Breast feeding

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Aquamarine7
Aquamarine7 Posts: 28
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a problem with how to calculate things because I am nursing my 4 month old baby therefore I should take in between 1800-2200+ cals a day (according to the internet). Well when I put in my info on the settings that I want to do 30 mins of exercise 5 days a week and lose 1 lb a week it gives me a calorie limit of 1650 but I burn calories breastfeeding so do I just figure out how many calories I burn and enter it as an exercise or is there a special feature for this on here?

Thanks :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • Aquamarine7
    Aquamarine7 Posts: 28
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    Ok, I searched it like I guess I should have to begin with and I probably burn about 600 calories a day in milk production so I just did it that way. I'll leave this topic though in case anyone else gets stuck on this too. :happy:
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    If you're breastfeeding you really shouldn't be trying to lose weight. You need to be doing everything you can to make sure your baby gets all the nutrition he or she needs. If you start cutting calories or not replacing the calories burned from exercise the quality of your milk will suffer. Now that you aren't pregnant anymore your body is going to take care of you first, not your baby. So your body will make sure you get all the nutrition you need before it puts it into your milk.

    You need to be getting 300-500 calories on top of your maintenance calories. You also need to be taking your prenatal vitamins with a DHA supplement if your prenatals don't already have it.

    Don't deprive your baby of the nutrition he or she needs just to lose some weight. You've got plenty of time to lose the weight later, just enjoy and care for your baby without worrying about your weight.
  • Aquamarine7
    Aquamarine7 Posts: 28
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    I take in 2400+ cals a day so if you take 500/600 from that for nursing and 300 for housework and a small amount of exercise then I'm still getting a fair amount of cals a day. I weigh almost 200 lbs and I Breastfeed/fed my 3 children for 2 yrs a piece. I also take vitamins. My aim is not to go on a crash diet, rather to atleast budge my weight away from the obese-zone and just get healthy. I also eat mostly organic and stay away from processed foods and preservatives.
  • guardup
    guardup Posts: 230
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    I take in 2400+ cals a day so if you take 500/600 from that for nursing and 300 for housework and a small amount of exercise then I'm still getting a fair amount of cals a day. I weigh almost 200 lbs and I Breastfeed/fed my 3 children for 2 yrs a piece. I also take vitamins. My aim is not to go on a crash diet, rather to atleast budge my weight away from the obese-zone and just get healthy. I also eat mostly organic and stay away from processed foods and preservatives.

    It is natural for you to lose weight after you give birth. As long as you are getting the nutrients you need for yourself AND for the production of milk, there shouldn't be an issue with losing weight slowly. Talk to your doctor... and for good measure, talk to your lactation consultant if you have one... they can tell you what kind of target you should shoot for.

    Since you breast feed for a nice, long time (congrats to you on that, by the way) maintaining a high weight could be detrimental to you in the long run.

    Just take the time to become educated and talk to your medical professionals. They can help guide you on how to do this safely for you and your baby.
  • Aquamarine7
    Aquamarine7 Posts: 28
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    Thank you Meghan
  • misslizz6958
    misslizz6958 Posts: 124 Member
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    If you're breastfeeding you really shouldn't be trying to lose weight. You need to be doing everything you can to make sure your baby gets all the nutrition he or she needs. If you start cutting calories or not replacing the calories burned from exercise the quality of your milk will suffer. Now that you aren't pregnant anymore your body is going to take care of you first, not your baby. So your body will make sure you get all the nutrition you need before it puts it into your milk.

    You need to be getting 300-500 calories on top of your maintenance calories. You also need to be taking your prenatal vitamins with a DHA supplement if your prenatals don't already have it.

    Don't deprive your baby of the nutrition he or she needs just to lose some weight. You've got plenty of time to lose the weight later, just enjoy and care for your baby without worrying about your weight.


    That was inappropriate, who are you to basically tell her she's a bad mom and depriving her child. There isn't a thing in the world wrong with taking in just enough calories to lose weight and have a good milk supply. I dieted while I was bf ing without a problem and lost all my pregnancy weight in 2 months then went on to lose a lot more. To the op, your best bet is to talk to a nutritionist that can figure out the exact number of cals you need and how much exercise you should do. Health insurense should cover it.
  • shreddin_mama
    shreddin_mama Posts: 1,076 Member
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    just type in breastfeeding into the search feature on the food section. it will automatically calculated it for you. i didn't know that at first either it's amazing! As long as you are eating healthy and drinking lost of water you should be fine. Good luck! I had my daughter in April and lost 43 lbs since and I'm producing milk like crazy.
  • NZGeekGirl
    NZGeekGirl Posts: 87
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    I'm with you on the breastfeeding while losing weight band wagon. As someone else said, we just take it slowly and make sure we're still eating the right foods for awesome milk production and we'll get there!
  • NZGeekGirl
    NZGeekGirl Posts: 87
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    just type in breastfeeding into the search feature on the food section. it will automatically calculated it for you. i didn't know that at first either it's amazing! As long as you are eating healthy and drinking lost of water you should be fine. Good luck! I had my daughter in April and lost 43 lbs since and I'm producing milk like crazy.

    Awesome! thanks for that!!!
  • danalin26
    danalin26 Posts: 13 Member
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    I am also breast feeding and trying to lose weight. If you notice your baby's not getting enough then eat more calories, not a big deal. You're doing a great job mama :)
  • 33nessy
    33nessy Posts: 104
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    i think it is totally fine for you to try and lose weight while breast feeding...i am (although mine is only feeding 2 times a day now)..if you dont consume enough calories youll know...youll have a grumpy buba so up them...no biggie and remember that sometimes slow and steady wins the race.
  • Aquamarine7
    Aquamarine7 Posts: 28
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    If you're breastfeeding you really shouldn't be trying to lose weight. You need to be doing everything you can to make sure your baby gets all the nutrition he or she needs. If you start cutting calories or not replacing the calories burned from exercise the quality of your milk will suffer. Now that you aren't pregnant anymore your body is going to take care of you first, not your baby. So your body will make sure you get all the nutrition you need before it puts it into your milk.

    You need to be getting 300-500 calories on top of your maintenance calories. You also need to be taking your prenatal vitamins with a DHA supplement if your prenatals don't already have it.

    Don't deprive your baby of the nutrition he or she needs just to lose some weight. You've got plenty of time to lose the weight later, just enjoy and care for your baby without worrying about your weight.


    That was inappropriate, who are you to basically tell her she's a bad mom and depriving her child. There isn't a thing in the world wrong with taking in just enough calories to lose weight and have a good milk supply. I dieted while I was bf ing without a problem and lost all my pregnancy weight in 2 months then went on to lose a lot more. To the op, your best bet is to talk to a nutritionist that can figure out the exact number of cals you need and how much exercise you should do. Health insurense should cover it.

    Thanx for that. I'll admit I almost lost my temper at the tone of that 1st reply but then I remembered that people who jump to conclusions aren't worth the time it takes to explain logic to them. LOL.

    Thanx for the support and suggestions everyone. I'm bringing baby to her checkup tomorrow and I'm going to talk to my doc about it then just to be on the safe-side.

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