Losing weight while breastfeeding toddler

mrsmagoo06
mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all - I’ve set my caloric intake to 1,800 calories and have been maintaining a 500 caloric deficit daily but cannot seem to loose anything despite working out and eating right. Should I just re-evaluate the caloric intake? I’m hesitant as I don’t want to lose my milk supply. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated TIA!

Replies

  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    I agree your post is unclear and lacking alot of info necessary for specifichelp.

    I will say, based on the title, I am guessing your toddler is over one and eating a decent amount of solids by now. They probably are not consuming nearly as many ozs of breast milk/day as when they were and infant, so if you are still basing your calorie needs of the 500 calories/day nursing an infant burns that may be the issue. However, you know how often and how much your a breastfeeding much better than I do. If you pump and can actually measure output you "burn" 20calories/oz of milk.
  • lbride
    lbride Posts: 248 Member
    My 2 cents. I started WW when my baby was 8 months (and breastfed way into toddlerhood). I went by the WW point system for breastfeeding moms and it worked and I was never hungry (you get extra points for BF). I remember calculating that the actual calories were about 1800 per day, am 5'6 and was about 155 at that time.
  • mrsmagoo06
    mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks! I can’t seem to edit my OP but I’m 162.4lbs aiming for a goal weight of 128lbs and trying to loose 1lb a week. I’ve lost 40lbs in the past and met my goal weight via MFP but was not breastfeeding at the time. I’m remaining under or just about around my fat/sodium/sugar intake. 20min of circuit training a day and breastfeeding 3-4x per day for 5-10 minutes. I’m wondering if I should just set my calories for what MFP says for losing 1lb a week at my weight and just eat an additional 500 calories...idk I find it very confusing with BFing. And sorry this is my first time posting here...
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    My son is 2. I ignore the extra breastfeeding calories as I doubt I use up many calories now for the few feeds he has a day

    I have MFP set up to lose 1lb a week and I eat back half of my exercise calories
  • mrsmagoo06
    mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member
    ruqayyahsmum wrote: »
    My son is 2. I ignore the extra breastfeeding calories as I doubt I use up many calories now for the few feeds he has a day

    I have MFP set up to lose 1lb a week and I eat back half of my exercise calories

    This helps immensely! Thank you!

  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    www.hopefeedsbabies.com
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    mrsmagoo06 wrote: »
    Thanks! I can’t seem to edit my OP but I’m 162.4lbs aiming for a goal weight of 128lbs and trying to loose 1lb a week. I’ve lost 40lbs in the past and met my goal weight via MFP but was not breastfeeding at the time. I’m remaining under or just about around my fat/sodium/sugar intake. 20min of circuit training a day and breastfeeding 3-4x per day for 5-10 minutes. I’m wondering if I should just set my calories for what MFP says for losing 1lb a week at my weight and just eat an additional 500 calories...idk I find it very confusing with BFing. And sorry this is my first time posting here...

    No need to be sorry, and I apologize if I came off rude!

    The good news is, it sounds like you know your maintenance, so if you -500 calories a day from what you have been doing you should get to where you want to be.

    Since you mentioned you were worried about supply, I would suggest slowly decreasing your calorie amount instead of -500 out of the gate. Some women can lose easily while breastfeeding, for others supply is the first to go. Slower changes may help prevent that.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
    It may take a bit longer to figure out your numbers because of breastfeeding. If you're accurately tracking how many calories you're eating (like with a food scale) I would recommend a very slow and gradual reduction in calories. If you're not using a food scale, start using one and accurately track your food for several weeks at your current calorie goal before reducing.
  • gentlygently
    gentlygently Posts: 752 Member
    No advice on the calories now - but a word of warning for what might come ahead.

    I developed a serious cake habit when breastfeeding - and it all happily turned into milk...

    Now when my kid stopped feeding, and I was no longer pushing a heavy pram up the hill but walking at small child pace and I kept up those lovely cakes....

    I’d have another kid just for the calorie burn of breast feeding if I could - I love cake!

    (And babies too of course)
  • turningmylifegreen
    turningmylifegreen Posts: 3 Member
    I’m nursing a toddler and I don’t calculate it into my calorie needs. I haven’t had any supply issues as long as I stay hydrated.
  • mrsmagoo06
    mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member

    gentlygently wrote: »
    No advice on the calories now - but a word of warning for what might come ahead.

    I developed a serious cake habit when breastfeeding - and it all happily turned into milk...

    Now when my kid stopped feeding, and I was no longer pushing a heavy pram up the hill but walking at small child pace and I kept up those lovely cakes....

    I’d have another kid just for the calorie burn of breast feeding if I could - I love cake!

    (And babies too of course)

    Haha! I love this! Yes I have a sweet issue when pregnant and breastfeeding too 😄
  • mrsmagoo06
    mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member
    turningmylifegreen wrote: »
    I’m nursing a toddler and I don’t calculate it into my calorie needs. I haven’t had any supply issues as long as I stay hydrated.


    Awesome! Thank you!!
  • suzievv
    suzievv Posts: 410 Member
    It can be tricky because it’s a unknown amount of calories burned every day. With a toddler, from what I have read, the average is around 100-200 calories burned per day, if my memory serves. The most helpful thing is to continue to log everything as accurately as possible, record your weight about once a week, and see what the data tells you over time. It can take several weeks to start figuring out what your calorie goal should be. For me, my 2-yr old is not nursing much, and I don’t worry about the calories burned through nursing. I stick to my calorie goal, but if at the end of the day I am really hungry, I consider that I may have burned more calories than usual, and I allow a little snack (around 100 calories).
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    edited January 2019
    So I started losing weight when my LO (who I'm still nursing) was 8 months old. I started at 2400 calories and was losing. When my weight loss plateaued, I cut back to 2100 calories and lost. When that plateaued, I switched to 1850 calories. When that slowed down (didn't really plateau) I did 1650 on non-gym days and about 2000 on gym days. That got me to my goal. I went from 156lbs (obese) to 125lbs (healthy weight) over 6 months.

    I tried maintaining on 2100 calories and lost another 4lbs in the first month, so I quit logging in maintenance and I'm still under 125lbs 6 months later. Still breastfeeding, but not as much.

    And I work out lifting heavy weights 2-3x a week.

    Also, I'm not just chasing a toddler, I'm also caring for a 3-year-old and 5-year-old as a SAHM and I homeschool, so it's all kids all day every day.
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    My 22-month-old human is still breastfeeding a TON so it really depends.
  • MHarper522
    MHarper522 Posts: 108 Member
    edited January 2019
    I've had a 1000 daily calorie deficit & lost 55 lbs since 6/26/18. My supply didn't get affected (kind of wish it had, I am way ready to ween my 2 y-o). I had an oversupply up until he started eating solids though, don't know if I just make a lot of milk naturally.

    Working out 6 days a week, running and lifting weights.
  • mrsmagoo06
    mrsmagoo06 Posts: 7 Member
    You are all so awesome! Thank you for the advice! I’ll attempt just watching the scale to see if I’m losing and adjust and keep trying and not get discouraged ❤️ I already changed my caloric intake for this week from eating an extra 500 per day to an extra 300. If that doesn’t work I’ll try just an extra 100 and so on.

    Thank you all so much!

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