Weight Loss And Breastfeeding

marissabakescakes
marissabakescakes Posts: 35 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone! I have a 9 month old daughter that I breastfeed and am trying to lose weight. Before she began solids I was eating around 2000 calories a day and losing weight, and now I just can't seem to, even with less calories and increased exercise. I have actually gained weight! If there are any nursing moms out there that can tell me how much calories they eat and how much they burn from exercise to keep losing while nursing can you please help me out???!!

Thanks!

Marissa

Replies

  • soupandcookies
    soupandcookies Posts: 212 Member
    Hey there! I'm breastfeeding my 7month old, and I'm struggling too. I know I'm eating too much, though, so I'm trying to be more honest in my tracking (i tend to fall off track in the evenings, so I'm making sure to continue tracking, even after dinner). I'm weighing and measuring everything I put in my mouth, and I've started amping up my activity level, as well. I have about 15 more pounds I want to lose, and I'm struggling with every pound. I wish I had more advice for you, but I do commiserate! I have gained 2 pounds since my baby started solids. Ugh. We can do this!
  • marshmallow8978
    marshmallow8978 Posts: 57 Member
    I am nursing a 9 month old and I eat about 1900-2000 cals and then workout 4/5 x a week and burn around 4-500 cals each time. I am loosing .5 lbs a week. Sloooooow! But if i eat more, i gain. If i eat less, my supply goes down. I do eat pretty crappy sometimes too, which I know, but i am a work in progress and nursing makes me crave the sweet stuff!
  • CeCePII
    CeCePII Posts: 13 Member
    I'm currently nursing a 5.5 month old (my second; no solids yet). In order for me to lose I eat between 1800-2000 a day. I workout 5 days a week, burning about 300-500 calories per-session. I know it's hard and at a certain point (as others have pointed out) you lose VERY slowly, but that's the best way. With my first I cut my calories too much and my supply went down and never really got back to normal. I do find that working-out helps me lose about .75-1 LBS a week. Good Luck! I know BF is hard, but it is so worth it.
  • kaseybill
    kaseybill Posts: 28
    I am nursing an almost 3 year old (yes, I said year, not month) and it has been very challenging few years for me in the weight lose department. I currently eat about 1600-1900, do intense workouts of 500-700cal burns and still don't lose more than .25-.5lb/wk. It really takes me a month to lose a pound or two, but am hoping it will be permanent weight lose. My suggestion to you is to find out your TDEE and minus 20%, then add anywhere from 100-300 cals for nursing (babies under 1 yr old) I stopped adding nursing cals around 15 mo old since I was not seeing progress. At 6-9mo old, even if you dropped your cals too much to have a decrease in milk supply, you can easily ramp up your supply again from adding calories and increasing nursing sessions for a few days. Play around with your 'nursing calories' each week to find where your body responds the best. Good Luck! Feel free to add me as a friend.
  • laurasuzanne2006
    laurasuzanne2006 Posts: 103 Member
    I am nursing an almost 3 year old (yes, I said year, not month) and it has been very challenging few years for me in the weight lose department. I currently eat about 1600-1900, do intense workouts of 500-700cal burns and still don't lose more than .25-.5lb/wk. It really takes me a month to lose a pound or two, but am hoping it will be permanent weight lose. My suggestion to you is to find out your TDEE and minus 20%, then add anywhere from 100-300 cals for nursing (babies under 1 yr old) I stopped adding nursing cals around 15 mo old since I was not seeing progress. At 6-9mo old, even if you dropped your cals too much to have a decrease in milk supply, you can easily ramp up your supply again from adding calories and increasing nursing sessions for a few days. Play around with your 'nursing calories' each week to find where your body responds the best. Good Luck! Feel free to add me as a friend.

    whoot whoot for extended BFing. My daughter turns 2 in August. Biggest thing is to remember it can be a slow weight loss. Try and stick to eating healthy fats. I also illiminated my extra calories around 15 months. I totally agree that if supply drops it is easy to bring it back up. I know too many people who end up the vicious cycle of supply/supplement and just end up stopping. If it were to happen just nurse nurse nurse, increase healthy foods, and hydrate.
  • threepinkroses
    threepinkroses Posts: 1
    I just switched over to MFP from WW today. My hubby and I weren't following the plan anyway and I'd like to save the $80 I was spending every month on the fees. What I did like about their program was that they had a place where you could indicate that you were breastfeeding and it would adjust your points allowance accordingly. I haven't found that on any of these free sites.

    I have a ten month old daughter that I'm nursing. She does solids (demolished a chicken breast tonight, for example) but still mostly nurses. I have a ton of weight to lose but I don't want to sacrifice my milk supply to do it. Its hard to know how many calories is the right amount to maintain milk supply and lose weight.

    Good luck to us all.

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