EM2WL & Breastfeeding

ChrysalisCove

I am a mid-20s toddler mom trying to overhaul my (& my family's) lifestyle. I have lost weight using MFP, but began to question my settings when it dropped me down to the minimum (1200) so soon. I adjusted my loss goal, but was still landing below BMR - which is when I discovered posts about TDEE & EM2WL. My stats are as follows:

Height: 5'3"
SW: 198 (01/01/2014)
CW 175
Activity: Light

BMR: 1500-1600
TDEE -20%: 1650-1750
BFing Toddler: 300
Total: 1950-2050

I just have a couple questions & want to make sure I am doing things properly.
1. Am I adding my breastfeeding calorie allotment at the appropriate point in the equation? Currently I am adding them AFTER calculating TDEE-%. Is this correct, or should I be adding them to TDEE & then taking off the %?
2. Does a light activity level seem accurate for me? I don't log much official gym time (1x/wk... maybe 2x if I'm lucky) but I do have a busy toddler & an a nanny for another infant, so I'm chasing / carrying / playing with babies all day. I also make sure to hit at least 10k steps per day every day.
3. According to my understanding of the pinned posts, given my stats I should only eat back exercise calories if they exceed 450cal (1950-1500=450). Correct, or should my BFing calories not factor in - meaning I should eat back anything over 150cal (1650-1500=150)?

These numbers seem REALLY high to me, however I also am accustomed to eating at an extreme deficit & shutting down my metabolism (history of ED). I will do my best to adhere to them & not psych myself out!

heybales

1 - baby doesn't need a deficit to eating. You are doing that math correctly.

2 - Lightly Active is ONLY your daily life with no exercise already with the kiddo's. Exercise is bumping you up another level to that. So Mod Active depending on what the workouts are. Round down from that level to nearest 100 perhaps.
1550 x 1.55 = 2400
2400 x 0.85 = 2040, say 2000 eating goal.
bottle adds 300 if full day.

3 - For whatever you think you burned in a workout, you must do this math first, because any reported calories is not just what you burned on top of what you were going to burn anyway, it actually includes everything in there.

So your better estimate TDEE ends up being 2400 / 24 hrs = 100 calories an hour already accounted for.

So if you find your workout reported to have burned 450 calories in 1 hr - you actually only burned 350 over what you were already expected to burn anyway in your TDEE.

2000 - 1550 = 450 calorie range before you need to worry about it. Or your workout for 1 hr could say you burned 550 calories or less before you have to worry about it.

As far as high or low, unless you have something to compare to besides a diet, you have really no idea how much you used to eat to maintain prior, and based on how much activity then that was likely less.

ChrysalisCove

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions!

I have been averaging 1200-1400cal daily (net) for the past 2mo after the breastfeeding deduction, so I need to increase my intake quite a bit. Already made the mistake of trying to jump up all the way at once & made myself SO sick... then read the recommendation to increase slowly. Oops, lol! So I'll be increasing my daily intake by 100cal a week until I get there :-)