Breastfeeding and weight loss?

I also breastfeed my now 10 month old baby. I started MFP again about 17 days ago. Idk what will work best for you but I try to eat good calories and lots of protein without dropping below 1300 calories. My milk has gotten even better as far as the fat content when the milk separates after I pump at work. I cut everything out except water and drink at least 4 bottles a day, which I'm not a big drinker so this is a lot for me. My milk is established pretty well tho so I'm sure that helps. I also haven't began exercising again yet because the last time I did my milk did decrease. You can add me and see my diary if you'd like to. My basics are...lots of water, tons of protein, no pop, good carbs, and eating at least 1300 calories. Of course these are goals so sometimes I slip up and that's ok...hope this helps at least a little.

First, congrats on your baby!

I have found losing weight while breastfeeding to be a delicate balance. My experiences with each of my babies has been very different. First things first, though: at a week old, I wouldn't worry at all about weight loss. I'd focus on just building that breastfeeding relationship and building supply. Eating, drinking, sleeping and nursing was pretty much all I did at around one week. As for using MFP to help, you can search in the database for "breastfeeding," and there are several enteries that you can choose from which will add negative calories into your day to account for the breastfeeding. The general recommendation is that you need extra calories to help maintain the supply needed for your baby--some say extra 500 calories, which is a good guide, but you may find that you need to adjust it a bit.

I've heard lots of people say that the weight just "fell off" while breastfeeding. That has not been the case for me. I think if I'd been able to keep nursing on demand (i.e. not having to go back to work & pump), it might have been different. With my first, when I went back to work and had to pump, my supply started to slowly dwindle. I kept my calorie (and water) intake up to try to help maintain my supply, because for me it was more important to keep up the breastfeeding than to lose the weight. I didn't lose much of anything other than the initial loss right after having baby. Once I stopped pumping (around 12 months), I felt more comfortable cutting my calories down some, and was able to start losing weight. We did keep breastfeeding after that--I just didn't need to send any milk with her to daycare at that point. With my second, my supply was much better overall, and I was able to play around with the amount of calories needed to maintain my supply AND allow for a modest weight loss (0.5lbs per week, average). I found adding in 500 extra calories was too much for me--I was gaining weight doing that. I think it was 200 or 300 extra calories a day that worked for me. And again, when I stopped pumping, I lowered it down again. I'm currently adding 100 calories a day extra for breastfeeding.