How much extra do you really need?

It's a new year, and for some this is when they vow to make healthier life choices and to "get into shape" start exercising!  Well I fall into a different category.  I'm pregnant. Losing weight during pregnancy is generally a no-no.  For many reasons.  You need to eat more to help build that baby, and dieting (particularly certain foods) is just BAD for baby, and people in general in my own humble opinion.  But that is another post for another day.  So let's start with some stats:

As you can see we are going with an average person, me really, and assuming that because BMI is a bit higher pre-pregnancy (I was trying to lose weight before I got pregnant) I am aiming to only gain 20 lbs.  The calorie calculator I found is at freedieting.com and you can use the various calculators to figure out how many calories you need, for almost any stage in life.  It will adjust the calories based on current weight, height, and age. So during pregnancy the calorie intake is as follows:

You will notice that the Basic Metabolic Rate and the Sedentary Rates are identical in this grouping.  That is not always the same.  The basic rate is literally doing nothing, just breathing, eating and sleeping.  Sedentary is anything more active than that.  I have a Misfit Shine that I wear to keep track of my steps, calorie burning and sleep.  It has been very helpful to see what I do in a given day.  There are also other apps you can connect to your Shine account so you can track your calorie intake, and your walks or runs.  After having my little Guppy I do plan on breastfeeding, so I will have to watch my caloric intake during that time too....

As you can see I have several different stats in the above table.  To simply maintain my post pregnancy weight (assuming it is 158) is quite a bit lower than the calories needed to Breastfeed, and the last two calorie amounts are assuming that there is no breastfeeding and you are trying to lose weight, without exercising.  I will lose the fat I accumulated during pregnancy naturally while breastfeeding, and while some want to lose right away, I want to make sure I don't mess up my milk supply trying to get thin again.  It took 9 months to make a human and gain the pregnancy weight, it's gonna take me just as long to lose it again.

**Disclaimers, I am not a doctor, I do not have a degree in nutrition.  You need to talk to your Dr before starting a diet, and exercise program, pregnant or not!!! Also, I am not being paid to talk about the Misfit Shine, or the apps.  I genuinely love the whole system.