Breastfeeding and weight loss?

assuming you are exclussively breast feeding as in no formula top ups you NEED to add 500 cals extra a day and you NEED to eat ALL your calls including all your exercise cals you will lose weight and it shouldn't effect your milk supply.

If you still find your supply is being effected you can increase it by
drinking 2-3 cups of fennel tea a day
3x3 fenugreek tabs (works better if you can take blessed thistle with this also but that can be hard to get)

you can also take motillium (domperdone) 3x3 a day I think though in the states that is only available on perscription, you can check out Dr Jack Newman's website for more info on this he is a BF expert and knows everything there is to know about BF.

eating porridge oats daily is also great at keeping your milk supply up along with adding things like fresh garlic and ginger to your cooking also helps.

there's actually loads of natural foods that help with increasing milk supply and other natural herbs also you can take.

If you go onto rollercoaster.ie onto the bf forum the ladies there will be able to advise on other ways to increase supply too many of them are experts lactation consultants and know their stuff so will be able to help with any BF question or problem.

dieting does not have to cause any problems with milk supply so long as you do it right I have had no problems and have a few bf friends losing weight with no problems :-)

You need to up your calories. I am breastfeeding my 5 and a half month old and I added cals and I eat everything back. Happy baby, happy life! Congrats on your little one!:flowerforyou:

I can only add from my memory (baby is 16 years old :laugh: )....I was eating a lot when breast feeding! I was losing weight and eating between 2800 and 3000...So I would say you are not eating enough.

My DD is about 15 weeks old and I started using MFP I want to say around 5 weeks also? I can't remember. Anyways, I make sure I eat around 1800 cal per day. I have read that whatever you were eating before (being pregnant), add 500 calories to that, and that should be good for BFing. I've been pretty successful w/ losing weight by counting calories and haven't noticed a decrease in my supply ...

I am having the same problem!. I started counting calories and doing light exercise last week then started Insanity and have done two modified days. I noticed yesterday that my baby wasnt nursing as long and I didnt feel as full. I weighed myself this morning and have gained three pounds!. I set my calorie intake to 1650 because it seemed like I had way to many calories at 1800. Should I reset my information as if I wasnt bf and then add the bf food intake everydsy?. from past experience this would likely put me around 1700 cals.

Definitely add 500 calories to the 1570 you are already eating!

I am nursing a 5 month old. I eat 1600 calories, plus 300-500 for breastfeeding (he is starting solids which is why I use the range of 300-500 depending on how many solids he has in a day). Plus I eat my exercise calories back. So on average I am consuming over 2000 calories per day and at the very least netting my BMR which is 1600.

I'm actually thinking of upping my calories even more!