Just abandon any kind of grains, no matter how whole or healthy and also very starchy food such as potatoes. Even if from time to time a cold potato salad is fine . I don't follow a strict low carb as I like to eat a pear, or enjoy an tomatoes and onion salad, but I know that I have been able to keep my weight over the years by eating low/no grains and low sugar depending on how my jeans feel.
It is chemistry, not physics, so more about chemical reactions in body with hormones (insulin) and enzymes than a physics equation such as calorie in and calorie out, beautiful on paper but so false .
The diet doctors podcast is a podcast which invites doctors mainly US that have changed the way they advise and treat their patients' obesity and diabetes. They talk about science behind the guidelines, and more often than not, the lack of science .
This one, Jason Fung , is a good starting point www.dietdoctor.com/authors/dr-jason-fung-m-d and you can google him and watch some documentaries and conferences.
Many on that podcast are big fan of a high fat keto diet, which is not for me. I eat a very colourful diet, with plenty of vegetables, some fruits, avoid fried and processed food. There are many ways to be low carb, I don't like forcing myself to eat food I don't enjoy. Dousing everything with oil or fat would make me gag.
And Bmidreams my Healthy BMI Range for my height is 51.6-69.7 and there is a massive difference between metabolic healthy weight and how I feel at a certain weight. 69.7 is a lot above my current weight and I wouldn't feel healthy at that weight.
More than a diet, a quick fit, it is about changing the way you eat forever. Getting out of the snacking trap, and discovering new flavours.
@Pippinsqueak Try to eat the French way for a couple of weeks, a piece of meat (a steak, an oven grilled chicken breast,) or fish and several side dishes (if in need of inspiration the book On the side by Ed smith) . We don't snack generally. We don't eat kids food, but it is the culture we grow up that looks bad if you do, so if you feel like having something, have some frozen berries with some kefir, great for your gut bacteria.
Try for two weeks. Go cold turkey, from tomorrow morning. It is not about calories which is great since you are breastfeeding (and that even more great!) . Don't buy low carb product in a box or jar or wrapper. GO for real food, a cauliflower which you can blitz in a processor and make cauliflower rice which tastes amazing. Celery salad with prawns and a vinaigrette with a squeezed orange is really nice.
It is not your fault. We are constantly bombarded with the message that when we are low, this bar of chocolate of biscuits will give us immediate relief and pleasure. In French, we don't have a word for treat for food, only treat in medical term, treating someone for an illness. Treat yourself in the French way, treat your body to better foods. OF course, sometimes, bake something, because it is nice and pleasant to grow in a house with cake and have a piece once in a while, but not those artificial snacks engineered in a lab with he perfect fat:sugar ratio that makes your brain lose reason. Each time you buy a snack, you are making some marketing and sale manager happy by increasing their yearly bonus and making zero favor to yourself. Ditch them.
I often have green juice in the morning. I like this one Keep it in the fridge while you break the snacking habit, and have some sips instead of chocolate. The high kale content will also give you great skin.
Buy some very nice tea, a luxurious perfumed body cream, a dry body brush, the cheapest grounded coffee you can find to make some body scrub and take care of yourself.
Being a mom is the best feeling ever. The love we give our children has space to give a bit of love to ourself.