Breastfeeding and losing weight

littlelegs01
littlelegs01 Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Hi there. I just had my second baby and he's now almost 5 months old. Most women (I'm told) lose weight breastfeeding - but not in my family! We keep the weight on until we are finished. I'd like to continue to BF my baby but lose weight as well so I thought I'd pick up myfitnesspal again and see if that was helpful. Does anyone know if there is a section in the program or profile to enter that you are breastfeeding so it can account for the extra calories I should be taking in?

thanks!

Replies

  • Dedicatedmetime
    Dedicatedmetime Posts: 32 Member
    I didn't notice any section for bfing when I signed up but to account for it I added it to my "workout". I was nervous I would under eat. I am decreasing the number as my little one gets older.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    It takes roughly 20 calories to make an ounce of breast milk, so a lot of this depends on how much the munchkin is chowing down. If you pump, you can get a pretty good measurement, otherwise it's gonna be a SWAG. 200 to 600 calories, depending on how optimistic you are.

    Probably easiest to log it as a type of exercise, so it just get subtracted off of your logged calorie intake. You can create a custom exercise by going to "Exercise" -> "My Exercise", and click on "Create Exercise" button.
  • Napier_mum
    Napier_mum Posts: 88 Member
    Someone once told me to allow 500 extra calories for breastfeeding. I am still feeding my 14 month old but he only feeds twice a day so I haven't bothered taking it into account.

    I gained weight while breastfeeding. Although apparently that might have something to do with eating *kitten* food and not doing enough exercise. Haha. I have learned from my mistake!

    I would just reduce the extra calories you allow yourself as your baby gets older.
  • Jb2much4you
    Jb2much4you Posts: 3
    :flowerforyou: Thank you so much! Great information!!
  • Ericancan
    Ericancan Posts: 13
    I looked at how much my baby's bmr was and then how much wt he gained and it ended up that he was consuming around 500 calories a day. Research on google says breastfeeding is 300-500 calories and I have a chunky little man so I believe he is eating at the higher end of that span.
  • erica6623
    erica6623 Posts: 5 Member
    Under the food section, you can search "breastfeeding" and it will minus 300-500 calories:smile:
  • holliloveseli
    holliloveseli Posts: 21
    Hey :) congrats on bf so long! I'm bf my 14 month old still and it's hard work! Keep up the good work momma! I'm also one of the ones who keep weight on whole bf. I've actually gained!
  • nursebloomfield
    nursebloomfield Posts: 1 Member
    Thank you! That's EXACTLY what I was looking for and I never would have thought to look under the food section. Thank you!

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