Hi @Karik95
I don’t have personal experience of losing appetite after stopping breast feeding. However, I do have a dd, who has an ED. I also know a woman in her mid 40s, who struggles to maintain her weight and has to be very vigilant to ensure her periods don’t stop. She eats little and often.
In your place, I would create myself a routine similar to the routine that people with eating disorders / hospitals follow when refeeding for weight loss. Namely 3 meals, 3 snacks.
You appear to have somewhat lost you appetite so it’s important to eat this way to help you regain it before your eating, which sounds potentially disordered tips into anything more serious. My dd for example has anorexia and is very mentally unwell. A couple of months ago she truly believed she didn’t need to eat to live and there was nothing wrong with eating less than a 12 month old baby eats in a day as she and a baby are different.
So my dd now eats to routine.
8am breakfast - 2 small croissants and fruit (eg a large apple or grapes)
10.30am snack - 1 small croissant
1pm lunch - varies but should be a minimum of 500 calories
3.30pm - snack - she’s now got her appetite back so that’s biscuits and chocolate, maybe bread etc
7pm - dinner a minimum of 500 calories
9.30pm snack…or before if she’s wanting to eat it sooner
I will be pushing to add a yoghurt to breakfast soon. Dd will only eat certain foods and won’t eat yoghurt atm but this will be optimum for her to see her through to break time, which at school is 11 am.
Are you ok counting calories btw? I hope that isn’t triggering for you. It’s to give you an idea. My dd has no idea I was counting her calories for a long time. It’s no longer possible as she is eating loads, gaining weight. This means she has regained her appetite and her body is in recovery, repairing the damage she has done to herself over the past year. And make sure you’re not exercising much. Right now it’s about energy conservation. Curb the walks. Forget about the gym etc.
Now that you have identified a problem, it is very very important that you eat every few hours and breakfast plus the morning snack. Eating in this way will eventually bring your appetite back online. My dd, who always used to eat a hearty breakfast when younger found this the most difficult meal of the day to reintroduce so it’s important to persevere.
As for what to eat, as you may manage smaller quantities in the beginning as your stomach needs to be trained to accept more food. So please ensure you eat plenty of calorie dense foods, always full fat dairy, cream and fats, high carb foods, plenty of protein. And expect to feel overly full and feel sick some of the time. Accept this as part of the process. Every meal should include carbs, fats and protein. This is important to keep blood sugar low. Atm for my dd food is food. There is no restriction on the amount of sweets, chocolate and biscuits she is allowed to consume and she’s eating a lot. Don’t be afraid to eat these things.
Most importantly please talk to your GP today to find out what support is on offer. How much are you eating in a day? If it is very low and 500 or less, it is imperative you seek medical attention now and present to A&E. If you are only eating this little atm, you need more specific advice on restarting eating as the general advice is to only increase what you eat by 200-300 calories in the day every 4ish days.
In any case, your electrolytes may be out of whack, you possibly have many vitamin and mineral deficiencies So you should be given blood tests, have your pulse, BP and oxygen sats tested, possibly an ECG depending on results and the level of restriction. The pulse drops when not eating enough and can reach a dangerous level.