Am I eating too much?

[Aiionwatha]

Since having my baby 2 months ago, I'm about a stone heavier than I was before I got pregnant. Back then I was 9 st 6 lb, now I'm 10 st 7 lb (I'm tall - 5 ft 8").

I'm breastfeeding but not exclusively.
I can't seem to shift this extra weight.

This is what I typically eat in a day, but according to my calorie counter app it's several hundred cal over what I should be eating.
Breakfast: bowl of homemade yoghurt with sugar free mueali, a tsp of honey and berries.
1 slice thick homemade brown toast - half with peanut butter and marmite, half with marmalade
Coffee
A tiny glass of orange juice.

Lunch: it changes, but usually something like a quarter of a potato and egg tortilla, some salad and a packet of crisps.

Dinner: something like a homemade chicken casserole with brown rice and steamed spinach.

Snacks: a few chocolate biscuits / piece of cake. A few cheese on crackers. I probably have about 3 snacks a day.

Is this a lot?

It took me 9 months PP to get back to my pre baby weight, I was breastfeeding too.

IMO you definitely are NOT eating too much.

Seriously?

Assuming absolutely accurate level measurements of everything, plain yogurt, zero cooking oils, no dressing on the salad, no oil used to prepare the brown rice, and no cheese or cream in the casserole whatsoever (just 2 cups chicken and vegetables with broth and no other ingredients) the total calories based on amount here is around 1300 before you add in the snacks from the original post, 3x per day. If you average 150 calories per snack 3x per day, that's another 450, which puts you at 1,750 per day at the lowest possible low end of your count. Add in a little cooking oil here and there, some dressing, a little cheese or cream in your casserole and you're over your TDEE.

Not by much, but it doesn't take much.

Some people take longer than others to get back to PP weight so I wouldn’t do anything if you really feel like you are needing the food. 2 months is nothing and you are breast feeding.

Sugar is very addictive though so if you feel like doing something, try cutting it down and you should crave it less. Swap cakes etc for nuts and fruit (I’m only talking about refined sugar here).

At the moment OP you should be focusing on BF so don’t stress about your weight, you are still healthy and it’s far too early to worry about losing the extra pounds just yet, your body needs the energy!
Once your little one is older and no longer bf you can then look at your diet but the weight might start to just come off slowly anyway.
I gained 2 stone with my first, lost a stone by the time she was 1 but I was also unknowingly pregnant again! I got back to my pre baby weight after my youngest was around 18 months old.

Eat bigger meals and healthier protein rich snacks. But you aren't overweight.

I'm with @Divebar2021 OP has JUST had a baby. A baby she's breastfeeding. She doesn't need to diet and her food sounds fine.

You are not even overweight OP. Think about this a bit further down the line if you feel you need to. And congratulations! 💐

I can't believe what I'm reading.

OP- your body is craving food because you are breastfeeding. It's normal to hang onto a tiny bit more weigh- your hormones are still everywhere. If you cut out your snacks and make your meals smaller, you will not only be sleep deprived and recovering from carrying and birthing a baby- but you'll also probably be miserable.

You are still a healthy weight right now. Eat whatever you need to fuel you. Under eating can dampen milk supply.

Thanks everyone :)

I didn't say I was breast feeding

I didn't say you needed to lose weight

I said to lose weight you will need a calorie defecit

I'm sorry it's so hard and horrible but if you want to lose weight that's the only way

If you're breastfeeding focus on that,
When you want to bring your weight down work on cutting the calories down.

There's so many calories in everything

I don't cut out sweets etc if I want to lose weight I just don't eat many of them, 3/4 Haribo or three squares of chocolate
I don't eat a full bag of crisps

Like that

defo keep it up!

The short answer is Yes. If you are not losing weight, you are eating too much. Period.

Calories are complicated and simple at the same time, but in the end, it all comes down to calories.

It's the snacks. A few biscuits or a piece of cake could be 500 calories. Crackers with cheese 300 calories. If you have three snacks a day I'm guessing thats 1,000 calories on top of your meals?

No teas or milky coffees too? With sugar?

