breastfeeding mom

meljuly18

I have a six month old and am breastfeeding. I am wondering if anyone has any advice about dieting and breastfeeding. I am not sure how many calories I should be getting in order to have enough milk but still lose weight. Let me know what you think.

raelbee

Hi, I'm a breastfeeding mom as well. I've found that I do not need to consume any extra calories to continue nursing successfully. In fact, I spent many months over-eating thinking that I was still "eating for two." I didn't lose any of my baby weight! Now I am on a 1200 calorie plan, exercising everyday, and have never felt better. The weight is coming off steadily, and I have not seen any decrease in my milk supply. My only suggestion would be to make sure that your calories are coming from natural, whole foods...not processed junk.

Good luck, and I'm happy to have found another nursing mom on here

ktmunchie

When I was nursing and trying to lose weight, I added an extra 200 calories per day. I would just watch really closely to be sure that you are producing enough. If your baby seems extra hungry or cranky it may be that your supply has dropped. If that happens you would need to increase your calories for your baby. HTH

meljuly18

Wow, this is amazing! I just posted and already have two replies! I was about 160 when I got pregnant and am at 177 right now. In order to lose the 27 pounds by my cousin´s wedding it says I should be at 1200 calories daily. Do you think that is ok? I read somewhere I should add 500 calories to that. What do you think?

cantwaitk8

Hi am also a breastfeeding mom of a 5 week old big boy! I am eating 1800 calories a day and trying to get back in the routine of loosing weight and working out. I have lost 26 pounds of baby weight so far and have 24 to go! I haven't done so great tracking my calories yet but I am working on it!

meljuly18

I too am happy to have found another nursing mom. She is awake. Time to feed her. Then for a walk!

mama22girlz

I'm still nursing my 16 month old but only twice a day so I don't add any calories. I would add anywhere from 200-500 calories to your day to account for the breastfeeding. If your little one is not exclusivly breastfeeding anymore (eating solids) you might be okay with doing just 200. but like the previous poster said watch your supply because you don't want it to go down. And remember even though you are consuming more calories, you are also burning more by just feeding your baby

eliblish

Here is a helpful link.

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mom-weightloss.html

I personally add 500 calories because my daughter nurses frequently. I am on maintenance right now and so far it's working. I think everyone is different but you need to make sure and eat enough because even though your milk supply might not diminish, your body still may be lacking important nutrients. I would add at least 200-300 on top of the 1200. If you aren't losing anything after a few weeks you can always decrease.

firegirlred

Check out my food diary. You'll see how I'm handling it. But I also produce an extra 20 ounces a day that I pump off and donate.

I'm connected from my phone right now, so it's hard to find all the links that I'd like to post for you. Nursing moms need about 25 percent more calories in order to properly support breastfeeding. I've added breastfeeding to the database in negative 100 calorie servings, so decide how many calories you want to adjust your diet and add it. Look for "breastfeeding mom" in the database and play with it, you'll figure it out. It will also adjust your total carb/fat/protein goals in the average amounts found in milk, so you can replace what you lose through nursing.

To the pp who is eating 1200 calories and doing well, congratulations.

I will post again when I'm at my computer.

raelbee

I should have clarified - my daughter is now 19 months old and eating solids as well as nursing.

perrim

I'm a breastfeeding mom of a 6 1/2 month old and I eat about 1500-1700 calories a day and do about 60 minutes of cardio a day and have already lost close to 25 pounds. I'm still producing enough to keep my baby happy not enough as before, but he also started eating baby food (and lots of it) since I started. I had also heard once that if you work out too much and/or don't drink enough water, that you can get lactic acid buildup which changes the taste of your breastmilk and the baby may not drink it. I have not found this to be the case at all.

I used to count breastfeeding as exercise in the beginning (estimating about 20 calories per ounce expelled) but I don't do that anymore. I pump about 15 ounces a day now and he barely drinks any at night (this is during the week - on the weekends, I strictly feed from the boob!). So, producing that little seems hardly worth it to count.

Good luck!!

mama22girlz

I should have clarified - my daughter is now 19 months old and eating solids as well as nursing.

nice to know there are other extended BF moms on here :flowerforyou:

mommy2js

Wow, this is amazing! I just posted and already have two replies! I was about 160 when I got pregnant and am at 177 right now. In order to lose the 27 pounds by my cousin´s wedding it says I should be at 1200 calories daily. Do you think that is ok? I read somewhere I should add 500 calories to that. What do you think?

No I don't think 1200 is enough. You should check with your Dr. on how many calories EXTRA you need to eat to nurse successfully. When I was nursing I ate 1000 calories extra per day (I weighed 158 lbs after giving birth) and I lost about 15 lbs in a month. Nursing is a great way to burn extra calories, but don't eat too little at the expense of your baby!!!!!!!!!!!!

meljuly18

So, I am doing fine to with calories. I am just ending up too high on fat, sugar and carbs. Anybody have any good ideas for me for high protein, low fat, low sugar foods? I would love some new recipes too if anyone has time. I can´t get over how great this is! It means a lot to not be the only one going through this postpardum thing. Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. Remarkable!