Breastfeeding and calories

theologynerd
theologynerd Posts: 264 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Can anyone tell me what the right amount of caloric intake would be while breastfeeding? I've seen a lot of different numbers on the internet. I don't think any of them are aimed at the mother who is trying to lose weight while breastfeeding. I know that I can't be too low on calories or my milk supply will suffer, but I would also like to sensibly lose weight. Right now I have my daily goal at 2,200, which was on the low end of what I found online. However, if I eat that many cals or close to it, I gain weight. How far below 2,200 can I go without cutting into my milk supply?

Replies

  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
    I breastfed all 3 of my kids for a year each. I found that if I ate normally or as mfp would say maintenance weight and then breastfed that I just naturally lost weight. Since they say breastfeeding only expends 500 cals you could try that

    so I would put in your weight and stats etc and your activity level and select maintenance. See what that gives you. If you gain weight on that then set it to loose half a lb per week. And so on until you find yourself loosing about 1 lb a week to half a lb a week. what ever your goals are.
  • raisingbabyk
    raisingbabyk Posts: 442 Member
    are you exclusivity breastfeeding or is baby eating some solids? Just set your goals for your bmi and weight you want to lose per week (mine is like 1400 something) and then in the food data base everyday add "breastfeeding". My LO isn't on solids yet so I choose the 500 cal one. It will give you an extra 500 cals for the day. Once he is eating a good amount of solids I will switch to the 300 cal one. Feel free to check out my diary/friend me.

    And good job on breastfeeding!!!
  • Goddess111682
    Goddess111682 Posts: 32 Member
    Instead of cutting your calories....find a cardio routine and do that 30 mins to hour a day...thats what i did after each of my children!
  • rainunrefined
    rainunrefined Posts: 850 Member
    You should add 300-500 calories to whatever your base caloric target would be to lose weight if you weren't nursing. MFP says that my caloric intake should be 1300 cals to lose weight for my height and weight. I consume 1750 per day. Just change your goals under settings to take those calories into consideration.

    To change my goals I actually change my activity level from low to high which makes MFP believe you are burning more calories per day so it will give you proper goal #s - which is true, nursing does burn calories.
  • theologynerd
    theologynerd Posts: 264 Member
    Thanks so much ladies! It made sense to just add the 500 cals, but with the internet sometimes saying I would need 3,000 calories a day, I was quite confused. 3,000 is a LOT!
  • DontThinkJustRun
    DontThinkJustRun Posts: 248 Member
    Only your body can tell you that. No one will be able to say oh 1800 is the magic number before your supply suffers.

    Honestly, I waited till I was done breastfeeding to start counting cals. I just ate sensibly and focused on breastfeeding and whatnot. I breastfed for 14 months so it was a long wait but worth it. I also lucked out though and lost all my pregnancy weight during that time with little trouble.

    Just keep an eye on it and lower your cals slowly. You can take fenugreek and blessed thistle to help your supply.
  • jjs22
    jjs22 Posts: 156
    One thing I would recommend is that you be sure not to cut back on fat TOO much. People have differing diet strategies, and I think everyone should chose what works for them. But developing infants need a lot of fat in their diet : brains, cell walls, hormones, and many other important things are literally constructed using fatty acids. Babies who are under-supplied with fats can (do) end up with serious developmental problems.

    A couple of advantages of cutting back on carbs are a) There aren't any specific carbohydrates that you or your child *must* consume to be healthy (carbs are pretty generic, fats are not), and b) if you drop below the amount of carbs you need, you will feel it.

    Again, I know people have differing (and sometimes strong) ideas on how to diet. So please take this as just a friendly suggestion and not someone pushing their ideology on you !
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    Thanks so much ladies! It made sense to just add the 500 cals, but with the internet sometimes saying I would need 3,000 calories a day, I was quite confused. 3,000 is a LOT!

    I'm finding that my maintenance calories are round about 2350, so if I was as active and breastfeeding, 3000 wouldn't be far wrong. I found I was very sluggish after having my son, so I suspect my calorie needs went up less than you might expect. If there's a next time I'll try eating more and not try losing again until breast milk is just occasional.
  • theologynerd
    theologynerd Posts: 264 Member
    People like all of you are exactly why I love MFP! I really do appreciate the helpful advice from everyone!
  • tickletickle
    tickletickle Posts: 147
    My example:
    I just eat my daily calorie intake. mine is 1500, i normally eat about 1350 1400, i dont add breastfeeding calories, hes 11 months old. He still happy and i loose an average of 1kg a week.
    I make sure i dont go under 1200.
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