lowering calories but not affecting my breastfeeding advice

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pkksmama
pkksmama Posts: 58 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have seemed to hit a bump. I was set at 1 lb loss a week then started losing about 1 lb every 2 weeks so I set it down to 2 lbs a week and steadily lost 2 and now I'm lucky if I lose more then 1 a week. I take 300 calories extra for breastfeeding and I'm concerned if I stop taking those into account or drop my calories to 1200 I will mess up my supply. Breastfeeding is the most important thing to me. We are at the 6.5 month mark and I'd like to go to a year at least. I am currently at 1410 calories plus the 300 for breastfeeding. I am almost always under my calorie goal and I am not exercising at all really besides being active at work. Right now I do not have time to workout and plan on incprporating it into my lifestyle once she is about a 1 this spring and I can get away to run or walk, or even when it gets warmer out and I can take her. I live in the wonderful northeat Ohio and cannot take her out for walks anymore die to the cold. Should I just stop using the extra breastfeeding calories or what?

Replies

  • carebear7951
    carebear7951 Posts: 404 Member
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    I know what you mean. I honestly didn't work at losing weight at all til I finished breastfeeding any of my 4 children (the bf'ing took care of a good share of it with my girls but with my boys I was just fat, fat, fat :/ ) I would keep the extra calories and make sure they are super nutritious calories-make every one count and take that baby for a walk when you can-even if it's not a vigorous walk. :) You can lose the weight in 6 mos but bf'ing your baby is a one time chance!!!!!! <3 It's worth waiting...sounds like you've done pretty well anyway. :)
  • sss92225
    sss92225 Posts: 12 Member
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    Don't stop accounting for them. I use my 1200 and then allow myself 200-300 more for breastfeeding calories. When I started reducing my calories my supply did take a hit, so if it's really important to you (as it is to me:) then eat your bf calories.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    Keep eating your breastfeeding calories. If breast feeding is most important, then you might have to give up weight loss until you are done. That is what I had to do.
  • lov3vh
    lov3vh Posts: 70
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    honestly i dont think you should be trying to lose more than a pound a week..... i'd say keep doing what you are doing.. If breastfeeding is important to you .. dont risk it. ( i know i wouldnt)

    Good Luck!! :)

    Your baby is worth it :)
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    If bfing is more important to you than weight loss then worry about that first and whether or not you're losing weight second. There's nothing more frustrating than watching that precious white gold start drying up. If you do start having issues get your booty to GNC and pick up some fenugreek and mother's milk tea, eat steel cut oats not the regular rolled, and lay off anything mint. Quite frankly you could be halting because you're eating too few calories instead of too many.
  • pkksmama
    pkksmama Posts: 58 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I guess I will just keep doing what I am doing and hope to lose a pound a week. She is more important it is just so hard because I lost the first amount of weight quick and it just keeps slowing down. I will try to workout more and just focus on my supply. At this point I am freezing over 25 ounces a day just from work and she is starting to eat my back supply I froze when I went back to work. My supply is too much and I am going to try and donate what I can.

    Thanks again!
  • Veryveryhungrycaterpillar
    Veryveryhungrycaterpillar Posts: 16
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    I really know how you feel. I am really struggling to lose my last 16lbs (or ideally probably even more) of baby weight. I am feeding my 1-year-old and I find that if I really cut down on calories my supply suffers. Either way I don't seem to be seeing much weight loss at all, which is really disheartening as I would like to try to conceive again at some time and didn't really want to do this until I had got back to something approaching my pre-pregnancy weight. However, like you, breastfeeding my little boy is really important to me. Good luck.
  • eksb
    eksb Posts: 93
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    Don't forget that your body likes to hang on to an extra bit of fat while breastfeeding so if you're getting stuck at that last 10 pounds (I'm stuck at the last 10-15), that may be your body's way of preserving it's nursing resources. You'll get there, just enjoy your baby time.
  • sweetNsassy2584
    sweetNsassy2584 Posts: 515 Member
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    I've actually read that you don't need to eat more calories when breast feeding. I wish I knew where I read that but you should google it.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    You do need more calories while nursing, but depending on how much she nurses you might want to cut down on the extra breastfeeding calories. If she's eating solids and not nursing as much, you won't be burning as much producing milk.

    That said, you should be shooting for .5 to 1 pound per week. That's a healthy rate of loss after the initial speedy drop. Make sure you're staying well-hydrated and eating healthy foods, and your supply should be all right. :) If you do notice any drop, try eating some steel-cut oats for breakfast each day, and having a glass of dark beer in the evenings (not right before nursing, obviously). That should help boost a slight drop in supply.

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