Breastfeeding and logging

ArchyJill
ArchyJill Posts: 548 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am one of those "eat back your exercise calories" kinda gal, but cant decide whether to log the calories I burn when breastfeeding. For the record I breasfeed exclusively, was VERY active prior to pregnancy, and am working on getting back up to speed post-partum (1/2 marathon scheduled for May). Any suggestions or advice would be welcome!!

Replies

  • HeidiHoMom
    HeidiHoMom Posts: 1,393 Member
    Eat the calories, your milk supply could suffer otherwise.

    I eat my daily calories plus 500 for exclusively breastfeeding plus my exercise calories and I am losing about 1.5 lbs per week.
  • LisaVAK
    LisaVAK Posts: 6
    Hello, you really should be upping your calorie intake, whether you are training for a marathon or not! Breastfeeding burns, so please alter your targets/goals to INCREASE don't count it as a method of burning, or you will be ill and your baby undernourished! Minimum of an extra 500 a day, with breastfeeding mother's needing to eat a MINIMUM of 2,500 calories a day...more if you are training! (I am a Mother of 6 and have spent 12 years of my life breastfeeding, trust me, I know!) :laugh:
    The fact is, you STILL get in shape breastfeeding and eating a ton, when I've fed babies, I have basically spent all day grazing and drinking water. If you don't you become quite anaemic and baby doesn't thrive as they should!
    Nag over, sorry!!!
  • Happyfrankie
    Happyfrankie Posts: 10 Member
    Definitely eat back your calories. If you net less than 1400 your body starts using your fat to create milk which could contains old toxins
  • Happyfrankie
    Happyfrankie Posts: 10 Member
    Make sure you add at least 600 calories for feeding too. I used to eat tonnes and still lost weight when feeding.
  • ArchyJill
    ArchyJill Posts: 548 Member
    For the last week I added in an extra 500/day but I didn't lose so much as an ounce...
  • HeidiHoMom
    HeidiHoMom Posts: 1,393 Member
    Hello, you really should be upping your calorie intake, whether you are training for a marathon or not! Breastfeeding burns, so please alter your targets/goals to INCREASE don't count it as a method of burning, or you will be ill and your baby undernourished! Minimum of an extra 500 a day, with breastfeeding mother's needing to eat a MINIMUM of 2,500 calories a day...more if you are training! (I am a Mother of 6 and have spent 12 years of my life breastfeeding, trust me, I know!) :laugh:
    The fact is, you STILL get in shape breastfeeding and eating a ton, when I've fed babies, I have basically spent all day grazing and drinking water. If you don't you become quite anaemic and baby doesn't thrive as they should!
    Nag over, sorry!!!

    This is absolute misinformation. You do not need to eat a minimum of 2500. It is based on your BMR plus an additional 300-500 calories. Breastfeeding moms are encouraged to not go below 1500 if exclusively nursing. This is my 3rd time around, I exclusively nurse and have done reasearch as well as worked with a dietician and lactation consultant. Some women will need more and some less. I eat 1700 per day and am losing at an appropriate pace while not disrupting my milk supply. Any calories burned through exercise should be added on top of the 500 needed for nursing.
  • LisaVAK
    LisaVAK Posts: 6
    Hi,
    There is no way I have attempted to mislead and am not looking to pick any arguments, I responded to this post from a breastfeeding perspective... as the post above, I also have breast fed exclusively, although for 6 children not 3 and for 12 years in total...and I have been also a breastfeeding counsellor... it looks as thought the UK and US have varying guidelines on nutritional. Just as we have recommended differences for fruit and veg intake. (UK in minimum of 5 portions a day, with potatoes not included in veg list etc)
    I have posted a link below...and yes, the recommendations are 'average'. But the key point is that when I have breastfed, I have never dieted and have always gone back to 'normal' size, without forcing the issue. I make no pretensions of being a 'fitness expert' I am new to the site, have never dieted and have now joined for the 'health' side as have food allergies and want to use the food diary to monitor nutrition in light of this...but I do know child development (Early Years Teacher with research experience in brain development) and any trimming can have a huge impact on the child's long term development if not considered very carefully.
    Any woman reducing calories while breastfeeding should always discuss with doctor/health professionals. I understand that different people have different ideas and was merely responding with the information I would give to any woman who was being counselled in breastfeeding in the U.K. and my priority is always the health of the baby, any skimping without careful planning can seriously affect that! People planning to breastfeed past 3 months, also need to increase calories as babies beyond that age need additional calories, but I am sure you are well aware of that.
    I have always eaten a minimum of 2,500 calories when I breastfed and that worked well for my health and my children's...and I am 5ft 2" with a small frame, so not really someone who needs huge amounts of calories, but keeping active, feeding a child, well the weight loss happens anyway...maybe not at lightening speed, but quickly enough for me to stay energised enough to run around after the other children too!
    Hope you find what works for you, but please do seek medical advice if you chose to cut calories.
    :smile:
    Lisa

    http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/breastfeeding/a/nursingdiet.htm
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
    For the last week I added in an extra 500/day but I didn't lose so much as an ounce...

    Not everyone loses weight while breastfeeding. The important thing is to make sure you're eating enough to keep that milk supply going. If your milk supply is full, the baby is eating enough and you aren't hungry, then all is good. If any of those change, you need to look at what you're eating. I know everyone tells you that breastfeeding is the best way to lose weight, but don't count on it as the sole means of that happening. It's not a guarantee.
  • patiblue
    patiblue Posts: 44
    Hello all;

    I am exclusively breastfeeding a hungry almost 5 month old, he's not ready for cereal yet.

