Breastfeeding Calories

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Lovee_Dove7
Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What's practical to log for calories I would burn for breastfeeding (exclusively nursing, no formula)? He's 5 weeks old.

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  • Luna3386
    Luna3386 Posts: 888 Member
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    Probably 500 a day. Adjust if needed.

    It's always best to start high and inch low. Keep an eye on your supply. It's so much work trying to get it back.
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
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    Good point!
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    If you check the food database they have entries for breastfeeding. Add it as a snack and it will adjust your numbers to give you extra calories depending on which you choose.
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
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    Thank-you! Okay I did that, that's awesome! Minus 500 cals BOOM.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
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    Luna3386 wrote: »
    Probably 500 a day. Adjust if needed.

    It's always best to start high and inch low. Keep an eye on your supply. It's so much work trying to get it back.

    I agree with this. Make small changes, different women react differently to calorie cutting while breast feeding, some are quite successful, and other see a large drop in supply almost immediately. Go slow, monitor supply, and go back to maintenance +bf calories if you see a drop. Keep some formula on hand for the little guy just in case.

    this post has alot of useful info if you are interested.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum
  • Muana1005
    Muana1005 Posts: 172 Member
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    Try the maintenance level -100cals for your weight then adjust a bigger deficit if needed. Breastfeeding can burn a lot of calories - many people can lose even when eating fairly unhealthily.
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 997 Member
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    If you don't want to have to log anything for it, just set yourself to maintenance. You'll likely lose about a pound per week. You're still establishing your milk supply - it's important to eat enough right now.
  • ksz1104
    ksz1104 Posts: 260 Member
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    You'll burn a ton in the beginning...then once they start solids and aren't nursing as often...adjust! I dropped so much weight initially after I had my daughter I was UNDER my pre-pregnancy weight in an week (I didn't gain a whole lot bc I was doing bootcamp while pregnant) but after 6 months, the weight started creeping back...until I realized I gained 25 lbs before I knew it :s
  • jessicaaxo25
    jessicaaxo25 Posts: 10 Member
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    ksz1104 wrote: »
    You'll burn a ton in the beginning...then once they start solids and aren't nursing as often...adjust! I dropped so much weight initially after I had my daughter I was UNDER my pre-pregnancy weight in an week (I didn't gain a whole lot bc I was doing bootcamp while pregnant) but after 6 months, the weight started creeping back...until I realized I gained 25 lbs before I knew it :s

    So true! My baby is 8 months old and I have gained back 14 pounds that I had initially lost when I had him! I am currently having about 1400-1500 calories per day and have lost 9lbs in 6 days!
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
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    Probably 400-500 calories for nursing your baby. It varies depending on you and your baby.

    I eat right around maintenance and I've lost 50 pounds while exclusively breastfeeding my nearly six month old.

    It poured off me at first (3-5 pounds a week) then I started eating more so I was only losing 0.25-0.5lbs a week and in the last month have dropped down "maintenance" again to lose about a pound a week.

    Breastfeeding is seriously the best thing I've ever found for healthy weight loss. I'm not looking forward to my girl nursing less. She still eats as often as she did as a newborn just for vastly shorter times.

    At this point I am more than 30 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight with about 40-50 pounds to go for me to be in a healthy range for my height.

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