Need help crunching the numbers!

Options
86rollyb
86rollyb Posts: 72 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to come up with a plan for January & I'm getting overwhelmed with all of the different ways to figure out a good calorie goal! :-/  What are you guys using?  Do you figure out your TDEE & subtract 20%?  I'm 99% sure I was eating way too low before... My goal was 1700 (net) & I was usually under by a few hundred & I'm breastfeeding my 5 month old so if that burns 500 cals (is that right??) then I was probably only netting like 1000 calories a day :-O No wonder I was so miserable lately!  But I have no idea what I should be eating!  If I use "the road map" my TDEE (incl 500 for nursing) is about 2700 at moderately active... Should I subtract 20% from that and not record exercise?  I kind of like recording exercise b/c i think it motivates me... But on the other hand I hate rest days b/c I feel so hungry without extra cals!  Ugggggh!  If someone would be so kind as to help me I'd reallllllly appreciate it! I'm 26 years old, 5'5" and my weight is around 140 lbs... I was down to 136 a couple weeks ago but I upped my cals about a week ago after my 2nd "2000 calorie in like 2 hr binge" in a week. My body was sending me a very loud message that it was HUNGRY! Lol. Anyway, between the binges & upping my calories I'm up a few pounds of HOPEFULLY mostly water. :( my plan is to continue eating around maintenance for the rest of the year. Anyways, I'm around 27% bf according to my scale and I get 26% on the online calculators. I'm a SAHM so I don't think I'm really "sedentary" but I'm also not hugely active during the day. I run 3-4 times a week burning about 350-450 cals per run (about 45 min) I also do 2-3 workouts at home per week. Usually bodyweight circuits with cardio in between for about 30 min. HRM says about 200-300 cals for those workouts. So I'd guess around 2000 cals burned per week. I also do a few sets of squats/pushups/planks etc throughout the day. So I guess my biggest question is whether I
A) use sedentary or lightly active as my base, eat back my exercise calories & subtract 20% or
B) use moderately active -20% and not worry about exercise calories.

My other questions
Is 500 cals an accurate # for nursing & how do I adjust as she starts taking solids?
How long will it take for my body to stop gaining from eating at maintenance? When do I assume I've set my calories to high & that I'm actually gaining weight not just water! I'd be lying if I said the sudden jump on the scale didn't bother me... It does. A lot. And the bloated look I've got going on isn't especially reassuring either.

And another thing - Yes, I realize that lifting heavy would be awesome for me. But as a sahm who lives 30 minutes from the nearest gym which does not offer day care & an infant that still nurses every hr at times, it's not happening any time soon... Lol. I'm doing the best I can to get in resistance training at home using my body (i've got YAYOG on order!! Yay) so please don't make me feel like crap for not lifting heavy. I'm always looking for advice on home work outs though so if you've got a good one, let me know!!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Options
    I'm maintaining but my method is to take my TDEE as sedentary because I work at an office job and keep track of exercise separately. That way I know exactly what my exercise calories are and it's incentive to actually do it. I rarely eat any exercise back unless I've done something like a 3 hr bike ride or 10 km or more run. I don't find it necessary to supplement my budget with 30 minute DVD type workouts.
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
    Options
    I would use sedentary -20 % as your base + 500 nursing calories + add in exercise calories. Try this for a few weeks and see what your losses are like. If they are where you want them, then I'd keep doing this. If you still aren't losing or you are gaining, you'll have to cut out some nursing and/or exercising calories. If you are still starving on this #, then I would up your activity level to lightly active - 20% + nursing + exercise calories and see how that works.

    Just a warning, no matter what I did when I was nursing, I was STARVING all the time. I actually ended up gaining 20 lbs in the 9 months AFTER having my baby. I made very poor choices for my extra calroies, but even when I was eating plenty of protein, dairy and healthy carbs, I was still STARVING and would end up eating everything in sight. I didn't notice my hunger dying down until after I started cutting down on nursing sessions. If you find that this is the case for you, I'd work on simply maintaining and exercising until you find that you can cut the calories down without binging.
  • 86rollyb
    86rollyb Posts: 72 Member
    Options
    Thank you guys! I hope this works! :D

Categories