Weight loss while keeping milk supply to nurse

fourtiescutie
fourtiescutie Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there! I’m trying to lose weight, but still keep my milk supply. I’m nursing a newborn. Does anyone know how I should be eating and how many calories to take in? To maintain milk supply, but still lose weight?

Replies

  • BarbellCowgirl
    BarbellCowgirl Posts: 1,271 Member
    First off, congratulations! Enjoy this precious time with your baby.
    Second, if you have a newborn less than 6 weeks old, you should talk to your doctor before starting any type of calorie restriction. Your body needs some time to adjust to the stress of being a mom before you put it through the added stress of cutting calories. Focus on getting plenty of healthy, nutritious foods.
    https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/weight-loss-mothers/
    Speaking as a mom who completely lost my milk supply when my youngest was 10 months old (due to a sudden and drastic diet and exercise change), I’d also advise you to take it very slow once you are ready to start watching your intake. Take it easy on yourself and give your body time to heal.
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    Eat at least maintenance for now, and don't worry if you are over a bit. Wait until breastfeeding is well established before you start playing with cutting calories. I found that I had to eat at least 200-400 above estimated maintenance or I would lose my supply - but I maintained on that amount so it wasn't so bad. I cut once my son was older (over a year) and only nursing once or twice a day.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
    Congrats on your baby! I recommend waiting at least 6-8 weeks before attempting weight loss. You won't have a clear picture of how much weight you have to lose until then because you'll still be retaining a lot of fluid. I'll give you my C&P response that I've given others but feel free to ask specific questions:

    Breastfeeding burns a significant number of calories per day. Unfortunately, none of us can tell you how many it burns because it's dependent on the nursing habits and demand of your baby. This will go up and down over the course of your nursing relationship depending on how much your baby is nursing. For that reason, I recommend starting out by eating at least at maintenance for your current weight. Get in the habit of logging your food consistently and accurately for 4-6 weeks, a food scale can help you be more accurate, and track your weight with a trending app like Libra to help determine what kind of deficit breastfeeding is creating.

    Losing more than one pound a week is discouraged while breastfeeding in order to protect your milk supply and health. If you are exclusively breastfeeding and tracking all of your food properly, it's highly unlikely you'll need to eat below your maintenance calories. If you exercise, eat your exercise calories back and make sure you set the appropriate activity level to get the proper amount of calories. It's vital that you collect your own data over time and manually adjust your calories as you go along. If you have less weight to lose, say 15-20 pounds or less, aim for a half pound of loss per week.

    I'll give you an example of how this can work. Say your maintenance calories are 2000, and we estimate that breastfeeding creates a deficit of 550 calories a day after logging and tracking weight loss for 4-6 weeks. That means you can eat 2050 calories a day to lose one pound a week. If you exercise and burn 200 that day, that means you need to eat 2250 calories. Eat a wide and varied diet of whatever makes you feel happy and energized.
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