Breastfeeding&losing weight

redlocks24
redlocks24 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have read a couple articles about calorie intake with breastfeeding. . The couple articles that I read say that you shouldn't be consuming anything under 1800 calories braise your body will just store fat in order to keep up with the milk supply ... I've been eating 1200-1300 (which is what MFP suggested to lose 2lbs per week) and I have no energy... does anyone know what a healthy calorie intake is and if there is a feature on the app that will account for extra calories needed for milk supply?

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    What are your stats? It sounds like 2 pounds a week is too aggressive for you, even without your baby to take care of. You can log breastfeeding under your food and it will give you an additional 500 calories to work with (it sounds counterproductive, but that's how it's done) or you can manually add that amount into your goal.
  • JLPersall
    JLPersall Posts: 43 Member
    I just added xtra calories into my goal calories because I find it annoying to add it every day. How old is your baby? Mine just turned 5 months and I just lowered my cals from 1700 to 1625 I basically eat all my calories every day.
  • redlocks24
    redlocks24 Posts: 3 Member
    She is almost 10 month old. She is eating table food as well as breastfeeding about 3 times a day and twice at night. I gained an excessive admit of weight with my pregnancy (50lbs yikes) and have only lost about 30lbs since. I'm frustrated because I have been having uncontrollable cravings (for sweets mostly) and often give in because I'm discouraged that I won't get back to my pre pregnancy weight. I will try eating more calories because I am often feeling malnourished and see if that helps.
  • redlocks24
    redlocks24 Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you so much for your responses! ☺
  • wordyroo
    wordyroo Posts: 98 Member
    This was most helpful for me: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/breastfeeding_calorie_calculator.htm
  • belinda_73
    belinda_73 Posts: 149 Member
    I wasn't able to lose weight until after weaning and it just fell off. it was as if I retained a lot of water while nursing. of course I kept very hydrated to keep the flow. my cravings also went down after weaning, I think you can give yourself a few more months to get to your goal weight.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    I'm still breastfeeding my 16 month old. I have no idea how much he's drinking now, so I just changed my goal from lose 1/2 pound a week to maintain and let the breastfeeding create a deficit. It's working (as long as I actually track my food, haha).

    Some women just struggle to lose weight more than others while lactating. Since you are tired and having serious cravings, I would say you need to eat more. You could cut it back to lose 1 pound a week, which would give you about 1800 calories a day, and let breastfeeding create the rest of whatever deficit, then see how you feel.
  • brekober
    brekober Posts: 40 Member
    belfle wrote: »
    I wasn't able to lose weight until after weaning and it just fell off. it was as if I retained a lot of water while nursing. of course I kept very hydrated to keep the flow. my cravings also went down after weaning, I think you can give yourself a few more months to get to your goal weight.
    I was the same way. I waited until my supply dropped naturally. I only pump twice a day now and as soon as I did that I started losing some weight.
  • Wittymomma
    Wittymomma Posts: 2 Member
    I would also say to consume more calories and cut back to 1 lb/wk for your weight loss goal. I don't know how much table food your baby is taking or if you are co-sleeping, but as a mom of a four month old and several other kids, I was surprised your 10 month old still wants to nurse twice a night. I think if you eat some more, you'll have more energy and produce enough milk for your little one to go a longer stretch at night. Which means more sleep, which in turn has a positive effect on milk, cravings and everything else. Happiness. There is soooo much our bodies are doing during pregnancy and after to feed a growing baby. Give some grace to yourself and work back to that pre-pregnancy body slowly. That way, I think you will feel successful in both breastfeeding your sweet baby AND weight loss. Slow and steady wins!
  • brekober
    brekober Posts: 40 Member
    Wittymomma wrote: »
    I would also say to consume more calories and cut back to 1 lb/wk for your weight loss goal. I don't know how much table food your baby is taking or if you are co-sleeping, but as a mom of a four month old and several other kids, I was surprised your 10 month old still wants to nurse twice a night. I think if you eat some more, you'll have more energy and produce enough milk for your little one to go a longer stretch at night. Which means more sleep, which in turn has a positive effect on milk, cravings and everything else. Happiness. There is soooo much our bodies are doing during pregnancy and after to feed a growing baby. Give some grace to yourself and work back to that pre-pregnancy body slowly. That way, I think you will feel successful in both breastfeeding your sweet baby AND weight loss. Slow and steady wins!

    My 9 month old JUST stopped waking up 2-3 times a night to eat and he only gets one bottle a day of breastmilk. I know babies that are a year old and still wake up through the night. It sucks, but it happens.
  • lorrainefburnell
    lorrainefburnell Posts: 2 Member
    Hi ladies, I just joined and have a 10 week old...I gained 70lbs this pregnancy so that is why I joined, I want to continue breastfeeding as much as possible and don't want to limit calories too much, I have about 35 pounds to lose to be back to pre-pregnancy weight. The last 4 weeks I just stopped losing weight and I've also had my period back already!!! So my goal is 1800 calories a day right now, I don't want to lose my supply! Is that enough? I am walking too and doing a pretty easy post pregnancy workout video every other day. I'm a stay at home mom, 2 boys and EBF. Comments, Tips and advice much appreciated, thanks!!!
  • VictoryGarden
    VictoryGarden Posts: 194 Member
    Wittymomma wrote: »
    I would also say to consume more calories and cut back to 1 lb/wk for your weight loss goal. I don't know how much table food your baby is taking or if you are co-sleeping, but as a mom of a four month old and several other kids, I was surprised your 10 month old still wants to nurse twice a night. I think if you eat some more, you'll have more energy and produce enough milk for your little one to go a longer stretch at night. Which means more sleep, which in turn has a positive effect on milk, cravings and everything else. Happiness. There is soooo much our bodies are doing during pregnancy and after to feed a growing baby. Give some grace to yourself and work back to that pre-pregnancy body slowly. That way, I think you will feel successful in both breastfeeding your sweet baby AND weight loss. Slow and steady wins!

