Calorie goal while breastfeeding
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tequierosince06
Posts: 101 Member
Anyone calorie counting while breastfeeding? I am 2 weeks postpartum and have until October to fit my wedding dress so Im ready to start clean eating.
I was wondering if anyone else was counting calories while breastfeeding and wanted to know roughly what their calorie goal is.
Pre pregnancy I was attempting 0.5lb -1lb loss per week at 1800 calories on workout days & 1600 non workout days. So its recommended to eat 300-500 more calories while BF, i am not planning to workout heavily, some stationary bike riding maybe, and eventually work my way up to low impact workouts. I definitely know my body is still healing, still dealing w pregnancy symptoms so I definitely wont overdo it
So for calorie goal, should I set it to 1900? 2000? What would you recommend I start with. Any mommas have advice based on what worked for you?
Im 200lb right now & 5ft 6in & forgot to mention my milk supply has been established already. Im pumping about 4oz 2x a day. Also im mostly breastfeeding but supplementing with formula
I was wondering if anyone else was counting calories while breastfeeding and wanted to know roughly what their calorie goal is.
Pre pregnancy I was attempting 0.5lb -1lb loss per week at 1800 calories on workout days & 1600 non workout days. So its recommended to eat 300-500 more calories while BF, i am not planning to workout heavily, some stationary bike riding maybe, and eventually work my way up to low impact workouts. I definitely know my body is still healing, still dealing w pregnancy symptoms so I definitely wont overdo it
So for calorie goal, should I set it to 1900? 2000? What would you recommend I start with. Any mommas have advice based on what worked for you?
Im 200lb right now & 5ft 6in & forgot to mention my milk supply has been established already. Im pumping about 4oz 2x a day. Also im mostly breastfeeding but supplementing with formula
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Replies
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Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'm glad you know not to overdo it. Too steep a deficit at present could really wreak havoc with your healing and milk supply so gentle is good!
I'm also 5'6" and started careful calorie counting in February a little over 200 lbs, and breastfeeding exclusively (baby #5 was a little over 6 months at the time.) I'm now in the high 160s. My weight loss at the beginning was very rapid, too much so, and a lot of that was due to the fact that I underestimated my calorie burn from breastfeeding and so I adjusted quite a bit upward. Exclusive nursing is for me in the realm of 700-800 calories and possibly more; we've been doing some solids since then and even at over a year postpartum now I estimate over 500 calories burned per day from nursing, though it will be interesting to compare once we wean (no idea when exactly that will be.)
My calorie intake right now is set at 2180 per day - some days I wiggle that around a little to enjoy a special treat, but that's my average. I run three times per week with an estimated burn of about 600-700 those days, and generally get about 8-10k steps on the days I don't run, so I am pretty active anyway. My average weight loss overall is 1.3 lb/week from February to now.
I'd err on the side of slower weight loss for now especially since you have so much healing to do still and you don't want to interrupt milk making even if your milk has come in well. I'd suggest setting a goal of 0.5lb/week loss in MFP, give yourself 500 calories (you can actually log this as a negative in MFP if you search "exclusive breastfeeding"), and see what happens for a month. If baby is growing well and the scale is trending downward, then you should be in good shape! Once baby is less dependent on you for food and you are healed well (some things won't be normal again until 6 months or so, and lactational amenhorrea can continue a very long time) then you can get a little more aggressive with it if you want to.
ETA: The more I think about it, the more I think it might be a good idea to just log for the next few weeks or even set to maintain and not attempt a deficit until lochia has stopped and your doctor or midwife gives you the all clear at 6 weeks pp or so. There really is no need to rush, even for as wonderful an occasion as a wedding!5 -
Thanks so much for responding! I wouldn’t say Im exclusively breastfeeding but we are feeding almost every hour & half and baby gets 2 or 3 feedings from bottle whether its breastmilk or formula.
I have lost 23lb in 2 weeks without dieting or doing anything. Weight of baby + fluids & water weights & such. (First week was 19lb, this past week was about 3lb)
I think i will set my count to 2000 and see how my milk supply & weightloss goes from there.
Ik it will be a long process and i have set realistic expectations. Im not super focused on the number on the scale but more of how I feel in my clothes.
I should have specified that the wedding in October is MY wedding. Im the bride. And I have a $1500 wedding dress to fit into that was bought pre-covid (had to postpone twice). The good thing is I tried it on last night & it barely fit without zipping. Which is good! I just need a little weight loss3 -
penguinmama87 wrote: »Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'm glad you know not to overdo it. Too steep a deficit at present could really wreak havoc with your healing and milk supply so gentle is good!
