Confused about how many cals to eat

sburens

Background- 32 yr old female. Sahm chasing after kids all day. Workout 5 days a week 30-60 mins (30ds, treadmill). Weight 146.5. 5'7. Trying to lose the last 10-12 baby lbs.

I started on jan. 1 with mfp. Ive lost 5.5 lbs, but none in the last 2.5 weeks. I am leaner and my pants fit better, but the scale is stuck. I get 1390 cals, add in an extra 300 for breastfeeding, and eat back almost all of my exericse cals. I wear a hrm (polar ft4) to get cals burned. I usually net between 1200-1350 a day. I have a free day on Sats where I dont log, but ends up being a cheat meal moreso than a day.

I am wondering if myn cals are set too low? I should be losing something each week with a net of 1200-1350 a day, right? Is breastfeeding to blame? Should I be giving myself 500 cals for that? I nurse 3-4 times a day, usually 4.

Any insight?

sburens

Bump

Swanson83

I started at 150 and I am 5'7", 29yo, I too lost right away and was stuck for almost 3 weeks. I eat around 1200 calories each day and eat about half of my exercise calories back.

This is what I would say as I am now down to about 133...you are close to your goal and the last 10-15 pounds are the hardest to lose! I can say just keep with what you are doing. I did and it worked, I started to lose about .5/week. I don't have much more to lose but my baby fat is hanging on... Oh how I love the little ones but not what they have added to my body It is all worth it and wouldn't trade it for the world!

Good luck...just keep going!

Cadori

I've heard/read that those last 5-10 pounds can be almost impossible to lose until we wean. We have fat stores added to allow for BFing and then the breasts themselves are heavier.

pcolvard

I would just keep doing what you're doing. I think you've got it all calculated pretty well. I don't think you should adjust calories. I think it's just going to take awhile. And I agree that you may not lose those last 5 or so until you stop nursing or are almost done. I always lose about 5 more pounds toward the end of nursing (when I'm down to about 1 or 2 sessions a day).

eta- I have about 4 lbs left to lose. I lost a couple from the get-go last month like you did, but I the scale won't budge anymore. Part of that may also be building muscle.