PLEASE HELP, unsure about calorie intake.

bjohnsen52
bjohnsen52 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I'm 5'7'', and 143 lbs.
On average I'm eating around 1200 calories and losing around 600 calories in exercise, 3-4 days a week.
So, at the end of the day my net calories comes to about 600, or about 800 if I don't exercise (due to breastfeeding).

Is this too little? I've read somewhere that you should have around 1200 per day, but is that before or after exercise? I guess what I'm asking is should I be actually CONSUMING 1200 calories, or should I be consuming more so that after exercise I end up with a net intake of 1200?

I'm not wanting to lose too much weight, just lose my baby belly (hopefully fast!) and tone up.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks

Replies

  • NaturallyandProperly
    NaturallyandProperly Posts: 138 Member
    Toooo little calories. IMHO especially if breast feeding. Lift weights and tone that way.
  • NaturallyandProperly
    NaturallyandProperly Posts: 138 Member
    Also... At 5'7, I think your at a great weight!
  • bjohnsen52
    bjohnsen52 Posts: 4
    I find it very hard to eat more. I usually eat a piece of toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and meat potato and veg for dinner. And then I snack during the day on fruit, nuts, or even other snacks if I'm craving them like biscuits etc. But I find that if I snack too much then I'm just not hungry for lunch, so I try to not snack much for that reason. What foods can you suggest that are high in calories but not necessarily bad for you?
  • MonicaA2013
    MonicaA2013 Posts: 753 Member
    ok so you are taking in 1200 GOAL calories and then if you exercise you will eat more right?? If that is the case then you should be ok except that you are breastfeeding. When breastfeeding you need to take in a bit more because you are giving some of your nutrition to the baby still just like when you were pregnant. Have you talked to your doctor about what they think would be the best thing for you to do? If all you are wanting to do is firm up your belly then i would suggest some core exercises and give it some time to show the results. Hope this helps.

    OH and BTW... Any foods that you like are good for you as long as you are getting enough to keep you and baby healthy.
  • bjohnsen52
    bjohnsen52 Posts: 4
    Ok thank you, that clears it up. I haven't been eating more on days I've been exercising, but I will try to from now on. What are core exercises? Can you give me an example please? (I'm new to this, before now I NEVER exercised). Thanks!
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    Ok thank you, that clears it up. I haven't been eating more on days I've been exercising, but I will try to from now on. What are core exercises? Can you give me an example please? (I'm new to this, before now I NEVER exercised). Thanks!
    what are you doing to burn 600 cal if you've never exercised? That's a lot if going from nothing before. I would eat more for breakfast than toast.
  • Lauracharder
    Lauracharder Posts: 141 Member
    You need to eat between your BMR and TDEE amounts. You can find them by going to any TDEE/BMR calculators on the net.
  • MB2MN
    MB2MN Posts: 334 Member
    If you're still breastfeeding regularly you need to be taking in an extra 400-500 calories just for that, as per the Mayo Clinic guidelines. It is more important than anything else that your baby receives proper nutrition. Also, how much are you looking to lose? Your height and weight are quite proportional so you should probably have a smaller deficit so that you are able to maintain muscle mass. I'm 130, 5'6 and I eat between 1700 and 2000 a day and lose. I workout most days as well.

    Edited for grammar
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    1200 calories is really low for an active, healthy person. You should be eating back exercise calories, so that you net 1200. And at that net calorie intake, you should be losing weight.

    Are you losing at the rate you want? If so, great! Keep doing what you're doing, and stop reading here.

    If not, you're probably eating more than you think:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    Another possibility is that you're overestimating exercise calories. I'm a 5'10" guy who weighs 165 lb., and to burn 600 calories, I need to exercise hard (as in, drenched with sweat, at 85% of my maximum heart rate) for nearly an hour, or well over an hour at a more moderate level. MFP's database often drastically overestimates calories, by 50-75% or even more. Many heart rate monitors also overestimate, especially for women (see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21178923 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15292754).

    In my first few months on MFP, I routinely missed nearly 400 calories a day, from (1) overestimating my activity level, (2) overestimating exercise calories, and (3) underestimating how much I ate. I discovered that by comparing my logs with my actual results, and then I adjusted my activity level and paid more attention when logging.
  • MMFabrizio
    MMFabrizio Posts: 17
    Also, if you're breastfeeding, I would up your base calorie intake to at least 1500 while you're breastfeeding. You're converting food and energy into food for your baby, so your body doesn't get that.

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