Breastfeeding Moms- What's your calorie limit?

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carriesmithbak
carriesmithbak Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey Breastfeeding Mamas!

I have an 11 week old son who I plan on breastfeeding for a long time to come. With my first son, who is now 20 months, I never completely lost the the weight I gained during pregnancy, so I have about 45ish pounds. I want to do it slowly and safely, so my supply isn't lessened, and my own nutritional needs are met. I know that I can subtract the 500 calories for breastfeeding a newborn in my food tracker, but I was wondering what other mamas were using as their calorie limit. When I plug in my info on MFP, it tells me to only eat 1200 calories (I'm 5'4" and weigh 157... I'd like to be somewhere around 120). From what I've read on Le Leche League and other BF sites, this is far too little. For the last 4 weeks that I've been on MFP, I've tried to eat arond 1350-1450 for "my body", plus 500 for the baby. Sometimes I also eat my exercise calories back, too. The thing is, I more or less just picked 1350 out of the air, so I'm wondering what others may be eating :)

Also, what do you have for macros? I have also read that fats and carbs need to be high for BF moms and to not to worry much about them.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

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  • skybird455
    skybird455 Posts: 172 Member
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    bump for me later
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    I`m 5`7.5``, started at 214,down to 182.8, and my absolute minimum is 2100 calories. I found for myself personally, at 1800 calories, my weight loss was stalled, and my milk quality wasn`t the best, as my daughter was only gaining 3 and a bit ounces a week. When I upped my calories, her weight gain went into the good zone at 6-10 ounces a week (this was before we introduced solids), and my weight loss took off.
  • 80lbslost
    80lbslost Posts: 93 Member
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    I'm 5'3 and currently 126lbs at 2 months postpartum. I'd like to be 120lbs but I have MFP goal set to maintain weight. My daily calories are 1510 but I add 500 calories for breastfeeding so I'm eating about 2000 cal/day. I think if I reduce my calories more then it will affect my milk supply.

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