Better to over or underestimates to begin?

Em_runs_away

Quick question, is it better to overestimate or underestimate calories for an unknown amount? I'm breastfeeding my 4 month old and allowing myself an extra 400 calories to account for this. It's guesswork as I obviously have no idea how much I'm really burning for this. I'm only just getting back into things by slowly building back good habits so no loss yet. Which would you do as a starting point, allow a generous estimate and lower if you gain or allow less and raise if you were still hungry?

Apologies for jumbled post, I'm using my phone at 2:30am to ask the question.

Thank you.

Mr_Knight

Neither.

Be as accurate as you can.

bwogilvie

Mr_Knight's answer isn't really helpful, given that "breastfeeding" isn't in MFP's exercise database....

I don't think it matters too much which route you take, as long as you carefully log food in and exercise, and then compare your results with the data. If you assume 400 calories, you eat at a 500 calorie/day deficit, and after 2 weeks you have lost 2 lbs. (=7000 calories, or 14*500), then the 400 calorie estimate was accurate. If you've only lost 1.5 lbs. in 2 weeks, then your real deficit was only 5250, and your estimate for breastfeeding was too large by 125 calories/day. If you've lost 2.5 lbs. in 2 weeks, then your estimate was too small by the same amount (125 calories/day).

This kind of feedback works best if you weigh daily and use an exponentially weighted, smoothed average to track your weight trend. John Walker explains how in "The Hacker's Diet" (free online at http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/e4/), chapter on "Signal and Noise."

kgeyser

Are you exclusively nursing? The estimated calorie burn for that is 300-500 per day, but obviously that is going to be affected by how often your little one nurses, whether you have introduced any solid foods, any supplementing, etc. Normally around here, people would say go with the low end, but that can screw up your production. And you also have to deal with growth spurts where the kid is basically hooked to the breast 24/7, and those are going to burn more. If 400 seems to be working for you and you are producing well, go with that. You can always knock off a few calories here and there to find the optimal number.

I'm nursing a 20-month-old and I have no idea what the calorie burn is, either, because most women are done nursing by 6 months and the data just isn't there. Since you said you are getting into things slowly, how about just tracking your food for awhile and recording your nursing sessions (number of times, how long) and your baby's behavior each day? It might give you a better idea of a working calorie range for you since the math is unknown. Good for you for getting back into things so soon, I think at four months post-partum my main goals were "keep baby alive" and "sleep."

oiseau17

Definitely overestimate in this case, you don't want to jeopardize your milk supply, especially during that important first year when your milk is their sole source of nutrition and solids are just for fun and learning. You can always adjust down a bit later if you start gaining. And just in case you haven't discovered this yet: MFP has an entry for breastfeeding, but you enter it as a food, not as exercise (it'll give you negative cals towards your daily goal). Much luck!

Em_runs_away

Thank you for your insights. I am breastfeeding exclusively. It's tricky knowing what's best to begin.

TavistockToad

breastfeeding is actually in the food database... it will give you a minus value in your diary so that you can then eat more calories.

malone103

when I breast fed my two children I was told never to diet whilst breast feeding as it can affect the quality of your milk, just make sure you have a healthy well balanced diet, if anything eat a bit more, still healthy options though whilst breast feeding and once finished then diet. that was a few years ago now though so may have changed as things tend to do. good luck x

editorgrrl

Weight loss takes a whole lot of trial & error. So try 400 calories for a few weeks. If you start losing, great. If you don't, adjust accordingly.

As you pointed out, it's all just estimates. You'll have to find what works for you.

Kymmu

I found it naturally helped me drop weight without even trying.
Give your self and your baby plenty of healthy fats and great food while you breast feed....when you finish, then it's time to work on weight loss.
Enjoy your baby!