    I have a few questions...

    #1 How much extra calories should I be consuming?
    #2 This site suggests that my daily goal of calorie consumed is 1210 based on my height/weight, but how can I get my profile to know that I need extra calories?

    By reading here I see that some of you recommend an additional 500 calories, but then I am in the red on overconsumption of everything according to my 'reports'.
    #3 Is there a exercise I can log to give myself the extra calories allowed?

    I'm new to the site as well, and am not sure if this was already addressed in another forum or message.

    Thanks for your input....
  • niknanette
    niknanette Posts: 15
    You can log it as food, there are several options available for exclusively or whatnot. I did that for awhile but i didn't like the way it was figured as food so I took the extra calories/fat/carbs it had listed for exclusively breast feeding (500 calories by the way) and changed my goals to reflect that. I have it set at 1700 and always eat my exercise calories and I've been losing 2+ pounds a week that way. Baby is 6 moths old so it's not like the early months when the weight tends to drop with little effort.
  • patiblue
    patiblue Posts: 44
    Thank you niknanette!
    I am learning the ropes of how to log things appropriately I just need to play around with it.

    I find myself not eating as many calories as I should be and want to make sure that I get my exercise in there.

    It's a hard to decide if I should be eating my exercise calories on top of the additional breastfeeding calories. I feel like I'm eating all day long! It's only week one for me, I just need to see how to manage everything better and get my exercising in as well.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    Search 'breastfeeding' under food. It has several options..I only discovered it last week! I am nursing my toddler at night and weekends...I give myself 200 calories. I eat my exercise calories and BF calories and am losing weight.
  • patiblue
    patiblue Posts: 44
    Search 'breastfeeding' under food. It has several options..I only discovered it last week! I am nursing my toddler at night and weekends...I give myself 200 calories. I eat my exercise calories and BF calories and am losing weight.

    THANK YOU Shalinimunjal! This was exactly what I was looking for; except I was searching for it in exercise, NOT food.
  • burntoutOH
    burntoutOH Posts: 6 Member
    THANK YOU, to all of the ladies who replied to this! I'm due in 3 months, and was curious about what to do after baby and with breastfeeding!
  • theoneandonlybrookie
    theoneandonlybrookie Posts: 341 Member
    I lost all of my weight while breastfeeding after both of my pregnancies. I added 300 calories to the net target that the website I was using at the time (Calorie King) recommended. I also always ate back all of my exercise calories. For me, I ended up eating between 1900 and 2100 calories a day to balance out the nursing and exercising and saw a steady loss each week. However, the numbers might be different for you. Try adding 300 to your recommended total plus eating back all of your exercise calories. Monitor both your supply and weight loss. If your supply drops, increase your calories a bit.

    Good luck!
  • cerelac
    cerelac Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks for pointing out where to log breastfeeding, was also looking for it in exercise! I exclusively nursed for 6 months, then added solids x3/ day. I don't express so don't know how many ounces I am producing, but nurse my 9 month old about 3 times a day. Hw many extra cals should I gve myself? (rough idea) The weight loss has started to slow down even without factoring in my nursing, eek! Thanks all :)
  • mlv1028
    mlv1028 Posts: 11
    Great Info Ladies, I'm new here, just started yesterday and was wondering about all this. When I gave birth I weighed the same 167- that's my pre-pregnancy weight. At one week post partum, I weighed 152...that was nice, and I breastfeed, so I thought I was doing good, until I just kept eating and eating, and now I'd like to slow down the weight gain and try to be healthier, and maybe when I'm done breastfeeding really work out much more. No working out for me right now though.

    Can working out hurt your milk supply?
  • ArchyJill
    ArchyJill Posts: 548 Member
    Great Info Ladies, I'm new here, just started yesterday and was wondering about all this. When I gave birth I weighed the same 167- that's my pre-pregnancy weight. At one week post partum, I weighed 152...that was nice, and I breastfeed, so I thought I was doing good, until I just kept eating and eating, and now I'd like to slow down the weight gain and try to be healthier, and maybe when I'm done breastfeeding really work out much more. No working out for me right now though.

    Can working out hurt your milk supply?

    I asked my pediatrician about working out and milk supply and she said that so long as there are the regular amount of bowel movements (from baby) and baby's feeding pattern stays the same (with exception of growth spurts) and baby is gaining weight well then no worries. I think most of us have enough excess fat on board that milk supply is unlikely to suffer.
  • shaminanordin
    shaminanordin Posts: 4 Member
    No wonder my weight loss has been minimal. Will start increasing 300kCals tomorrow. I'm still nursing my toddler who is under weight. Thanks ladies. Its great to be able to connect with people in the same boat as I am :smile:
  • cleotherio
    cleotherio Posts: 712 Member
    Keep hydrated, too! Especially if you're training for a marathon--make sure you're drinking tons of water and keeping your fluids up.
  • nicola1141
    nicola1141 Posts: 613 Member
    You can definitely work out while breastfeeding!!!!

    I'm down to night feedings only, but set my net calorie goal at 1800 calories to account for the BFing I do. I eat back my exercise calories on top of that, so am eating approximately 2000-2200 calories/day. I've been losing weight consistently at approximately 1 lb/week.

    The only thing that I've found has ever affected my supply (other than more or less nursing by my daughter, obviously) is if I don't drink enough. If I'm not hydrated, my supply definitely suffers. I try to drink 72 oz of water + other drinks a day.

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