If I want to lose a pound per week, I can eat around 1000 calories a day, or work out and burn 300 calories/day to boost that to 1300. I can maintain my weight if I don’t work out at about 1530 calories per day (per my dexa scan). I am 5’3, weigh around 120 pounds, and am fairly active. That puts you at 1500 calories for the day - again, if you’re very tall and very active. calories out logic, you need to eat at a deficit of about 500 calories per day. To lose about a pound a week, relying just on the calories in vs. Most people don’t eat just a quarter cup, and the average recommended caloric intake is around 2000 per day for women (although, I will say that’s probably extremely high unless you’re either very tall or extremely active). Look, almonds are considered “healthy”, right?īut a ¼ cup of almonds, which is roughly a handful, has about 162 calories. Most people assume “healthy” foods are low calorie and that these foods won’t make you gain weight. If you want to get super serious, follow a very low carbohydrate, high fat, adequate protein diet like the ketogenic diet or Atkins.ĭuring pregnancy and postpartum, we’re sold a bill of goods about eating a ton, otherwise you’ll “lose your milk supply”, which is both wrong and silly.You have (almost) complete control over the rate at which you lose weight and hormones don’t play as much of a role as you’ve been led to believe, at least until you get back to pre-pregnancy weight.Calories do matter, and if you want to lose weight you have to eat at a caloric deficit.For your purposes, you need to know three things: This isn’t a weight loss blog, so I’ll direct you to read more here if you’re interested. Yes, there’s a raging debate over whether a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, and the science says not all calories are built the same. Most weight loss, until you get into peak performance, is down to two things: Most people don’t suffer with those, and if you do, you should be working with your doctor to find out what you can do to feel better, not reading online articles. Yes, there are metabolic disorders and issues like thyroid dysfunction. WHen people are having a hard time losing weight, there’s almost always only one reason behind it, which is overeating. I'm not saying it will be the same for everyone, but the reason breastfeeding doesn't work for a lot of people for weight loss is threefold: Overeating (Yes, Really)īreastfeeding and healing postpartum makes you ravenous, so you eat more.īut rather than having to cut up veggies etc, it's convenient to grab a handful of nuts or oreos (yum). But I Thought Breastfeeding Burns 500 Calories/Day?ģ Reasons Your Not Losing Weight Breastfeeding.So How Does Breastfeeding and Weight Loss Work?.Overestimating How Many Calories Breastfeeding Burns.3 Reasons Your Not Losing Weight Breastfeeding.Not exactly “melting off” like Hollywood would have you believe, but not so bad. When my baby was 7 weeks old, I was 143.9 and losing on average around 1.9 lbs/week. time) like veggies, fruit, popcorn etc, I've lost another 12 lbs in the past 4 weeks super easily. I ate as much (healthy foods, but calorific nonetheless) as possible to promote lactation – things like avocados, nuts, greek yogurt, veggies, fruit, dried fruit etc in the first 3 weeks, and didn't lose a single pound.īut since I started tracking my calories (I use My Fitness Pal) and paying attention to portions and eating lower calorie snacks when I'm hungry (which is all. When I had her, I lost 12 lbs within a week – there was the baby of course, the placenta, and so much water weight. Higher than I'd ever been and steadily creeping upward. Like most things pregnancy, newborn and labor-related, my experience has been much more positive than I was led to believe it would be/should be/to expect. I thought I was doomed to struggle.īut that's not been my experience. I struggled with my body changing throughout pregnancy, and everything I'd read online seemed to be anecdotes about women who couldn't seem to lose the pregnancy weight (and for whom breastfeeding did NOT help them “melt off the weight”). I’ve just been obsessed with food, nutrition, and fitness for as long as I can remember and have researched the shit out of it. Do not run out and do everything I say without checking with a doctor first. If you’re breastfeeding and not losing weight like you’ve been sold, I’m here to explain why.īefore you jump in, please note that I am not a doctor. The breastfeeding weight loss mecca you were promised when you were pregnant apparently only applies to Kourtney Kardashian. Or maybe you dropped 10-15 when you gave birth but you can’t figure out why you still look a little pregnant. Maybe, rather than losing, you actually gained a few pounds. But despite what you've been promised, you're not losing weight breastfeeding. You're exhausted, sore, and anxious to get back to feeling like yourself again.

Breastfeeding bmr calculator