Breast Feeding

You can add it as food and it will give you -500 (which is a good number to use at 6 weeks postpartum) or you can add it as exercise. You could also customize your weight loss goals and enter your calorie goal manually.

Additionally, I would not set my weight loss at more than 1 lb per week, at least not this early. If 1320 reflects a 2lb/week goal, then I would definitely encourage you to set it higher.

You should be eating more, for sure. Here is a snippet from a kellymom article -

http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-calories-fluids/

If you really want (or need) to count calories…

Studies have shown that most healthy breastfeeding women maintain an abundant milk supply while taking in 1800-2200 (or more) calories per day. Consuming less than 1500-1800 calories per day (most women should stay at the high end of this range) may put your milk supply at risk, as may a sudden drop in caloric intake. (See Can I diet while breastfeeding? for more information on calorie restriction).

A mother’s “baseline” need for calories (not including lactation) depends upon her activity level, weight and nutritional status. A mother who is less active, has more fat stores, and/or eats foods higher in nutritional value may need fewer calories than a mom who is more active, has fewer fat stores, and/or eats more processed foods. This link from the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine has more information (including a handy calculator) on determining your individual caloric needs: Research helps fine-tune a woman’s true caloric needs.

An exclusively breastfeeding mother, on average, needs to take in 300-500 calories per day above what was needed to maintain pre-pregnancy weight. Since the recommended added calories during the last two trimesters of pregnancy is 300 calories/day, an exclusively breastfeeding mother will typically need either the same amount of calories she was getting at the end of pregnancy, or up to 200 additional calories per day. That’s the equivalent of adding 1-2 healthy snacks per day.

Per Breastfeeding and Human Lactation (Riordan, 2004, p. 438), “The amount of energy needed by lactating mothers continues to be debated. The lactating mother need not maintain a markedly higher caloric intake than that maintained prior to pregnancy: in most cases, 400-500 calories in excess of that which is needed to maintain the mother’s body weight is sufficient.”

Wow that calculator has me eating 2700+ calories a day. With MFP I calculated my calories to about 1350 and then add 500 for BFing. I haven't noticed a decrease in my supply with the MFP calorie goal, but then again I tend to eat the calories I gain by exercising. So I guess it evens out.

I personally just reset my goal to 1800 calories and it worked fine. Weight came off, milk supply stayed up. But this was about 6 months in. You may want to eat a bit more since you're still so early on.

I originally set my goal at 1800 calories figuring for the breastfeeding calories and I didn't lose any weight after two months. I got so frustrated that I stopped counting completely and still haven't lost or gained anything. I recently decided to try again and set my calories at 1550. My baby is 7 months old and just started eating baby food last month, so I'm still nursing all the time. I think part of the reason the weight is not coming off is my age. I am 36 now and was in my twenties with my first two babies. I kinda relented to the fact that I probably won't lose this weight until I'm done breastfeeding and even then, I've lost slowly. I know it's all about my little baby, but it's hard when I see other mothers who look great!

Good luck with your weight loss!

There's a possibility you were eating too little? I originally started at 1800 and was losing fine, but when I dropped to 1700 I totally stopped losing weight. So maybe it was that way for you? (although I know that for some people their body just holds on to that weight when breastfeeding - in which case it will probably start dropping off once you stop!)

I am older now too and this is my third child. My weight is higher than it has ever been right now and I finally decided to start counting calories just this week because "eating to hunger" was not working out for me. I have a nursing toddler but she doesn't eat many solid foods so it feels like she is nursing all the time. Right now I have added 250 to my recommended calorie intake and that seems to be working pretty well. Supply is still up and weight loss is happening.