Breastfeeding Calories
littlelizabeth
Posts: 5
Hello,
I am a new user and I am trying to figure out if My fitness pal lets you adjust your daily calorie intake to take into consideration breastfeeding. If so, how do you do this?
Thanks
I am a new user and I am trying to figure out if My fitness pal lets you adjust your daily calorie intake to take into consideration breastfeeding. If so, how do you do this?
Thanks
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Replies
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If you look in the Food database, there is an option for breastfeeding which adds about 500 calories to your daily recommended intake. A lot of women use that. Some use an estimate closer to 300 extra calories.0
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I add breastfeeding to my food diary. There are a few options so pick the one that fits your situation. I add 500 for exclusively breastfeeding my hungry hungry little dude.0
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I came up with my own calorie goal with breastfeeding added in. For me personally MFP was way too low. I tried limiting myself to 1800 calories a day only to find myself having a lot of issues with my milk supply (Although I consumed between 1800 and 2000 successfully after my second and third child without affecting it). If you find yourself struggling after trying what MFP gives you, use this calculator http://www.iifym.com/tdee-calculator . I recommend using this from the start so that you are eating enough. Take 20% off what it gives you then add 20 calories per ounces back in that you feed baby. I can't seem to find the calculator I used to figure how many ounces my son was getting but figured 32 ounces which was actually 640 calories instead of 500. The figure you come up with may be high but if you stick to this calorie goal you WILL lose. When I stay on track I lose .2 to .4 pounds a day, however, I adjusted my goal right before thanksgiving and have slipped every weekend since. I've lost but not as much as I could have if I would have stuck to it.0
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Was anyone able to find the setting in the food database? I can't seem to find it.0
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Oh I just found this in help:
Since breastfeeding can vary for each woman, we don't currently have a specific recommendation for adjusting your calories if you're breastfeeding. However, if you are able to obtain an estimate for this from your doctor or nutritionist, we do allow you to change your calorie goal to account for the difference.
If you are using the MyFitnessPal website, you can click on "Goals" then "Change Goals, then select "Custom," where you will be presented with similar options.
If you would like to change the goal back eventually, you can go to the same screen and change it back.
Or if you like, you can also add "breastfeeding" in as an exercise. Once you have your recommendation, then you can add "breastfeeding" in as a cardiovascular exercise. Just go to "cardiovascular" and then "create new exercise". Since this will be an individual estimate, it will be for your personal database and not the main database.
Please note, even if you do customize your goals, once you add exercise in under the cardiovascular section, your fixed goals will change to match your new requirements from exercise.0 -
Some people (including myself) choose the lose 1/2 lb or maintain option for goals. I put lose 1/2 lb and it allows me 1830 calories. I use it as a guideline and eat between 1800-2000, more on gym days.0
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Breastfeeding burns 20 calories an ounce. I pumped 30-35 ounces a day.
I set my MFP goals to lose 2 calories a week... It told me to eat 1200 calories a day.
I got a pedomoter.. told it i weigh 5 pounds less than I do ( I would rather figure my exercise a little low.) i do a lot of walking at work, but it varies by the machine I run. I put it in as exercise instead.
I made breastfeeding an exercise so I could adjust the calories burned based on how much I got each day.
So 1200+ 600 breastfeeding + the 300 burned walking= 2100 calories a day for me. I've been with MFP for 7 months now.0 -
I eat 1800-2200 while breast feeding. I allowed 500 calories per day up until 9/10 months then 300 when she started eating more solids.0
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I need some help with this topic as well, I exclusively pump and set my caloric goal to be 2000. HOWEVER, I pump around 50 oz a day, so I'm curious, should I allow myself an extra 500 calories or should I allow myself 20 cal/oz?
I dont want to give myself too much, but even more important I dont want to throw my body off. Ive just gone back to logging calories and today before breastfeeding I was over by 442 calories, after I added my breastmilk I had an extra 537, netting just around 1500 calories.
I've been trying some different things, today I settled on logging only half of my pumped milk....
Any suggestions?0 -
I need some help with this topic as well, I exclusively pump and set my caloric goal to be 2000. HOWEVER, I pump around 50 oz a day, so I'm curious, should I allow myself an extra 500 calories or should I allow myself 20 cal/oz?
I dont want to give myself too much, but even more important I dont want to throw my body off. Ive just gone back to logging calories and today before breastfeeding I was over by 442 calories, after I added my breastmilk I had an extra 537, netting just around 1500 calories.
I've been trying some different things, today I settled on logging only half of my pumped milk....
Any suggestions?
The neat thing about exclusively pumping is that you know how much milk you make.
Everything I've read says that a typical baby will eat up to 30oz per day (exclusively breastfeeding)
If you are producing 50oz, your body is using more calories than the typical 500.
