Breastfeeding: Calorie suggestions

traceleann · February 2015

I'm due in 3 weeks and I want to start counting calories and exercising after my doctor clears me. I'm looking for suggestions from mom's who exclusively breastfeed on how to calculate how many calories I should have. I think you can add breastfeeding in the exercise and add it back in for the day. Has anyone done this? Does it come out about right?

SarahKhristan · February 2015

I didn't add breastfeeding as exercise, but I did eat an extra 500 calories a day (I based my calories on TDEE). I did the "custom" version for MFP instead of allowing them decide on how much I needed to eat.

I ended up losing weight anyway and my baby ate like there was no tomorrow. Best of luck with the delivery!

Th3Admiral · February 2015

I have insufficient glandular tissue (IGT), so I don't produce enough to really bother, but I've noticed some of my mom friends on here log it as exercise. Makes the most sense to me, easier to adjust when you move into weaning, either by you or babe, or when the teething demons possess your child and it feels like they haven't eaten for a week, growth spurts, etc.
Have a great delivery!

LKArgh · February 2015

traceleann wrote: »

I'm due in 3 weeks and I want to start counting calories and exercising after my doctor clears me. I'm looking for suggestions from mom's who exclusively breastfeed on how to calculate how many calories I should have. I think you can add breastfeeding in the exercise and add it back in for the day. Has anyone done this? Does it come out about right?

Estimate about 300-500. The simplest is to ignore breastfeeding and eat at maintenace as if you were not breastfeeding. This alone will help you lose weight at a reasonable pace and not deprive yourself from anything. At least this has been my experience with 3 kids.

traceleann · February 2015

Thanks everyone. I just want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to keep producing plenty of milk for my baby! I didn't diet with my first son while I was breastfeeding, so I wasn't sure what the best approach was. He didn't wean until 15 months and I don't want to wait that long to lose all the weight this time.

LKArgh · February 2015

traceleann wrote: »

Thanks everyone. I just want to make sure I'm eating enough calories to keep producing plenty of milk for my baby! I didn't diet with my first son while I was breastfeeding, so I wasn't sure what the best approach was. He didn't wean until 15 months and I don't want to wait that long to lose all the weight this time.

There is no reason to "diet", just not eating the extra calories breastfeeding burns is more than enough. For your supply to suffer, you need to go on a starvation diet. Your own health will be affected before your supply, so be careful to not deprive yourself of anything, especially calcium and iron.

3dogsrunning · February 2015

aggelikik wrote: »

traceleann wrote: »

I'm due in 3 weeks and I want to start counting calories and exercising after my doctor clears me. I'm looking for suggestions from mom's who exclusively breastfeed on how to calculate how many calories I should have. I think you can add breastfeeding in the exercise and add it back in for the day. Has anyone done this? Does it come out about right?

Estimate about 300-500. The simplest is to ignore breastfeeding and eat at maintenace as if you were not breastfeeding. This alone will help you lose weight at a reasonable pace and not deprive yourself from anything. At least this has been my experience with 3 kids.

I started there and ended up lowering my goal to .5lb a week. I've been losing pretty consistently since.

Also I've read not to start dieting until 2-3 months as you establish your milk supply.

Sued0nim · February 2015

traceleann wrote: »

I'm due in 3 weeks and I want to start counting calories and exercising after my doctor clears me. I'm looking for suggestions from mom's who exclusively breastfeed on how to calculate how many calories I should have. I think you can add breastfeeding in the exercise and add it back in for the day. Has anyone done this? Does it come out about right?

You take normal calorie amounts and add 500 for breastfeeding

But I wouldn't be worrying about weight with a new baby tbh .. give yourself a couple of months at least

enjoy it

you will be surprised how much weight giving birth can drop .. within a few days I had lost 35lbs giving birth to an 8lber .. loads of water there .. breastfeeding with that one dropped another 14lbs with no effort .. unfortunately I'd put on 63lbs because I ate everything during pregnancy so was still left with an extra 14lbs to lose

With my second I put on 21lbs, she weighed 6lb and I was still left with an extra 14lbs to lose .. despite BF for almost a year

But please don't worry about the weight - you have to get to know your new person first ..

JoRumbles · February 2015

Hi,

I lost all my baby weight (all 30kg of it!) by breastfeeding and sticking to around 1,700 to 1,800 calories a day. I allowed 500 for breastfeeding (within that) and just really did walking as my exercise to start. It took me about 6 months to loose the weight.

Unfortunately I am back on here as since I went back to work (my baby is now 2) I have put on 10kg.....this time I don't have breastfeeding to help me shift it!

lbride · February 2015

I would agree with those who say you should wait 2-3 months (to establish supply? Maybe, but really, you don't want to go insane trying to count calories, when you will have a baby on you 24/7!)

For me, I started WW 6 months out. Had an exclusive BF who would not take a bottle. I believe WW gives give you an extra 500 cals or so. I would not go under 1800/2000 in any event, and then just play it week to week, go up / down. Staying hydrated is extremely important as well. Easiest weight I ever ever lost, I was eating around 1800/2000 and lost all of the weight (except the "fat" if you know what I mean, b/c I need to lift weights too at some point again in my lift!)

blktngldhrt · February 2015

aggelikik wrote: »

traceleann wrote: »

I'm due in 3 weeks and I want to start counting calories and exercising after my doctor clears me. I'm looking for suggestions from mom's who exclusively breastfeed on how to calculate how many calories I should have. I think you can add breastfeeding in the exercise and add it back in for the day. Has anyone done this? Does it come out about right?

Estimate about 300-500. The simplest is to ignore breastfeeding and eat at maintenace as if you were not breastfeeding. This alone will help you lose weight at a reasonable pace and not deprive yourself from anything. At least this has been my experience with 3 kids.

This. And I would wait until your supply is established. Once you do start, look for any signs of a decreased supply.

lisalsd1 · February 2015

I bf-ed both of my kids for 14 months each. I didn't worry about calories or exercise for the first 6 weeks. After that, I started the exercise slowly. I estimated about 500 calories extra per day for the first 6 months. When my kids started eating solids (and still bfing), I estimated about 300 calories per day. I lost 37/35 lbs of baby weight plus a few extra pounds at 1 year postpartum. My kids were always on the "heavy" side as babies too!

traceleann · February 2015

Thanks everyone. I'm sure it will be a few months before I even feel like I have enough energy to count calories or work out. I remember how exhausted I was all the time with my first son. My most important thing will be making sure I get enough sleep and staying hydrated. I'm really bad about drinking water. I had no trouble establishing or maintaining supply with the first, so hopefully this will be the same.

Breastfeeding: Calorie suggestions

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