How Many Calories Do I Need While Training and Breastfeeding?

I am 5'3'' and 125lbs. I have a 10 month old and am still breastfeeding. I am back to my pre-pregnancy size, but want to lose 10-15 lbs more and really get toned. I am going to be running a 1/2 marathon in October, so I've been doing cardio (walking/running/dancing) 4x's per week, and some light strength training w/lots of pilates 2x's per week. I'm eating pretty healthy (lots of whole grains, veggies, fruits, ect)...how many calories should I be taking in to lose weight, but maintain my milk supply for breastfeeding? Ex- today I ate 1770 calories, and ran 2.6 miles (I usually avg around that 4x's per week). I want to lose 1-2 lbs per week. --Jessica S.

Dear Jessica,

Congratulations on your lofty goals and especially on breastfeeding, which is a healthy decision for both you and your baby :)

For someone in your shape (and not knowing your age) I would estimate you burn at least 2200 calories as a base, an additional 500 calories breastfeeding, and probably 300 calories for each 1/2 hour of exercise.... so you could be easily burning 3000 calories per day. This means that a 2000 calorie intake will lead to a 2 pounds per week weight loss. I would not recommend going below about 2000 calories per day while you are performing all these feats!

The fact is, you need not only calories, but also protein, calcium, and all the other major nutrients to keep up your strength for training, and to continue making the healthiest breastmilk for baby.Be sure you're following the guidelines for healthy eating, including beans/meat/eggs or another good source of protein, and 3-4 servings of dairy in addition to the whole grains fruits and veggies.

In fact, it's probably more difficult for someone in your position to get in the foods you need than to keep your calorie level low enough to lose weight. It's smart to eliminate "empty calories" (Foods that provide lots of calories with little nutrition, like soda, candy bars, and fried foods) when trying to lose weight and making sure not to eliminate food groups like carbohydrates that can be providing you with necessary B complex vitamins and energy.

It sounds like you're doing a great job. Good luck with the half-marathon!

Are There Any Good Diets That Will Help Me Lose Weight Fast?

Hi,
I wanted to know if there are any good diets that will help me lose weight fast. I get discouraged very easily when I'm not losing. I especially crave sweets. When I'm frustrated with the slow weight loss I just chuck the whole idea and gain the weight back... what can I do? --Denise S.

Dear Denise,

I'm pretty sure you know the answer to this.... And my answer is "No" there aren't any good, fast weight loss diets.

Any diet you go on will help you lose weight in the short run but you know you'll just gain it back again. Instead of a diet, come up with some healthy eating goals that are very do-able! Like "This week I will eat a fruit one time every day when I crave a sweet"... just once each day! It will take time to train your brain to be thinking healthy but it will happen. Just take it slow. Think about how you are feeling when you crave sweets and instead of fighting with your inner child (who always throws a tantrum and screams YES I WANT THAT NOW!) ask yourself what it is you really want: what is it that the sweet will give you?
Is it comfort? If so is there something else that will comfort you, like a phone call to a friend?
Is it boredom? If so is there a good book you've been wanting to read that you could pick up with a piece of fruit :)

Weight loss is difficult--that's why so many people are overweight. The best way to get the extra pounds off is slow and steady, by developing new and healthy habits. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this if you haven't heard it before: There are no good fast diets ;)

Can You Gain Weight While You Sleep?

We have a big argument at work. Some people claim that just before you go to bed if you eat something with high calories, then weigh yourself and immediately go to sleep, then when you wake up in the morning you will weigh more than you did before sleeping. I think this is not possible since where would this extra weight come from? So my question is this, is it possible to weigh more on waking up in the morning than you did when you went to sleep? Thanks, Ray C.

Hi Ray,

What a fun question! I agree with you and have never known anyone to weigh more in the morning.

Where the weight would come from is just the weight of the food, not the calories from the food. There's also a chance extra water could be retained if the meal was very high in sodium, but that would be gone as soon as the person emptied their bladder in the morning.

One origin of this idea is the fact that your metabolism reduces slightly while you sleep because you are not moving around. So there are some advisors (in particular personal trainers) who recommend not eating before you go to bed on the theory those calories are less likely to be used up (especially if you have a big meal immediately before bed) and are more likely to be stored as fat. Most dietitians advise not to eat too much, too late, but having a light snack in the evening fits into a healthy eating plan for many people.

