BMR, TDEE, breastfeeding

svgarcia

Ive been reading a lot On the forums about calculating tdee, bmr etc...
I need help in calculating mines since I am breastfeeding a soon to be 8 month old. She eats baby gerber food for breakfast and dinner and other than that I breastfeed.

I am 37 yrs old, 5'4". I'm a stay at home mom so I would consider myself sedentary.
I've been strength trainf M-W-F and Gilad's 30 minute workout at home on T&TH and while my boys are at basketball practice I jog while I push baby on the stroller pretty much 3-4 days for at least 30 min.

My bmr on the ajdesigner.com calculates it at 1515 and tdee 1818. I added 300 extra calories for breastfeeding and then minus 10% which gives me 1906.
However I've set my mfp to 1700 cals I eat most calories back and maybe 2-3 days out if the week I eat over and see the red numbers....am I calculating it right??

So should I leave it at 1700, or up it to 1818 or 1906

Firefox7275

You class as at least lightly active definitely not sedentary. You need to be cautious to get plenty of every nutrient because you exercise and breastfeeding both increase your nutrient requirements. Where did the 10% come from?

jfrankic

How has your weight loss been on 1700? Milk supply? I'm sure it's hard to tell unless you are pumping regularly. I didn't know I wasn't eating enough until my supply TANKED when I cut calories too much.

Given your level of activity, I would definitely not consider you sedentary. You're exercising 5-6 days a week! And chasing an 8 month old!! Calculate it again and be honest with your activity. Then add 300. Then take the cut and see what your numbers are.

Someone else might have better advice, but I err on the side of caution because of my experience. I went from having an abundance to having to supplement for the last few months (from 10-12mos) while continuing to breastfeed.

Maybe I misread, but if you calculated 1906, why did you set MFP to 1700. When eating TDEE-%, you don't have to calculate and eat back exercise calories. Or did you set it up that way, calculating yourself as sedentary so you would "eat them back?" I guess I'm corn-fused.

svgarcia

Thanks for the input but I just set it up to 1700 on my own prior to reading on the forum on other people posting about knowing ur tdee, bmr etc... So today I finally ran my # to see what it should be.

And I had it on sedentary because I didn't feel I was doing much just basic household stuffs....and just homeschooling my boys.

I minus 10% because I would've been happy to lose at least half a pound a week. I didn't want to lose a lot fast because of my milk supply.

I restarted working out and watching my intake on oct 8 at 1800 cals. I've lost like 6-8 oz. every wk. then in November changed it to 1700. Lose anywhere from 4 oz - 1 lb a wk. So about 7 lbs so far - was trying to have a goal of 10 lbs by Christmas.

I haven't notice my milk supply because I don't pump at all and she basically only likes to eat on one side now.

So should I change it to lightly active or change my tdee?

jfrankic

I would decide how to you want to get it up. TDEE-% and NOT eating back exercise calories. Or TDEE @sedentary and eat back exercise calories.

If you choose the first (NOT eating them back), then run the numbers again and base it on lightly or moderately active. As long as you are consistent, it should all average out. The first option is basically an average spread out over 7 days. The second "eat back" option is eating less on rest day, more on workout days. It's however you want to do it and how it fits best with your lifestyle.

Personally, I like eating the same amount each day. I might eat 100 less on rest days and 100 more on lifting days or exactly at 2000. It gives me more flexibility and I LOVE not having to worry about keeping up with my exact calorie burns. But some other people are just the opposite. That might not help you much...sorry!