Breastfeeding burns calories? True?
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aniamanning wrote: »SusanMFindlay wrote: »Yes, breastfeeding "burns" calories. While I had issues with both, I was able to partially breastfeed my first son. My second son would not breastfeed. It has been much much harder to lose weight after the second pregnancy. I am back to calorie counting because it's the only thing that has ever worked for me.
At 5'9, if you want breastfeeding to go well, you should certainly be eating in the 2000 calorie range not the 1500 calorie range. After all, eating 2000 calories but "losing" 500 of them in the breast milk is the equivalent of eating 1500 calories if you weren't breast feeding.
Also, I can say from experience that post-C-section, you retain a pile of water for a few weeks of recovery. Do NOT freak out about your weight while recovering. Don't even stand on a scale until you're fully recovered. You will pee out 5-10 pounds a couple of weeks after the birth, so why bother yourself with the scale before that happens?
My son is 2 weeks old so I may still have water retention or would u say It should be gone by now?
After my fourth child I dropped 30 lbs in six weeks (13 at delivery, the rest over the six week recovery period). Yes, you are likely still retaining water. Plus it takes a while for your blood volume to go back to normal and your uterus to shrink back down to size (appx six weeks). All of that increases your weight. I always looked at my six week check up weigh in as my starting weight for post baby weight loss because of this. Being on the low end for your height, you really shouldn't be trying to lose at this point, especially while breastfeeding. At two weeks your supply is not yet established. Depending on your breastfeeding goals, you really need to focus on maintaining supply, which means eating enough to support that (maintenance plus appx 500 extra cal per day).
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aniamanning wrote: »aniamanning wrote: »Ps does weight matter? Like 150lb vs 130 lb women who nurse both produce 500 calories of milk?
So are you currently 150 with a goal of 130, or are you 130 now? 130 is already on the low end for your height. And as a new nursing mom, you don't want your BMI to drop so low that your body stops producing milk. Plus, you need proper nutrition to heal in these first several weeks. I'd say you need to talk to your doctor about your diet plans ASAP to make sure you're on the right track health-wise.
I'm 130 now, and I just want my son and I to be healthy
If you want both you and your son to be healthy then stop cutting your calories to an absurdly low amount that can affect the milk supply that sustains him. You're already 130 pounds right now so weight loss shouldn't be your focus. Your son and recuperating should be the only two things you're focused on right now. Eat at maintenance and after your six weeks are up, add in some resistance training a few days per week.3 -
aniamanning wrote: »SusanMFindlay wrote: »Yes, breastfeeding "burns" calories. While I had issues with both, I was able to partially breastfeed my first son. My second son would not breastfeed. It has been much much harder to lose weight after the second pregnancy. I am back to calorie counting because it's the only thing that has ever worked for me.
At 5'9, if you want breastfeeding to go well, you should certainly be eating in the 2000 calorie range not the 1500 calorie range. After all, eating 2000 calories but "losing" 500 of them in the breast milk is the equivalent of eating 1500 calories if you weren't breast feeding.
Also, I can say from experience that post-C-section, you retain a pile of water for a few weeks of recovery. Do NOT freak out about your weight while recovering. Don't even stand on a scale until you're fully recovered. You will pee out 5-10 pounds a couple of weeks after the birth, so why bother yourself with the scale before that happens?
My son is 2 weeks old so I may still have water retention or would u say It should be gone by now?
You may well still have water retention. Your body is holding onto water to help itself heal from the surgery.0 -
At only 1500 calories/day, you risk losing your milk supply (as your body requires 500+ calories just for the milk production)... I was told nursing moms should consume at minimum 1800 and that 2000 was safer bet. Do you have access to a nutritionist?0
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I am finding this thread concerning
You should be eating at maintenance
A wide nutritious diet
Your body has just made a human being and now needs to sustain 2 lives
Your body will be full of pregnancy hormones for a few months yet
Do not cut calories ...you should be eating 2300
Do not risk your mother-son bond, your ability to breastfeed, your health for the sake of some arbitrary number on a scale
Your body will still look slightly pregnant and, clearly to your eyes, lose or flabby ...that's pregnancy and needs time to heal ...give it 6 weeks to postpartum check, 3 - 6 months before considering any dietary changes and 9 months to fully recover
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I'm a little confused right now, so let me make sure I have this right. You are 5ft9in, and 130 lbs. And you just had a baby 2 weeks go, so you are still recovering from that. And you are breastfeeding.
