Any breastfeeding moms out there?

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lucyinthesky2007
lucyinthesky2007 Posts: 98 Member
in Motivation and Support
I started my 95lb weight-loss journey two years ago. I hold mfp majorly responsible for me losing the weight and maintaining for a year. Then life happened. I got divorced, met the man of my dreams and unexpectedly got pregnant ( I had been told at a very young age I'd never have kids ) Anyway, long story short, here I sit 4.5 months postpartum and disgusted with what I see in the mirror all over again. I'm still 50lbs smaller than my heaviest weight but very unhappy with myself. Everyone told me while pregnant "Oh don't worry, breastfeeding will melt the weight right back off of you " B-S! I really don't know where to start this time around. I stay relatively active (which walk 30 minutes a day 5 days a week and steep incline trail in our neighborhood ) and eat pretty balanced and healthy. I'm just not very sure the do's and don'ts of exercise and calorie cutting while maintaining successful nursing. Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance :)

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  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    It's all about having a calorie deficit.

    My baby is 8 months old. Right now I can't do much but walk due to other issues, but I eat at a deficit and (slowly) lose weight. I'm 12 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. If you're breastfeeding, eat at minimum, 1800 calories. You can follow your MFP goal and then add in breastfeeding through exercise or food diary (usually between 300-500 calories).
  • EllieCasey3312
    EllieCasey3312 Posts: 1 Member
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    I just started mfp again my babe is 6 weeks old. I want to lose weight and have about 30 lbs to lose but I'm afraid to do anything vigorous and lose my milk supply, especially when I'm trying to build supply beforeI go back to work. If I don't work out I don't have enough calories to not be hungry. I've already added 500 calories for breastfeeding.
  • lucyinthesky2007
    lucyinthesky2007 Posts: 98 Member
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    EllieCasey, all your concerns are the same as mine. Hopefully we will get lots of advice from veteran mommas to help us out.
    Ninkyou, thanks for your reply. I guess I have just been eating at maintenance, because the scale has been exactly the same since my Bug was a month old. Hopefully getting back to counting calories and being more aware of what I'm eating will help.
  • larlelar
    larlelar Posts: 19 Member
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    First time breastfeeding momma here too! My daughter is 2.5 months old and I've only just now started to lose the weight again... Took a while to find what works for me! I go by my original calorie goal but let myself have an extra 200-400 calories a day to account for the breastfeeding. I am currently losing weight but maintaining my milk supply!
  • Watch_Me_Shine416
    Watch_Me_Shine416 Posts: 138 Member
    edited September 2015
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    I'm a first time breastfeeding mom as well. I'm 5 months PP and trying to lose the baby weight and more. I've been researching about losing weight while breastfeeding and what I've been doing is eating 1800-2000 calories a day and started slowly working out 3 times a week to be sure it doesn't affect my milk supply. Feel free to add me if you'd like!
  • graceb02
    graceb02 Posts: 4 Member
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    Hey mommas! I'm 7 months pp with my first and am cautiously starting to count calories with this awesome app. I'm counting breastfeeding as 500 cal of exercise per day. I've been losing about 1 lb a month without really trying. I am itching to get back down to 150 lbs (was 162 and dropping when we got pregnant) and am close to prepreg weight now (but damn if my body is really different anyway! Hehe!) ... Anyway -

    Glad to connect with some other bfing mommas !!! Walking and yoga are the only real exercise I've done so far...

    -Erica
  • lucyinthesky2007
    lucyinthesky2007 Posts: 98 Member
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    So glad to hear from other mommas in the same place as me!
  • graceb02
    graceb02 Posts: 4 Member
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    Ninkyou - I love your advice! So definitive! I like to have structure that I can focus on. Based on the last 4 days (just started), 1800-2000 sounds just right. I suppose we are all afraid to mess up our supply by being too aggressive with calorie reduction and exercise.

    Has anyone pushed too far and seen supply tank? Are there any signs (does it happen gradually) or is it sudden and dramatic?