I'm also 5'6" and started careful calorie counting in February a little over 200 lbs, and breastfeeding exclusively (baby #5 was a little over 6 months at the time.) I'm now in the high 160s. My weight loss at the beginning was very rapid, too much so, and a lot of that was due to the fact that I underestimated my calorie burn from breastfeeding and so I adjusted quite a bit upward. Exclusive nursing is for me in the realm of 700-800 calories and possibly more; we've been doing some solids since then and even at over a year postpartum now I estimate over 500 calories burned per day from nursing, though it will be interesting to compare once we wean (no idea when exactly that will be.)
My calorie intake right now is set at 2180 per day - some days I wiggle that around a little to enjoy a special treat, but that's my average. I run three times per week with an estimated burn of about 600-700 those days, and generally get about 8-10k steps on the days I don't run, so I am pretty active anyway. My average weight loss overall is 1.3 lb/week from February to now.
I'd err on the side of slower weight loss for now especially since you have so much healing to do still and you don't want to interrupt milk making even if your milk has come in well. I'd suggest setting a goal of 0.5lb/week loss in MFP, give yourself 500 calories (you can actually log this as a negative in MFP if you search "exclusive breastfeeding"), and see what happens for a month. If baby is growing well and the scale is trending downward, then you should be in good shape! Once baby is less dependent on you for food and you are healed well (some things won't be normal again until 6 months or so, and lactational amenhorrea can continue a very long time) then you can get a little more aggressive with it if you want to.
ETA: The more I think about it, the more I think it might be a good idea to just log for the next few weeks or even set to maintain and not attempt a deficit until lochia has stopped and your doctor or midwife gives you the all clear at 6 weeks pp or so. There really is no need to rush, even for as wonderful an occasion as a wedding!
^^ i meant to reply to you lol.0 -
This is a little harder than I thought. Its going to take me a while to get the hang of things. I have not hit my calorie goal once this week. Im undereating. Its hard for me to eat healthy and eat so many calories. I think this weekend i will sit down and think of a mealplan for the week.0
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I'll pass on a piece of advice I saw successful with several mothers, and several others had success with it after using it.
So as to NOT attempt to find a line where you interfere with milk production or quality and cause problems before you realize it (but a tiny body would feel the effects sooner).
Set your goal loss to maintenance - no loss.
Attempt to get the correct Activity Level.
Sedentary is literally a bump on a log all day and weekend long - usually less than 3000-4000 steps.
I'm betting you are up and around frequently taking care of household duties. It adds up.
Suggest Lightly-Active as probably truer, unless really bed-ridden due to complications.
Do NOT account for milk production - that creates your deficit.
More deficit at the start, less as time goes on.
Body will use the food eaten for milk, fat will supply other energy needs.
If you do exercise beyond just some light walking daily - account for it by using MFP correctly - you do more you eat more.1 -
Do NOT account for milk production - that creates your deficit.
More deficit at the start, less as time goes on.
Body will use the food eaten for milk, fat will supply other energy needs.
If you do exercise beyond just some light walking daily - account for it by using MFP correctly - you do more you eat more.
So are you saying dont try to log calories or take into account the calories burned from breastfeeding? If i do then im definitely undereating
I’m shooting for 2000+ calories but have only hit 1700-1800.
I did light exercises two days so far this week which I know i need to eat more on my exercise days.
I just need to find my groove and my go to foods to eat. My brain is scrambled trying to figure out what should i eat next & next because I need more calories.
Luckily im getting a good amount of protein in (120g or so)0 -
I'm following this. I am breastfeeding my twins who just turned 3 months. I set my calorie goal at 2000 and will eat any deficit acheived by exercising but I do not put in the breastfeeding. So far it has not been successful haha1
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tequierosince06 wrote: »
Do NOT account for milk production - that creates your deficit.
More deficit at the start, less as time goes on.
Body will use the food eaten for milk, fat will supply other energy needs.
If you do exercise beyond just some light walking daily - account for it by using MFP correctly - you do more you eat more.
So are you saying dont try to log calories or take into account the calories burned from breastfeeding? If i do then im definitely undereating
I’m shooting for 2000+ calories but have only hit 1700-1800.
I did light exercises two days so far this week which I know i need to eat more on my exercise days.
I just need to find my groove and my go to foods to eat. My brain is scrambled trying to figure out what should i eat next & next because I need more calories.
Luckily im getting a good amount of protein in (120g or so)
Well, you do have to log calories eaten so as to know you are hitting your maintenance if production wasn't accounted for. (just wanted to be clear on what calories not logging here).
So keep that up.
It's similar to how some people try to make only exercise create their deficit. They eat at maintenance not accounting for it.
Now in that case they usually discover exercise doesn't actually burn that much and 5 min on the lips wipes out 60 min on the feet.
What was the lite exercise, and for how long?
Since it may be replacing what would have been an otherwise active time doing something anyway - it's net add to the day may be very minor and not worth trying to deal with.
