? for all breastfeeding moms

rachpetersen
rachpetersen Posts: 265 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am wondering if I should actually add the 500 calories to my daily intake goal in the calories section instead of just subtracting 500 calories from my intake on a daily basis? The only reason I might do it is because I am not accounting for all of the nutrients that accompanies those 500 breastfeeding calories I eat back each day, which isn't going to help me any. If I need the extra calories then shouldn't I need the extra nutrients as well?...which would require not simply subtracting only the calories? Let me know your thoughts...wanting to know if my thinking is correct here. Thanks! :)

Replies

  • missiontocomplete
    missiontocomplete Posts: 4
    i complety agree..... i think we earned & should be loosing those calories as well...
  • rachpetersen
    rachpetersen Posts: 265 Member
    still looking for some opinions? anyone?
  • Amypascoe
    Amypascoe Posts: 12
    I am so confused this time around! MFP tells me to eat 1650 calories, so I added 500 to that and stopped losing. I dropped to 2000 calories and started losing again. My biggest question now is what about the days that I work out??? Do I eat my 2000 calories and stop or do I eat my 2000 calories plus the calories that I burned from my work out? I want to lose weight, BUT my biggest concern is being able to continue nursing my daughter.
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
    Some women enter breastfeeding as exercise, and by doing this it will change your macro levels to suit the additional calories.

    If you add 500 calories into your daily goals, you will also get the macro level change - a good thing when you want to take in the extra nutrients and not just the calories.

    I add them into my food diary and the option I choose alters my macro levels. So far this option has worked well for me, but if it wasn't working, I would go with just altering my calorie goals.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    when my daughter is born i plan on just adding 500 to my custom calorie goal - but i have a BMF and if i add breastfeeding as exercise it would mess with the syncing of burned calories for the day.
  • BeckyJill7
    BeckyJill7 Posts: 547 Member
    Some women enter breastfeeding as exercise, and by doing this it will change your macro levels to suit the additional calories.

    If you add 500 calories into your daily goals, you will also get the macro level change - a good thing when you want to take in the extra nutrients and not just the calories.

    I add them into my food diary and the option I choose alters my macro levels. So far this option has worked well for me, but if it wasn't working, I would go with just altering my calorie goals.

    I add bf'ing in my food diary. You can search for it as a food. There's a generic 500 calorie or per mL pumped/fed. It alters the macros in both cases.
    I so need/want my extra calories. I'm a bottomless pit!
  • c_faulkenburg
    c_faulkenburg Posts: 158 Member
    I do not enter breastfeeding calories. My son was 5 months old when I started this and I didn't lose anything up until I started logging my food. Course this is my third bf baby in four years so.. Maybe that has something to do with it. I'm just working hard towards not having the total crappy diet that I did up until January.
  • lemonfizzle
    lemonfizzle Posts: 40 Member
    I added the extra calories as exercise. That way I could see my macros along with the added calories.
  • likitisplit
    likitisplit Posts: 9,420 Member
    I add them in as a cardio workout. I call it "Baby Care"
  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
    I added them in as a food item and was able to lose weight (lost all the baby weight and then some last year...reset my goals this year). I had my weight loss at 1 1/2 pounds a week, I think.

    If you drop too low, your supply will suffer.
    Drink TONS of water. It's just as important to your supply as calories.
    If you are close to a healthy weight, your body will likely hold on to 5-10 extra pounds until you wean.

    Now she's 15 months and only nursing around 3x a day, so I don't deduct any calories.

    One more thing: when my son weaned 4 years ago, I gained 40 pounds QUICKLY because of the sudden lack of breastfeeding deficit. So as one BFer to another, watch it when you wean. I'm working really hard to not let it happen this time around!!
  • Mountaingirl33
    Mountaingirl33 Posts: 80 Member
    Hi, just wondering if you started losing more after you stopped logging breastfeeding as calories. My son is 81/2 months old and I'm still BFing and wondering if I should stop accounting for it so I can stop plateauing. Thanks!
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    Sorry, I have no input on the subject in question...but that baby is stinking adorable. Just had to stop and say it. :)
  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
    Hi, just wondering if you started losing more after you stopped logging breastfeeding as calories. My son is 81/2 months old and I'm still BFing and wondering if I should stop accounting for it so I can stop plateauing. Thanks!

    Personally, I had a hard time from the time she was around 7 months until about a month ago. Separation anxiety hit hard, teething has been rough and she JUST started sleeping through the night at 14 months. And she took 3, 20 minute naps so I couldn't work out really.

