Bfing making me eat like a pig...help!

[Lizzzombie]

Help, I am constantly hungry. I know that you are allowed 500 extra calories a day if you breast feed but I am sure I am going over that. I am literally binging and could carry on eating all day.

I've tried drinking more water (in case its thirst disguised as hunger) but I am still hungry. I am terrified that I am going to wake up one morning the size of a house!

So far I have eaten today:
A HUGE bowl of shreddies
A banana
3 chocolate digestives
1 round of cheese & salad sandwiches
1 pack of salt n shake crisps (without the salt)
1 round of peanut butter sandwiches
1 marmite & cream cheese wrap
1 chunky kit kat
half a large dairy milk bar
1 pot activia yoghurt
Half a chocolate brownie
most of a celery, dipped in cottage cheese - in a vain effort to fill up on something vaguely healthy.

Am still hungry.
Has anyone else experienced this level of hunger whilst breast feeding?

DD is 3 months and I am not sure if my wallet can sustain my huge appetite!
DS is 4 yo and was BF for 6 months and I am sure I didn't binge this much with him.

Am sooo with you!
My baby is 6 months old and it is just starting to ease up now she is having some solids and possibly not having as much milk.
I am also finding it impossible to lose weight (you don't say! )

Must admit though, I have been eating what I fancy, which happens to be mostly cake, so I am lucky I am not much, much fatter.

same here. I have managed to put ON weight since giving birth (despite most people telling me you can't because the bf burns up lots of calories) because I am constantly hungry! Am desperate to lose this extra stone I am carrying around and can't wait to get back into running....

Same here, really hungry all the time!

Same here. I must have put on over a stone since having DD 6 months ago. I'm eating a bar or chocolate as I type. Although to be honest, I don't think I eat as much on the days I get out. It's just when I'm lounging around at home I eat non stop. I'm dreading going back to work next month just because of the weight I've put on and have started doing Wii Fit in an attempt to get my weight moving in the right direction. And I've just discovered the cappuccino chocolate swiss roll from M&S - I could eat one of those a day easily!

Me too - I've gained weight like tanmu

We're just laying down an extra layer to ensure our babies' survival in a famine... I have heard you often lose weight once they start on solids.

It's harder when it is your second, because you are using up lots of energy looking after DC1. I ate a Twix and a Mars every day for months. Protein is the key, I think, especially meat. You don't have much protein - or any meat/fish - on your list. If you are veggie, then you probably need double quantities.

me too
am 1/2 stone heavier than immediately after i had dd2, and becoming heavier by the minute. i have had to buy a capsule wardrobe as i can hardly get into a single thing from my pre pregnancy wardrobe.

Oh my, me too. It was getting ridiculous - I was hiding chocolate (so DP couldn't find it) and getting anxious if there weren't at least 2 kinds of biscuits in the house. I was behaving like an addict. Only now, 5 1/2 months is it beginning to improve.

Try not buying the junk. If there's no cake, chocolate, biscuits, crisps, etc in the house I eat a lot less.

I still do this and DS is nearly a year :( I was going through a multipack of dairy milk buttons, a family bag of nachos and a chocolate bar every day when he was born, on top of normal meals.

Can you try substituting some of the chocolate with healthier alternatives? I'm not a big fan of dried fruit but dried apple slices work for me. I've also tried eating meals with low GI - like peanut butter on wholemeal toast for breakfast, wholegrain rice and pasta in evening meals, so I don't get sugar crashes so often.

Just because you're hungry doesn't mean you have to eat though, does it? Obviously you need to eat enough to sustain your energy levels - as much as possible - but otherwise can't you just be a bit hungry until mealtime? And buy healthy food like nuts to cope with those "must eat now" moments?

I'm with you too. DS is two months and I have put on weight. I must stop eating a whole packet of biscuits at 3am. The only thing that shocked me about your list op is why you only had half the brownie!

gaelic - OH god no! My hunger as been all encompassing and overwhelming. Nuts?! fuck that...

anyway the doctor said it's OK
scroll down

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/16/metallic-breath-breastfeeding-sweet-food-cravings?INTCMP=SRCH

Well I'm not one to give advice given the amount of time I've spent really really hungry and totally unable to eat (crappy PND combined with money worries). I have lost all my pregnancy weight, but I'd rather not have been so hungry all these months. I'm just jealous.

oh gaelic sorry, that's rough

I'm starving. I keep meaning to start trying to cut down and failing but I am keeping an eye on my weight and I'm not gaining so I can live with that. I'm doing a lot of walking with DS to try to balance things out.

I only put on 6lbs during my pregnancy due to severe heartburn, but within the first month after having DD I'd put on a stone.
I try to stick to healthier alternatives when binging but its a more than just I'm hungry, its more of a 'MUST EAT NOW BINGEFEST!' its just scary! Think alot of it must be due to rushing around constantly after DS and not just being at one with my PFB like I was with him!

So pleased I'm not the only one!

(see - binging again!)

Try eating more protein. Should fill you up, and keep you fuller, for longer. IIRC, you need slightly more protein when you're BFing.

should have read Greeninkmama's post.

I have spent the last 3 and half years either pregnant or breastfeeding or both and I am now the size of a house with an arse extension. I eat so much that my DH takes the piss (he is a very kind man though and says "oh no you're not fat" when I moan). I start a diet every day and fail by about 2pm. I have a uniform for work and will be going back to work in about 8 weeks time - problem is I know I won't fit into my work uniform now and will have to go and order a bigger size. How embarrassing will that be???

Well that's your answer Lizzombie. Most women out on weight in pregnancy to help sustain them through breastfeeding (I know I did!). You didn't, so of course your body has to make up for that!

I ate like a horse and still lost weight while breastfeeding.
Mainly (I think) because I walked everywhere with a baby in a sling and didn't put on much weight in pregnancy.
But I also eat quite healthily. I'm not keen on sweet stuff which helps and enjoy things like carrot sticks/rice cakes and hummus.
I also try to avoid having sugary junk in the house.

One thing about
having a small baby is that tiredness causes sugar cravings in most people so if you are dead tired you will be getting the urge to binge on biscuits/chocolate/sweets. Maybe have a bowl of cereal (no added sugar) or porridge or something instead?

yes eat porridge! also oat cakes, peanut butter, chocolate hobnobs. both pregnancies I have lost all the pregnant weight within a couple of weeks then binged on chocolate when feeding. this time, at least, my weight is staying stable, partly because I'm making milk for two babies, but partly I think because I'm trying hard to eat more filling than sugary food (though I do need a sugar rush mid afternoon just to keep going).

chocolate hobnobs have oats in MamaChris so are good for you, honestly :)

the common themes here are chocolate/sweet stuff and that 'MUST EAT NOW!' feeling.....glad it's not just me then