I expected to lose weight after the baby was born because I am breastfeeding. I mean, don't all breastfeeding moms naturally lose weight and shed pounds? Apparently not. So, after doing some research, I've decided I need to do a few things:
- Restrict Calorie Intake- According to the La Leche League website, it's okay for breastfeeding moms to aim for 1500-1800 calories/day while trying to lose weight.
- Burn More Calories- Weight loss occurs when you utilize more calories than you consume. So, while breastfeeding is probably burning about 500 calories/day, it's not enough to cause me to lose weight, and I need to be more active.
- Be Healthful- Whatever I do, I still want to eat in a way that includes the basic nutrients my body needs.
- Be Realistic- I can't afford to buy a bunch of diet foods, and I am not interested cooking totally different things for my family and I. So I need to eat the right portion sizes and chose healthier meals to cook. I also don't want to lose weight too fast as this is a) not healthy for anyone and b) a risk factor for jeopardizing my milk supply.
So, to start this journey, I am going to look at what I am eating and what I am doing. As I understand more about my patterns, I can set realistic goals to help change those patterns and create appropriate calorie deficits. I know the biggest areas of struggle for me are exercising and avoiding late-night snacks (John and I like to watch something together on Netflix before we go to bed, and we generally snack during this time. And by "snack" I mean eat a lot.) I need to either not eat after dinner, or eat better choices. And I need to find ways to exercise more during the day.
What I Ate and Did (or, my daily caloric net gain/loss)
1/25/11 (Net Calories: -325 kcal )
Breakfast (+460 kcal)
- McDonald's 16 oz. coffee with cream and sugar- 200 calories
- McDonald's Fruit and Maple Oatmeal (without brown sugar)- 260 calories
- Red Beans and Rice (my recipe!)- 330 calories
- Baby Greens Salad with 2T Honey Mustard Dressing- 140 calories
- Chai Tea with Splenda- 0 calories
- Carmel corn rice cake- 50 calories
- Teriyaki Chicken- 140 calories
- Cooked Jasmine Rice- 170 calories
- Fresh Carrots with 2T fat-free Fiesta Ranch Dip- 45 calories
- Parmesan Green Beans- 80 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Brownie- 170 calories
- Chocolate Rice Cakes- 120 calories
What I did:
- Ran some errands, laundry, cleaned the house (-120 kcal)
- Created 4 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
Breakfast (+390 kcal)
- Coffee with FF creamer and Splenda- 50 calories
- Rice with butter (1 tsp.) and Splenda- 250 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Sandwich Flat with 2T Hummus- 180 calories
- Baby Greens Salad with 2T Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing- 140 calories
Snack: (+50 kcal)
- Chamomile Tea with Splenda- 0 calories
- Carmel corn rice cake- 50 calories
Dinner: (+645 kcal)
- Honey Lentils- 140 calories
- Brown Rice- 110 calories
- String Cheese- 60 calories
- Spinach- 75 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Brownie- 170 calories
Late Night Snack: (+240 kcal)
- GoGurt- 80 calories
- Hummus and Rice Cakes- 160 calories
What I did:
- Laundry, cleaned the house (-80 kcal)
- Carried the baby around the house for 30 min. in sling (-210 kcal)
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
1/27/11 (Net Calories: -570 kcal)
Breakfast (+270 kcal)
- 1 C. cooked oatmeal with Splenda- 150 calories
- McDonald's 16 oz. coffee with cream and sugar- 120 calories
- Red Beans and Rice- 330 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Parmesan Green Beans- 80 calories
- Spinach- 50 calories
- No Snack Today- too busy!
- I ordered the Caprese Chicken Sandwich+side salad (550 calories)
- My sandwich was mixed up with John's and I got something else
- I read the number of calories on the Friendly's website when got home
- and then I cried
- Chicken Bruschetta Mozzarella SuperMelt- 810 calories
- Side salad with 1T. Lite Peppercorn Ranch dressing- 100 calories
- Didn't have one. Totally too bummed about the dinner snafu to come up with a snack that fit in my allotted calories. :(
- Shoveled snow for 10 minutes (-90 kcal)
- Carried the baby around the house for 30 min. in sling (-210 kcal)
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
1/28/11 (Net Calories: -470 kcal)
Breakfast (+290 kcal)
- 1C. cooked oatmeal with Splenda- 150 calories
- Coffee with FF creamer and Splenda- 50 calories
- 1C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Red Beans and Rice- 330 calories
- Baby Greens and dressing-65 calories
- Broccoli and 2T FF dip- 50
- Chocolate Rice Cake- 60 calories
- Steamed Cauliflower- 75 calories
- Black Bean Soup with cheddar cheese- 385 calories (Note: we didn't like this soup:( )
- Corn Muffin- 140 calories
- 1 glass (3.5 oz) blush wine- 75 calories
- 1 Dove Bliss Dark Chocolate Bar- 160 calories
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
- Grocery Shopping (-100 kcal)
Brunch (Note: I got to sleep in *and* didn't wake up starving!) (+270 kcal)
- Oatmeal with Splenda- 150 calories
- Coffee with FF creamer and skim milk- 30 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Steamed Broccoli- 85 calories
- 1 C. Brown Rice- 215 calories
- 3 oz. Teriyaki Chicken- 180 calories
- Red Beans and Rice- 330 calories
- Parmesan Green Beans- 120 calories
- Cookies- 130 calories
- Teriyaki Beef Jerky- 80 calories
- Honey Wheat Pretzels- 110 calories
What I Did:
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
- Carried the baby in the sling for 30 minutes (-210 kcal)
1/30/11 (-415 kcal)
Breakfast
- Oatmeal- 150 calories
- Coffee with FF 1/2&1/2 and Splenda- 20 calories
Lunch
- Applebee's Asiago Peppercorn Steak Meal- 390 calories
- Applebee's French Onion Soup Bowl- 270 calories
Snack
- Kettle Corn- 100 calories
- Cookies- 130 calories
Dinner
- Salad with 2T Honey Dijon Dressing- 80 calories
- 2 hard boiled eggs-160 calories
- Cucumber Slices- 10 calories
- Pineapple- 75 calories
Late Night Snack
- Skor Candy bar- 200 calories
What I Did
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
Breakfast
- Oatmeal with Splenda- 150 calories
- Coffee with Splenda and cream- 120 calories
- Honey Lentils- 140 calories
- Brown Rice- 210 calories
- Broccoli- 55 calories
- 1 C. skim milk- 90 calories
- Missed- too busy
- Bulgur Cranberry Salad- 140 calories
- Modified Cream of Asparagus Soup- 60 calories
- Tortellini- 200 calories
- Low Fat Raspberry Yogurt- 170 calories
- Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar- 180 calories
- Grocery Shopping (pushing a very full cart at Sam's!) (-100 kcal)
- Created 5 balanced meals for my baby (-500 kcal)
- Live a sedentary lifestyle with my size body (-1500 kcal)
Weekly Weigh-In: -2.8 lbs (5% of goal)
Net Weight Loss: 2.8 lbs
Weekly Insights: I need to work out. Regularly. Plus add more activity into my daily routine (such as carrying the baby in the sling while I do house work.) I joined the gym and I think I am going to do the Couch to 5K program to start with. I think I did fairly well in getting all the nutrition into my diet (big concerns being enough calories, enough calcium, and enough protein.) By day 7 I was not starving all the time, and I also figured out how to be better at filling up for less calories. I also think that working towards a "treat" at the end of the day (namely, dark chocolate. or wine. or both.) is a good motivator for me, and having something with a little higher fat content helps me sleep through the night without waking up from hunger pains.
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