So confused. Nursing and wanting to lose weight.

nastasiawalden
nastasiawalden Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been breastfeeding now for about 10 months and this extra weight isn't going anywhere. From what I understand breastfeeding mothers need about 300-500 extra calories a day just for milk production. I looked into what a breastfeeding woman who wants to lose 30-50 lbs should consume calorie wise and it looks like around 2000 a day, 1800 absolute lowest. Since at 1800 it would be like a non nursing woman consuming 1300-1500/day. So I am going to stick to around 2000 since 1800 is pushing it for my size. I have been keeping track of how much I eat and from what I can tell I eat too little, how does that make sense? Yesterdays food was around 1400 for me, thats before exercise. My exercise isn't very high, only about 180 calories at most as of right now, but that doesn't factor in calories burned from producing milk or other daily activity. I don't know if I am going to count the milk production since it is already added into the calorie total.

I honestly don't know anything about losing weight or how it works. So I am just totally confused and don't know what I am doing wrong. Anyone have an idea? Do I need to burn more exercising? Should I eat more meals instead of 3 big meals? Soo confused! According to this websites calculator http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm Without even accounting for being a nursing mother, my lose weight calorie number was 1748. 1400 Extreme loss. I just started exercising again, and just started working on abdominal exercises. Am I doing all this right?

Replies

  • nornyb
    nornyb Posts: 224 Member
    I'm not breastfeeding, but I can tell you what has worked for me. I stay within my calories and do some kind of physical exercise everyday. Sometimes I eat back some of those exercise calories, but most often I don't. My diary is open if you want to take a look at it. My calories for the day are set at 1480, somedays I go over (but they are covered by the exercise calories I earn) and somedays I am under, I never go under 1200. I don't eat any special kind of way, but I don't eat a lot of processed foods.
  • Ralphrabbit
    Ralphrabbit Posts: 351 Member
    Not an expert but it makes sense to me!
    If you are taking a reasonable amount of calories for milk production & 1800-2000 seems sensible then so long as you are eating the right nutrients ie fresh & full of calcium etc, your baby will get what he needs using your fat stores for you!! I would say keep with it & exercise little & often, making sure you speed life up where you can. There is an exercise group I heard of that do it in a park with babies & buggies - sounds fun!!
    Just keep at it........
  • jo_marnes
    jo_marnes Posts: 1,601 Member
    Are you weaning? If so, you won't be using 500 cals to produce milk. I (a student midwife!) personally think that the 500 cals is a huge overestimation for the average, breastfeeding woman. I've had 3 babies myself and I certainly didn't need to eat any more than my TDEE.
  • DreamofGenie2012
    DreamofGenie2012 Posts: 31 Member
    Are you weaning? If so, you won't be using 500 cals to produce milk. I (a student midwife!) personally think that the 500 cals is a huge overestimation for the average, breastfeeding woman. I've had 3 babies myself and I certainly didn't need to eat any more than my TDEE.





    What she said. I'm a mother as well. Breast fed for nearly 20 months. Make sure you are eating high quality food and drink LOTS of water.
    Milk production does not increase significantly with calorie intake. Healthy eating has the biggest influence on milk quality and production.
    I did not increase my cals during pregnancy or breastfeeding. (Had a large healthy 8 lbs son, who is 4 now and still healthy)
  • nastasiawalden
    nastasiawalden Posts: 2
    So do you guys think I should stick with the 1748 then? I thought the 500 for milk production was high too, didn't think I was burning that much so when I was putting it in my log I was only putting 250 for it. Also, I don't know what TDEE means :)
  • lizbevilacqua
    lizbevilacqua Posts: 13
    I have been nursing for 10 months also. My daughter nurses 4-5 times per day since she is eating lots of solids now as well. You can find "Breastfeeding" under the MFP food options, For 4-5 times per day it deducts 400 calories from my daily intake. My daily goal shows up as 1300 calories, but with the -400, I consume about 1700 calories a day. I have been watching my caloric intake for about 4 months now and my milk production has not suffered at all and I have lost over 20 pounds.
  • cbhutton
    cbhutton Posts: 53 Member
    I think you'll be fine around 1700. I am BF at 16mo now. I dont account for my BF calories anymore, and I also eat around 1600-1700. For me, that is a reasonable amount to eat healthy yet have the occasional treat

    FWIW, I'm 5'10", 137# and active. Not really trying to lose any more weight.

