Caloric intake/calories burned for bf'ing 10 month old

[lkvosu]

So, lately I've been really desperate to finally get rid of this last 10lbs of baby weight. I lost some weight initially after ds was born without doing anything - no diet change (although I'm basically vegan and eat very healthy) and very little exercise, but I've been at a stand still for about 6 months or so.  Around then I began exercising pretty regularly, at least 3 times a week, but haven't lost anymore weight, although I have definitely gained some muscle tone back. I'm starting to think that I need to cut back on calories. Nothing drastic, just a few minor tweeks.

But, before I do that, I'd like to know just how many calories I need while breastfeeding my 10mo and how many calories I "burn" producing milk. I've done some research online but the info varies SO much.

Does anyone know where to find reliable info on this? Anyone know anything about this?

[dejagerw]

I highly recommend www.myfitnesspal.com. I've learned a lot and now I'm finally starting to lose some of my stubborn baby weight. In the food section, you can select that you're nursing to give you more calories. For a 10 month old, most people have 300 calories, but I'm sure that can vary some if your baby nurses more or less than the "average" older baby. So in your situation, you'd need to eat a minimum of 1500 calories, plus any calories you burn with exercise.

The site's pretty cool, you put in how much you want to lose, how active you are (not including exercise, but like if you have a desk job all day you would select sedatery, etc.), then each day you put in your food and exercise and it tells you how many calories you have left to eat.

There's also great message boards too with explanations about why you need to eat back your exercise calories (particularly if you're close to your goal weight) and how you need to be careful not to get into starvation mode, where your body will just hold on to calories.

For me, I was just eating too many calories, but for my mom, she was not getting enough, which caused her to be in starvation mode, which prevented her from losing the pounds she needed to lose.

Good luck!

[lkvosu]

Thanks! I will check that site out.