calories per day while bf

hollyglight

Hi, All! I am 4 weeks PP and just started exercising again. I am wondering how many calories per day to eat while BF to lose the baby weight. I ate a pretty low calorie amount pre-pregnancy and know that I can't eat only 1300 calories per day. While I was pregnant, I ate about 1600-1700 per day and gained 33 pounds. The LLL website says 1500-1800 but that is a big range. How many are you ladies eating?

stephzrn

Per kellymom you are suppose to have 1800-2200 a day to maintain your milk supply.

ncbelle

I was easily eating 2500 a day while BFing (more than I ate pregnant).  You need 500 calories just to produce milk plus you need to replace what you burn exercising.  Otherwise your body will think it is starving and hold onto weight!  I lost my pregnancy weight pretty quickly.

Note that the ranges given on these websites are not accounting for calories burned exercising - you've got to add extra if you want to work out!

APendola

They give larger ranges because it depends on a person's size and activity level.  If you are an active person, then you need to eat on the higher end of the range.

There are lots of calorie counters online that will help calculate a number of calories for you based on your weight, goals, and activity levels.  You need to add 500 calories for breastfeeding.

BP607

I have read that you will burn 20 calories per ouch of milk made (hard to measure unless you are pumping), but I ate a TON of calories while nursing and exercising and lost my weight gradually over time, but still hit my goal!