If I have these correct, you should not be too worried about weight loss right now. You are still healing and establishing a milk supply. 1500 is probably too low; you could/should probably be higher than that.
It isn't about you now. Do what you need to do for the baby right now. Weight wise, you are fine. If you feel puffy or whatever, by God woman, you just had a damn baby. Take care of yourself.
I actually recommend you see a doctor, one who knows about postpartum issues and breastfeeding.4 -
If your stats are correct your optimum weight NOT taking into consideration the fact that your weight will naturally reduce over the next few weeks... is to GAIN 3lbs and get to 133lbs.
Cutting calories has you heading straight towards being unable to nurse your baby.4 -
How much baby needs does NOT depend on your weight, it depends on BABY's weight and how much they're growing. They need calories to maintain their weight (not many) and calories to grow. An 8 pound baby whose mom is 130 pounds needs the EXACT SAME AMOUNT as an 8 pound baby whose mom weighs 150 or 100 or 200 pounds. Baby does not give a flying $%!# what you weight.
You don't get to knock the breastfeeding calories OFF the recommended amount. You'res upposed to add them. You weren't supposed to say "Well, MFP says 1500 but 500 of that is going to baby so I'm really eating 1000 LOL!!"
Don't try to lose too much too fast, ESPECIALLY in the first six weeks.
Your supply isn't really established until about 6 weeks. Rest. Eat enough. Don't count calories. or do strenuous exercise.
babies don't grow on a straight line like weight loss charts. They have growth spurts. They'll be all "la dee da" for a few weeks and then suddenly eat constantly and put on a pound or more nearly at once. There is a BIG growth spurt at 3 weeks, usually. You need to be eating enough to have your supply ready for it. Really.
You know why they tell you not to exercise strenuously? Even if you DON"T have an incision cut through your abdominal wall (which you DO), pregnancy hormones loosen the ligaments that hold your pelvis parts together. The hormones are prepping your bones for actually unhinging like a snake's jaw to let the baby out. They don't tighten up again for several weeks after the baby is born. I went for a long walk 2 weeks after my 2nd kid was born because I felt WONDERFUL. But by the end, I could feel my pelvic bones shifting and grinding against each other. NO FUN. DONT DO THAT.
I nursed exclusively and ate about 3000 calories a day and the weight just dropped off me. DON"T DIET YET.6 -
You have plenty of time to lose the baby weight. Putting yourself into a rush is only going to impact your health and therefore the health of your baby. Post-partum is a physically taxing experience just as much as pregnancy was in the first place. Do yourself a favor and relax.
It may seem like a win to be able to get into your pre-pregnancy jeans a month after birth but I gotta tell ya, now that my kids are older, no one cares. People care that you are healthy. Your kids depend on you to be healthy. Don't force an unhealthy state because you're in too much of a hurry. The well worn platitude of 9 months to put it on, so it'll take a while to take it off, while annoying, has some truth to it.
