Is it safe to diet whilst breastfeeding? And whats best?

[Dawnus]

DD 8 weeks old and breastfeeding...have a stubborn stone to lose, but think I am actually putting on weight!! Rarrrr
I thought that you are able to eat an extra 1000 calories whilst breastfeeding...not that I have btw but you know what i'm saying!
Can't seem to go a day without eating something sweet...usually chocolate, I just need it, literally! Think it's the energy element that chocolate gives that my body craves.
Any suggestions, the weather is turning very summery and I don't have anything remotely summery that fits me and I can't afford to get a new summer wardrobe...nor do I want to! LOL
I can't imagine that eating only salads is gonna make for very good breastmilk?

yes you can diet. just eat less, it won't make any difference to your milk. nothign too drastic though, you are still post-natal at 8w and you need energy to make up for sleep deprivation.

Diet won't affect milk. Def can't have extra 1000 cals a day when bf! More like 200 I think.

I haven't heard that you can eat an extra 1000 calories daily - I've heard 500, but even then, I think it depends on how much your baby drinks, and how much exercise you do!

Your body will make good breastmilk unless you are very malnourished. But I personally don't think living on just salads is particularly good for anyone, especially when you are looking after a small baby, you need to keep your energy levels up whether you are breastfeeding or bootlefeeding.

I've found that walking every day has helped me lose weight, and simply trying not to eat so much junk food, rather then specifically dieting.

What you eat will have very little effect on your breastmilk composition, unless you are really on a total starvation diet for a long time.

But the best way to lose weight is to eat healthily (no chocolate, or only a tiny bit), and get some exercise. So now the weather is nice, put the baby in their pram or sling and get out and power walk for a good hour a day - why not take a picnic and make the most of it.

I personally wouldn't do it while baby still so young.

Your milk supply could be affected. Just try not to eat too much rubbish, but make sure you're eating plenty of healthy stuff.

Also, is your thryroid allright? Mind has become underactive since I was pregnant and I put loads of weight on a d didn't lose it.

X post with everyone else who apparently know that milk not affected.

Rest of my advice stands though.

kellymom

Def exercise - loads of walking. Could do DVDs etc whilst baby is sleeping - or just lying awake being entertained by amusing mummy jumping up and down.

It's a lot easier to fit that sort of exercise in now than when they are an energetic toddler who want to crawl all over you whilst you are trying to do stomach crunches!

Also drink loads of water, and as others have said, just try and eat relatively healthily. Certainly no more than 500 calories extra a day. You can join weight watchers or slimming world - they have a special plan with extra points for people who are breastfeeding.

I've just lost over 4 stones in 8 months - I thought i might as well use the boost from breastfeeding to get it off. Never affected my milk, I seem to make more than a herd of Jerseys.

Slimming World is good and is one of the few diets recommended for pregnant/bf women as you can eat well and eat a lot, it's just quite low fat. Still, 8 weeks is very early days, don't beat yourself up, it will come off and you can really use the breastfeeding to give you a kickstart.

(I also used to treat myself to a couple of squares of Green and Black's dark chocolate and a cup of G&B's hot chocolate every night, that used to quell the chocolate urges. Really good for you as well!)

I lost weight using the Paul McKenna "I can make you thin" book and CD when DD was tiny.

Rather than being a calorie counting diet it works on 4 principles, which off the top of my head are:

1. When you are hungry, eat
2. Eat what you want to eat not what you think you should eat
3. Eat consciously and slowly and enjoy every mouthful
4. When you begin to feel full, stop.

The book explains it much better and I found the CD really good. It uses lots of positive affirmation and visualising how you want to look.

I had been craving sweets etc and had felt tired al the time, but once I started doing this method I found that I naturally wanted to eat more healthy food.

Chocolate is very bad for energy levels btw. Because it contains refined sugar which is easily accessible (and broken down) by the body, you get a sugar high, followed by a slump and another craving for more sugar. If you really, really want chocolate, mix with a source of protein as well as protein helps you feel fuller for longer (e.g. nuts - yes I know very fatty but good for you).

I tried the weightwatchers diet which was actually pretty good for getting the weight off (apart from the stubborn last 1/2 stone), but now I'm cutting back on feeds no-one has told my body I should be less hungry and the weight is slowly creeping back up again .

I think i'm more anxious about it as the weight dropped off with DS and my milk dried up after 4 months...which i put it down to the weight loss, but you all seem sure that it shouldn't affect your milk? Tho i'm still not convinced.
Granted i need to eat more healthily and cut out the crap, I need a good substitute for chocolate tho, and I need someone to eat my easter egg for me!! ;)
DD very clingy so I don't get much time for myself for exercise routines or flailing round the front room like a loon, or even to get the wii fit out!
We do go walking on the sand dunes at the weekends tho.
I do have an underactive thyroid, but have had it for years and it's controlled so that shouldn't be hindering my weight.
I have an aversion to paying for help, you'd think that with the current obesity % in the UK, Slimming World and the like would be free, or at least the information be FOC.

Kellymom was really useful, thank you

yes I've just read that kellymom page, it's very interesting.

I think BB's idea of a G&B's trzat every evening is a good one, if you are a chocolate addict like me, it's very hard to cut it out completely.

Yeah definitely, I start the day telling myself 'that todays the day, no crap, new start' and then find myself biting into a snickers with some crisps on the side a few hours later.
But i really do need to find a substitute for these...something sweet that'll give a boost of energy and is healthy...not too much to ask for then

I love nuts, all sorts. They are full of vitamins and energy.

Yes definitely. With DD2 I started weight watchers when she was 6 weeks old (you are allowed extra points for BF), I didn't actually go to meetings though as I had done WW (meetings, paying etc) very successfully about a year after DD1 was born so I had all the books and info and knew how to follow the plan. I lost just over a stone in about 6 weeks and so was back to my pre pregnancy size by the time she was 3 months. My milk supply was unaffected and I didn't find I put any weight back on again when I stopped doing WW. DS is now 2 weeks old and I am planning to start WW at 6 weeks again to shift the extra stone I am currently carrying.

I think it is important to do a structured healthy diet though - so something like WW or Slimming World is a good idea (despite your understandable aversion to paying them!), but a crash diet or living on lettuce probably isn't!!

Re something sweet that isn't chocolate - I found dried mango and dried pineapple to be v good in that regard (although it is still v fattening - not quite as bad as snickers and crisps tho...). Although saying that I am still munching my way through the crate load of chocolate the DDs got for Easter at the moment (naughty Mummy...), I keep telling myself I have another 4 weeks of grace before I start the diet!