If I were you, I would log all of the milk. Better to work with more accurate numbers.
The amount of calories that you aim to net would factor on how much you have to lose, what you've set your weight loss goal to, your activity level, and your milk supply. What are your goals?
I net 2100 per day - I don't have a lot to lose, I'm pretty active, I eat exercise calories, and I know my supply stays up with this number.
You could be totally different though.0 -
Well I'd like to lose another 50 lbs, I've almost lost 40 right now. I havent gotten back into excercising much yet but my goal is 3-4 times a week, once of yoga and 3 of cardio and I'd like to lose my weight within the next year.
I was able to lose the bulk of my weight during my pregnancy thus far so I know I can do it. I'm just concerned about cutting myself too low and it affecting my supply....0 -
Well I'd like to lose another 50 lbs, I've almost lost 40 right now. I havent gotten back into excercising much yet but my goal is 3-4 times a week, once of yoga and 3 of cardio and I'd like to lose my weight within the next year.
I was able to lose the bulk of my weight during my pregnancy thus far so I know I can do it. I'm just concerned about cutting myself too low and it affecting my supply....
I've been a big fan of the TDEE - 20% method. It still gives you lots of calories to eat, and you end up working with a smaller deficit which is good for milk supply.
You could also set MFP to lose only 1lb per week, and make sure you eat your extra calories.
I think it's better for us breastfeeding mamas to start out with a small deficit, and once we have confidence that our supply is good, cutting out an extra 100 calories per day isn't too risky. This might be the way to go for you. Slow and steady! Like you said - milk supply is important and we don't wanna mess with it
Sounds like you're doing great so far! You're almost half way there!0 -
Well I'd like to lose another 50 lbs, I've almost lost 40 right now. I havent gotten back into excercising much yet but my goal is 3-4 times a week, once of yoga and 3 of cardio and I'd like to lose my weight within the next year.
I was able to lose the bulk of my weight during my pregnancy thus far so I know I can do it. I'm just concerned about cutting myself too low and it affecting my supply....
I've been a big fan of the TDEE - 20% method. It still gives you lots of calories to eat, and you end up working with a smaller deficit which is good for milk supply.
You could also set MFP to lose only 1lb per week, and make sure you eat your extra calories.
I think it's better for us breastfeeding mamas to start out with a small deficit, and once we have confidence that our supply is good, cutting out an extra 100 calories per day isn't too risky. This might be the way to go for you. Slow and steady! Like you said - milk supply is important and we don't wanna mess with it
Sounds like you're doing great so far! You're almost half way there!0 -
Well I'd like to lose another 50 lbs, I've almost lost 40 right now. I havent gotten back into excercising much yet but my goal is 3-4 times a week, once of yoga and 3 of cardio and I'd like to lose my weight within the next year.
I was able to lose the bulk of my weight during my pregnancy thus far so I know I can do it. I'm just concerned about cutting myself too low and it affecting my supply....
I've been a big fan of the TDEE - 20% method. It still gives you lots of calories to eat, and you end up working with a smaller deficit which is good for milk supply.
You could also set MFP to lose only 1lb per week, and make sure you eat your extra calories.
I think it's better for us breastfeeding mamas to start out with a small deficit, and once we have confidence that our supply is good, cutting out an extra 100 calories per day isn't too risky. This might be the way to go for you. Slow and steady! Like you said - milk supply is important and we don't wanna mess with it
Sounds like you're doing great so far! You're almost half way there!
Oops, I'm super smart!
Ok so when I do my TDEE its 2179 minus 20% puts me at 1743 - I worry, will that be too little?
I've also heard of eating for your goal weight, so find both your TDEE and BMR for goal weight and then somewhere in the middle, which also would be around 1750, give or take a few.....
I just don't want to go too low.0 -
Oops, I'm super smart!
Ok so when I do my TDEE its 2179 minus 20% puts me at 1743 - I worry, will that be too little?
I've also heard of eating for your goal weight, so find both your TDEE and BMR for goal weight and then somewhere in the middle, which also would be around 1750, give or take a few.....
I just don't want to go too low.
1743 base calories plus 500 breastfeeding calories would put you at 2243 net calories per day. Seems like a great place to start to me.
I'd eat at this level for a month and judge weight loss from there. Of course, if you eat 2243 and find your supply dropping, bump those calories up a little.0 -
ok, so i am not doing a lot of activities yet (baby is 17days old) and my tdee is 1960 right now -20% has me around 1568 plus 500 extra BF puts me at 2068. I am currently eating 2300-2500 and maintaining my weight, i feel like 2068 will have me starving all the time. LOL. fuunnny thing is when I was pregnant I ate 1800-1900 and was always full. Go figure. I think I will start out with 2200 and work my way down from there. I want to start logging again next week!0
