breastfeeding and weight loss

dexandolizmummy
dexandolizmummy Posts: 1
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi my name is Emily and I am a mother of 2! I have a active 2 year old and a 10 week old boy...I am currently breastfeeding my 10 week old and is in major need to loose weight! I talked with my ob and they told me that breastfeeding will help loose weight and that I need to eat between 3500 to 5000 calories a day! It has freaked me out because I dont see how that will help me loose the 70 lbs I want to loose! I just signed up on here and it told me that I need to eat no more than 1480 a day! I am afraid that if I eat that little that I wont have what I need to keep my supply good for my little one! Please help...how can I change the amount of calories on my tracker and what do you think is an approbriate amount of calories for a nursing mother to consume each day! I do walk everyday approx. 3.35 miles and hoping to start cardio * i had a c section* soon! :) Thanks for any feedback!!!

Replies

  • sprinkies
    sprinkies Posts: 309 Member
    wow in no way would i think you'd need 3500 to 5000 cals a day. i thought breastfeeding only burned 500 cals. i'd think eating 2500 cals a day would be sufficient as long as they were healthy calories. good luck eating 5000 cals in HEALTHY foods.
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    Wow that's a lot of calories to eat. When I breastfeed my son I was eating around 2000-2500 calories a day. I gained 50lbs during my pregnancy and lost 30lbs within the first 3-4 months without doing anything at all. I breastfed my son until 23 months and did not even try to lose the remaining 20lbs until this Febuary, I felt it was important to breastfeed as long as possible and he was a voracious eater and I needed those extra calories to keep up with him. I know other women though who were able to keep breastfeeding while still losing all of their weight. I think everyone is different so it's hard to say.
  • DancinSMartiPants
    DancinSMartiPants Posts: 363
    I think they were trying to scare you to make sure you didn't do a starvation diet while breastfeeding. Eat *healthy* food until you are full. DRINK TONS OF WATER. Add 500 to your MFP calories, more if you don't feel well. 5,000 is ridiclous.
  • megankayden
    megankayden Posts: 37 Member
    Hi, my boy is now 8 months, in the beginning I was not on here so i was just eating whatever thinking, "oh I will burn it off breastfeeding...I was wrong! Once I started on here I followed what MFP told me to eat (at loosing 1/2 pound a week. If you loose too much to fast I have read that it may release toxins into your breastmilk. I took it slow and ate healthy (no processed for the most part) cut back a bit on the carbs and walked everyday. 19 pounds down and my supply was just fine.
    Good luck to you, 3500-5000 seems crazy high, 1480, plus an extra snack to add a few more if it makes you more comfortable seems like the better option. Do what is comfortable to you and just make sure you try to get some time for a bit of exercise. There is a DVD I borrowed from the library called Mambo Moms, it is a work out DVD where you put your baby in the carrier and do it. Was great for my cranky baby!
  • HopefulLeigh
    HopefulLeigh Posts: 363 Member
    Three THOUSAND?! FIVE THOUSAND?!?!!!!!

    Please, go get a second opinion. Producing 25 ounces of breastmillk only requires five HUNDRED calories.

    Definitely continue taking your prenatal. Considering the toll that breastfeeding will be taking on your calcium levels, I suggest adding a calcium supplement either two hours before or two hours after you take your prenatal. The iron in the prenatals inhibits calcium absorption, so the token amount of calcium in a prenatal vitamin is pretty close to worthless.

    To help your supply, I also recommend oats. Oatmeal [non-instant] and honey-oat granola bars [100 calories a bar and they're yummy] are both great supply boosters and they're natural.

    Drink A LOT of water. If you don't, your supply will fail. It doesn't matter how many calories you eat if you're not getting enough water.

    I'm currently exclusively breastfeeding my 7 month old daughter while eating 1,990 calories a day. She doesn't take a pacifier and we feed on demand [no schedule]. My supply is strong. This is not to say that you will have the same results with the same number of calories. This is why I say you should get a second opinion by another doctor or nutritionist. I will say that I've never heard of a lactating woman eating five thousand calories. You surely won't lose weight that way.
  • megankayden
    megankayden Posts: 37 Member
    Feel free to add me as a friend if you like!
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    I think they were trying to scare you to make sure you didn't do a starvation diet while breastfeeding. Eat *healthy* food until you are full. DRINK TONS OF WATER. Add 500 to your MFP calories, more if you don't feel well. 5,000 is ridiclous.

    The best advise here is drink LOTS of water!! I wholeheartly agree with this. My supply got very low at one point and once I upped my water intake it was back to normal.
  • HopefulLeigh
    HopefulLeigh Posts: 363 Member
    Also, if you go into your foods diary, and type in "Nursing Mother", there is an option to add the 25 ounces you'll be producing to your foods. It adds -500 calories to your intake so that you have to eat that before you even start your normal day's calorie intake.
  • Ruchell
    Ruchell Posts: 236 Member
    I agree with the other posters...when I was breastfeeding I was told to add 500 calories to whatever my daily allowance was. Did the MFP factor in the breastfeeding in? If not I would add the 500 to the number they gave you. Losing weight during breastfeeding is definitely the more common outcome for women, but please don't be discouraged if it doesnt 'fall off' in the first few months because everyone's body is different. I was expecting a huge loss during breastfeeding but all it did was keep me starving all the time (i was waking up in the middle of the night hungry even once my little guy was sleeping through the night) and my body held onto the weight for dear life! Cutting your calories too low or increasing exercise too much can really hurt your supply, good luck finding a balance for you!
  • rhapsody527
    rhapsody527 Posts: 60
    I agree with pp, that sounds like way too much. If you search breastfeeding in your food log, it will actually add -500 calories to your total. So if it is telling you to eat 1490 calories per day, adding breastfeeding to your log will bump it up to 1990. I am still breastfeeding my 6 month old and my supply has been fine and I lost weight. Good luck, and you can add me as a friend if you want.
  • faithjones83
    faithjones83 Posts: 28 Member
    I was wondering about considerations for breastfeeding I didn't think to look in the food diary. I am glad I found it before these twins come!
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