Breastfeeding And eating right

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hellovickykitty
hellovickykitty Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How hard it is to eat right and keep calories low while breastfeeding! Any help would be great on how to fight those hungry urges or what I could eat that won't affect what I've burned exercising!

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  • hookahbinx
    hookahbinx Posts: 74 Member
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    Oatmeal is great for breastfeeding. Try to sweeten with splenda instead of sugar.
  • hookahbinx
    hookahbinx Posts: 74 Member
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    Fruits are also great. Fiber with keep you full.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    How low is "low"?

    FYI, you shouldn't be eating less than 1800 calories while breastfeeding or your supply will suffer. And even for most women 1800 calories wouldn't be appropriate.

    If you're having urges to eat, it could be your body telling you that you're not getting enough. Of course that doesn't mean to throw caution to the wind. Log all of your foods so that you know how many calories you're taking in and that you're properly fueling yourself for breastfeeding. Also, while breastfeeding you should aim for no more than 1 lbs/week loss (per LLL).
  • hookahbinx
    hookahbinx Posts: 74 Member
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    Please look into the supplement funugreek.
    It boosts breast milk production
  • hellovickykitty
    hellovickykitty Posts: 40 Member
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    hookahbinx wrote: »
    Oatmeal is great for breastfeeding. Try to sweeten with splenda instead of sugar.
    Ok good! Because I've been eating oatmeal
  • hellovickykitty
    hellovickykitty Posts: 40 Member
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    Ninkyou wrote: »
    How low is "low"?

    FYI, you shouldn't be eating less than 1800 calories while breastfeeding or your supply will suffer. And even for most women 1800 calories wouldn't be appropriate.

    If you're having urges to eat, it could be your body telling you that you're not getting enough. Of course that doesn't mean to throw caution to the wind. Log all of your foods so that you know how many calories you're taking in and that you're properly fueling yourself for breastfeeding. Also, while breastfeeding you should aim for no more than 1 lbs/week loss (per LLL).
    Great advice thank you. MFP has place me on a 1888 calorie diet with the weight I want to lose.

  • hookahbinx
    hookahbinx Posts: 74 Member
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    Sorry I meant fenugreek
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
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    If you're hungry while breastfeeding, eat something! Listen to your body. But log everything and stay within your calories. :) My baby just turned 1 last week and I've lost 77 lbs in the past year while nursing him full-time, so it can be done without sacrificing your supply. Stick with losing 1 lb per week. Weigh your food and log accurately to make sure you are eating enough. Oh, and get enough protein! I had some struggles with that early on and I had to be very intentional about getting more protein.
  • hellovickykitty
    hellovickykitty Posts: 40 Member
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    victoria_1024 wrote: »
    If you're hungry while breastfeeding, eat something! Listen to your body. But log everything and stay within your calories. :) My baby just turned 1 last week and I've lost 77 lbs in the past year while nursing him full-time, so it can be done without sacrificing your supply. Stick with losing 1 lb per week. Weigh your food and log accurately to make sure you are eating enough. Oh, and get enough protein! I had some struggles with that early on and I had to be very intentional about getting more protein.
    Sounds good. I plan on taking it slow this time. I definitely dont want my milk supply to drop!
  • owlcake
    owlcake Posts: 27 Member
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    I'm going through the same thing. I have 2 month old and I have 40lbs to loose. I have just started really tracking calories this week. Trying to figure out what my calorie budget is too loose lbs. Like everyone has said above I don't want to go to low and jeopardize my supply. So I'm just going to write down everything I eat and see what I am doing then dial down the calorie intake till I see lbs gone. I know I need to find better higher protein snacks. Cause the hunger all the time leads to bad choices.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    hellovickykitty wrote: »
    How hard it is to eat right and keep calories low while breastfeeding! Any help would be great on how to fight those hungry urges or what I could eat that won't affect what I've burned exercising!

