counting calories while nursing

I have a 2mnth old baby & I am going to start counting calories to help me get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I currently weight 208lbs & I want to get down to atleast 155lbs by oct of this yr. I currently only do light activity & the Burn Meter shows I need to burn about 2100 calories daily & only take in about 1350 calories daily, but since i'm breastfeeding it shows i use about 500 calories daily. I wanted to make sure I was understanding it correctly, so would I just add those 500 calories to my daily intake to reach my weight loss goal?

Yes, you want to eat 500 calories more than you would if you were not breastfeeding.

You want to eat 300-500 calories over what you ate WHILE PREGNANT. I increased my calories to this level and the weight started melting off. I lost 3 pounds last week! Good luck :)

I am also nursing and found this site - it calculates caloric requirements while nursing:  http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-b urned

Somebody somewhere on this site recommended it - sorry, can't remember where/who, but its pretty good.

I wouldnt limit yourself to so few calories just yet try around 1700. 1350 is just too low to maintain adequate milk levels for your baby. Just keep food choices healthy and do have the occassional treat.

I think you should eat when you're hungry & see how weightloss goes. You might find that you self regulate & lose on an insane quantity of food.

As sick as it sounds, I miss that the most about breastfeeding! I would wake up & have noticably lost weight (after eating CONSTANTLY)! Magic!

Original Post by freshbakedpi:

I think you should eat when you're hungry & see how weightloss goes. You might find that you self regulate & lose on an insane quantity of food.

As sick as it sounds, I miss that the most about breastfeeding! I would wake up & have noticably lost weight (after eating CONSTANTLY)! Magic!

 I agree here. I can't believe how much food I can eat and lose a noticeable amount of weight. I have honestly never eaten as many calories daily as I am right now. Granted, they're good, healthy calories. I do occasionally eat fast food and it really doesn't lessen my weight loss. I (and my grandmother and mother-in-law) noticed a difference in my size over the period of a week.

Do follow freshbakedpi's advice and eat when you're hungry. Your babe is only 2 months old and I've read that you shouldn't restrict calories until after the three month mark simply because it can take that long (longer for me) for your milk supply to regulate itself. You just had a baby! You're still adjusting to having a newborn. Take it easy on yourself for a little while :)