Weightloss and breastfeeding/pumping

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jasminedmarks
jasminedmarks Posts: 13 Member
edited August 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone! I've done online research and I'm at a loss of how to effectively lose weight while breastfeeding/pumping. I eat when hungry, several small meals a day. I have my calorie intake setup to eat 1850 calories a day and I walk/run for exercise. Is this an effective way to drop the weight while breastfeeding/pumping? Anyone out there 'been there done that' that can offer some advice? Side note: I have lost all my pregnancy weight (baby is 4 months) but I am trying to lose the extra weight I had gained PRIOR to getting pregnant.

Thanks in advance :)

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  • jessicaerfer906
    jessicaerfer906 Posts: 6 Member
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    Kudos to you for nursing. Really. It's not easy (or wasn't for me). Pregnancy for me made a huge change in how quickly I can lose weight. Glacial. Anyway, I have no advice other than to not worry too much. It may be wise to get your blood checked just to be sure you have the right nutrient and aren't anemic. But nursing isn't the best time to try to lose a lot. Try a fitness routine and check your supply. Mine dropped when I worked out. Good luck mama. Be gentle with yourself it's not easy!!!
  • mandabeth34
    mandabeth34 Posts: 158 Member
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    I'm in the same boat. 8 weeks postpartum, breastfeeding with supplemental formula, run/walking to get back to my normal running shape, and some light strength training. I want to lose about 30 pounds, 22 to get to pre pregnancy weight. I went shopping for some transitional office clothes yesterday and wanted to cry. I'm targeting 1800 calories a day. I haven't seen much in the 2 weeks I've been tracking calories, but hoping the weight starts to come off soon!
  • 8414andie
    8414andie Posts: 2 Member
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    I've lost a significant amount of weight from breastfeeding. In fact, my daughter's getting chubby and healthy while I'm looking malnourished. I think the trick is to not eat too much. Only eat light meals and because you're breastfeeding, you should be losing an additional amount of weight. I think I lost about 20 pounds. I've been breastfeeding for almost 2 years.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    jasminedmarks wrote: »
    Hey everyone! I've done online research and I'm at a loss of how to effectively lose weight while breastfeeding/pumping. I eat when hungry, several small meals a day. I have my calorie intake setup to eat 1850 calories a day and I walk/run for exercise. Is this an effective way to drop the weight while breastfeeding/pumping? Anyone out there 'been there done that' that can offer some advice? Side note: I have lost all my pregnancy weight (baby is 4 months) but I am trying to lose the extra weight I had gained PRIOR to getting pregnant.

    Thanks in advance :)

    I lost my weight while breastfeeding, but I was nursing an older child who got the majority of their nourishment from solid foods. But here's what I did: set my MFP calorie goal to lose 1 lb per week (I had 40 lbs to lose), chose lightly active as a setting (because that worked for my activity level). That gave me a calorie goal. Then, I used the food diary to select a breastfeeding option (I think I chose something like 150 or 250, there are a bunch in there, you would obviously need more exclusively nursing), which added those additional calories to my goal. I also logged exercise, which gave me more calories, but I also know that MFP calorie burns are inflated. I ended up eating my original calorie goal + breastfeeding calories + half of my exercise calories.

    I logged my food during the process to keep track of my calories, and also monitored to my milk production and baby, then tweaked as needed until I found the spot where I was losing but also keeping up milk production.
  • jasminedmarks
    jasminedmarks Posts: 13 Member
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    jessicaerfer906 wrote: »
    Kudos to you for nursing. Really. It's not easy (or wasn't for me). Pregnancy for me made a huge change in how quickly I can lose weight. Glacial. Anyway, I have no advice other than to not worry too much. It may be wise to get your blood checked just to be sure you have the right nutrient and aren't anemic. But nursing isn't the best time to try to lose a lot. Try a fitness routine and check your supply. Mine dropped when I worked out. Good luck mama. Be gentle with yourself it's not easy!!!

    I noticed in the beginning that if I didn't eat enough, my supply dropped! I also feel hungry ALL the time, so I'm eating small meals every few hours.
  • jasminedmarks
    jasminedmarks Posts: 13 Member
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    mandabeth34 wrote: »
    I'm in the same boat. 8 weeks postpartum, breastfeeding with supplemental formula, run/walking to get back to my normal running shape, and some light strength training. I want to lose about 30 pounds, 22 to get to pre pregnancy weight. I went shopping for some transitional office clothes yesterday and wanted to cry. I'm targeting 1800 calories a day. I haven't seen much in the 2 weeks I've been tracking calories, but hoping the weight starts to come off soon!

    I have my calorie intake set at 1850, anything less and I see a drop in my supply. I'm hoping with the added exercise the extra pounds will drop off
  • Faenaria
    Faenaria Posts: 37 Member
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    I'm working on figuring this out as well - my supply isn't great right now, have been struggling to get it up to a point where baby is happy and doesn't need supplementing.
  • jasminedmarks
    jasminedmarks Posts: 13 Member
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    Faenaria wrote: »
    I'm working on figuring this out as well - my supply isn't great right now, have been struggling to get it up to a point where baby is happy and doesn't need supplementing.

    I nursed on demand from birth, this is my third son but first I've been able to nurse exclusively. I didn't get a good pumping rhythm until it was time for me to go back to work. I was just pumping randomly to start a stash. Now when we're home I nurse and pump 4-5x a day.

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