Calories from nursing

goddessofsewing
goddessofsewing Posts: 110 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm breastfeeding my baby right now. Is there a way to account for the calories used by nursing? I know it's supposed to be about 500 a day. Also, does anyone else gain weight faster while nursing? I gain faster while I'm nursing than I do while I'm pregnant. Weird.

Replies

  • Discoveri
    Discoveri Posts: 435 Member
    Search for breastfeeding in the food database and you should find a way to account for it there. I can't answer about the weight gain question but good luck.
  • jamiealdridge02
    jamiealdridge02 Posts: 93 Member
    I can't remember the exact calories for nursing (I nursed 2 of my 3 babies), but I remember trying to eat an extra snack or two (or three :)) at least each day. Most advice I received was that as long as your milk supply is ok, you don't need to worry about how many extra calories. Drink lots of water and eat lots of healthy foods. I also trained for a half marathon while nursing my youngest and it was fine.

    I can't help with the weight gain question. I lost weight pretty fast when I was nursing, but when I stopped was when I started to gain and had to watch it. I did have friends who couldn't lose the baby weight until they were finished nursing. Good luck and hopefully someone else will have more specifics.
  • lk43m
    lk43m Posts: 12
    Oh I'm so glad somebody else is having the same issues, I was beginning to think it was just me. People keep telling me that BF causes weight loss, but I'm the complete opposite. I'e put on weight and I'm hungry all the time. I too have heard that you burn up to 500 calories from BF, but that decreases to 100-200 when your baby starts solids as they aren't nursing as much. I've decided to adjust my cardo to compensate i.e instead of reporting my 60 min walk I'll say I've done 75.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
    I don't know about weight gain, but I know from personal experience that if you don't eat enough, your weight will stall. Aim for no more than 1 pound a week, and do absolutely account for the nursing by adding one of the entries from the food database, and if you exercise, eat a good portion of your earned calories.
  • m4ukcats
    m4ukcats Posts: 11
    I had the same problem. Weight didn't fall off of me while bfing. I was generally hungrier than I was when I was pregnant! The only time I successfully lost weight while bfing was when I cut my calories and exercised too. Imagine that! Not a miracle weight loss for me! LOL
  • kristinL16
    kristinL16 Posts: 401 Member
    You can either enter "breastfeeding" into your diary from the food database or you can just adjust your daily calorie goal under your profile/settings. I like to do it that way so I have an accurate picture of my macros.

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