breastfeeding and losing weight

   Hi all,
I'm breastfeeding a 1 month old and want to begin more carefully watching what I eat, mostly in terms of nutrition and also being aware of how many calories in general I'm taking in and what the breakdown in nutrition is.

Anyone else on calorie-count breastfeeding? Anything you do differently when using calorie-count?

Thanks.
-caroline

This is something we're going to be implementing is a section on both the pregnancy and breastfeeding stages and their nutritional effects and implications.  However, this is taking some time.

It has been suggested that dieting while breastfeeding, you should consume an extra 500 calories per day to account for the effects of breastfeeding.

Regards,
Sheila

When I had my last baby my doctor told me that breastfeeding would increase your caloric expenditure by 500 per day.  So basically you can eat the same amount you would need to maintain your current weight and you should be able to lose one pound a week.  The main concern is if you are getting enough nutrients and enough water to produce milk.

Easier said than done; I was always starving when I was breastfeeding.  Just rememer it took nine months to gain the weight and so it could take that long to lose it. 

Breastfeeding will naturally help you get rid of pregnancy weight, so don't try for small amounts of calories, shoot for healthy choices. 500 extra calories a day is also what I was told my my dr. One thing you'll need to be conscious of is what foods are hard on the babies tummy. If it gives you gas, the lil one will be suffering too, but worse. I found it helpful to keep a list of foods I ate (especially new ones) so if the baby was suddenly having a very fussy day I could easily see if I'd eaten something that was causing it (including the iron that is your daily vitamin!) For my girls the raw veggies I loved most were hardest on them, so you may have to get creative w/ your diet. Keeping track here on cc would be an excellent tool to ensure nutritian. Best of luck! ~Charlie

Hi I breastfed and didnt have to diet.  It all came off PLUS 20 lbs!  i couldnt eat enough to keep the weight on.  In all fairness I had a 16 month old at the time too (I only breastfed her for a month :(  But I was very busy with them.  My high preg weight was 194 with him and by the time my 6 week rolled around I was at 145 without trying.  nor did I have to be carefull of foods, he didnt care LOL  Mind you he gained weight fast, he was 18 lbs by 2 months LOL he still loves food today but luckily thinned out LOL I have THE BEST pictures for his future girlfriends :)

Anyway long story short I like this calorie calculator as it accounts for breastfeedinG!!

Hi Caroline,

I'm going to give you my very best answer as a breastfeeding counsellor.

Breastfeeding and weight loss is affected by many, many variables. To say you need 500 calories more, which is the absolute standard response, would be like saying you need 500 more calories per day if you jog. The issue is that while you do need more calories, you need to figure out first how much time you dedicate to making milk and feeding your baby - kind of the same way you need to determine how long and how far you jog.

So - first off, your body is designed to take off your pregnancy weight quite rapidly. You no longer need to carry all the extra blood volume, fat, etc. that you needed in pregnancy. Whether you breastfeed or not, that weight will disappear in a few months. Breastfeeding MAY help it fall off faster. (I know every single book out there will say that breastfeeding will help you lose the weight faster, but the reality is that in fifteen years of doing breastfeeding consultations, I haven't seen a single study that offers this as more than a popular theory.) This breastfeeding weight loss program information is important because it just doesn't work for every woman.

Next, you have to figure out how often you breastfeed AND what else your baby is eating. Your baby is one month old, which usually means baby is exclusively breastfeeding, but it doesn't necessarily make it so according to the strictest definitions. So, here are some questions to determine whether or not your baby is exclusively breastfeeding:

• Is your baby receiving any other food from any other source, including water? (Babies will nurse less if pacified with water.)
• Is baby using a soother? (Babies will nurse less if pacified with a soother.)
• Is baby nursing on cue or on schedule? (Babies nurse less when mum watches the clock and not the baby.)
• Is baby nursing 'round the clock? (Babies nurse less when they are sleeping... go figure.)
• Is baby co-sleeping? (Babies nurse less when they have limited access to mom's breast.)

All of these things give you a rough guesstimate of what kind of work your body is doing to make milk, and will give you a lot of personal information about your own milk production, but then there's still other questions that come up, such as: are you hungry?

Breastfeeding is not an aerobic activity, in fact, it's really quite a passive activity because all you are doing is taking non-secretory cells and making them secretory. Does it require extra calories? Sure. But for some women, 500 is too many and for other women it's not enough. Eating an extra 500 calories just because someone came up with this arbitrary number does not mean that's what you need. 

I know that for many of us on CC, the following advice is going to be lacking, but I'm going to go for it anyway because it is just so hard to tell you exactly what you need to eat:

Follow the tools on the site to find out how much you need to eat to lose weight (if that's your goal), then keep healthy snacks on hand for when you feel hungry - which is different than feeling bored. It could well be that all you need is an extra salad to satisfy you. It's just as possible you need a full extra meal.

