Nursing mom- trying to figure out daily cals - HELP!

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taram1981
taram1981 Posts: 21 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, so I am going around and around on my daily calorie goal trying to figure out how much to eat everyday. My milk supply is really important to me, so I do not want to under-eat. I used a link from another thread to calculate my BMR and TDEE. They are 1856 and 2538. Nursing a 6 week old exclusively, I burn around 500 calories a day from that. I know there is a "food" entry that subtracts cals for breastfeeding. What I am concerned about is this: I know you should not eat below your BMR....so breastfeeding, automatically means I must consume at least 2356 cals a day to stay at BMR. That is also less than my TDEE - so is this a good calorie goal? I was eating that much for the first 3 weeks after she was born, and it was so hard to eat that many calories! Especially eating clean food - it takes a lot of veggies and protein to get to 2356 calories! I just changed my cal goal to 1860 one week ago but now realize I am probably not eating enough. My milk supply still seems ok at this calorie goal though. Thoughts? Suggestions? Any nursing moms out there using MFP have any advice?? It seems so simple until you add in the nursing deficit.

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  • brit5351
    brit5351 Posts: 13
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    Hi there I'm a nursing mom as well, have been for 5 1/2months now. I consume about 1500 calories a day. I know breastfeeding educators say oh u need more calories since your breastfeeding but its not really true. I exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day, breastfeed and still have a good milk supply. I recommend u take like some fenugreek, u can get it at Walmart. Drink plenty of water that'll help with the milk supply. As far as calories go start out at what you thinks comfortable. Hope this helps, feel free to add me if u have anymore questions.
  • molly_grue
    molly_grue Posts: 215 Member
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    I'm bfing my 9 month old and I eat 1900 calories a day.
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    I'm breastfeeding my 2 week old.. but its my third time around breastfeeding.. (although first time ended at about 3 months). I never eat over 2000 cals.. I am very active.. and on top of exclusively breastfeeding my son at the breast.. no breast milk in bottle. I easily get an extra 12 ounces a day... drink plenty of water and milk.. and I find that lots of protein give my milk a boost. Love pork chop.. chicken.. and steak. :p
  • CherokeeTopaz
    CherokeeTopaz Posts: 299 Member
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    Also.. I believe for those of us that have some extra weight on us.. it'll take ALOT to damage our milk supply once its been established.. The main thing that will damage it is not pumping/feeding often enough. As long as there is a demand.. there should be a supply. :)
  • Person192
    Person192 Posts: 13 Member
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    Well I've never had a baby, but normally your body will put the baby's well-being before your own. My mum lost weight through pregnancy (she felt too sick to eat much) and breast feeding, and that didn't seem to have caused any problems. So don't worry about your milk supply- it's likely that whatever you eat, your baby should drain your best nutrients out of you, and your milk should be fine. I'm not sure exactly how many calories you need, (hopefully someone else can help with that) but your baby shouldn't suffer. Good luck with all of it :-)
  • gailmelanie
    gailmelanie Posts: 210 Member
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    As a maternity nurse who teaches this stuff to future nurses I can tell you that what you need now in the way of calories depends on where you started before pregnancy and your activity level now. If you were overweight before pregnancy and gained within range of whatever your MD/CNM recommended, you can cut back by about 200 cal/day. If you were "normal" weight and gained within the recommended range, cut back 100 cal/day and increase exercise to burn the other 100. If you gained more than what was recommended, cut back the calories as stated in the first situation and exercise enough to burn another 100 cal. If you were overwieght to start with and gained more than what was recommended, you can cut back up to 500 cal/day or combine calorie reduction and exercise to equal that. Make sure to get pleny of calcium and water, keep taking your prenatal or daily vitamin if you aren't already. And don't forget that breastfeeding is not a method of contraception!
  • taram1981
    taram1981 Posts: 21 Member
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    Ok, so for those of you eating under 2000 cals a day - do you eat back your nursing calories and exercise calories? Do you even subtract your nursing calories? All of the advice has been really helpful!
  • Ivana331
    Ivana331 Posts: 230
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    ok, so my son is already 18 months old and my supply is well established, but he still nurses frequently enough for me to burn about 320 calories a day just producing milk for him. i do count that as exercise and I do try to eat back all my exercise calories. I eat about 1500-1600 a day, some days I feel extra hungry, other days I am struggling to fill my caloric intake. I would say do what feels bets for you, eat if you're hungry, but don't try to eat if you aren't hungry. I have heard otameal is good for supply and of course plenty of water!
  • NeekoM03
    NeekoM03 Posts: 27
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    As a maternity nurse who teaches this stuff to future nurses I can tell you that what you need now in the way of calories depends on where you started before pregnancy and your activity level now. If you were overweight before pregnancy and gained within range of whatever your MD/CNM recommended, you can cut back by about 200 cal/day. If you were "normal" weight and gained within the recommended range, cut back 100 cal/day and increase exercise to burn the other 100. If you gained more than what was recommended, cut back the calories as stated in the first situation and exercise enough to burn another 100 cal. If you were overwieght to start with and gained more than what was recommended, you can cut back up to 500 cal/day or combine calorie reduction and exercise to equal that. Make sure to get pleny of calcium and water, keep taking your prenatal or daily vitamin if you aren't already. And don't forget that breastfeeding is not a method of contraception!

