Breastfeeding and struggling with calories
pip_pop_piper
Posts: 4 Member
Hi everyone,
I am new to MFP. I am 33 years old 5 foot eight and 269 pounds. (I hate writing that down) I am 8 weeks postpartum and am exclusively breastfeeding my baby.
I did the first week at 1,700 calories and my milk went so low I thought I lost it for sure I am also walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating the calories. The next week I added 500 calories (as suggested by my dr to add to still lose weight) and gained weight!
I'm at a loss and totally frustrated. Anyone have suggestions?
I am new to MFP. I am 33 years old 5 foot eight and 269 pounds. (I hate writing that down) I am 8 weeks postpartum and am exclusively breastfeeding my baby.
I did the first week at 1,700 calories and my milk went so low I thought I lost it for sure I am also walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating the calories. The next week I added 500 calories (as suggested by my dr to add to still lose weight) and gained weight!
I'm at a loss and totally frustrated. Anyone have suggestions?
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Replies
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I find this to be a good resource:
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/0 -
Fwiw I'm 5'5, started at 156 and am now 132, I started when my youngest was 9 months, so she was on solids a bit, and for 5 months have been on 1700 plus 50%-75% exercise, including walking (most of which is pushing my huge heavy double pram), and going well.
It may take a bit of jiggery pokery. I started on 1500 and almost lost my milk too. So I upped it by 200 and haven't looked back, still breastfeeding my 14 month old.
Maybe stay where your dr suggested for a few weeks and track your weight (as week to week, or even day to day, fluctuations, aren't particularly accurate) and if there's still no downward trend, drop 100 or 200 and track for a few weeks again.0 -
Thank you Kate. That website has some good info on it. I'm going to try 300 extra and see if that is the happy # for Weightloss and keeping my milk. It's so hard to be patient, I'm crazy uncomfortable in my body right now0
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You probably don't need to eat more. Just eat your TDEE. Your body will still provide milk using your fat stores.0
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pip_pop_piper wrote: »Thank you Kate. That website has some good info on it. I'm going to try 300 extra and see if that is the happy # for Weightloss and keeping my milk. It's so hard to be patient, I'm crazy uncomfortable in my body right now
It's so tough when you feel uncomfortable in your own body. Particularly when you're dealing with all the changes a new baby brings, *and* then having to deal with the changes to your body pregnancy has brought about. I've really struggled since I had my second, and am still coming to terms with some seemingly irreversible changes, such as my body shape (gone from hourglass to rectangle),and the wrinkly loose skin on my tummy. It's a huge transition.
I have found, though, taking control, losing weight and regaining fitness and strength have helped in so many ways: my post natal depression and anxiety is manageable, I'm a more energetic mum to two very active toddlers, and I just generally feel happier and more confident in myself, able to unselfconsciously chase around the park and climb up equipment and down slides as required
Feel free to add me if you'd like a fellow breastfeeding mum friend, (even if I'm at a different stage to you)
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I have been trying to find the sweet spot with my calories too... My daughter is just shy of ten weeks old, and so far I have lost about 32 of the 45 lbs I gainedgained while I was pregnant. I am breastfeeding her exclusively. I was eating 2400 calories a day, which I was losing on til suddenly I wasn't so I decreased quite a bit down to 1900 but I think I am going to try 2000 this week. I am walking thirty minutes a day, and usually eat back about half of those calories.. Seems to be working as I have lost about 1.5 lbs this week! But I want to make sure my milk supply is still good, and going that "low" (seems so high since when I normally try to lose weight it's much lower than that....) scares me. Anyway.. Good luck to you!0
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I started when my baby was 4 weeks old and ate anywhere from 300-500 extra a day. I tried to for sure eat 300 and if I was hungry beyond that I would eat but often felt fine at 300. My milk supply was always fine. Make sure to only aim for a 1 pound a week loss at most, less if you only have a smaller amount of weight to lose. Weigh your food and log accurately. Drink lots of water. My baby is 8 months now and I've lost 65 lbs since I started. No supply issues!0
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pip_pop_piper wrote: »Hi everyone,
I am new to MFP. I am 33 years old 5 foot eight and 269 pounds. (I hate writing that down) I am 8 weeks postpartum and am exclusively breastfeeding my baby.
I did the first week at 1,700 calories and my milk went so low I thought I lost it for sure I am also walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating the calories. The next week I added 500 calories (as suggested by my dr to add to still lose weight) and gained weight!
I'm at a loss and totally frustrated. Anyone have suggestions?
You did not lose your milk from eating 1700 calories. You are overeating. Why did you think you had too little milk? Having only drops the first week or two is normal, you mainly produce colostrum the first days. Milk comes in after a few days, but still it does not regulate for a while. You should be literally starving, and not just for a few days, to have your milk supply affected. If you are nursing at least 10 times per day or more if the baby wants to, are nursing for a minimum of 10-15 minutes per side offering always both sides (and no upper limit, if the baby wants to nurse for one hour, great) and the baby is not peeing enough and not gaining weight after the first few weeks, only then you suspect a low supply. So relax, and reduce your calories. Be careful to not reduce your water intake.0 -
As well as eating enough, make sure to drink plenty of water!pip_pop_piper wrote: »Thank you Kate. That website has some good info on it. I'm going to try 300 extra and see if that is the happy # for Weightloss and keeping my milk. It's so hard to be patient, I'm crazy uncomfortable in my body right now
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Aggelikik
I'm 8 weeks postpartum
To just maintain my weight without breastfeeding I could eat 2,700 calories because of my size.
