Losing the baby weight while nursing

luckymommy

I just gave birth to my second child 28 days ago. I am ready to start trying to lose some weight, but I don't know how many calories to cut while nursing. On top of that, I am hungry all the time since he eats constantly! I really need to lose some weight to start feeling good about myself again. Any advice?

TashaeJanee

From what I've read online, the general rule of thumb seems to be to add 500 calories onto whatever your daily calorie goal is. So, for example, if MFP tells you to aim for 1200 calories a day, you would try for around 1700. Since nursing burns around 500 calories a day, that will put you right at your daily goal. As far as appetite, it seems common for women who are nursing to have to work harder to control it. It's been tough for me so everything I eat I just kind of make sure I am fully aware of how many calories it contains and what the repercussions for eating it might be. It's helpful for me to just always keep my goals in the front of my mind.

Willbenchforcupcakes

Congrats on the new baby! As I'm sure you know, you are still establishing you milk supply until around 6 weeks, so I personally would not consider cutting calories for at least another few weeks. I would aim for no more than a pound a week, and add in the breastfeeding calories (if you don't know, there a many entries in the food database) that best suits your situation. Pay attention to how your child is nursing and growing to make sure that your supply isn't being affected by your cutting calories.

I find I'm only hungry all the time during growth spurts, and I figure at that time that my body is using all that extra energy, and during my daughter's last few growth spurts, despite eating over, I still lost at the predicted rate.

briannadunn

I just gave birth to my second child 28 days ago. I am ready to start trying to lose some weight, but I don't know how many calories to cut while nursing. On top of that, I am hungry all the time since he eats constantly! I really need to lose some weight to start feeling good about myself again. Any advice?

I had my 5th kid 4 months ago and I know what you mean about dieting. To answer your question you can go to freedieting.com and use their nuring calculater. The first 3 months you don't really want to diet because your milk is being established but after that it is safe to start. I aim for 1600 net calories a day. That comes to 2100 calories eaten just nursing and that means if I exercise I have to eat more than 2100 to keep up. Eating nutrishes meals is better than anything because you will lose weight without even trying and drink lots and lots of water. My favorite saying is drink until your floating. I eat low carb and high protein and drink water only and I have lost 7pounds in the first 7 days. Also, your body retains water for at least the first 8 Weeks. I hope this helps

Swissmiss

The 500 extra calories sounds right. You can begin some exercising. Taking a walk with you baby is a good idea. By the way...your baby is sooo cute. If you want to begin any weight training, I would advice you to not do any that would involve your chest muscles. This can cause a milk duct to become clogged.

dhakiyya

I found that I lost quite a lot of fat just by breastfeeding (though not all of it) without much effort, just eating healthy meals, stopping when I was satisfied, etc. Also, I breastfed both mine for 2 years and I read somewhere that long term breastfeeding is better at helping to remove the baby weight because it comes of slowly and steadily over time, rather than all in one go. I didn't lose all the baby fat this way, but I think I lost about 10kg of it without trying. Then the rest I lost through a healthy eating and exercise plan, including logging my calories here (what you see on my ticker is after I came here, not the baby weight I lost before that)

I think it's difficult to calculate your calories while breastfeeding, but if you are seriously under either the quality or quantity of your milk (or both) would be affected, so if you're having milk supply issues, up your calories. If your milk supply is good then you don't really have to worry too much. Also if your baby's having a growth spurt and feeding more than usual, that's a good time to raise your calories a little as your body will be starting to produce extra milk to give your baby the extra he needs. You need to aim for slow and steady fat loss, really it's the same as for someone who's not breastfeeding (faddy diets and losing weight too quickly is not good for anyone and lead to rebound fat gain) but you just need more calories so you can produce milk for your baby.

drinking plenty of water, plus eating fruit and lean proteins like chicken breast is really good for keeping up the quality and quantity of your milk, and generally healthy eating