Breastfeeding and calorie intake HELP!

sbaker4491

Hi all! I am 5 months pp and am back on the bandwagon. I have been diligently watching my calorie intake for over 5 weeks. I put myself at 1850 a Day. I breastfeed all day except for one bottle a day. Well, I haven’t lost a single pound. Not one. I don’t know if I’m eating too much or too little and I could really use some input from others who have successfully lost weight while breastfeeding. I feel so humongous and so sluggish. I need some of this weight off! HELP!

bendyourkneekatie

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

sbaker4491

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

I am 208 and am lightly active. I was under the impression that I shouldn’t eat below 1600-1800 so my supply doesn’t dip! But I will try to eat at maintenance level and hope for the best! Thank you!

sbaker4491

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

lynn_glenmont

sbaker4491 wrote: »

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

How do you measure your caloric intake? Do you use a food scale?

sbaker4491

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

How do you measure your caloric intake? Do you use a food scale?

I don’t use a scale but I do measure everything.

bendyourkneekatie

sbaker4491 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

How do you measure your caloric intake? Do you use a food scale?

I don’t use a scale but I do measure everything.

If you don't use a scale you're not really measuring. Has someone got the picture thingy?

sbaker4491

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

How do you measure your caloric intake? Do you use a food scale?

I don’t use a scale but I do measure everything.

If you don't use a scale you're not really measuring. Has someone got the picture thingy?

That’s good to know! I will have to invest in one! I thought measuring cups were enough. I’m glad I asked! Thank you!!!

bendyourkneekatie

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

sbaker4491 wrote: »

bendyourkneekatie wrote: »

It's hard to know how many calories you should be eating without knowing your weight and activity level. If you haven't lost weight in 5 weeks I'd guess you're eating at maintenance and should look at lowering your intake (gradually).
When I was breastfeeding I put my calorie goal in mfp to maintenance (1600) and let the breastfeeding be my maintenance. Worked a treat until kid started weaning, at which point I gradually lowered intake as my weight loss slowed.

Just put my goal at maintenance and it has me at 2160 a day which is more than I’m eating now. What a head scratcher

How do you measure your caloric intake? Do you use a food scale?

I don’t use a scale but I do measure everything.

If you don't use a scale you're not really measuring. Has someone got the picture thingy?

Or it might be a video I can't remember. Either way: WEIGH. It's the only way to be accurate.

Basically, op, you're neither eating what you think you're eating. You can't be. If your maintenance is 2160 and you were eating 1850, you'd be losing weight even without taking breastfeeding into account. You'd be losing at the rate of about half a pound a week (again without breastfeeding taken into account. So most likely your measuring is innacurate and investing in a set of food scales (which are pretty cheap) and weighing everything will help to get you on track.

This isn't to say you'll be chained to the food scales forever (though weighing isn't as much trouble as many assume), as the longer you do it the better you will become at eyeballing appropriate portion sizes. But it's pretty much imperative at the start.