I'm going to count calories from today......

[RGPargy]

.... but i just want confirmation of how many i'm actually supposed to be consuming. I've looked it up on the net and because of my weight, i'm supposed to be having approximately 2,200 a day to lose weight but i'm also BF my DD so do i need to add extra calories to allow for this? What happens if i dont?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!

I think 3000 cals = l lb so 2200 even while bfing sounds plenty. 2000 would be better & make sure you don't waste calories on food that hasn't much nutritional value. Avoid fat like the plague (except veg. oil but go easy) and sugar and other high GI food.

Sorry to sound bossy!

Dont worry, i'm very experienced with food nutrition etc lol, but just needed to know a good calorific intake as i've mainly been a low carber in the past.

From the four calorie intake calculators i looked up, they all said around 2,200 so i'm going to stick with that for now as i do have absolutely tons to lose and dont want to shock my body into starvation mode lol.

Sounds good! You can always reduce to 2000 if you don't lose. Enjoy your baby & don't worry. Just avoid the junk.

Thanx, i'll do my best!

I dont know really, MMJ.

I suppose i just want to try and induce some sort of self control with myself.

Truth be told, i dont really want to count calories, but i dont know what else to do really and am reluctant to join slimming clubs because of the cost! (and the embarrassment of going to meetings and being weighed!)

I'm on 1750 cals for losing weight while bfing. Well, thats the plan anyway!
I've lost 8lbs this year without sticking to it 100%. I've been good during the week but eat what I want (literally!) over the weekends.
How old is your baby?
Mine is 4mths and I think I need about 500cals a day extra. I figure on a diet, I would have around 1250.
I'm mainly just cutting out the junk, having 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.
I've just joined a gym too so I'm hoping to speed up the weight loss.
Good luck.

To maintain your weight a reasonably active woman should be consumming 2000 calories a day. 1250 on a diet is severely restrictive. This will encourage your body to slow down your metabolism to store energy (it reacts to the reduction of avaliable calories and goes into starvation mode), so after an itial lose you would struggle to lose further and quickly put weight back on once you increased your intake. Plus it will leave you hungry and more likely to binge on innappropriate food.

I agree with COV that 1250 is very low. I've been there, done that and i lost weight most effectively with a higher calorie intake.

As for Majorie Dawes (lol) I know that your weight isn't read out or anything - i went to a Slimming World meet a few years ago. What i find embarrassing is going to the meetings in the first place, especially the weight i am now. It's almost like admitting you've gorged yourself stupid and now there you stand, tail between your legs, asking for help when it's my own fault i'm this fat after all!!!

Bah - sorry, am in a bit of a self pitying mood lately.

Thanks COV.
I thought that 1250 was the min you could go without going into starvation mode.
I've just realised that 1250 was the amount of cals I used to have when I was a svelte size 8/10 and needed to shift a few gained pounds.
Hmm I think I need a bit of re-education now that I need to lose 2 stones!

If you're exercising regularly Jahan, you could probably go to 1800 cals a day.

I'll try to stick to 1800 and see how it goes. Its actually quite a bit, isn't it? Yay for bfing!
Good luck RGPargy.
Come and join us on the katybumpers thread if you want some extra support.

Why do you think it's destructive?

The way i'm looking at it is that i can still eat what i like, but just not go over my calorie limit. Or am i just kidding myself that that's ok but i really should be cutting out crap and refined foods etc?

Thanx Jahan - good luck to you too!

Ah i see what you mean. It does sound familiar actually lol.

Rahter than specifically counting calories, work out recipes in specific calorie brackets, say up to 400 for breakfast, 400 for lunch and 600 for dinner, making 1400, then allowing a couple of 150 (or 3 100) snacks during the day. That way you aren't so obsessed with the individual calorific value of an item, and you know you won't have run out of calories by the end of the day.

Thats what I tend to do, COV.
I do think you should try to get your cals from healthy food mainly, rather than thinking that you can eat as much cake, biscuits etc as you can within your cal allowance.
It will help with your energy levels, mood and general well being.

Good idea, COV and Jahan, you are right on the calories from good foods.

I just get so confused as to what eating plan to follow and my head gets in such a muddle!

I loved low carbing but after a while i started to get really fed up with not being able to have "normal" foods and work events and eating out could be a real pain.

I've just been onto the SW site and they give a free 7 day menu but it contains fish and seafood, which i dont eat, so that's put me off now as it didn't offer a substitute.

I'm going to have a look at WW website now too.

Hmmm, yeah i could do that!

What do you normally eat?
I've found that I can eat whatever I would normally cook for the eve meal but I only fill half my plate with it and then fill the other half with steamed veg (often from a bag of frozen).
Apparently, your plate should be 1/4 protein, 1/4 carb and 1/2 veg.

Oh i know where i'm going wrong. We have huge portions of food followed by a huge pudding, and that's on top of any crap i'll eat during the day.

Thing is, i dont often feel hungry during the day and quite often dont eat lunch, although i do eat breakfast and always make sure i do.

Oh yeah, and booze doesn't help either. We had wine last night and the night before. Quite often we'll have either a beer or two or some wine in the evenings and i know that's terrible.

It's just having the will power to cut all the rubbish out and portionate the food on my plate!