Anyone gone significant lower than 1500 cals while breastfeeding a toddler and maintained milk supply?

[baloosbaloos]

DC is 14 months. Binge eating out of control throughout pregnancy and pp period and I’ve got 5.5 stone to lose!! Started 16:8 a week ago and have been trying the Mosely/bsd WOE and already feel a million times better. But have been averaging 1500 cals a day and would like to go lower. Toddler feeds a couple of times a day on average. I’ve been going back and forth on whether to just start fast 800 and tank my milk supply. Anyone got experience of starting this sort of calorie deficit while still breastfeeding? Or successfully maintained it on 1000ish cals?

My daughter tried this a couple of times and each time she completely dried up. I think you do need the calories to produce the milk. She put it off for six months and then went for it and was successful.
Maybe introduce your child to a bottle for the comfort?

@MaryJanesonabreak thanks, that’s good to know. Maybe I’ll leave it until after Xmas!

I did fast800 last October when baby was one and a half. I lost 2 stone. A year later I’m still 1.5 stone lighter and baby is still feeding. I did a lot of research before starting (I’m a medical doctor in an unrelated field) and couldn’t find any good evidence to suggest that decreasing calorie intake in well nourished / overweight woman would affect milk supply. I’m so glad I just went for it.

I found it impossible to loose weight whilst breastfeeding my 2 year old. Once I stopped though is was really easy. I would not look at calories at the moment but on what you are eating, reducing sugar, starchy carbs and upf and replacing with lots of healthy fats and protein will give you energy and help set you up for weight loss when you finish feeding.

I’m feeding a 15m toddler on 5:2 and not having any issues. She only feeds am/pm though primarily as comfort/mum time. I need to lose about a stone to get back to pre pregnancy weight.

I don’t think I could do Fast 800 with a toddler around! My willpower isn’t that strong.

I fasted 5:2 for 6 months whilst breastfeeding my daughter (4-10 months). I had no problem maintaining my milk supply while going down to 700 calories on my fasting days. I lost 2 stone without much effort because I was also walking with the buggy for hours every day. Your body will prioritise making milk over everything else provided you drink enough water.

Your body will prioritise making milk over everything else

Exactly, including literally taking the calcium from your bones, so make sure you are actually nourishing yourself properly on so few calories or you will be storing up big problems in future (osteoporosis).