    I recently read that from 3-6 months (I think that was the timeline) is a time when the weight comes off most easily for BFing moms. That was very true for me. I've struggled since. Now that I'm getting some sleep at night and she's taking a good, 2 hour nap in the day I am starting to work out and I'm seeing weight start to come off again. It's been a bit discouraging, but I'm sticking to it and mainly determined at this point to get stronger and not regain weight after weaning this time.
  • rachpetersen
    rachpetersen Posts: 265 Member
    Sorry, I have no input on the subject in question...but that baby is stinking adorable. Just had to stop and say it. :)
    thanks...we think he is pretty cute too :)
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Either way, it should adjust your macros. I do want to add that 500 calories is pretty generous (most estimates say 200-350) weight watchers added 300 calories. When I lost weight, I tried adding the 300 calories and could not lose weight (right after my daughter was born). I dropped my calories after talking to my LC, OB and Pedi and lost a ton of weight. I also continued to breastfeed for 22 months. I never had a supply issue and ended up having to buy a storage freezer and then donate an entire storage freezer of milk because it got full and I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

    If you are losing weight with the 500 extra calories, awesome. If not, think about reducing those calories to 300. Just my .02. (Also, the older the baby, the less calories your body uses to produce the milk because it's less fatty and rich).
  • rachpetersen
    rachpetersen Posts: 265 Member
    Either way, it should adjust your macros. I do want to add that 500 calories is pretty generous (most estimates say 200-350) weight watchers added 300 calories. When I lost weight, I tried adding the 300 calories and could not lose weight (right after my daughter was born). I dropped my calories after talking to my LC, OB and Pedi and lost a ton of weight. I also continued to breastfeed for 22 months. I never had a supply issue and ended up having to buy a storage freezer and then donate an entire storage freezer of milk because it got full and I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

    If you are losing weight with the 500 extra calories, awesome. If not, think about reducing those calories to 300. Just my .02. (Also, the older the baby, the less calories your body uses to produce the milk because it's less fatty and rich).

    I am losing weight just fine with an extra 500 calories actually, my question was about nutrients...and I do realize that as baby gets older I won't use as many calories to produce milk. I have that all under control, was just curious how others accounted for it on MFP. And I did eat only 300 extra calories and it affected my milk supply quite a bit...everyone is different.
  • zephtalah
    zephtalah Posts: 327 Member
    ^^^ I am sorry that you were having trouble losing weight, but your info is false. It takes the body 26 calories to produce 1 ounce of breastmilk. So if a mother nurses her baby and the baby gets 25 ounces in one day she would burn 650 calories just from milk production. The 500 amount that is often thrown around is that 25 ounce average - 150 calories to aid in weight loss. Yes as your baby nurses less you will need less calories. I have nursed all 7 of my children. Most of my weight loss comes off after the 6 month period. It is awesome for momma who get it to come off earlier, but everybody does work differently. I am currently nursing my 1 year old twins. I started using MFP when they were about 7-8 months old. I added in 1000 extra calories to what MFP said and was losing weight. I am messing around with my calories now to see what I need to not go to low for milk supply (earlier on I did try to reduce more and supply was affected) and still get losses. I am at a lower weight than I was prior to all my children. If you short change how many calories your body needs it can actually cause your body to hold on to extra weight in order to protect itself. Eat healthy, but eat what your body needs. You probably will need to adjust caloric need periodically as your baby eats more table foods, but be sure to get in what you need.

    OP- Like others have said you can enter it as exercise or manually adjust your calorie goal if you are concerned about your macros.
  • 1ocean1girl
    1ocean1girl Posts: 197 Member
    Some women enter breastfeeding as exercise, and by doing this it will change your macro levels to suit the additional calories.

    If you add 500 calories into your daily goals, you will also get the macro level change - a good thing when you want to take in the extra nutrients and not just the calories.

    I add them into my food diary and the option I choose alters my macro levels. So far this option has worked well for me, but if it wasn't working, I would go with just altering my calorie goals.

    I agree. Breastfeeding burns alot of calories but you have to make sure you add them back into your diet to ensure your baby gets all the mommy goodness they need.
  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    As others have said, if you enter it as exercise, MFP will account for the additional macros you need. Keep taking a prenatal vitamin to fill in the gaps if you're concerned about the micronutrients.
  • rachpetersen
    rachpetersen Posts: 265 Member
    thank you everyone for your help and opinions. I have added it into my daily goal to account for my nutrients and I haven't stopped taking my prenatal vitamins so its all good there! glad to hear what some others are doing :)
  • amberitonwright
    amberitonwright Posts: 1
    What is MFP?
  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
    What is MFP?

    My Fitness Pal. This website.

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