    Also, how fast can we safely lose? Is one lb per week too quick?

    Tia!
    -Erica
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    graceb02 wrote: »
    Ninkyou - I love your advice! So definitive! I like to have structure that I can focus on. Based on the last 4 days (just started), 1800-2000 sounds just right. I suppose we are all afraid to mess up our supply by being too aggressive with calorie reduction and exercise.

    Has anyone pushed too far and seen supply tank? Are there any signs (does it happen gradually) or is it sudden and dramatic?

    Also, how fast can we safely lose? Is one lb per week too quick?

    Tia!
    -Erica

    It's recommended to lose about 1-1.1 lbs per week (4-4.4 lbs/month), safely. Without doctor supervision, you should not aim to lose more.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10675424&dopt=Abstract
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9478032

    As far as signs for drops in supply, your supply is mostly built on a demand basis (other than calories). One or two days of lower calories (like when you're sick) likely won't affect your supply much but once you're hitting several days in a row, it will. Your baby will probably try nursing longer or more frequently if they're not getting enough (kind of similar to cluster feeding during growth spurts). Or maybe your baby will unlatch frequently and cry simply because nothing is coming out. I don't know if there are other signs.
  • antennachick
    antennachick Posts: 464 Member
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    I was in the best shape of my life about 7 months after baby number one while breastfeeding. And I did crossfit 6 days a week. I dont think its the exercising that causes milk supply to drop but getting too little of calories. Listen to your body...eat lots of protien and eat some carbs before workout helps maintain milk. I now am working on losing my wieght again with baby number #2..about 15 pounds to go and he is 5 months.
    Feel free to add me!
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
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    I'm 7.5 months pp and finally counting calories again since I basically regained everything I lost in the first 3 weeks after my son was born. I'm currently eating and losing on about 2300 calories per day. I think my milk has dipped slightly as my son is eating a bit more often. But he is content after nursing and diaper counts are fine.

    My story is I lost 46 lbs on mfp prior to my first pregnancy 4 years ago. I then gained 67 lbs in that pregnancy. I still had 30 lbs to go when I got pregnant again. I only gained 30 lbs this time due to getting diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I basically maintained from 28 weeks onwards.

    Now that I am done having babies I would like to lose about 100 lbs. I will be overweight at that point instead of obese and figure I can reevaluate my goals from there. My main desire is to keep from developing type 2 diabetes--I have a 50% chance of getting it in the next 5 years.
  • KourtneyChristine
    KourtneyChristine Posts: 33 Member
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    I have been nursing my daughter for 7 1/2 months now and I am vegan. I used to consume 2000/2500 calories a day because I was afraid of my milk supply dropping but I noticed I kept gaining weight so i realized if I was gaining weight then I am probably doing it wrong. I have since cut my calories and I now eat 1300-1400 calories a day. I have lost 56lbs since having my baby but since tracking my calories for 2 months I have lost 16lbs! I do not give my self extra calories for breastfeeding on MFP but I don't starve myself either. If I'm reallyyyyy hungry I eat. But I do drink tons of water too! Feel free to add me to see what I eat! :)
  • awesomelife1980
    awesomelife1980 Posts: 5 Member
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    KourtneyChristine wrote: »
    I have been nursing my daughter for 7 1/2 months now and I am vegan. I used to consume 2000/2500 calories a day because I was afraid of my milk supply dropping but I noticed I kept gaining weight so i realized if I was gaining weight then I am probably doing it wrong. I have since cut my calories and I now eat 1300-1400 calories a day. I have lost 56lbs since having my baby but since tracking my calories for 2 months I have lost 16lbs! I do not give my self extra calories for breastfeeding on MFP but I don't starve myself either. [Irf I'm reallyyyyy hungry I eat. ]But I do drink tons of water too! Feel free to add me to see what I eat! :)

  • awesomelife1980
    awesomelife1980 Posts: 5 Member
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    It's a really bad idea to wait until you're so hungry (aka starving) before you eat. Your baby needs those calories in the milk.

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