Eating to few calories (underestimating my activity level?)

mirfan25

Hi, I'm a stay at home mom (for now - on mat leave) of two kids. My little one is 4 mths old and weighs about 15 pounds, I carry her a lot, for example she fights her naps and I spend a lot of time holding her in my arms while bouncing and walking around the room to put her to sleep - this can take 30 mins and I do this about 4 times a day.. when she is awake she is also in my arms a lot..

I also have a very active toddler who I run after, often with my little one in my arms... whenever I'm not holding the little one it seems like I'm holding the other (she is about 27 pounds and likes to be held a lot) I entertain her sometimes by putting music on and dancing around with her in my arms, and I'm constantly lifting her to her crib, booster chair, bath, etc. Needless to say, my arms and lower back are really sore at the end of the day, and I feel exhausted...

Then of course the endless cycle of cleaning up toys, dishes, sweeping, cooking, etc. It literally feels like I never sit down until they are both alseep in the evening, although I'm sure I do but at the end of the day I don't really remember what happened just that it was busy

I always took this to be regular activities and haven't counted any of it as exercise...

I don't know, I guess I'm just wondering if I should eat more calories... I've been losing weight fairly quickly - average 2 pounds per week - even though I am set for a loss of 1 lb a week at 1200 calories.. (I'm actually eating 1700 calories though because I am nursing my little one which I assume to take up 500 calories per day, and I eat all of those back)... I'm just worried now that I haven't actually been eating enough, and want to make sure that I have all the proprer nutrients and losing weight the healthy way..

Should I assume that I am burning more calories than I thought from my regular daily activities, since I've been losing more than the pound a week I'm set up for? and eat a few more calories? If so how many more? since I have been losing about 2 pounds a week and I would be ok with 1 pound instead if that is more healthy (I do worry about losing weight too quickly while breastfeeding)...

Sorry so long... Any opinions/advice?

melaniecheeks

What did you put for your activity level? It certainly wouldn't be sedentary! If you've indicated that you're fairly active day to day then its already counted for.