Weight Loss while Breastfeeding

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nic21j
nic21j Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How many calories do you personally add for breastfeeding? My daily goal is on 1580. Think that's enough???

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  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    It depends on how much your baby is nursing. My daughter is almost 5 months old, and I'm using one of the 500 calorie options. For myself, I find that if I go under 2300 calories gross per day, my milk supply suffers (I'm 5' 7.5" and 208).
  • Smileynat04
    Smileynat04 Posts: 3 Member
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    If you're baby is solely breastfed, go ahead and add 300-500 calories daily to your estimated calorie need. If your baby starts solids you can drop this to 200-300 calories. If you consume 2080 calories and 500 of those are used breastfeeding your little one, then your body will be adequately nourished to lose weight safely. I burned about an estimated 500 calories breastfeeding until my little one was 8 months. Then I only needed an extra 300 calories until he turned one. Now I only consume an extra 200 calories a day.
  • SCUBAMomofTwo
    SCUBAMomofTwo Posts: 189
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    For most people, anything less than 1800 is going to cause a reduction in milk supply. That was the information we gave our clients when I was a L&D nurse.
  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
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    It's not necessarily the calories themselves that make the difference in breastfeeding, I've learned. When I started to lose weight after my daughter was born, I found that I could cut back on calories overall, but I needed to eat more often to keep my supply up. Like I'd snack all day long, but smaller snacks, and I would be just fine. Just don't go below a certain point where you feel hungry.
  • 1LadyKate
    1LadyKate Posts: 78 Member
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    I agree with scubamomoftwo...If I go under 1800, I feel weak and faint. I have my calorie count for 1 pound lost. and then I add 350 cal. making my daily calorie intake ~1850.

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