Also for calories - hopefully you aren't wiping out some foods for eating because you think eating fat makes you fat, or restricting bread, or other ideas popular in marketing now. Some peanut butter can cover many calories!
While 80% nutritious food would be great and likely cover your body's needs - the other 20% can usually be a little looser, unless some of that just makes you lose it (like trying to eat a serving of tasty chips with the whole bag there).
Great on protein, amino acids very needed now.0 -
I'm following this. I am breastfeeding my twins who just turned 3 months. I set my calorie goal at 2000 and will eat any deficit acheived by exercising but I do not put in the breastfeeding. So far it has not been successful haha
What is and how long is the exercise?
How are you getting a calorie burn for it?
How did you arrive at 2000.
While that is thrown out as avg TDEE for sedentary female, I doubt you are avg with twins as likely not too sedentary, but your stats may not be avg anyway for that figure to be correct.0 -
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tequierosince06 wrote: »
Do NOT account for milk production - that creates your deficit.
More deficit at the start, less as time goes on.
Body will use the food eaten for milk, fat will supply other energy needs.
If you do exercise beyond just some light walking daily - account for it by using MFP correctly - you do more you eat more.
So are you saying dont try to log calories or take into account the calories burned from breastfeeding? If i do then im definitely undereating
I’m shooting for 2000+ calories but have only hit 1700-1800.
I did light exercises two days so far this week which I know i need to eat more on my exercise days.
I just need to find my groove and my go to foods to eat. My brain is scrambled trying to figure out what should i eat next & next because I need more calories.
Luckily im getting a good amount of protein in (120g or so)
Definitely eating the carbs! My macros look pretty good. Its just overall im not able to get more snacks & meals in. Some of it is time. Im tired in the mornings or im busy and some time passes by the next thing I know I should’ve probably had one or two snacks during that time. And part of it is getting back into the rhythm of things. I didn’t cook much during pregnancy and just overall getting back to clean eating. And figuring out what im going to defrost from the freezer to cook. I feel like im constantly need to be thinking about food to get all these calories in.
My exercise was 20min on stationary bike. Alternating intensity. I think my apple watch said 120 cal burned. I will eventually get back to using my polar heart monitor but for now apple watch.
And i did 25min arm workout with weights and 5-10min on the stationary bike.
So light exercise for now that was my first time working out for a really long time. Starting out slow.0 -
Apple is likely doing a decent job on the cardio - that's a 360/hr rate which would be light, and smart for now.
I'd log those, because I know it'll mention gross and net calories for the workout, I'd log the smaller net.
Weights is smaller burn anyway, especially if just starting back and not very long.
If it turns into serious lifting workout for 45 min or longer - sure count it.
You'll get some go to snacks and meal additions that make getting the calories easier and less focus on it.
Don't let "clean" moniker (whatever that means to you since no real definition to it) make you miss some foods that could be easy and nutrient dense anyway.
Keep up the good plan and hard work!1 -
I'm following this. I am breastfeeding my twins who just turned 3 months. I set my calorie goal at 2000 and will eat any deficit acheived by exercising but I do not put in the breastfeeding. So far it has not been successful haha
What is and how long is the exercise?
How are you getting a calorie burn for it?
How did you arrive at 2000.
While that is thrown out as avg TDEE for sedentary female, I doubt you are avg with twins as likely not too sedentary, but your stats may not be avg anyway for that figure to be correct.
My exercise is almost exclusively walking with the double stroller. My pace is never too fast but I live in a hilly area so there is quite a bit of elevation. I am not too active otherwise as breastfeeding two babies keeps me on the couch a lot. That will change once they start crawling. I just picked 2000 calories as it is the "standard" calorie goal.0 -
I'm following this. I am breastfeeding my twins who just turned 3 months. I set my calorie goal at 2000 and will eat any deficit acheived by exercising but I do not put in the breastfeeding. So far it has not been successful haha
What is and how long is the exercise?
How are you getting a calorie burn for it?
How did you arrive at 2000.
While that is thrown out as avg TDEE for sedentary female, I doubt you are avg with twins as likely not too sedentary, but your stats may not be avg anyway for that figure to be correct.
My exercise is almost exclusively walking with the double stroller. My pace is never too fast but I live in a hilly area so there is quite a bit of elevation. I am not too active otherwise as breastfeeding two babies keeps me on the couch a lot. That will change once they start crawling. I just picked 2000 calories as it is the "standard" calorie goal.
There's a couple different methods to figure out your calorie needs, but 2000 is likely too low with twins - the standard figure for exclusive breastfeeding of one baby is 500 calories, and for twins double that. Even with one baby I spend a lot of time nursing so I hear you on being on the couch all the time!