Technically, if you weigh yourself, eat a big meal, and then weigh yourself immediately again you will weigh more simply because the food is sitting in your stomach. The scale reads the weight the same whether you are holding a cheeseburger in your hand or you gulp it down into your stomach. However, food is broken down in the body within a few hours and as soon as you urinate or otherwise dispense of any waste, the scale will register a weight loss in the same way.
Just because the scale says you weigh more after drinking a quart of water, for example, doesn't mean you've "gained weight" as in "deposited fat weight".

Bottom line, the night time meal will have been completely absorbed by morning. You must have a 3500 calorie meal in order to register one pound of (fat) weight gain and this is pretty unlikely. In the unlikely event a person weighs more in the morning it will come off after emptying their bladder.

Why Have I Stopped Losing Weight?

Hello,
I have been dieting and exercising for about 4 months and I've lost 15 lbs. I am 30 yrs old, 5'8" and 162 lbs. In the last 3 weeks I have been exercising 6 days a week for about 30 minutes a day, either with boot camp-type interval training or an elliptical machine. I'm eating about 1200-1350 calories a day. The past 3 weeks my weight loss has slowed and I even gained a pound the first day of my period. What would cause me to gain weight?
I've had a weight problem since I was 13 or so and my dream is to be 140-145. I have never really had success on diets until recently. I've been tracking my calories and I usually eat 3 meals about 350-400 calories and a 100-200 calorie snack each day. Lately I've been really hungry in between meals. My mom thinks I'm not eating enough. I don't want to eat too many calories though. I am so frustrated that I feel like giving up but I know I can't do that. --Carrie E.

Dear Carrie,
YAY for you for not considering giving up as an option :) I have some very clear answers for you to consider and I think you'll be happy to have some direction.

First of all for your height/weight/age and recent activity level you are burning over 2000 calories a day. Your calorie intake is so low that your body is now compensating to "save yourself" (as if you were a starving caveman!) You started out losing weight very quickly on this low calorie diet, but your body doesn't want you to waste away so it's slowing its metabolism. It sounds counter-intuitive, but by bringing your calorie level up to 1600-1800 level (Mom is right, again) your body will feel safe enough to raise the metabolism again and you will be able to lose weight slowly and in a healthy way, and not feel hungry so often.

Second, your weight reflects simply your weight, and not your body composition. Working out heavily with weights can increase the water weight in your muscle, just as premenstrually we often retain more water and the scale says "You weigh more". The scale would say "You weigh more" if you were holding a 16 oz bottle of water in your hand...it wouldn't say "hey, put down that pound of water--that doesn't count!" It doesn't know why you weigh this much. I wouldn't be surprised if you've gained a pound or two of muscle after weeks of boot camp either. So you really can't be putting all your measurements of success on the number the scale tells you.

My advice is to keep up the exercises you enjoy doing and think about how good you feel when this is a regular part of your life. If you are exercising only to lose weight it is likely you will eventually resent "having to do the exercise" and you'll stop. If you are exercising because you like it and feel good, you'll keep going for years! I would suggest continuing your healthy meal plan but increasing the calories to 400-500 per meal and add another snack as well (either between meals or evening) for a total of 1400 mimimum calories to 1900 maximum.

Taking the healthy eating and exercise routines and making these your priority in the long run--instead of how many pounds a week you lose--will serve you best. Keep a chart of your weight a few times a week and look back on it over several months: See that you are 10 pounds lighter than you used to be--not that you haven't lost a pound this week. In the overall time you learn to eat healthier, even if you lose 2 pounds a month you'll have reached your goal in a year! I know you probably want it faster than that, but it'll be easier to live your life if you are making new habits instead of going on a diet to lose weight. The results will be long term instead of "I lost 2 pounds and then got too hungry and stopped the diet" or "I lost 2 pounds and then got sick of exercising". The weight will be off once and for all and you'll never have to go on a diet again!

Finally, think about how your thoughts influence your weight and if your beliefs are interfering with your process. If foremost in your mind you keep hearing "I've always had a weight problem" and "I've never been successful with diets" then you keep believing this. Start sending yourself a new message and repeat it often (and I mean 50 times a day) during the day. Something that resonates with you like "I am developing life-long healthy habits so I can live in my dream body for life". Telling yourself this new message will eventually turn into a new belief and this will in turn become the way you view yourself and the way you live.

Enjoy your new lifestyle with healthy eating habits and invigorating exercise and give your mind and body time to form into the best you that you can be in the years to come!
Please let me know if you have any more questions and keep me posted on how it's going!

Are There Any Supplements That Will Help Lower My Cholesterol?

