Breast feeding

Ayla_dawson
Ayla_dawson Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!
Wondering if anyone else out there is breastfeeding while trying to loose weight? My baby is 5mo so not entirely sure how/what diets are OK when baby is EBF.
Thanks

Replies

  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    It really depends how much weight you have to lose and whether you are exclusively breastfeeding.

    I needed to lose about 100 pounds and my baby breastfeeds still 8-12 times a day at 7.5 months old.

    I have successfully lost 55+ pounds (0.75-1.5lbs weekly) while breastfeeding using this technique:

    Figure out what maintenance for you. Set MFP to maintain and be accurate with your activity level. and eat there. Breastfeeding creates a deficit for you. This is the safest way to both breastfeed and lose weight. You protect your milk supply and create a deficit.

    Apparently this technique doesn't work for everyone on MFP. Some mentioned outrageous hunger while nursing, and/or not having enough calories between their maintenance level and the deficit breastfeeding produces.

    Every person I have talked to in real life has successfully lost the baby weight doing this.

    Clearly if this doesn't work for you, make some adjustments but give it at least a month before deciding if doesn't work unless your milk supply is negatively impacted.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
    The actual diet I eat is simply portion control. Whatever I normally eat is limited to the calories I have in a day. It's IIFYM but the only macro I worry about is protein.

    I have concerns about diet in any of the popular forms while breastfeeding. Growing babies require a balanced amount of fats and protein and carbs and all the micronutrients as well and baby's source for that is you. Severely restricting any one of the macros has not been adequately studied during breastfeeding for me to be willing to change my diet to suit a massive change like that.
  • kavahni
    kavahni Posts: 313 Member
    Simple portion control. But even with that said, I breast-fed my child for 31 months and never lost a pound. It just doesn't work for some people. Just feed your baby, be active, eat good food.
    BTW--i'm going to hop on my little soapbox for just a second. EBF refers to extended breast-feeding, which is when you breast-feed your child for more than one year. Off my soapbox now.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    All the advice already offered is good. This post also has some great advice in it and can help guide you in setting a calorie goal if you want.

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

    As you heard from the other users above, different women have different experiences trying to lose while BFing. Make slow changes and monitor your supply until you find a happy loss rate where you are still able to produce; don't do anything to shock your system as you may just end up shocking your supply. Keep supplemental nutrition on hand for baby in case you do experience a drop in supply and eat maintenance +500 BF calories until it comes back up.
    SafioraLinnea wrote: »

    I have concerns about diet in any of the popular forms while breastfeeding. Growing babies require a balanced amount of fats and protein and carbs and all the micronutrients as well and baby's source for that is you. Severely restricting any one of the macros has not been adequately studied during breastfeeding for me to be willing to change my diet to suit a massive change like that.

    I really like this comment. Try to eat a variety of foods and balanced meals. Unless you think a food is causing a reaction in your child I would just eat a little bit of everything you would normally eat.
  • lschramm
    lschramm Posts: 22 Member
    My LO is 7 months old and ebf. I've set mfp to lose 1lb a week, which is about 1500cals/day for me. Then everyday I enter "breastfeeding" as a meal. It adds 500cals to my day. So at 2000cals a day, I'm not restricting myself enough to have supply issues.

    And drink lots of water.

    So far I'm down 10lbs and just started to add in some running. I'll make sure to eat back these cals too. Now I just need to find a new bra for these ginormous milk jugs on my chest!
  • ced1389
    ced1389 Posts: 96 Member
    What has seemed to help for me is to focus on my macros instead of just my calories. I still eat around 2000 calories a day (usually more) but I make sure the calories are more filling such as good fats, high protein, etc. I also make sure I am active. I'm almost 7 months PP and hit a slight plateau but this has worked for me so far! :smile:
  • darkeyezblue
    darkeyezblue Posts: 1 Member
    I had no clue that you could put it down as an option! Thanks ladies. I'm still going at 18 months, but I also do SlimmingWorld which has helped. Only started that about 8 months ago and was slowly losing the weight before I joined. Good luck x
  • jasminegipson71
    jasminegipson71 Posts: 21 Member
    Good information did not know we could enter that I am severely below my calories seeing it like that wow.

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