1000 calories net (2000 intake - 1000 burned for breastmilk) per day is not going to be enough for you even if you are very short. If you're eyeballing and estimating intake you might be taking in more (potentially much more) than that, which is fine (probably necessary), but for weight loss I think it's worth doing a little math to see what your specific needs are and then working out a caloric deficit that will help you lose weight but also keep your milk supply and energy up.1 -
I'm following this. I am breastfeeding my twins who just turned 3 months. I set my calorie goal at 2000 and will eat any deficit acheived by exercising but I do not put in the breastfeeding. So far it has not been successful haha
What is and how long is the exercise?
How are you getting a calorie burn for it?
How did you arrive at 2000.
While that is thrown out as avg TDEE for sedentary female, I doubt you are avg with twins as likely not too sedentary, but your stats may not be avg anyway for that figure to be correct.
My exercise is almost exclusively walking with the double stroller. My pace is never too fast but I live in a hilly area so there is quite a bit of elevation. I am not too active otherwise as breastfeeding two babies keeps me on the couch a lot. That will change once they start crawling. I just picked 2000 calories as it is the "standard" calorie goal.
I'd select lightly-active as Activity level then, don't log the walks.
Maintenance, no loss selected.
What does MFP make as calorie goal then?
And the advice I'd heard about the deficit being created by the production was for only 1 baby - 2 indeed needs a tad more.
Instead of Maintenance - you could select weight gain - 1/2 weekly, or 1 lb weekly, as a way to throw some calories back in there.1 -
penguinmama87 wrote: »Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'm glad you know not to overdo it. Too steep a deficit at present could really wreak havoc with your healing and milk supply so gentle is good!
I'm also 5'6" and started careful calorie counting in February a little over 200 lbs, and breastfeeding exclusively (baby #5 was a little over 6 months at the time.) I'm now in the high 160s. My weight loss at the beginning was very rapid, too much so, and a lot of that was due to the fact that I underestimated my calorie burn from breastfeeding and so I adjusted quite a bit upward. Exclusive nursing is for me in the realm of 700-800 calories and possibly more; we've been doing some solids since then and even at over a year postpartum now I estimate over 500 calories burned per day from nursing, though it will be interesting to compare once we wean (no idea when exactly that will be.)
!
You mentioned you were losing weight too quickly at first. How much weight loss is too much?0 -
tequierosince06 wrote: »penguinmama87 wrote: »Congratulations on the birth of your baby! I'm glad you know not to overdo it. Too steep a deficit at present could really wreak havoc with your healing and milk supply so gentle is good!
I'm also 5'6" and started careful calorie counting in February a little over 200 lbs, and breastfeeding exclusively (baby #5 was a little over 6 months at the time.) I'm now in the high 160s. My weight loss at the beginning was very rapid, too much so, and a lot of that was due to the fact that I underestimated my calorie burn from breastfeeding and so I adjusted quite a bit upward. Exclusive nursing is for me in the realm of 700-800 calories and possibly more; we've been doing some solids since then and even at over a year postpartum now I estimate over 500 calories burned per day from nursing, though it will be interesting to compare once we wean (no idea when exactly that will be.)
!
You mentioned you were losing weight too quickly at first. How much weight loss is too much?
I had set a rate of 1.5lbs/week but was averaging over 2. At first I felt fine and rapid weight loss can be very common when starting out. But after a few weeks I began to feel very fatigued and like I couldn't do my regular daily tasks, much less exercise. My baby also started fussing a lot more and wanted to nurse nonstop, and started waking up a lot more at night to feed, even though she hadn't been like that before. I also realized that I had quit ever feeling "full" of milk even if I did get a long break between feedings, so I knew my milk supply was dropping.
I did a "diet break" where I ate at maintenance for a week, then when I went back to a deficit I added a couple hundred calories, and I still kept losing at a good clip (1-1.5 lbs/week on average) but my energy levels went back up and my milk supply is still good.1 -
Wow - I'm impressed how well you paid attention to things during a time normally fraught with being tired anyway, busy with other things, noting things were different and not just chalking it up to babies change.
And then the realization faster is not better and doing something about it, while that could be a pretty strong pull to keep it up.0 -
Wow - I'm impressed how well you paid attention to things during a time normally fraught with being tired anyway, busy with other things, noting things were different and not just chalking it up to babies change.
And then the realization faster is not better and doing something about it, while that could be a pretty strong pull to keep it up.
One benefit (of many) for being very experienced - this is baby #5 and I had gone through it enough times before to know that what I was feeling was not just normal "life with a baby" tired.
Also a benefit of being on the forums here which I had not been in prior weight loss attempts: I knew and had read recently that undereating and fatigue could be a possibility even if I was eating more than the recommended absolute minimum.
As far as the bolded, it was tempting to try and keep it up, I won't lie - but I was SO tired and baby would not sleep well. So I ate more so we could all sleep. 2 -
Here is a link from la leche league
https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/weight-loss-mothers/1
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