I'm a 54 year old woman who's a little overweight and my doctor just put me on medication to lower my cholesterol. Are there any herbal supplements I can take to help get it down so I can get off the medication? --Lisa A.

Dear Lisa,

I'm glad ot hear you are so motivated to lower your cholesterol! How much diet will affect your level depends on how elevated it is. If your total cholesterol level is 240 (the target is usually under 200) you may have a good chance of getting off the medications with a little weight loss and a lower fat diet. If your level is 400, then it's more than likely a genetic condition that will never be able to be resolved by your diet. Some people just have bodies that make too much cholesterol and medication is necessary to prevent the cardiac complications that you're at risk for.

I don't know of any herbal supplements that lower cholesterol, but I do know of one product I've seen help a lot of people ... Metamucil. This fiber supplement, promoted to help 'regularity', is made from a type of fiber that binds to bile (which is made in your body partly from cholesterol) and drags it out through your digestive tract, eliminating a portion of it instead of allowing it to recirculate back for re-use. Bile is an important aid in fat digestion, but if you eliminate more of it, your body will just make more and it will use up more cholesterol in the process. Metamucil is a great fiber supplement and there are almost no situations that contraindicate taking it (except for maybe recent intestinal surgery).

The fiber in it helps you have regular and easy bowel movements, the higher fiber intake may reduce the chance of developing colon cancer, it keeps you full between meals, and may help normalize blood sugar levels. It comes flavored, sugar-free, and unflavored (you can mix it into juice). You start with one serving a day and work your way up to three (when your body adjusts, gradually, to the side effects of increased fiber intake) and many people have reduced their cholesterol by 20 or 30 mg/dl using this product.

Are Vitamin Pills a Waste of Money?

I don't eat a totally balanced diet and, because I have trouble swallowing large pills, I take Walgreen's brand of inexpensive multi-vitamins that are very small but contain at least the RDA. I can take them for 6 months everyday or not take them at all and I notice no difference. So I wonder, do these kinds of supplements really do any good or am I just wasting my money? Thanks, Lee M.

That's an excellent question, Lee!
Because you admit that you don't eat a balanced diet, taking an inexpensive multi-vitamin to meet the daily value for most vitamins and minerals is absolutely great 'health insurance'. You won't feel amazingly better just because your body functions normally. However, you will feel amazingly awful if you end up with any type of vitamin deficiency!

It's not too common for people who have access to food in this country to experience any severe vitamin deficiency unless they have other underlying problems. But keeping a constant ideal level of vitamins in your body (and minerals, too) will be great insurance in the event you have any kind of illness that keeps you from eating well for a period of time or one that stresses your body to use additional nutrients (even as simple as the flu or a car accident can push you right into a compromised nutritional status).

I say definitely keep taking the multi-vitamin, unless you would rather start eating healthy (see http://www.mypyramid.gov for a great guideline) and getting the nutrients you need through food--an even better idea :)

Can A Supplement Help Me Gain Weight?

My question is actually about gaining weight as opposed to losing it. I am about 6'2 and I am too skinny. My question is, can that nutritional drink product called Boost help me gain weight and what is recommended amount to drink. I am a light eater. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Andy K.

Dear Andy,

Yes, the product called Boost is effective to help people with a limited appetite get in more calories more easily. These supplemental beverages (including ensure, carnation instant breakfast drink, and the store brand called Equate) usually contain 250 calories per can as well as protein, vitamins and minerals. Some also contain dietary fiber. One can per day will help you gain 1/2 pound per week. If you can tolerate two per day without getting bloated, this would likely be optimal. There are also the "plus" lines (Boost Plus and Ensure Plus) which contain 350 calories per can, and some that have even 450 calories per can, in case your ability to take in fluids is limited. Be sure to check with your physician if you have any conditions that require a special diet. Many of these drinks are made especially for people on dietary restrictions and you can find supplemental drinks that are low protein, high protein, lower in sugar, etc to meet your physiological needs in case of medical necessity.

Some other supplements you can check for in your local pharmacy or grocery store come in juice-box packaging and taste more like juice, if you get tired of the milky drinks (one is called Boost Breeze). Many of the companies have websites where you can download recipes to make higher calorie soups, puddings, and shakes with these formulas, and how you can keep interesting flavors going to prevent getting bored of the daily cans.

These supplements are always a good option for anyone to keep up a good nutritional intake when their intake of food is compromised: think illness, dental procedures, or even stress that could temporarily reduce your ability to eat as well as you should be eating.