breastfeeding and using app

I use MFP while breastfeeding and have for 11 months to get 55 pounds of baby weight off, plus some extra bonus weight. I've lost 52 so far.

Many breastfeeding moms here set their account to maintain their current weight and let baby create the deficit. That's what I've done and it works well for me, but I've had weeks where I'll lose too much so I eat above maintenance at times. That takes the guess work out of how many calories breastfeeding uses since it's highly individual. With some adjusting every week, you'll figure out how many calories you need every day to maintain a steady but manageable loss.

I try to stick to one pound a week loss currently. I do weigh and measure with a food scale because I'm not good at eating intuitively and have gained weight while breastfeeding in the past. I do recommend eating back your exercise calories because you already have a decent deficit from breastfeeding and it would be detrimental to create a larger one.

You'll have an idea by 6 weeks post-partum how much weight you have to lose. A lot of weight comes off in the weeks before that all by itself, so don't feel like you have to be in a hurry to lose as soon as possible. If you have less weight to lose and you're near a healthy weight, then it makes sense to set smaller weight loss goals (half a pound a week) and eat more. Remember to recalculate your maintenance calories for every 5-10 pounds you lose. Once you hit your goal weight, you'll have to experiment with how many extra calories you need to maintain.

I had my first kid in 2007 and had four more since then and the general advice I've always been told is to "eat intuitively" while breastfeeding to take extra weight off. So eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full. That works for some people but for those of us who tend to eat everything in sight (like me) it requires a little more precision. That's how I came across MFP when I wasn't getting anywhere on my own. I gained about 85 pounds with my second pregnancy and have been working ever since then to get it off. MFP definitely works to help me keep track without possibly underfeeding myself (food scale helps with that). No guess work as to how much I can eat. I'm averaging about 1900-2000 calories a day now (I'm 5'1") and I'm active.