I'm positive it's not from over eating0 -
one week is not long enough to see if you are gaining losing or what, especially when you only had a baby 8 weeks ago.
start with 2000 cals, and give it 4-6 weeks.0 -
pip_pop_piper wrote: »Hi everyone,
I am new to MFP. I am 33 years old 5 foot eight and 269 pounds. (I hate writing that down) I am 8 weeks postpartum and am exclusively breastfeeding my baby.
I did the first week at 1,700 calories and my milk went so low I thought I lost it for sure I am also walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating the calories. The next week I added 500 calories (as suggested by my dr to add to still lose weight) and gained weight!
I'm at a loss and totally frustrated. Anyone have suggestions?
You did not lose your milk from eating 1700 calories. You are overeating. Why did you think you had too little milk? Having only drops the first week or two is normal, you mainly produce colostrum the first days. Milk comes in after a few days, but still it does not regulate for a while. You should be literally starving, and not just for a few days, to have your milk supply affected. If you are nursing at least 10 times per day or more if the baby wants to, are nursing for a minimum of 10-15 minutes per side offering always both sides (and no upper limit, if the baby wants to nurse for one hour, great) and the baby is not peeing enough and not gaining weight after the first few weeks, only then you suspect a low supply. So relax, and reduce your calories. Be careful to not reduce your water intake.
We don't know anything about her height or how much she weighs, so 1700 really could be not enough for her.
However, just because you added 500 and gained weight after one week does not necessarily mean you ate too much. It was 1 week. Sometimes I gain 2 pounds overnight for no reason. You really do need to stick with an amount for a longer period of time to see if it's the right amount for you or not. And as I said before, weigh your food or you do not know how much you're eating.0 -
victoria_1024 wrote: »pip_pop_piper wrote: »Hi everyone,
I am new to MFP. I am 33 years old 5 foot eight and 269 pounds. (I hate writing that down) I am 8 weeks postpartum and am exclusively breastfeeding my baby.
I did the first week at 1,700 calories and my milk went so low I thought I lost it for sure I am also walking 10,000 steps a day and not eating the calories. The next week I added 500 calories (as suggested by my dr to add to still lose weight) and gained weight!
I'm at a loss and totally frustrated. Anyone have suggestions?
You did not lose your milk from eating 1700 calories. You are overeating. Why did you think you had too little milk? Having only drops the first week or two is normal, you mainly produce colostrum the first days. Milk comes in after a few days, but still it does not regulate for a while. You should be literally starving, and not just for a few days, to have your milk supply affected. If you are nursing at least 10 times per day or more if the baby wants to, are nursing for a minimum of 10-15 minutes per side offering always both sides (and no upper limit, if the baby wants to nurse for one hour, great) and the baby is not peeing enough and not gaining weight after the first few weeks, only then you suspect a low supply. So relax, and reduce your calories. Be careful to not reduce your water intake.
We don't know anything about her height or how much she weighs, so 1700 really could be not enough for her.
However, just because you added 500 and gained weight after one week does not necessarily mean you ate too much. It was 1 week. Sometimes I gain 2 pounds overnight for no reason. You really do need to stick with an amount for a longer period of time to see if it's the right amount for you or not. And as I said before, weigh your food or you do not know how much you're eating.
her height and weight are in her OP....0 -
I used the numbers calculated by MFP to lose one pound per week and then added calories via a negative food entry (look up exclusive breastfeeding under food) of 500 calories. I try to eat back 100% of my exercise calories.
The reality is that your goal will have to be dynamic: it will change as you lose weight and as baby starts on solids (now that my baby is eight months old I only add 3/4 of the exclusive breastfeeding amount). That means trial and error: give each try a couple of weeks to work.
Make sure to continue taking your prenatal vitamins and drinking lots of water. It is also normal for milk volume to change and stabilize without it meaning your supply is at risk (yay to NOT waking up in a puddle of milk). At the end of the day your milk is more important than your weight loss: set for a .5 lb/week loss and see what happens! Congrats on baby and don't give up (on yourself or breastfeeding)!0 -
Andihwc
Thank you for your kind words. You're compleatly right that my milk supply is most important. I wasn't able to breast feed my older daughter and had to work incredibly hard to establish a supply with our 2nd.
I did an extreme diet after my first and I don't want to damage my body the way I did then. Trying to be more reasonable and still get results.
Thanks again0 -
I lost 8.5 stone before becoming pregnant - gained 2.5 stone when pregnant. I tried everything to lose weight while breastfeeding - eating more, eating less - nothing worked - I only started losing weight once I stopped breastfeeding
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