Breast Feeding moms.

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Audkels101
Audkels101 Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
How many calories are you eating a day while still losing weight, at first i started out eating 1200 but then my milk started to dry up and so i upped it to 1300 and its coming in but still not enough.... im struggling with this really hard. anyone else going through this or eating a certain amount of calories that is decent enough while still losing weight?

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  • kimothy38
    kimothy38 Posts: 840 Member
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    I lost heaps of weight while breastfeeding by eating oats/milk/fruit + 2 oz cheese for breakfast, veges+salad+carbs+protein for lunch and dinner too. The only thing I ate differently to others on the same plan was the cheese and carbs for dinner. I steadily lost weight and it didn't affect breastfeeding at all. Everyone is different though so it might require some experimenting on your part.
  • Audkels101
    Audkels101 Posts: 3
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    thank you. do you know about how many colories you consumed each day?
  • EnchantedEvening
    EnchantedEvening Posts: 671 Member
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    I believe breastfeeding counts for 500 calories per day, so maybe you should be eating 1700 (to bring you to a net of 1200)?
  • CurlewisHoney
    CurlewisHoney Posts: 11 Member
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    I am losing weight, whilst breastfeeding, at 1500 cals per day. I am having no issues with supply, but I also take a herb called Fenugreek to help keep my supply up. I take two in the morning, and then if I am very active through the day or tired I take another two after lunch. They definitely help.

    Fenugreek is completely safe to take when breastfeeding.

    ETA - But seek advice from a pharmacist before taking any tablets. Don't just take some internet random's word for it!
  • Audkels101
    Audkels101 Posts: 3
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    Thank you very much, i will up it to 1500 and see how that helps.
  • KWKY
    KWKY Posts: 110 Member
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    there's a food you can add to your food diart called breastfeeding and I think one of them is by how much milk you're feeding (so x calories per ounce of breastmilk etc).

    In terms of increasing supply, I found that frequent pumping (if possible), sleep and nursing tea all very helpful. First two may be a bit hard but the last one should be doable - I used a german organic brand but forgotten the name. It worked a treat!

    Good luck!
  • ezramedic
    ezramedic Posts: 119
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    You should at least be eating your BMR + 500 calories!

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
  • tabbykat6802
    tabbykat6802 Posts: 233 Member
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    according to the research that I've done, you should be eating between 1500-1800 cals/day. The more your baby feeds, the higher on the cals you need to be eating. Check out kellymom.com. It's a great site.
  • 2plus1at21
    2plus1at21 Posts: 3
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    I do not think it is healthy for most moms and babies for a breastfeeding mother to go lower than 1500 at an absolute minimum....staying between 1800-2500 is better and you WILL still lose weight.

    I ate 2500-32800 breastfeeding twins and lost 20lbs while breastfeeding without exercising. If you up your calories to around 1800 your milk will also be richer for your baby and you will still lose weight :)
  • Kellymilner
    Kellymilner Posts: 3 Member
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    Im on 2000 a day , and have lost 18lbs so far. I was on 1700 at one point but my supply took a hit so I started on 2000 and alls well :)
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    How much are you drinking (remember you babe drinks a LOT and you need fluids from yourself)?

    I found brewer's yeast in shakes really helpful as the Vitamin B really upped my milk supply and the fluid the shakes were just great.

    I didn't count calories but was at my very lowest adult weight nursing when the babes were 1 and 2. But it took me 6 months to hit my pre-pregnancy weight.
  • CurlewisHoney
    CurlewisHoney Posts: 11 Member
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    Sorry - I mucked up! I have my diary set at 1500 calories, but then I add on 300 calories for Breast Feeding. So, in total, I am consuming 1800 calories a day and still comfortably losing weight.
  • Mandeecazares87
    Mandeecazares87 Posts: 1
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    I would say try for 1500 but exercise too.
  • alvargaby
    alvargaby Posts: 1 Member
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    I just started back on MFP. I gave birth to my second DD in August. I need to loose 20 lb for the last of the baby weight. I BF and pump when I need to. The lbs are coming off very very slow. It gets me frustrated. Im 35 and really want to get back in to my cloths. I crave sweets at times like breads and such but I have been limiting it to 1 time per week of possible. Any help would be great.

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