Maternity leave is not good for healthy eating

bobbiedr
bobbiedr Posts: 260 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am starting my 5th week on maternity leave. My daughter is 4 weeks old as of today. I will be out two more weeks after this. Can't start exercising until I'm cleared by my doc, so I've been trying to eat better.

The problem is that I'm at home, so I have easy access to food and I eat/snack more than I should. Also, I'm breast feeding my daughter, so I'm constantly hungry. So frustrating! Ugh.

Replies

  • silmarilliane
    silmarilliane Posts: 133 Member
    that sucks (and also makes me worried about having kids haha!)
    try to keep the snacks at home down to healthy options to lessen the impact. then if you do fancy a mars bar or something, do a walk around to the shop and back to burn some calories. doesn't breastfeeding burn loads of calories too, or is that an urban myth?

    also i find i snack less if i keep busy. which i'm sure you are with a new baby (congrats by the way)
    if you still need the snacks, sucking sweets and chewing gum are good as they last long and are relatively low in calories.
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
    Hi Mama,
    It's rough those first few weeks of parenthood to eat healthy. I tried to have lots of healthy snacks to have on hand when the hungries from nursing an infant hit. Lara bars, hummus and veggies and pita chips, and tons of fresh fruit were in my house.
    I ate oatmeal for breakfast everyday, with fresh or dried fruit in it to sweeten it up.
    Are you able to go on a walk with your little one everyday?
  • misscharleygirl
    misscharleygirl Posts: 66 Member
    I had a lot of stuff leftover from when I was pregnant (not too much, mind you - I only gained 27 pounds) so I let myself eat it after I gave birth, but refused to replace it with like-kind snacks. What I replaced it with was healthier alternatives and low-calorie snacks.

    It took me about five weeks to get to where the house was healthy-eating ready (admittedly I portioned things a little, because I was dreading a cookie-free home). I figured the first five weeks were a treat for the fact I'd just given birth.

    I imagine a lot of it will come down to motivation - I was motivated as hell to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight before going back to work, so I didn't suffer all that much.

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