from the start of the day I would say I did the 'baby workout' adding the extra 500 calories. I didn't have any decrease in supply, and my daughter is over 2.5 and still nurses once a day. With all if the added benefits of breastmilk, I don't want to quit during flu season. Remember to drink lots of water!!