Just to be clear - I've been in breastfeeding and human lactation for a decade and a half, but I am NOT a doctor and I am in no way an expert on either breastfeeding or nutrition. Knowledgeable, yes; expert, no.

Hope this helps.

Thank you CM!!!!  Your advice is most definitely needed!
I would like to add from personal experience and from friends personal experiences that we were unable to lose weight until after we stopped breastfeeding.  I learned to eat properly and then when she was 10 months old and had decided to wean herself (her not me).  Then I was able to pursue dieting quite successfully.
So I agree with the fact that despite the traditional statement that breastfeeding helps you lose weight, I have never found it to be true.  I actually have gained weight after both pregnancies due to the fact that I have to sit soooo much with a newborn.  I pretty much become sedentary for a few months, especially if you have a colicky/reflux baby and all you do is hold.
Best of luck hun.

There's a lot of women who have said they can't lose all the pregnancy weight while they're breastfeeding, so many, in fact, that there is a prevailing theory that your body holds a few fat pads in reserve just in case there's a food shortage.

We're a pretty remarkable design!

Thanks so much everyone for your advice and recommendations. They are extremely helpful. I have two other babies, and I didn't lose weight while breastfeeding unless I was very conscious of my food intake and doing exercise. I used weight watchers before and was successful but I like the calorie count better in that it gives me more information on nutrition.

I also know that the number one thing in common with all diets that work is the tracking. So I hope by tracking I can keep my calories in range and eat mostly good stuff, getting a good grade for the day, so to speak.

Thanks again for all your help.  I gained about 45 pounds and only about 15 have come off in the last month and I seem to have stopped losing.  At some point I have to go back to work, so I'd like to be able to fit into some of my clothes :o. Can't really wear sweats and T-shirts to work, so hopefully, with all of your input, I'll be able to lose a few more pounds so I can fit into a couple of loose skirts :)

I also nursed both of my children. I could go on and on about it, I'm very passionate about this stage. When I nursed, the weight did not come off until after I stopped nursing. But once I did stop nursing it puoured off without having to do anything. All of it. Focus on nutrition.

Just a little note, it is a MYTH that everyone loses weight easier when breastfeeding.  Some of us have bodies that cling to every calorie possible when nursing.  Just continue being aware of taking care of yourself and your baby.  Nursing is one of the  most wonderful things we can do for our kids.  I wish I had the weight loss answer that went with these thoughts, though!!!!

I actually gained a bit of weight (7 pounds) b'fing as I was always so hungry and often eating a lot of the wrong foods (i.e. convenience foods being busy with a new baby). So yeah, I agree. Weight loss while BF'ing is a MYTH - it may work for some people, but for so many others it doesn't! Next time around I hope to make wiser nutrition choices and maybe I won't gain while bf'ing, but I won't expect to lose weight this time. I think eating enough is also just TOO important for your milk supply, as someone else mentioned.

In any case, when I started weaning bubs at 6-7 months I started weight watchers and lost the amount I gained within weeks and then continued to lose weight easily at a nice slow and steady pace.

It took me a little longer than 9 months to a year (bubs was 16 months at my pre preggo weight) but I was happy in the knowledge that it would come off eventually. I especially found that true when bubs became a very ACTIVE toddler, as this helped turn me into a less than SLUGGISH mum lol. These days it is up,down, up,down and on it goes all day long. And then there is the chasing after her when she likes to take off laughing her *&^% off at me chasing her. I can't believe how fast they can be so quickly after they walk lol.

 Please don't be too hard on yourself yet about the weight. Bubs is still so little, and you earned the right to carry those extra pounds in bringing such a precious gift safely into the world!

All the best and Congrats on your new bundle of joy  :)

I know I'm kind of late on this topic but I've been busy helping my sister-in-law with her son who was born on Sunday :-]

First off, congratulations!

I am currently breastfeeding my 8-month-old son so my experience is still on-going. I breastfed my daughter over 4 years ago but I wasn't educated about it like I am this time around.

I tried to diet while breastfeeding and my milk supply dropped to almost nothing and I didn't lose any weight. I decided to increase my calories to 2,000+ a day and, to my surprise, most of my pregnancy weight dropped off by 4-5 months postpartum and my milk supply went back up. My body is still holding onto about 14 pounds (that I had gained BEFORE becoming pregnant) and I'm having a bit of trouble losing that. I agree with the previous comments about not being able to lost ALL the weight while breastfeeding. I think the body definitley holds onto some "reserves" until breastfeeding is complete.

I wouldn't recommend cutting calories. If you're going to do anything to aide weightloss while breastfeeding, I recommend physical activity. Even just walking around the neighborhood each day will help. I've actually had to stop counting calories because I get too obsessed and my milk supply suffers. I eat when I'm hungry and I eat good, well-balanced meals and snacks, not a lot of junk. I drink 500+ ounces of water a day and try not to just sit around the house in the evening.

Good luck!