breastfeeding moms

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lee112780
lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
in Food and Nutrition
How many calories should I eat while breastfeeding? I read atleast 1800. What do you think?

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  • irongirl73
    irongirl73 Posts: 98 Member
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    For sure! It's normally like 300 more than what you normallly eat.
  • rodegghero
    rodegghero Posts: 212 Member
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    It can actually be almost 500 more. How old is your lo?
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    he's 3 months...I give him formula also. I breastfeed about 6 times a day. So its 300-500 more than the calories needed to maintain pre preggo weight?
  • vwghiafreak
    vwghiafreak Posts: 15 Member
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    I know you need to eat more food, and the tough part is finding the proper balance. Here's a website I found with some good info:
    http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/archive_posts.asp?imBoard=62&imParent=4969535
    And this one I just thought was interesting: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080408170930AAd88ah
    Hope this helps and good luck!
  • vwghiafreak
    vwghiafreak Posts: 15 Member
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    You could always ask your doctor. That would be the best thing before starting an exercise routine or diet.
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    ok, so pre preggo weight was 218, I needed 2100 calories to maintain, I should be eating 2400-2600?! IM never gonna lose :sad:
  • judkinsjenny
    judkinsjenny Posts: 220
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    I just saw my nutritionist. She said that for me i dont burn cals very fast. eating my BF cals was only keeping me at 200 lbs. i was having a hard time losing weight. so she said to just go with the 1500 cals the site has me on anyway and not to eat my BF calories. that was just on monday so we will see what happens. but you may burn calories like a normal person. lol. what you do is watch your supply and watch your weight. lost about 1 lb a week, adjust calories as necessary.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    If you are exclusively breastfeeding (no formula or baby food) it's about 500 extra calories a day. If you're supplementing, 300. There's actually a "food" in the database for it. I just add the exclusive all day and it gives me -500 calories, so I get to eat that back.
  • rodegghero
    rodegghero Posts: 212 Member
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    You need to put your current weight in and let mfp calculate the deficit for you. I would add 300 to that. If you start losing more than a pound a week add 100. If you arent losing go down to 200. You will lose, you just have to play with it a bit.
  • judkinsjenny
    judkinsjenny Posts: 220
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    yeah, that waaay too much. try about 1800 and see what that does. if you lose more than 1 lb eat more, if you gain or maintain, then eat less.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    ok, so pre preggo weight was 218, I needed 2100 calories to maintain, I should be eating 2400-2600?! IM never gonna lose :sad:

    Set it to lose 1 lb a week, then add in the bf like I suggested. If it's not working, lower it to the 300.
  • lee112780
    lee112780 Posts: 419 Member
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    cool! I added "breastfeeding" :smile:

    thanks for the tips..Ill keep messing with it.

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