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I love breastfeeding, regardless of calories-3
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I am finding this thread concerning
You should be eating at maintenance
A wide nutritious diet
Your body has just made a human being and now needs to sustain 2 lives
Your body will be full of pregnancy hormones for a few months yet
Do not cut calories ...you should be eating 2300
Do not risk your mother-son bond, your ability to breastfeed, your health for the sake of some arbitrary number on a scale
Your body will still look slightly pregnant and, clearly to your eyes, lose or flabby ...that's pregnancy and needs time to heal ...give it 6 weeks to postpartum check, 3 - 6 months before considering any dietary changes and 9 months to fully recover
This! I agree with every part of this. Enjoy your baby. Do not worry about weight until you are 100% healed from giving birth. You need enough nutrition to support you and baby. I've bottle fed all of mine and even with that you have to give yourself time to recover.1 -
Thank you all 0
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My son is 1 6mths and I breastfed for 13, if you lower your calories it will affected tour milk supply. I would worry about eating enough to have enough milk supply for tour baby. You have your whole life to lose weight. The weight will start dropping off byitseld. You probably have a lot of water weight if you had csection it took me more than a mth to lose just the water weight alone .0
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My son is 1 6mths and I breastfed for 13, if you lower your calories it will affected tour milk supply. I would worry about eating enough to have enough milk supply for tour baby. You have your whole life to lose weight. The weight will start dropping off byitseld. You probably have a lot of water weight if you had csection it took me more than a mth to lose just the water weight alone .
Were you working out to lose the weight?0 -
aniamanning wrote: »My son is 1 6mths and I breastfed for 13, if you lower your calories it will affected tour milk supply. I would worry about eating enough to have enough milk supply for tour baby. You have your whole life to lose weight. The weight will start dropping off byitseld. You probably have a lot of water weight if you had csection it took me more than a mth to lose just the water weight alone .
Were you working out to lose the weight?
You really need to talk to your doctor about this, particularly if you have a history of eating disorders.1 -
No I was not couldn't find the time but weight was still dropping0
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I worked out up until I was 6 months pregnant and a exclusively breastfed until she ate solids. I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans and weighed less a week after I had her than I did when I got pregnant. It definitely burns calories. BUT, as your child is on the breast less, like when she starts solids, then you have to remember that your calorie output shrinks. That might be why I am back here on My fitness pal ...0
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aniamanning wrote: »SusanMFindlay wrote: »Yes, breastfeeding "burns" calories. While I had issues with both, I was able to partially breastfeed my first son. My second son would not breastfeed. It has been much much harder to lose weight after the second pregnancy. I am back to calorie counting because it's the only thing that has ever worked for me.
At 5'9, if you want breastfeeding to go well, you should certainly be eating in the 2000 calorie range not the 1500 calorie range. After all, eating 2000 calories but "losing" 500 of them in the breast milk is the equivalent of eating 1500 calories if you weren't breast feeding.
Also, I can say from experience that post-C-section, you retain a pile of water for a few weeks of recovery. Do NOT freak out about your weight while recovering. Don't even stand on a scale until you're fully recovered. You will pee out 5-10 pounds a couple of weeks after the birth, so why bother yourself with the scale before that happens?
My son is 2 weeks old so I may still have water retention or would u say It should be gone by now?
Generally it takes longer than that to recover. My doctors said that my vigorous workout routine throughout pregnancy helped with my fast delivery and recovery.0 -
You know why they tell you not to exercise strenuously? Even if you DON"T have an incision cut through your abdominal wall (which you DO), pregnancy hormones loosen the ligaments that hold your pelvis parts together. The hormones are prepping your bones for actually unhinging like a snake's jaw to let the baby out. They don't tighten up again for several weeks after the baby is born. I went for a long walk 2 weeks after my 2nd kid was born because I felt WONDERFUL. But by the end, I could feel my pelvic bones shifting and grinding against each other. NO FUN. DONT DO THAT.
This! A coworker of mine went for a run 2 weeks post partum because she felt like a champ, and she was always physically active before - one of those crazy 30 mile bike rides in the last stretch of pregnancy type gals. A mile away from home? SHE PEED. Because her bladder was just flopping around in there, nothing holding it taut.
I'm almost 30 weeks, and my plan for the first 6 weeks is to eat at maintenance +500 to establish supply, and then slowly taper down by 100 a week until I hit maintenance and let breast feeding establish my deficit. This is my 3rd pregnancy, and this is the exact plan followed the previous two, and I was always down to pre-pregnancy weight by my 6 week check up, if not lower. Be good to your body. It has to keep two of you alive. It can't do that if you aren't nourishing it.
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