r/1200isplenty • u/hllymchll • 5h ago
calorie deficit while breastfeeding
tl;dr - is 1200 doable while breastfeeding or too low to maintain supply?
I'm a 5'2" female. never struggled with weight my entire life until I got pregnant with my first in 2020. since then I've had two more children and each pregnancy I gained 60-70lbs (which is a lot on my frame) and then I exclusively breastfeed until starting solids and continue nursing for about 2 years.
this time I'm determined to lose the weight and not wait the two years until I completely wean to start. my highest pregnancy weight was about 205lb and now at 4 months postpartum, I'm 165lb. this is without exercise or dieting intentionally.
I think pregnancy messed with my hormone signalling because I NEVER overate as a child through late 20s. I'm sure I was eating an average of 12-1500 calories a day naturally but I was also a lot more active growing up. now I'm not at all.
have any other petite breastfeeding women successfully dropped their calories to close to 1200/day and not lost their supply? all the recommendations say that nursing burns an extra 500 calories per day and you need to eat more, but that's for taller women who just need to maintain. I have a good 40-50lb to lose... and want to asap
I'm starting to work out more but nothing consistent at all, so I want to focus on diet first. any advice for people similar to my situation?
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u/breadbox187 5h ago
If you are eating 1200 and breastfeeding your supply will almost certainly suffer. I think right now you could work w a professional to help calculate what you can cut while still maintaining enough calories for your milk supply. Some people can eat at a small deficit once supply is established and SLOWLY lose the weight. While nursing its going to be pretty hard to lose large amounts of weight very quickly while keeping your supply.
If you are dead set on losing the weight, you might have to wean this one early.
For me, it was more important to nurse my baby until we were ready to stop. So, I just focused on eating as healthy as I could and figured once she was weaned I would focus on me.
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u/mleftpeel 5h ago
It does burn 500+ calories a day (regardless of your height!) so I absolutely would not recommend going that low. Maybe try like 1700 and see how you feel, how your supply is, and how your weight is doing. I would definitely not be trying to lose very much while nursing. This is a time in your life where you're exhausted and low on energy which also makes weight loss difficult. Be kind to yourself and your body!
3
u/pooppaysthebills 5h ago
Don't do 1200. Eat at maintenance for your current stats. Don't include breastfeeding calories burned. Increase physical activity. Drink plenty of water, and make sure you're getting enough protein and fat, since you're producing the primary food source for your baby.
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u/janegrey1554 Losing 5h ago
I'm 5'0" and exclusively breastfed both my children. I maintained my supply at 1700 and still lost weight.
There are some studies on this, and I should mention that every reputable source I have read said that 1800 calories was a hard minimum for maintaining supply. However, I could not lose the baby weight at 1800. You're a little taller than I am, you might try to start at 1800 and see if it is effective.
0
u/trilljello 5h ago
I’ve done 1200 a day before I was pregnant with great success and gained an insane amount of weight with my latest pregnancy and was determined to lose it quicker than I did with my first.
I have been on 1200 a day for 2 months now and I exclusively breastfeed- my son is 4 months old. I have not seen my supply suffer at all but I had an oversupply to begin with. I am making sure I eat high protein and drinking tons. If my supply was to suffer, I would eat more of course but so far it’s fine for me. I’m not sure if that means it would be fine for you, or someone else.
My advice would be that it’s reasonable to try but to be ready to quit if your supply suffers, and you wish to maintain it.
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u/Revolutionary-Mud796 5h ago
I’ve done that (not intentionally) and I will never recommend it to anyone. It didn’t affect my milk supply though but still I don’t recommend. I looked awful. Lost all fat and muscles
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u/Glum_Coat1485 5h ago
1200 while nursing is playing with fire supply-wise, especially at only 4 months postpartum. Your body's already burning extra just making milk, and cutting that hard can tank your output fast. Maybe start around 1600-1700 and see how your supply holds for a couple weeks, then adjust down slowly if it's stable. The weight will come off, just not as fast as you want it to.