Am I eating enough to feed my baby?

[BunnyLebowski]

DS is 5 weeks old and we're breastfeeding very successfully.

2 weeks ago I decided overhaul my cake based diet as I was feeling podgy and knackered. I've lost a stone so far .

I'm using MFP and eating roughly 1400-1800 calories a day. I've cut out all processed beige food, am avoiding bad carbs and am juicing every morning.

I walk 2 miles a day 5 days a week with DS in a sling and take the dog for a run/walk a few nights a week.

Typical day's eating is

Breakfast: Juice (veg rather than fruit)
Oats so Simple sachet with semi skimmed milk and raspberries or scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Lunch: Homemade veg soup, ratatouille, dark leafy salads with lean protein (turkey, tuna, peppered mackerel), a sandwich made with linseed bread (2 days a week). Minimal dressing or mayo.

Dinner: Beef/chicken stir fry, salmon/chicken breast/steak with salad or steamed veg.

Snacks: full fat yogurt, blueberries, nuts, olives, 2-3 litres of water.

I feel sated and generally loads better than before.

DS is having a rare fussy evening and my boobs feel like they're not filling up as much as normal between feeds. Also my weight has plateaued for last few days. The last thing I want to do is compromise my supply.

Does it sound like I'm doing ok?

Yes. It's a myth that you need to eat more when breast feeding.

Yeah that's what I've read and am leaning towards myself.

You can add breastfeeding to MFP and it knocks off 500 calories from your daily total but I never use those extra calories. I don't feel hungry enough.

DS is feeding now and falling asleep. Hopefully it's still quality product he's getting .

Well done on your weight loss! Your diet sounds fine..I did Weight Watchers after both of my pregnancies and continued to BF successfully for 12 months..as long as you feel well in yourself and baby is happy I wouldn't worry

Think of your diet across weeks rather than days
and remember that every pound of excess weight is 3000 calories witing to be used up

I embarked on a major weight loss/exercise regime when ebf, I was consuming 1300 ish calories per day with absolutely no impact to my supply. I never ate the extra 500 per day allowed when using mfp, I'm sure feeding accelerated my weight loss. Good luck!

Well done! Your diet is very similar to mine. I'm also fully breastfeeding my 4 months baby. Sometimes I crave a junk food or cold coke but after watching my baby I think it's not about me and what I want it's all about her well being and getting enough vitamins, minerals etc. As being a good mum not an east task but its worth it!

Well done on your loss. I am ebf my 9 week old. I am losing weight but like you when my baby is extra fussy i worry that i am affecting my supply with my diet. The fussy stages do pass and then i stop worrying again. Im eating about 1400 calories a day and my supply is fine. I dont think you need to eat extra when breastfeeding, the fat reserves the body lays down should be enough to feed. Obviously this might not apply to everyone but im fat enough not to need extra calories

Anyway to answer your question your diet looks healthy and i think you are eating enough .

From a bf POV rather than a weightloss one, what you describe sounds quite typical for your baby's age. Your supply is adjusting to baby's demand so you won't really feel so full anymore. Also, you are coming up to six week growth spurt so expect a lot of "fussy" evenings/cluster feeding. So long as baby is alert/lots of wet nappies/gaining weight, no need to worry about your supply.

Excellent stuff. Thanks everyone .

DS slept brilliantly last night which I know wouldn't happen if he weren't full. His nappies are fine too.

And I've lost another 2lb so all is good! Going to stick with the diet and am joining a gym next week once I hit the 6 weeks post c-section mark.