Questions about maintaining weight & building muscle

fitmom4ever

Some background info: I have recently switched over to maintenance after reaching my goal weight and wish to tone/build muscle and just become generally more fit. I am 5'5" 115lbs and small framed. I generally exercise 6 days a week, alternating between walking on the treadmill carrying 2 3lb weights, using the elliptical on strength-training mode, and doing Jillian Michael's Shred it with Weights with a 5lb dumbell. A normal workout for me burns between 100 - 200 calories according to my HRM. I am also a breastfeeding mother and typically burn 400 calories a day nursing (I base this off the calculation of 20 calories per ounce & pumping about 20 ounces per day). I track calories, carbs, fat, protein, sodium, and sugar. My diary is public, please take a look and give me some advice for improvements.

My questions: I have a hard time eating all of those calories. I often find myself in the kitchen after the kids are in bed, searching for something to help increase my calories that won't put me over for sodium or sugar. (I have a hard time keeping those in check, carbs and fat are usually no problem, and I believe extra protein is good to help me build muscle, correct me if I am wrong.) Should I be forcing myself to eat if I am not hungry? How can I get in those calories without going over in something else? Should I exercise less so that I don't increase the amount of calories I need to consume? Are there any other good tips to help me along my journey that you can share? Your help is much appreciated, thank you.

fitmom4ever

Somebody? Anybody?? I promise to take constructive critcism without offense.

iplayoutside19

Tried peanut butter, or peanuts?

If you want to build muscle you will need to eat in a calorie surplus.