    Ha! My oldest was still nursing 6-8 times A NIGHT until he was 15 months old. Talk about sleep deprivation....... And I wasn't trying to lose weight, but I did have supply probs due to thyroid issues.

    Anywho, BTDT with weight loss during nursing for 2nd babe. Had serious milk supply probs and zero energy at 2 lb/week here at MFP. At most, don't go more than 1lb/week. Try to get in some exercise/strength training to help build muscle to boost your metabolism, and you will probably find that even with goals set a 1 lb/week, you will likely lose more.
  • bendyourkneekatie
    bendyourkneekatie Posts: 696 Member
    brekober wrote: »
    Wittymomma wrote: »
    I would also say to consume more calories and cut back to 1 lb/wk for your weight loss goal. I don't know how much table food your baby is taking or if you are co-sleeping, but as a mom of a four month old and several other kids, I was surprised your 10 month old still wants to nurse twice a night. I think if you eat some more, you'll have more energy and produce enough milk for your little one to go a longer stretch at night. Which means more sleep, which in turn has a positive effect on milk, cravings and everything else. Happiness. There is soooo much our bodies are doing during pregnancy and after to feed a growing baby. Give some grace to yourself and work back to that pre-pregnancy body slowly. That way, I think you will feel successful in both breastfeeding your sweet baby AND weight loss. Slow and steady wins!

    My 9 month old JUST stopped waking up 2-3 times a night to eat and he only gets one bottle a day of breastmilk. I know babies that are a year old and still wake up through the night. It sucks, but it happens.

    My 20 month old can only be resettled with a boob and she's a shocking sleeper, so...
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Wittymomma wrote: »
    I would also say to consume more calories and cut back to 1 lb/wk for your weight loss goal. I don't know how much table food your baby is taking or if you are co-sleeping, but as a mom of a four month old and several other kids, I was surprised your 10 month old still wants to nurse twice a night. I think if you eat some more, you'll have more energy and produce enough milk for your little one to go a longer stretch at night. Which means more sleep, which in turn has a positive effect on milk, cravings and everything else. Happiness. There is soooo much our bodies are doing during pregnancy and after to feed a growing baby. Give some grace to yourself and work back to that pre-pregnancy body slowly. That way, I think you will feel successful in both breastfeeding your sweet baby AND weight loss. Slow and steady wins!

    No. Many breastfed babies, if not most, still nurse through the night at 1 year or even longer. Obviously not all, but it is not an indication of anything wrong with the baby or the breastmilk if it happens. OP could attempt night weaning if she thinks it would help her family, but she should be aware that parent-led night weaning at this age often leads to full weaning.
  • meganreid163
    meganreid163 Posts: 72 Member
    My baby is 7 weeks old! Im currently up to 2000 Cals a day. I have already lost most of my baby weight. I pretty much just try to focus on being active and eating healthy..
    But I do have about 20 pounds of extra weight I would like to lose..
    I would definitely say your eating too little.. And honestly I wouldn't contrite too much on how many Cals your eating but more about what your eating!
    Just eat when your hungry! As long as your not eating above 1800 Cals you should be fine!
  • JLPersall
    JLPersall Posts: 43 Member
    I night weaned my older child slowly around 13 months because she was eating all night long and I couldn't handle the sleep deprivation. She went from waking every half hour to once a nice or less :) couldn't believe the difference
  • JLPersall
    JLPersall Posts: 43 Member
    I started counting calories 2 months ago at 1700 and recently dropped it to 1625 nursing 95 percent. Baby just turned 5 months old and I want to lose 25-30 more. 1800 is probably a good number for you. I think supply is more sensitive first 3 months! I would rather lose slow and steady and be able to stick to my plan. Also want to keep healthy and energy. As much as possible when constantly sleep deprived anyway right:)
  • papple227
    papple227 Posts: 34 Member
    I started calculating my calories a little while ago to see where I stood and found out that I've been eating around 2200-2500 calories a day. I couldn't imagine only getting 1200-1300. I have a 10 month old and she still eats a lot throughout the night and I do pump some for the freezer. I've been steadily losing .5 lbs a week for the 6 months. It took a little while to find my sweet spot, but if you play around with calories a little then you'll probably find a way that works best for you and your body.
  • TriMama12
    TriMama12 Posts: 8 Member
    Have you just started feeling tired? How long have you been eating 1300cal/day? When my second baby was 9-10 months old it felt like she was sucking the life right out of me. Even though she slept well at night, I was just exhausted all the time, even though I wasn't restricting my food at all. As soon as she was able to start eating more table food, my energy rebounded. She was a big baby, who had trouble eating enough solids, and I think we'd just reached the upper limit of milk production for my body.

    In your case, I bet you'll feel a lot better if you up your calories and pay attention to your macros. Make sure you're getting enough fat and protein. Why not try eating at maintenance level and then let breastfeeding provide the deficit?

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