Breakfast - 600
Lunch - 400/500?
Dinner - 500?
Snacks - 1000

Total upwards of 2500 calories. I'd weigh and measure everything even for a few weeks. Will be eye opening! I like the Nutricheck app

I'm here too op and honestly others might disagree or had different experiences but I'm gonna call out the breast feeding... I'm on baby number 3, 3rd time breast feeding so I'm going by my past experience .. I'm petite, 5'3 & normally hover at about 7st. My weight gain during pregnancy has always been minimal and the majority melts off in the first two weeks pp except for a few stuborn pounds that seem to hang around my midsection, it doesn't matter if I basically starve myself and run 2 miles a day it just won't go... this has happened to me after both my previous pregnancies and as soon as I stopped breast feeding or reduced the amount of feeds significantly (weaning) the rest of the weight falls off with literally no effort ... I think some bodies are just programed to hold on to fat reserves during breast feeding period more so than others... I've never had much of an appetite & often skip meals or go a full day without eating so I don't think it's that I'm having too many calories, I always take my breast feeding multivits & drink plenty of water... I'm 3 months into breastfeeding currently and my tummy is still a bit wobbly but I'm fully prepared mentally to carry this extra weight until I'm finished breast feeding like the last two times

Try and have less sugar, not less food. It's the sugary snacks that are driving your weight gain, If you need snacks, drink milk, eat cheese, eat cold meats, olives, pickles, raw veg if you like it (I don't!).

I have also mostly given up bread. Toast is not a great lunch as it gives you an insulin spike and drives the need for sugary snacks later. Also it bloats you.

But give yourself a break, you are breastfeeding, you need self care! Worry about it later.

The book 'why we eat too much' by Andrew jenkinson had some helpful insights.

Sadly it's too much which is a shame as it sounds great! If you're not ready to diet yet 2 months pp that's ok. Feeling hungry and fed up with a baby is no fun.

I am still breastfeeding but a toddler. Your meals sound pretty healthy, I am amazed that you are managing to have such regular meals, which sound quite elaborate compared with me when DD was that age. Well done! It sounds like a nutritious diet. You may not need the extra snacks, so perhaps try dropping them and see how you feel, that is if you are keen to lose weight. I found it came off quite fasr with exclusive breastfeeding, about 5 months to drop down to where I was happy. I did qute a bit od pram walking because lockdown meant it was the only way i could meet friends. Obviously your body needs time to get back to normal too and you are not overweight for your height at all. I think you will know the weight at which you are comfortable, nobody else. Congratulations on your lovely baby

No need to calorie count. Swap out sweets, sugary products and starchy carbohydrates and replace with healthy fats, more protein and green vegetables. You will find you will need to eat less to remain full for longer and will lose weight. The problem for many women is glucose. And starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, rice, potatoes, bread etc are just that once consumed. It is glucose and insulin resistance that hits us and especially mums.

If this method worked we wouldn’t have a weight, T2 diabetes and hypertension explosion ver the last 40 or so years.

I lost weight quickly ceasing to consume starchy carbohydrates, sweets and sugary products. I eat till I am full and have plenty of eggs, cheese streaky bacon, nuts, double cream and fatty fish. I fry in butter and have a fried breakfast every morning. This works and surgeries in Essex, Hampshire and elsewhere are having remarkable success with their patients with it. It is just now, being adopted throughout our NHS.

You've just unintentionally put yourself in a calorie deficit by eliminating an entire food group. It's not magic.

People are overweight because they overeat, sugar is incredibly easy to gorge on because it tastes nice.

Exactly what @Vegetus says. No magic . A restriction is a restriction. You cut out food, you lose. A side effect of cutting off a macro is that people are forced to eat homemade food, so double benefit if you cut off processed food.

I don’t care about calories. I never check the calories on any food. I realise there is no need. Calories in calories out is a distraction. They have no relevance to nutrition. We don’t need to know about calorie deficits. It’s an irrelevance. The day we forget calories in calories out is the day we can move on, eat well, enjoy a healthy life particularly in later years and maintain a slim profile.