Counting Calories While Breastfeeding

MamaOfTwo2017
MamaOfTwo2017 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 19 in Health and Weight Loss
I am very curious what other breastfeeding moms are doing to safely lose weight while nursing. So many great foods for weight loss cause a lot of gas in babies. My daughter gets gas constantly and it doesn't seem to matter what I eat. My ideal diet would consist of 4 days a week High-Protein/Vegetarian and the other 3 days I would include some meat, all the while logging calorie intake. Normally I would drop to 1200 calories a day for normal weight loss but I have added 300-500 calories due to nursing demands. So what do you ladies do? Any favorite lower calorie recipes?

Replies

  • SSietsema
    SSietsema Posts: 1 Member
    I don't have any recipes for you, but I'm a nursing mama as well and was wondering how you added the 300-500 calories to your meal plan? Do you just let yourself go over or were you able to actually add the extra in?
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    SSietsema wrote: »
    I don't have any recipes for you, but I'm a nursing mama as well and was wondering how you added the 300-500 calories to your meal plan? Do you just let yourself go over or were you able to actually add the extra in?

    you can manually set your calorie target higher, or there are actually food entries for breastfeeding that will give you a negative adjustment (so it adds calories to your daily goal instead of subtracting it)
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    MamaOfTwo2017 wrote: »
    My daughter gets gas constantly and it doesn't seem to matter what I eat.

    I think this is pretty normal. Are you trying to pinpoint a cause for this still or just carrying on?
    My ideal diet would consist of 4 days a week High-Protein/Vegetarian and the other 3 days I would include some meat, all the while logging calorie intake. Normally I would drop to 1200 calories a day for normal weight loss but I have added 300-500 calories due to nursing demands. So what do you ladies do? Any favorite lower calorie recipes?

    Have you actually calculated your maintenance calories and calculated the 1200 calories according to your goals, or are you just accepting the standard suggestion for most women? I just ask because that number gets thrown around alot, but many women, especially if they are active, find they lose well and are much happier with a higher intake than 1200.

    I typically advise breastfeeding women to start logging at maintenance + bfing calories, and slowly decrease from there. I have heard of mixed experiences, some women are able to cut calories quite successfully, others find that as soon as they try to cut calories their supply drops drastically. Make slow changes, monitor your milk supply, and keep supplemental nutrition on hand for the little one in case you need it.

    As for recipes: I do alot of tacos, fajitas, or stir fries at home.They are quick and easy to make, you can bulk up with veggie content, choose lean proteins for them, and easily keep them pretty low calorie but still flavorful. There are tons and tons of recipe threads on the recipe board, I imagine you should be able to find lots of high protein vegetarian ideas there if you want.

    If you want more info this post covers calorie counting while breast feeding really well in the second half
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    MamaOfTwo2017 wrote: »
    So many great foods for weight loss cause a lot of gas in babies. My daughter gets gas constantly and it doesn't seem to matter what I eat.

    If she gets gas no matter what you eat, why are you attributing the gas to what you're eating??
  • ashliedelgado
    ashliedelgado Posts: 814 Member
    My pediatrician said that babies get gas - there is no real proof of correlation or causation of foods and gas with breastfed babies. Bottle fed babies get gas too! Once I quit worrying about causing gas in my nugget, my life was MUCH easier.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    I can say that while many of the traditional "gassy foods" (broccoli, Orange juice, etc) didn't bother my kids?

    Textured vegetable protein (aka: vegetarian fake meat product) apparently did. The only times I ate it, my normally-not-fussy baby screamed all night.
  • MamaOfTwo2017
    MamaOfTwo2017 Posts: 7 Member
    Such great responses. I am going to try to answer everything in bulk, just because it is easier and quicker :) I set my tracker to 1500 cal but I will allow myself to go up to 1700 without considering it "cheating". 1200 cal is my normal go to weight loss goal because through trial and error that is what I have found works for me. I agree that it does get thrown around a lot but I feel like it is because it just works for a lot of women. As far as the gassy baby issues go, I am following the suggestions given to me by my midwife. So no onion, peppers, garlic, beans, broccoli, etc. I am finding though that leaves me with very little options. I love eating mostly vegetarian (through whole foods not "fake meat") and I am so hungry right now and really craving those type of veggies. All I want is a big bowl of chili or lentil soup. I had celery a few weeks back and little miss cried for two days straight and had the worst stomach problems. I don't want to make her suffer just because of what I am craving. At the same time, I know I need to eat certain foods to keep up my milk supply. Oatmeal alone is not enough for me. So, calorie content aside, what do you all eat in a day? I would love to know what has worked/works for you.
  • taypop5
    taypop5 Posts: 41 Member
    My baby was gassy to anything I ate with dairy...its not a natural substance for a human baby. I eat much much more and aim for only .5lb loss / I don't really worry at this point too much as long as weight is slowly lowering (3.5 month pp). I eat to maintenance plus ALL exercise calories and allow bf to create deficit. I eat between 2200-3400 calories a day and I am losing weight with a excellent milk supply. I choose healthy real foods and this helps big time for gas in baby man. I'm 5'6ft , I wear a Fitbit and track my tdee with that..it is so important​ to roughly know your real tdee. If I am hungry I am NOT EATING enough.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    I have been successfully nursing and losing weight while eating at maintenance. Breastfeeding creates my deficit. If I exercise I eat those calories. It has been incredibly easy weight loss. I recommend it to all breastfeeding moms.

    Down 57 pounds and counting.
  • EandA85
    EandA85 Posts: 63 Member
    I'm only 7 weeks PP and I'm eating at maintenance while letting breastfeeding create my deficit (I try to eat around 2000 /day right now but I do eat more if I'm hungry). I just started tracking within the last week, so im not sure if it's working yet. With my last baby my weight didn't budge at all until I weaned, but I'm hoping for more luck this time.
  • MamaOfTwo2017
    MamaOfTwo2017 Posts: 7 Member
    I am 7.5 weeks postpartum :) 1500 cal for me is eating at maintenance. 1200 is what I need to lose weight and the 300 extra calories are my breastfeeding deficit. I have a lot of weight to lose and I really am just curious what your favorite recipes/meals are that aid in weight loss while maintaining a good milk supply. I am not focused on any specific amount of weight loss per week. I just want to see the scale going in the proper direction. I went 3 weeks without dairy and it did not change anything with the gas issues that little Miss has. I have only been eating foods from the list given to me by my midwife but I am going to have to start adding some foods back into my diet so that I can also be healthy and nutritionally satisfied. Life has got to be more than sweet potatoes and chicken :)
  • hollyrj86
    hollyrj86 Posts: 39 Member
    I am a breastfeeding mama and I set my intake to 1500 but then I try and eat at least 1800 calories a day so that means I exercise for a least 300. I have a fit bit so that logs all my activity and automatically adds it to my profile. I walk our dog for an hour or so carrying my little one and then doing general house and baby stuff gets me to 300 no problem at all. I am losing weight at about 1/2 - 1lb a week.

    I have also reduced refined carbs and increased my protein (mainly lean) and veg intake. I rarely feel hungry which previously (pre baby diet) on a 1200 cals a day, I regularly felt hungry.

    I have found Pinterest great for recipes but often find myself having random meals of chicken, with various vegetables or salad. Lettuce wraps is also a fav with chicken, cottage cheese and sweet chilli or taco or fajitas instead of a wrap. Works a treat and saves a lot of calories.

    Keep it up all you wonderful mammas and happy breastfeeding
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