Does the word “calories” take you on a guilt trip as you think about all the food you’ve been stuffing yourself with lately? Are you nursing and have no idea whether you’re eating too many or even not enough?
Counting calories isn’t always as bad as it seems. For the breastfeeding mom, consuming sufficient calories for you and your baby will be essential at some point. The human body needs calories to survive and thrive.
That’s why we’ve dedicated this article to give you the lowdown on calories, how many you need, and where to get them. Let’s dive in.
Contents
Why Do We Need Calories?
How Many Calories Do Breastfeeding Mamas Need?
Foods That Contain Empty Calories
Nutrient-Dense Foods for Breastfeeding Moms
Will Breastfeeding Help Me Lose Weight?
Why Do We Need Calories?
Simply stated, calories are units of energy. The cells in your body need this energy to carry out their daily functions. Without calories, the cells would die and alongside them, vital body organs, such as your heart and lungs.
Scientifically, calories might be called calories, Calories, kilocalories or kilojoules. While breastfeeding moms don’t necessarily need to know the scientific differences between them, what they do need to know is how many are needed each day to produce breastmilk and still maintain a healthy weight.
Consuming too many or too few calories may create serious health issues for you, making it essential to find balance. Excess calories will likely lead to excessive weight gain, which in turn, may lead to further health complications.
Not enough calories can lead to unintentional body mass loss since your body is burning more calories than it is receiving, as well as low milk supply. While you may be looking to shed a couple of pounds here and there, losing weight too quickly is unhealthy. It may be an indicator of an underlying problem.
So in an ideal situation, the number of calories consumed should match the number burned through metabolism (source).
Metabolism And Its Correlation To Calories
Metabolism refers to the process through which your body converts food and drinks into energy. The food or drink is combined with oxygen in a series of complex biochemical processes to release energy. This energy finds its way into your cells.
An active lifestyle that includes physical activity may hasten the rate at which food consumed is converted into energy. So, the more physical activity you engage in, the more daily is used up and more calories are burned (source).
Are Fats The Same As Calories?
If you are like me, you may at one point have thought that calories refer to fats. Fats are nutrients that your body needs to function. They just happen to contain more calories than other foods.
While a gram of carbohydrate or protein yields 4 calories, a gram of fat gives off 9 calories. That is more than double the amount that comes from other food sources (source).
How Many Calories Do Breastfeeding Mamas Need?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans indicate that the total number of calories you need daily depends on several factors (source). These factors include, but are not limited to:
Age.
Height and weight.
Physical activity.
A desire to gain, lose, or maintain current weight.
According to the guidelines, maintaining caloric balance in women aged 19 to 50 requires a daily calorie intake as follows. Keep in mind that as we age and our metabolism slows, we require fewer calories overall:
Women who lead a sedentary lifestyle: 1,800 to 2,000 kcals.
Women who are moderately active: 2,000 to 2,200 kcals.
Active women: 2,200 to 2,400 kcals.
Breastfeeding Women Need More Though
For the breastfeeding mom, an additional 450 to 500 kilocalories are needed on a daily basis to make breast milk. Overall, breastfeeding moms are looking at approximately 2,500 kcals a day (source).
How to keep count? The USDA DRI calculator is a good place to start. It works out the daily nutrient recommendations as provided by the Dietary Reference Intakes.
You can also download apps, such as MyFitnessPal or Lose It! to keep those calories in check.
Foods That Contain Empty Calories
Calories aren’t just calories and there are such things as empty calories. We have foods that carry too many calories and provide few vitamins, fiber, minerals, and phytochemicals (source).
Some examples of these foods include:
Foods that contain a lot of sugar or sugar substitutes, like syrups, baked goods, and frozen desserts such as ice cream.
Breakfast foods, such as cereals and bars.
Fast foods, like deep-fried french fries, pizzas, and onion rings.
Condiments, such as mayonnaise.
Some drinks also fall into the empty-calories category. Sodas, energy drinks, juices, and alcoholic drinks are but some of the empty-calorie drinks.
Labeling of menus in restaurants has created a greater level of self-awareness. You’re now able to know how many calories are in the foods you are ordering (source).
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