Breastfeeding and dieting

[majorfwp]

It seems I'm the only person in the world who puts on weight while feeding and I'm sick of being fat so have decided to try and shift it!

Have found a great app for tracking what I eat (noom) but it gives me a calorie allocation for the day based on my weight, height and how much I want to lose. There's no way to input that I'm breastfeeding my 3 month old.

To further complicate the maths she takes 3 small bottles of 2/3oz each per day at the moment. She breastfeeds a lot as well (and often less than an hour after bottle, that's a whole other thread!)

Anyone any idea of how much more calories I'd need? Don't want my supply to be affected but really want to get back into my clothes!

I just started eating without any extras and then the weight came off quickly.

• I say just... i didn't mean to be dismissive, I was in same situation and it is difficult. Once I reached my target then I reached for the treats again

Why don't you start by tracking what you are eating currently?

Then reduce it by 500kcal and use that as your initial target

You shouldnt really go below 1800 calories if you are BF so I tried 1800 for a month, didn't lose anything so went down to 1600. The weight has fallen off. I eat 1600 4-5 days of the week and have 3-4 days a week where I eat 1800-2000. I find it works for me.

Depends how much you need to lose to get back to 'normal weight'. I had 4 stone to loose whilst b/feeding (a lot of it went on after birth when I stuffed my face). Couldn't fit in size 18 when I'm normally size 10, it was a pretty drastic gain. it honestly never occurred to me to track calories or anything like that. The only thing that shifted it was to eat sensibly from all major food groups but cut down your portion size drastically! And no puds/choccy ect. Then it came off in fine and I was somehow back in my clothes 3 months post birth. The prob with feeding is you think you are burning so many calories but actually it's not as much as you think. As I said I was in total denial for about a month after birth and then I actually looked at the size of my plate of food and realised I was massively over eating. Could that be the problem? Sleep deprivation doesn't help either as you use sugar to boost yourself. If your supply is well established I don't believe that cutting calorie intake should affect it if you are looking just to get back to a normal healthy weight. Warning, you will feel a bit hungry all the time but it never affected my supply. You just have to have the will power to keep going and be hungry but if I can do it anyone can, I love to overeat. The best motivation was not being able to afford to buy any new clothes so I knew I had to do it unless I wanted to wear joggers the rest of my life! Good luck

And once you get back to 'normal' weight feeding is brill for a greedy person like me as you can afford to have those extra treats without gaining anything, plus baby will be older and taking more milk. Enjoy that stage whilst it lasts please!! As it's another bore to adjust your appetite when you stop feeding altogether.

Thanks all. Some great points there.

App is giving me 1400 calories but I've been going over and eating about 1600/1700. Although to be honest I'm going over coz of chocolate. Only a few squares of Lindt or a little freddo bar but enough to push me over! Portions are not my problem, snacking, particularly chocolate definitely is. I defo use sugar to deal with sleep deprivation. Sometimes I feel like I NEED a spoonful of Nutella! Hopefully by tracking what I eat it'll make me stop!

Have about 1.5-2 stone to lose (to get into my clothes, could lose more but I've been there before and think it'd be too hard to sustain).

I just have to figure out a way of not eating every single time I find myself in the kitchen!

ahhh the sugary snacks! It's so hard to avoid when your exhausted isn't it? Easting a lot of protein helped me with staying full and not getting that low blood sugar feeling. You don't have too much to lose really I'm sure it will come off with a few months of iron will power. Getting back into your clothes is the best motivation as you feel so good and like you've regained your old self a bit when you achieve it!

I'm in this situation too, think I actually weight slightly more than I did at 9 months pregnant! my motivation is just so up and down depending on how little or no sleep I've got! After a bad night like tonight I'll just eat biscuits all day

To be honest, I've only been doing it for three days and I'm disgusted that I haven't kids anything given just how much shit I was eating last week! I kind of thought replacing sharing size chocolate bars with boiled eggs or bananas would have an instant effect!

Lost. How did that become kids?!

I think that's why I haven't tried seriously if I didn't see results quick I'd just give up! I read somewhere that breastfeeding for some people can trigger some sort of fat storing response... so that's what I'm blaming

I'm the same. I dropped the weight super quick until my milk came in. Then I went up by 7lb! I started trying to stick to 1800 Cals a day but my supply dropped dramatically and I was left with a fussy baby. I'm now mix feeding and the weight is coming off at a rate of 2lb per week without much effort. My reason for combine feeding was my supply constantly dropping and dd refusing to feed unless I rocked her to sleep first. We are much happier now.

Weight watchers have a plan for breastfeeding mums if you find those type of diets work for you.

I've not tried personally (yet!)