    I definitely didnt find the weight "fell off" like some people say. It was 10-12 months before I was back to my starting weight.

    Good luck!
  • KaraAlste
    KaraAlste Posts: 168 Member
    So happy to hear you are nursing. I nursed two children and it's been a while, but I was overweight at the time and managed to lose weight while nursing. I did walk everyday, but I did not count the # I burned and subtract it and all that. If I got in an exersize for the day great, if not no stress. I think only you can determine how many calories will get you in a (healthy) deficit. Through trial and error. Also, you might consider drinking mother's milk tea while your dieting to support your milk production. All the best!:smile:
  • mizmgmt
    mizmgmt Posts: 5
    I really struggled with finding a balance between nursing and losing weight. The difficult part was that even before I started exercising, my baby was hovering around the 0% percentile and I was doing EVERYTHING I humanly could to make sure he was eating as much and as often as possible - so adding in weight loss seemed impossible. Now that he's started eating solids it's helped me out. I still nurse him before sleeping and when he wakes, but I've finally started supplementing with formula too at his doctor's suggestion. I really didn't want to go to formula for many reasons, but in the end I think it was the best decision for both of us. He will now easily drink 8 oz of formula in one feeding. At no point was my body producing that much milk in one sitting, let alone multiple times a day. So he's still getting breastmilk and he's getting additional nutrients from solids and formula. Plus, Momma's a little more sane and I think his next wellness visit will finally show improvement in his weight. Everyone is different though. This has just been my experience and I was deeply conflicted about finally choosing to supplement. I posted a story on YouTube about my experience with weight loss, nursing, etc...

    www.youtube.com/mizmgmt1
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    I'm exclusively breastfeeding a 2 month old and am netting around 1200-1350. So on non exercise days I'm eating 1700-1850. I'm losing weight and my milk supply is fine and she's gained over 4 lbs already so she's getting enough.

    If your baby is 10 months old you're probably not exclusively BFing anymore so you probably don't need the full 500.
  • nicola1141
    nicola1141 Posts: 613 Member
    I'm nursing only at night now (so down to 3 or so feedings/24 hours). I set my calorie goal at 1800 net. I eat back my exercise calories (so eating a total of about 2000-2200 per day) and have found that I do lose weight at that level.
  • flitabout
    flitabout Posts: 200 Member
    In my experience I have 4 kids that I breastfed. No matter how low I took my calories or how much it ate, how much I exercised my weight didn't budge not a bit while I was breastfeeding. As soon as I stopped the weight feel off. I don't know if it was the appetite that I had of a football player or what this issue was but until I weaned I couldn't lose weight.
    I used to hate when other women would tell me how much weight they lost bf'ing I really really just wanted to punch them in the face! My aunt was one of them I love her very much but this is the same woman that delivered at my goal weight and 6 weeks later only weighed in at 93 lbs! My best advice is just to eat healthyand have faith. It sounds like you are a lot like me. While it sucks this isn't forever and you lose it I promise. Again just eat healthy!
  • mjunebugt
    mjunebugt Posts: 3
    I'm nursing an 11 month old. He still nurses every 2-3 hours during the day and 1-2 times at night, along with eating solids. I am eating between 1800-2000 calories a day and I lose about one pound a week, if I'm lucky and trying really hard. I find if I go below 1800 that my supply suffers. The weight doesn't always fall off because of breastfeeding, unfortunately. I have heard of a lot of women that don't lose it until they wean.
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 Member
    Belated congratulations on the birth of your little one!!!! When I was nursing my children, that took everthing that I had. Was I chubby? You bet! But nursing those babies (or the baby) is much more important right now. It doesn't happen forever and there is plenty of time to get back to the pre-baby you. Consume lots of fresh veg. and fruit and be sure to drink enough water daily. You are beautiful, and what you are doing for your baby is a beautiful thing.

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