Breastfeeding and weight loss

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NMWa
NMWa Posts: 12 Member
Hi there :)

My little girl is almost 4 months old and exclusively breastfed. I'm planning to continue breastfeeding her until she weans naturally or at some point in the second year.

I have lost most of my pregnancy weight without too much effort (about 3.5kg still to go from the 17.5 I gained) and I would love to lose those last few but without risking any effects on my milk supply. I read everywhere that you shouldn't be restricting calories too much but I can't really find out what exactly that means.

Can I still work at a calorie deficit in order to lose the weight? Is there a way to work out my calorie baseline while taking my breastfeeding calories into consideration?

Also looking for some friends on here so feel free to add. I share my diary and log just about every day.

Replies

  • NMWa
    NMWa Posts: 12 Member
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    Update: I just located this calculator, might be useful!

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/breastfeeding_calorie_calculator.htm

    Off to adjust my calorie goal upwards....
  • am_change
    am_change Posts: 1,010 Member
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    Thanks @birdsintrees I'm such an idiot that I started filling it in with the babies info and not mine !

    I think I'm one of the unlucky ones though where sadly I don't lose weight easily just through breastfeeding. So I'm not allowing for extra calories but eating at a slight defecit and it seems to get me losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week. Hope it's going well for you!
  • am_change
    am_change Posts: 1,010 Member
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    Thanks @birdsintrees I'm such an idiot that I started filling it in with the babies info and not mine !

    I think I'm one of the unlucky ones though where sadly I don't lose weight easily just through breastfeeding. So I'm not allowing for extra calories but eating at a slight defecit and it seems to get me losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week. Hope it's going well for you!
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
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    am_change wrote: »
    Thanks @birdsintrees I'm such an idiot that I started filling it in with the babies info and not mine !

    I think I'm one of the unlucky ones though where sadly I don't lose weight easily just through breastfeeding. So I'm not allowing for extra calories but eating at a slight defecit and it seems to get me losing about 1 to 2 pounds a week. Hope it's going well for you!

    You're able to breastfeed your kids. That makes you lucky. (Not that it's unusual to be able to, but it really sucks when you can't. So, it's a thing to be thankful for.)
  • KerrieJane86
    KerrieJane86 Posts: 75 Member
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    This is good to know! I haven't been keeping track because I wasn't sure how many calories I should be aiming for in a day