Hi Summer,
Good luck w/ your studies. My understanding and experience is that
breastfeeding is not "draining" or abnormally depleting on a normal mother.
There are professional athletes who bf, they are very physically fit and
quite active. A very large majority of mothers in my area of the country are
obese. I think the bigger problem is quality of nutrition, not calories. But
even then I do not see infant growth faltering due to poor diet or too much
exercise. Physically fit women can exercise thru pregnancy as well. I don't
think anyone should just run a marathon, for example, if they are not
conditioned to do it, but they could work up to that.
In practice, I think most moms who do moderate exercise will do fine w/ bf.
Anyone who burns up more calories than they take in will lose weight. If
that person is underweight already or ill, that could impact the nursling,
but normal mothers should not have a problem. I think it is wise to make
sound nutritional choices and I find the registered dieticians who talk to
the moms and talk at my classes have good advice about eating from all the
food groups and eating low fat, nutrient-rich foods. So it is better to eat
a banana than a twinkie. Hope this is sort of what you were looking for.

Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN
New Orleans Louisiana, s.e. USA

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