    Unless you starve yourself, you will be fine do not worry. There is no special eating plan for breastfeeding mothers. If your diet was lacking in nutrients pre breastfeeding or while breastfeeding, it is the same and your health will suffer no more now than it would before.
  • hellovickykitty
    hellovickykitty Posts: 40 Member
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    owlcake wrote: »
    I'm going through the same thing. I have 2 month old and I have 40lbs to loose. I have just started really tracking calories this week. Trying to figure out what my calorie budget is too loose lbs. Like everyone has said above I don't want to go to low and jeopardize my supply. So I'm just going to write down everything I eat and see what I am doing then dial down the calorie intake till I see lbs gone. I know I need to find better higher protein snacks. Cause the hunger all the time leads to bad choices.

    Exactly!
  • jessbeevs
    jessbeevs Posts: 1 Member
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    I've just started logging so I'm definitely no expert - but I created am 'exercise' called breastfeeding to remind myself that I really do need those extra calories, even if I'm trying to lose weight. I'm still eating less than I was before I started logging, so hopefully that means I'll be losing weight even though I'm eating more than just the calories MFP recommends.
  • ragenhay1
    ragenhay1 Posts: 158 Member
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    I've been eating about 1800 calories for the last three months and lost 25 lbs while exclusively breastfeeding my now five month old. Definitely reduce calories slowly. I went too quickly when I first started and noticed a dip in supply. I upped my calories them reduced much slower and had no further supply problems. Fenugreek does help with supply but should be taken with blessed thistle for full effect. Those supplements will help if you're supply dips and you need to build it back up.
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
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    Some snack ideas for you - cottage cheese with pineapple, steamed edamame, dry fruit balls(this is an Indian thing and recipes are all over the web), smoothie(kale, spinach, banana, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1 cup milk), oatmeal with fruit, apple with peanut butter. These are all very healthy and do not add too many calories.
  • owlcake
    owlcake Posts: 27 Member
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    Thanks for yummy snack ideas!!
  • owlcake
    owlcake Posts: 27 Member
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    ragenhay1 wrote: »
    I've been eating about 1800 calories for the last three months and lost 25 lbs while exclusively breastfeeding my now five month old. Definitely reduce calories slowly. I went too quickly when I first started and noticed a dip in supply. I upped my calories them reduced much slower and had no further supply problems. Fenugreek does help with supply but should be taken with blessed thistle for full effect. Those supplements will help if you're supply dips and you need to build it back up.

    Would be so excited to loose 25 lbs in 3 months! So happy found you ladies. I'm getting really pumped to do this.
  • ragenhay1
    ragenhay1 Posts: 158 Member
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    owlcake wrote: »
    ragenhay1 wrote: »
    I've been eating about 1800 calories for the last three months and lost 25 lbs while exclusively breastfeeding my now five month old. Definitely reduce calories slowly. I went too quickly when I first started and noticed a dip in supply. I upped my calories them reduced much slower and had no further supply problems. Fenugreek does help with supply but should be taken with blessed thistle for full effect. Those supplements will help if you're supply dips and you need to build it back up.

    Would be so excited to loose 25 lbs in 3 months! So happy found you ladies. I'm getting really pumped to do this.

    I have a lot to lose both from this pregnancy and my last one which was almost six years ago now. I expect things will start slowing down soon. I'm going to be losing about 80lbs all together.
  • lalababi04
    lalababi04 Posts: 3 Member
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    Nursing my now 8 month old and still trying to lose the weight from my three year old .. My appetite is really large im happy to see there are other women going thru this mfp put me on a 1200 cal diet for the weight im trying to lose but I add on 500 because im EBF is that to low? I dont want supply issues but really need to drop some lbs .
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    lalababi04 wrote: »
    Nursing my now 8 month old and still trying to lose the weight from my three year old .. My appetite is really large im happy to see there are other women going thru this mfp put me on a 1200 cal diet for the weight im trying to lose but I add on 500 because im EBF is that to low? I dont want supply issues but really need to drop some lbs .

    Yes, that's too low. At minimum you should eat 1800 calories.

    Also, if you ladies are exercising, plan to eat at least 50-75% of those calories back. You need to keep your body properly fueled not only for the workouts but to maintain your supply.

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