    Thank you! That is really helpful! (And I like the last part, lol)

    I have been trying to figure al of this out too. I have an 11 week old and I'm terrified of hurting my milk supply by not eating enough or losing too fast. I have been trying to eat around 1800 calories a day plus eat back most of my exercise calories but, like another poster said, it's really hard to eat that much when you eat clean! I was pretty heavy to begin with and gained more than I should have so I may just try to stick with the 1800 and not worry about the exercise calories and see how that goes.

    Good luck figuring out what works for you taram!
  • arock1000
    arock1000 Posts: 61 Member
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    Everyone is different so you have to do what's right for you. Also, if you eat/drink a lot of dairy it can affect the baby - the baby could have some painful gas (again, every baby is different). I pumped exclusively for 3 months and could barely keep up while my friend is still pumping exclusively (10 months) and has a ton of milk saved in the freezer. I took fenugreek, drank tons of water, pumped night and day and couldn't get ahead (my son didn't take to BF'ing). It all depends on how you feel and your supply. If you're tired and not producing much milk than you probably need to eat more. I've read that you can burn up to 600 calories a day bf'ing but I def gained weight during those 3 months. I shouldn't have taken it literally by overeating, which is part of the reason I'm here now :)
  • becca4281
    becca4281 Posts: 1 Member
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    What do you mean by a 'food' entry that does calories spent for breastfeeding?
  • taram1981
    taram1981 Posts: 21 Member
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    @becca if you search under food, you will find several different breastfeeding food entries. They actually subtract the calories from your daily total. They range from 200-500 calories. Just depends on which one you choose.
  • taram1981
    taram1981 Posts: 21 Member
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    Everyone is different so you have to do what's right for you. Also, if you eat/drink a lot of dairy it can affect the baby - the baby could have some painful gas (again, every baby is different). I pumped exclusively for 3 months and could barely keep up while my friend is still pumping exclusively (10 months) and has a ton of milk saved in the freezer. I took fenugreek, drank tons of water, pumped night and day and couldn't get ahead (my son didn't take to BF'ing). It all depends on how you feel and your supply. If you're tired and not producing much milk than you probably need to eat more. I've read that you can burn up to 600 calories a day bf'ing but I def gained weight during those 3 months. I shouldn't have taken it literally by overeating, which is part of the reason I'm here now :)

    Yes! I had to stop eating dairy 5 days ago bc my LO has a sensitivity to it. Rash, gas, fussiness, spit up, not sleeping well. Since stopping, her spit up has decreased and her rash is almost entirely gone. I'm definitely going to take the advice that if I feel tired, I need to eat more. :-)
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    With my first daughter, I ate around 1900 calories a day while nursing her, and my weight was stuck, I just bounced around 211-215 until I became pregnant with my second daughter when she was 9 months old. When my second daughter was born, after my milk supply was well established, I cut down to 1800 calories a day, and once again, my weight was stuck at 212-214. Worse, while I had a good volume of milk, she wasn`t gaining weight well, and started dropping down the percentiles.

    I found mfp, set up my account to lose a pound a week, added in the breastfeeding calories, which brought me up 2300 calories, and the weight started falling off of me. Even better, my daughter started gaining weight really well, without taking in more milk or any supplementation. Yes, I know that the experts say you can`t really affect the quality of your milk, but in my personal case, it was true.

    On non-hungry days, I make sure I eat a minimum of my bmr and breastfeeding calories, and on hungry days (which usually tend to be around her growth spurts, I eat as many as I need - with my exercise, I am frequently well over 3000 calories.

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