Breastfeeding?

trydalc
trydalc Posts: 4 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,
So my daughter is a year old on the 24th and I'm ready to try to lose weight. I'm 5'4" and 150ish lbs. I need a better scale.
I have my account set to 2lbs a week but I haven't started anything yet. I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips on breastfeeding moms losing Weight. I plan on breastfeeding for at least another year.

Replies

  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
    edited August 2017
    There is an entry called Breastfeeding (just type the word in). It should add about 500 calories.
    Lets say you start at 1300. Add 500 for breastfeeding. Eat at least 1800 a day. Tips: Log everything every day and get a food scale (next to measuring cups at walmart).
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,260 Member
    My tip is going to be to drop your weekly goal to 1 pound per week. Two pounds per week is going to be unsustainable at your stats. Best of luck to you.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    Eat close to maintenance and let breastfeeding create your deficit

    The 500 extra cals is when baby is exclusively breastfeeding. Once they start eating solids 300 extra calories is more likely
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 491 Member
    edited August 2017
    It really all depends on how much you are producing. I produced about 48-50oz a day even once my son was on solids. As you can imagine I had a gigantic hollow leg and ate in response to the crazy hunger it caused. I would take it easy and slow. Maybe reduce 100 calories from your CICO net about every week until you get a even balance between weight loss and being able to nourish your child. Granted you are not his only source of nutrition but you are still his best source (if that makes sense). So take it slow and go easy on yourself. IMO Breast feeding mothers should not be in a rush to lose weight. While they absolutely should eat the best quality foods at their disposal, you are still helping another human being grow and develop with your own body. Just remember if you end up on the other side of this breast feeding journy 5lbs under where you started you're winning and doing better than most! :smiley:

    Side note, if you try to reduce your calories too quickly your body my sense a "Famine" shut down milk production.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    edited August 2017
    tmoneyag99 wrote: »

    Side note, if you try to reduce your calories too quickly your body my sense a "Famine" shut down milk production.

    Yeah if i stray too far from maintenance my body yells "nope" after a couple days and my supply starts to tank resulting in a weeks over eating to bring it back up

    ( i express after every feed as bubba was 15 weeks early so tube fed at least supplimentally till 9 months and i make porridge with it now for an extra boost lol )
  • HealthyBodySickMind
    HealthyBodySickMind Posts: 1,207 Member
    edited August 2017
    I will echo the others that said that the calories used for milk production are directly related to how much milk you are producing. And it's difficult to know exactly how much you are producing.

    I breastfed the same child for more than 3 yrs. Now I didn't set a calorie goal for myself, but I logged what I was eating. I estimated the standard 500 cals/day while she exclusively breastfeeding, and then smaller numbers as it seemed that she was eating less. When she hit a year, I stopped adding in calories for breastfeeding at all. Obviously, it was still "costing" me something to make milk, but I figured it was negligible enough to drop it from my calculations.

    I figure a good rule of thumb would be to quit counting breastfeeding calories at the point when your breasts stay close to the same cup size all day.
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