How many calories for gradual weight loss while breastfeeding?

penguinstuff
penguinstuff Posts: 72 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there! I have stalked some of the moms in my friend list and am noticing their calorie goals per day are a lot lower than mine - as low as 1400 at times, while I keep.mine at 1800.and am still feeling ok if I get to 2000. Am I having too much? How do you calculate that or is there a set average to follow? I am just four weeks postpartum and am quite afraid of affecting my supply by going too low, at the same time I'm not to exercise for a couple more weeks and even then it will take time to do something serious, so I need to get my eating right.. Any help will be appreciated and hopefully the topic will be useful to somebody else too!

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    If I were 4 weeks pp I would not even THINK about calorie counting just yet. First get cleared by your OB and work with a lactation specialist. This early your milk supply is still getting established.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    You should not be restricting any calories at 4 weeks PP. You need to wait until your milk supply is well established have have the all clear from your OB.

    And perhaps read this:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum
  • penguinstuff
    penguinstuff Posts: 72 Member
    Ninkyou wrote: »
    You should not be restricting any calories at 4 weeks PP. You need to wait until your milk supply is well established have have the all clear from your OB.

    And perhaps read this:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum

    Thaank you so much for that link, it really makes me feel that I'm on the right track.with my 2000ish a day.

    To be honest it is easy to say talk to your OB or a lactation consultant, but here all you get as a 'check up' postpartum is to get your stitches off after ten days, and go to an examination in two months (if you decide to schedule an appointment and pay for it as a regular visit) and a lactation consultant is usually your mom :smiley: There are some volunteering moms that can help you get a latch, and I think a place or two in the country to get any other info, it's just not as popular as a service here, you have to figure it out on your own. Sooo yeah, thank you guys for shedding some light on what to do next, I'll try and be a bit more chill about it for a little while longer.
  • critterbug15
    critterbug15 Posts: 55 Member
    Hey OP, I'd recommend reading this article: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/

    Kellymom is a great source of evidence based information on breastfeeding.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    1) 1400 is their decision based on their body. You are not them. Not all women are the same height and build AND not all women's babies are growing at the same rate and demanding the same number of calories from mom.
    "maintenance" for nursing mothers is not some single number.

    2) There's generally a huge growth spurt at 6 weeks, which is one reason they talk about it being at least 6 weeks until your supply is "established." There will likely be a sudden big increase in demand and your body is going to need to fuel that. Growth spurts are often when women are made to feel like "I didn't have enough milk" and that's in part because you *don't* until your body catches up with the new demand. And you need *resources* to do that.

    3) all the talk about 3500 calories to lose a pound for you? Every pound your baby gains is 3500 calories OVER what s/he needs just to live, and that is coming straight from you. A baby getting 100% of its nutrition from mom is getting something like 400-600 calories of milk a day, depending on how old it is. That has to be *created* in your body, by what you eat. Your body will take it from your bones and your nutritional stores at first, but eventually your body will say "Wow, this famine is getting pretty severe. You and the baby will both die if I try to keep you both alive, so I'll stop making milk. Maybe the baby will die but if you survive this you can have another one later."
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    So I guess I disagree that you shouldn't restrict calories at 4 weeks post partum while nursing. That's when I started after my baby and had zero problems. I ate 2000-2200 a day and still lost. I was obese and needed to make that healthy change for myself. Maybe if you only had 10 lbs to lose you might want to wait. But personally losing weight while nursing was awesome for me because I got extra calories.

    Just be sure to weigh and log your food so you know you're getting enough, eat enough protein, and drink lots of water.
  • papple227
    papple227 Posts: 34 Member
    You might just have to see what works for you. I ate an average of 2500 calories a day while breastfeeding (I also pumped a bit) and I lost about 2-3 pounds a month. I didn't start actively counting calories until DD started to wean around 13 months and I started to gain back a little. Even then I had to play around with the numbers to make sure it worked with the both of us. There are a lot of variables to breastfeeding so you might just need to take some and mess around with your numbers and do what satisfies you and your baby. If you feel good at 2000 calories then that might be just what you need.

  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    if 'restricting" was eating 2200-2500 calories a day? That's different than eating 1400 or 1800 calories a day, especially before the 6 week growth spurt.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    And I say thsi as someone who constantly craved, and ATE meat and cheese, who practically sleepwalked to the refrigerator while nursing - and who lost all the baby weight, and all the weight I had gained since high school, while breastfeeding. It was an incredible illustration to me of how much our appetite is hormonally mediated.
  • eheber9
    eheber9 Posts: 4 Member
    For my prior baby and my most recent baby (less than 3 months old), I put in my weight and set a goal to lose 1 lb per week while breastfeeding and determined what MyFitnessPal said was my net calories for the day. Then every day I added cardiovascular exercise of breastfeeding for 400 calories a day. For my weight, that came out to 1800 to 2000 calories depending on how much weight I had gained and needed to lose. This gave me consistent weight loss and never affected my supply. I started this at 4 weeks post partum both times. I would not go below 1500 calories while nursing.

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