bf mum diet. What can I grab other than biscuits!!

[ThatllDoPig]

I am hungry all the time, but also am doing a lot of comfort eating (coping strategy when feeling stressed). My crapfood consumption feels out of control.
Baby is almost five weeks, also got older dcs including toddler. Sometimes feel like I'm coping quite well, other times not at all.

Anyone know how many extra calories you can eat if breastfeeding? I feel like I have already gained weight after giving birth!
Don't know what answers I'm looking for really. I know that I should not eat a packet of biscuits a day! Any ideas of what else is easy and effortless, yum but healthy? Or should I just not worry and stuff my face at least until things settle down?

Casseroles! Easy and yummy, and you'll be getting lots of veg and protein from the meat. Spag bol was my fav! Make a massive pot and you'll have left overs for the next day.

And if you want to eat biscuits, eat them!! Don't worry about it! I used to get through about 4-5 choc bars a day when bf. Oh and drink LOTS of water! :)

I wouldn't worry too much about calorie counting, you probably won't have the time Just eat to your appetite. You could chop up a load of carrot and celery sticks in the morning and then stick your head in the fridge every time you need a snack. Hummus is good with carrot sticks.

And IMissSleep is dead right, cook stuff in bulk and then freeze it in portions so that you don't have to cook very often. It's especially a bugger to cook in the evening when baby wants to cluster feed so try and eat your main meal at lunch time if you can.

It's OK to eat some junk stuff but make sure you're getting enough of everything else. Personally I feel that cadbury's creme eggs are essential

Don't stress about it too much - you've got a lot on your shoulders at the moment. (Mind you don't listen to me, I've started eating so much chocolate because ds doesn't sleep and I'm knackered)

But I find wraps and pitta bread very good for one handed stuffing in face. Stick pitta in the toaster and they split open easier so you can fill with cheese, ham, chicken, avocado, tomato, humous, soft cheese. etc. I keep packs of pitta and wraps in the freezer so we always have some. When you get spare time (yeah right!) chop up melon, mango, peppers etc and keep in the fridge to alternate with biscuit eating.

Once you start weaning the baby you can address your diet by eating the same healthy stuff you give them.

Same as at any other time, eat to appetite. BUT be aware that bf makes you extra thirsty and that thirst can feel like hunger. So drink enough that you're not thirsty. You're tired and craving sugar and it's a vicious cycle.

You don't need that many more calories to maintain weight than when not bfing. Similar to being pregnant, couple of hundred calories but eating to appetite is the best thing to do.

I found smoothies, flapjack, sandwiches made in advance, crackers and cheese/grapes, batch made veg soup etc all helped when I didn't have the time or energy to do anything else.

Tinned mackerel on ryvita, for omega 3 . Yogurt with fruit in,I keep frozen blueberries or raspberries to have with plain yoghurt. Bananas. Celery with (proper) peanut butter in, or hummous. Toasted bagels.

OP - I could have written your post!

I think it is up to an extra 500 cal when BF-ing, although that seems high to me. I have put a big fruit bowl in my eyeline from my BF-ing seat IYSWIM. That way it is actually easier to grab an apple that get up with babe in arms and get the good stuff biscuits. Other failsafe is cereal, quick and easy. I'm allowing myself pretty much anything except choc, crisps, biscuits, cakes, etc. That can mean 2 bowls of crunchy nut cornflakes on a bad day, but that's better than family size CDM....

This could be me apart from ages of DC!

My strategy this week is vegetable soup, a massive pot, poured into mugs and kept in the fridge, when DS2 starts getting hungry I put a mugful in the microwave and drink it while feeding instead of my usual tea and biscuits.

Fruit and juice worked for me. Strawberries are particularly nice at the moment.

I thought it was 1000 calories! (Heads off to the weight loss thread.)
I could have written this post 2 weeks ago, I was starting to worry for my teeth!

Cheese and crackers. Fast, easy and fills you up. Although I do get through a lot of cheese and crackers since...

Also have soup for lunch, but on top of the cheese and crackers snacks. In a mug works for me as I have a hand free for little ones.

All good ideas here. The part I found difficult was getting out of bed in the morning in time to have breakfast due to all the feeding/nappychanging/toddler wrangling. My HV gave me some good advice - keep some of those breakfast/muesli/energy type bars and a bottle of water in a bedside drawer. That way I could keep my energy levels up until we could all get downstairs.

Garabaldi bics, altho not the most exciting are pretty low in fat.

Thankyou all for your replies. As soon as I'd posted I thought how pathetic I sounded, but your replies were all supportive and packed with good ideas. As always so good to know it's not just me!

Your baby is only 5 weeks - I was still doing a packet of biscuits a day at that point!! Like you I have another DC and when they were both sleeping I was frazzled and needed some comfort and a cup of tea is too wet without a biscuit! I did become a bit down though when I started to gain weight rapidly so I'd say don't get too stressed about it, it's early days but if you want something sweet but healthy I've discovered fruity rivetas which are yum and also fruit oakcakes. You get the sweet fix but feel reasonable healthy!