Gross vs net calories

xcaranicolex

Hi everyone! I am post partum 4 weeks and exclusively pumping (cal equivalent to breastfeeding). I keep reading I should have 1800-2000 calories a day if I am not exercising and 2200-2400 if I am. So my question is- is that the amount I should take in throughout the day or the amount that I should be at once you take off what I burn through pumping and exercise? Does anyone know?

30kgin2017

The 2200-2400 takes into account exercise from what you've said so it looks like you've been reading TDEE calorie suggestions(includes exercise burns in calorie allowance). Was this a ball park figure like in an article or a figure using your stats (height, weight age). No one's going to be able to knowledgeably comment on the cals you've mentioned without more info.

Being 4weeks post partum make sure you've been cleared for exercise.

My personal suggestion is that you enter you stats into MFP and see what it gives you for a calorie allowance. I would aim for a small deficit to begin with (like lose 1/4-1/2pound a week). Add in exercise & breastfeeding as exercise (from memory its about 500 cals per day when exclusively breastfeeding). The reason I suggest a small deficit is so not to affect your milk supply. Start by eating all exercise cals given and see how you go. You can adjust up or down from there depending on loss, how you feel and effect on milk supply.

xcaranicolex

Thanks for replying!

-the numbers were generic from an article. But I'm 29 153lbs and 5'1.
- my Dr has cleared me
- I couldn't find an option to allow for bf on mfp. Is there one? It still gives me the 1200 figure. I bumped it up to 2000 bc I figured I would see how that ends up working (higher than that freaks me out a lol)
- . I found a formula that says for every oz of milk you burn 20cals. If that's the case I'm actually above 500 per day so I'm not sure how to log that either.