Weight loss and breastfeeding

Anyone breastfeeding and trying to loose weight? Would love to hear from you and get any advice I can. :)

Replies

  • kstarallen
    kstarallen Posts: 116 Member
    I have my calories set at maintenance and use the extra calories I should be eating (300-500) for breastfeeding as my deficit. I wouldn't recommend doing this until your supply is firmly established and definitely do not eat any less.

    For example my maintenance for my weight is 1890 calories. I eat those and then usually some of my exercise calories.

    I walk and or jog 6 days per week and I'm starting JM's 30 Day Shred Oct 1.

    This is working very well for me; I've lost 12lbs in 12 weeks.
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    I've been reading up on this as well as I'll be dealing with this soon, and from what I've seen is that it really varies on the individual. Some have no problem dieting while breastfeeding -- their milk is fine. Some others are able to do as kstar -- just eat at maintenance or so --- which will do a slight deficit due to the cals needed for milk production. And others said that if they attempted to cut down at all, it killed their milk supply.

    I haven't seen anything that helps women keep their milk while cutting, but if you or anyone knows/heard of anything, I'd love to know about it.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    I'm breastfeeding but not try to loose weight or lose it for that matter ;). In fact, right now I'm trying to maintain....maybe even gain a little. When I was looking to lose weight I was eating 2100-2300+ calories a day and lost about .5 lbs every week or two. I'm 5'4 and eating anything below 1900 messes with my mood and no one likes a b 1tch.

    I started actively exercising when baby was 5 months old, it's made the biggest difference in how I look and feel IMHO. I know not everyone can go to the gym, but just taking the baby for a 45 min walk every day or every second day makes a difference.
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
    What do you mean by "breastfeeding"?
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
    ncboiler89 wrote: »
    What do you mean by "breastfeeding"?

    I'm hoping that's a really awkward joke.

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    kstar_lee wrote: »
    I have my calories set at maintenance and use the extra calories I should be eating (300-500) for breastfeeding as my deficit. I wouldn't recommend doing this until your supply is firmly established and definitely do not eat any less.

    For example my maintenance for my weight is 1890 calories. I eat those and then usually some of my exercise calories.

    I walk and or jog 6 days per week and I'm starting JM's 30 Day Shred Oct 1.

    This is working very well for me; I've lost 12lbs in 12 weeks.

    This is what I did pretty much. And yes, do not start cutting calories until your milk supply is established, usually 2-3 months.

    I am done now but when I was I set my calorie goal to maintainance and let the breastfeeding create the deficit. I didn't have a problem with supply.
    When we started to introduce solids at 6 months, I switched my calorie goal to half a pound a week (-250) to account for the lower demand.
    I did swimming, running, biking and some weight training.
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
    I always link bfing mums to this:

    http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/

    And urge slow reduction in calories rather than cutting back too quickly. Start with the higher bracket for your stats for a few weeks, see how you go, and make slow adjustments from there.
  • bnjagala
    bnjagala Posts: 2 Member
    Breasting baby is 7months now Gained 17kg . I'm Obese now & need to loose the weight . Have not been able to exercise at all .