Anyone breastfeeding and calorie counting?

[FoulsomeAndMaggotwise]

I'm 5'10", 10 st 5lbs, goal is 9st 3ish. I've been eating around 1400 cals a day but struggling with constant hunger.

Wondering if having an exclusively breastfed baby is an obstacle in some way more than just the breastfeeding hormones making it harder to lose.

Any tips/knowledge? Thanks :)

That seems like a very low calorie count if you're exclusively bf. Have you taken medical advice?

No, I haven't. I don't really know who I'd get advice from!

Baby is doing very well btw, HVs are amazed at her weight gain.

That's really low, I'm ebf a nine week old and having around 2000 a day and losing weight nicely. If you have too few calories your body will hold on to fat as it thinks it's in starvation mode! Plus, constant hunger sucks Maybe go a bit easier on yourself. Good that baby is thriving, makes breastfeeding all the more satisfying!

There are some books on dieting whilst breastfeeding, don't know titles but Google/Amazon should...

Honestly DD is 9 months so her feeding is slowing down a bit and I'm still eating everything in sight and losing weight, albeit slowly. I would advise just cutting out crap and keeping an eye on portion sizes rather than calorie restricting so strictly, you'll end up feeling starving, tired and shitty.

I'm trying to but you might find you're one of those people who hold onto weight when breast feeding. I am! It's a bit of a pain but there's research to show the body holds onto fat reserves to feed the baby. I found that with my first child the weight did eventually go by around 9 months pp. Dc2 is four months and I am still about a stone and a half over weight. The good thing about holding onto weight when bf is that when you stop it finally comes off. As opposed to those who can eat all they want when fb and then find they have to cut back afterwards.

Btw at 5.10 that already sounds pretty slim to me!

Yes I'm definitely one of those people, freelance! With my first I didn't start losing until he weaned at 13 months. That's why I'm being so much stricter this time. I just really don't want to be a stone over my normal weight for another year :(

(And thank you. I'm not fat but I'm just not myself)

I've got a 12 week old who's EBF and have just discovered MFP. I've been on 1800 calories for almost 2 weeks and am seeing small results. Was considering restricting further but am too worried about affecting milk supply. In fact, am worried even on 1800 calories! He seems to be continuing to gain weight and hasn't changed his eating pattern though. Do people think 1800 is ok???

Ps I'm 5'6 and 13stone, aiming to get to around 10 stone (which is considerably lighter than my pre pregnancy weight).

I'm doing 1500 cals and trying to make healthy choices, not eating any sugar or junk but eating loads of
Fat in the form of avocado, yoghurt, nut butters etc. I'm not finding it too difficult but basically operating under the aim of 1500 but if I stay under 2000 then that's fine which isn't difficult at all. Are you doing exercise too?

boathook I think 1800 sounds fine. As long as you are feeling fine. That's basically 1500 for you with the 300 added on that is recommended for BFing (which is
Likely a number plucked out of thin air).

I agree. I'm 5'11 and ebf and been doing mfp for a month on 1800 cals. I've lost half a stone so far. I am heavier though so I guess the lighter you are, the more difficult it's going to be to lose weight, as your body won't burn as many calories per day.

mfp should calculate your target for you based on your height and weight. you can add breastfeeding as food and mfp will attribute negative calories for it. I go for -250.

I do see the whole calorie thing as more of an estimate any. It's not an exact science. You never really know what you're burning off. However, as long as you eat fewer calories than you burn in a day, weight will come off.

At 5 10, anything less than ten stone is on the edge of underweight. Healthy diet of reasonable portions and regular exercise. Look at BMI. I'm 5 10 too