Breastfeeding questions

your net should be 1200 if you have the base calories before exercise at 1200, If your base is at 1500 then you should net 1500 which means that 900 you netted means that you could have eaten 300 more calories.

Here's a good website for breastfeeding and there's a link there for guidelines while dieting. IMO, you should count 300-500 extra calories burned for breastfeeding and need to replace that. Also drink lots of more water than the necessary 8 cups. HTH

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mom-calories-fluids.html

I can totally not figure out how to add the breastfeeding option to my diary & have been struggling too and figuring out just how many calories I should be eating. If you could explain how to do it, I would be forever indebted. Thanks!

Just click the "exercise" tab and search for breastfeeding. You should get several options. Add one, and it'll add calories for your day.

I can totally not figure out how to add the breastfeeding option to my diary & have been struggling too and figuring out just how many calories I should be eating. If you could explain how to do it, I would be forever indebted. Thanks!

Just click the "exercise" tab and search for breastfeeding. You should get several options. Add one, and it'll add calories for your day.

I can't find it in exercise, it's actually an option in your food diary! If you search for a food "breastfeeding", it's there, weird huh??

That is weird. One of my friends on here used to add it to her exercise regularly, so I know it was in there at one point. But you're right, I searched for it and now it's not there. I wonder why?

Anyway, even if it somehow disappears from your food diary search, you can add it in manually. Just go to exercise, add exercise, and do a search. Then at the bottom it says, "Can't find what you're looking for? Add an exercise to the database." If you click that, you can add in whatever exercise you want for whatever calories you need to add, so you could just type in "breastfeeding" for 1 minute and 300 calories or whatever. Then it will show up in your frequently-used exercises list and you can just click the box each day.

First of all, I don't even pay attention to NET calories, only my food calories. And, that said, I did NOT go with what MFP suggested for my calories, I manually adjusted it. (It wanted me on 1000 calories a day, and that's just insane.)

And, I'm going to second what Misty and ajbeans said. I've tried low cal diets before whilst nursing, and TANKED my supply, so yes, it CAN negatively affect it. NOT GOOD. Kellymom is one of the best places for breastfeeding info, and both of those pages have great info - I recommend them to MANY nursing mums. (I'm in quite a few parenting groups on facebook, and also a volunteer for Human Milk 4 Human Babies http://www.hm4hb.net) 1500-1800 calories daily, and whatever you do, do NOT scrimp on carbs. Carbs are imperative for milk supply. One of the BEST things you can eat while trying to lose weight and still maintain supply? A 1-2 cup serving of oatmeal every morning. Low fat, low calorie, high in fibre, and it will keep you full and going strong all morning.

If you are 150 lbs or under, you might be able to get away with eating 1500 calories, but NEVER less. And if you work out, you may want to eat more, to keep up your energy and vigor. Yes, your weight loss will be slower, but it will be a safer weight loss for both you and baby.

Right now, I'm nursing my 11 month old, so I'm classing that as 300 calories a day. (he still nurses at least 5 times a day.) I'm 196 lbs, so I eat 1500 + 300 = 1800. Even if I work out, I stick to that 1800 calories a day. I've lost 2 lbs a week for the last 4 weeks, so it must be working well. (And honestly, I just started working out hard this week, so I'm sure I'm going to see even more loss in the weeks to come.)

With MFP, I didn't like entering breastfeeding in with my food, as I couldn't see my food calories on my summary. I instead created an exercise for it (cardiovascular, 1 min = 300 calories. LOL), so that my breastfeeding was classed as an activity rather than food, as it should be - it IS an activity that is burning calories, not something that is consumed that gives you negative calories. I feel that the net calories give you a false sense of what you should eat... and leaves you open to the temptation to "eat back" the calories you burned while exercising. I mean really, if you add exercise to your weekly routine, you shouldn't GIVE yourself the option to eat back your calories. Stay at consuming the same amount, and let that exercise be a boost to your weight loss. By all means though, bump up your calories daily if you are feeling weak or tired or excessively hungry.

For weight loss (for a normal person, not even a nursing mum), a good formula to use is: your weight x 10 = your daily calories needed for weight loss. Never go under 1400 or over 2000. Below 1400 a day for prolonged periods of time can be very detrimental to your body, and that's for a normal person! With exception of a two week "kick start" or "jump start" type diet.

For example: for me, 196 lbs x 10 = 1960 calories. If I were to add my breastfeeding to that, it would take it up to 2260, but I am happy keeping it at the 1800 to bump up my potential weight loss, and I'm still well within the suggestion daily caloric intake by kellymom.

If you DO end up having supply issues, please check out this site: http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21:herbal-remedies-for-milk-supply&catid=5:information&Itemid=17 Dr. Jack Newman is a world-renowned expert on breastfeeding, and this page has some great info. As well, please feel free to pm me, as I have a whole list of suggestions for you.

Good luck!


ETA: LOL I took too long to do up my post, so many posts since I saw the conversation at the beginning!

kendelq, I'd probably go with 1400 (bare minimum, non nursing), and add back in the 300 = 1700. If you have some days below, great, if you have some days over, provided they're not HUGE over, that should be ok too. But then, you are lighter than I am, so if you feel you could get away with 1600, go for it. And take into account what KIND of stuff you're eating... when I am having a healthy day (lots of veggies, etc), I let myself go over if I need to. If I'm having a non-healthy day (ie, eating out a lot, etc), I'm more vigilant about going over. Going over with "benign" calories is ok, especially if those calories come from high fibre items (something from the weight watchers teachings).

And I TOTALLY get what you said about cherishing the last one... this one is my last too, and it's also been the hardest to lose the baby weight after! 9 months after, I wasn't ANY lighter than I was when he was born. O_o My sugar cravings have been sooooo bad post-baby this time around.

You are VERY welcome, by the way. The more we help each other out, by passing on knowledge, the better we all are for it!

im a breastfeeding mom. my cals are set to 1570. i add the breastfeeding (300). that = 1870. you just leave it at that. when you add the BF ,you know, it gives you an extra 300-500 depending on which one you add. Then, you are supposed to eat back your exercise cals. for me when i first started i gained about 10 lbs!!! so i dont eat back my exercise cals anymore unless i burn over 500 ( we scuba dive adn that can burn 2400 cals or so) because when i burn over 500 i get REALLY hungry. that s my body's sign its hungry and needs more fuel. I am now losing weight adn still tinkering with my cals. you just watch the scale, watch your milk production and your baby's growth and watch how you feel. are you just STARVING? or are you ok? please feel free to add me so you can ask me tons of questions. i put up a forum on BF too and now i have some really smart ladies as friends that could help you too.

dont let it get confusing. i would keep your goal at 1 lb per week, that ok as long as you are eating healthy so the milk does not take from your bones. you need to eat your goal cals set by mfp but just ADD your BF every day into your diary. to be honest, when i see those extra cals, it makes me feel so good So keep your goal at 1200 and add your BF cals every morning. i add mine for breakfast.

Some great posts here.

I am exclusively breastfeeding my 12 week old and add the extra 500 calories as a food (Breastfeeding - exclusive I think?). I am also very careful to track (And then eat back) my exercise calories. I am losing weight quite well, so am being careful to watch my milk supply incase I am losing it too quickly. I actually find it quite dificult to eat enough calories without eating sugary-junk!

Kendelq - I love your 'my children are nuts today and I'm stressed hungry' I can SOOOO relate to that!