Breast feeding.... How many kcal should I consume?

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staceys89
staceys89 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
hey all
So I used to use this app a lot before I had my second daughter she is now two weeks old and just re downloaded, how ever I am feeding Rosie myself so have been told I need extra kcal for this... Is there a way to correct my settings to feeding and how many kcal should I have minimum while feeding ?

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  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    If you are happy at your current weight, plan 300 calories above maintenance. If you keep losing after a few weeks, increase a little. If you are trying to lose, eat at maintenance and breastfeeding will create the deficit for you, without hurting your supply.
  • jctk0419
    jctk0419 Posts: 21 Member
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    I'm ij the same boat. Even though I'm trying to lose weight, I told the system I want to maintain, and kept the activity level fairly low.

    Bare minimum for losing weight, people should eat no less than 1200 calories a day. With breastfeeding, we burn an additional 300 calories, so that puts us at a 1500 calorie minimum. Any additional adjustments made would depend on your own height/weight, etc. The account settings give us an amount of calories to aim for if we're trying to lose weight. You can always check that, then add 300. (And then compare it to the numbers they give you for maintaining your weight. I'm going to go check mine right now.)
  • equineobsessed
    equineobsessed Posts: 3 Member
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    You need a daily minimum of 1500-1800 calories a day while breastfeeding. Since your supply is being established you should stick to the 1800 side of things for at least a few months and then you can slowly move toward 1500 if you want to. I'm breastfeeding my older baby and I couldn't find a way to adjust for it in MFP, so I just created my own cardio exercise and set the calories to the amount extra I need with normal allotment to hit 1500 for the day. Make sure to eat back exercise calories too once you're able to start exercising again, and just pay attention to your supply overall. If it starts to dip try upping your calories by a 200 or so and see if that helps. Breastfeeding burns around 500 a day so some moms have to eat 2000+ calories. Congrats on your baby!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Give this a read:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum

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