How to lose weight while breastfeeding?

babyygrr666
babyygrr666 Posts: 1 Member
in Chit-Chat
Hey ladies!
I am a new mom and currently breastfeeding my 5 month old baby. I am in dire need of losing weight. I weigh 197 lbs and dont know where to start because every app says I need around 1500 calories to loose weight but every information I've seen says I need at least 1800 to keep my milk supply. I cannot risk doing anything to decrease my milk supply. If anyone has any tips or suggestions I would really appreciate it.

Replies

  • stacyvanhoecke
    stacyvanhoecke Posts: 1 Member
    I’m a new mom, too! I am going to try and do 1800 and see if I start to lose weight. Keep in mind we burn extra calories through breastfeeding so we will probably still lose slowly eating 1800-2000 calories. I know I’m eating closer to 3500 right now. Yikes!
  • Pearl4686
    Pearl4686 Posts: 918 Member
    My LO is 14 months and I joined MFP when she was 5 mts. I BF successfully for 1 year while losing 20lb.
    My tips:
    aim for a sustainable long term loss. So only reduce your current intake a little eg just cutting out sweets and mayo (if you like those) can already make a difference.
    Add loads of veggies to your meals to make you feel fuller before having more other stuff.
    And the big one for me: eat regular small meals (every 2 hours) as it will help avoid large binges. This worked for me because BF made me starving hungry.
    And the last one: water!!
    This seemed to work for me without having to drastically cut calories. I did not feel deprived but did not get hung up about the scale every week (I've got a long way to go...)
    Slow and steady wins the race.
    Good luck!
  • meganpettigrew86
    meganpettigrew86 Posts: 349 Member
    I've gone from oversupply to under supply by overdoing deficit so be careful. Slow and steady unfortunately, the moment you push that deficit too high your supply drops. Only aim to shave a few pounds while breastfeeding and plan to hit it hard after. It sucks but its worth the patience.
  • KimberlinaB
    KimberlinaB Posts: 4,018 Member
    So from what I’ve gathered in other posts, I’m a bit of an exception, but I had lost approx 60 pounds on my 8 month bf journey.

    I medically had to change my diet to exclude fats until I had my gallbladder removed (not recommending said diet), and that made it easy to get started learning some healthy habits and how to make healthy swaps.

    I’d start with the healthy swaps where possible. Ex: ground chicken in a lace of ground beef, sweet potato over regular potato, almond milk instead of cows milk.

    In short, start with making sure the calories consumed are from good nourishing foods, and the number of how many you consume isn’t quite as important.

    Make sure you’re drinking your water too!

    Good luck. :)
  • InspiredBrunette
    InspiredBrunette Posts: 43 Member
    I’m currently breastfeeding my 1 month old baby add me
  • emalademfp
    emalademfp Posts: 6 Member
    I'm breastfeeding my 5 month old, losing with intermittent fasting and lower carb rather than cutting calories and supply seems fine. Definitely agree about water. So easy to get dehydrated.
  • charis_et2
    charis_et2 Posts: 9 Member
    I have a 15 month old and she is still breastfeeding but as it is getting less and less i think i should be starting to watch what I eat more. I just find i'm always hungry! Partly it might be because I am used to eating whatever I fancy for the last two years since i fell pregnant with her.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    the second half of this post may help:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10176233/gaining-weight-during-pregnancy-and-losing-it-post-partum

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