Primal and breastfeeding!

[MrsBone]

So, I'm trying to start eating more primal, primarily due to allergies and I want to lose about 6-8 lbs, but I also want to make sure I'm eating enough because I'm breastfeeding. I'm sure my sister will chime in here, since she's a big primal foodie, but I wanted to get other opinions and tips. Today for example, I've eaten about 1600 calories so far, no grains, about a 1/2 cup beans, fruit, meat, and veggies, and fat. I've had 100 grams of fat, 100 grams of protein and 81 carbs before dinner. Dinner will be roasted chicken and vegetables. I've been hungry all day though! I feel like in order to lose weight and eat enough while breastfeeding, I shouldn't be hungry. I can't eat dairy because DD is sensitive to it and grains of any type really seems to make my allergies worse, so this is just a default diet, really! Any tips?

[JMJ]

I would approach this one with care.  Listen to your body while you're doing it.  A lot of grains are strong galactologues, and some mothers who cut grains find that they experience a decrease in milk supply and an increase in nipple pain during nursing.  There are other ways to increase your milk supply with herbs, etc, that you may want to look into to replace the milk-making effects of the grains that you are taking out, and be open to adding some grains (or even pseudo-grains such as quinoa and millet that are strong galactologues) back into your diet if you experience any negative effects with your milk supply.

As far as getting enough to eat, I would make sure that you eat as much as you want at breakfast.  At one point in time breastfeeding, I was eating 5 large eggs cooked in 2-3 T Coconut oil and 3 ounces of bread for breakfast (Well, to be fair, I was sharing them with my 11 month old who ate a few bites.), and I was still losing weight.  I would feel satisfied for hours and didn't need as much food for the rest of the day.

[shijin13]

I've been primal since Nov 2010 - I made the transition right when DS was 6mths old.  I have a history of supply problems - and take domperidone... when I started eating primal - my supply actually went up.  Mind you - the only thing I was dropping was rice, corn, and potatoes.   I'd already been GF for 6yrs due to being gluten intollerance.  So it wasn't that big of a shift for me.  adding good fats to my cooking was my success.   Right now I'm still nursing, and at 16mts I was able to stop pumping at work, and decrease my dosage of dom, without impacting my supply.  the macros I shoot for are btwn 20-25% protein, 50-60%fat, 10-15% carbs (all carbs are mostly veggies) I track calories for accountability on what I eat - and depending on the day I range from btwn 1800 - 2300 cals/day.  I'm also following the Leptin Reset, Dr Jack Kruse recommends - and I eat 50g of protein + fat (0 carbs) w/in 30mins of waking, and I aim for consuming what my lean body mass should be 130g of protein/day.  my supply has been more stable w/eating this way.  I'm also working out 5days/week w/walking, sprinting and Lifting Heavy things

My bkfst is usually 3 eggs, cheese, salmon burger or 1can of salmon, or  left overs from the previous nights dinner,  or 4-6oz of steak, and coffee with Coconut "Crack" creamer from http://followingmynose.blogspot.com/2010/10/primal-non-dairy-coffee-creamer.html

Lunch is either left overs from the previous dinner, a BAS w/ tuna, salmon, hb eggs, chicken, beef or pork (what every is easiest)

Dinner - is always meat and veggies, and some times a starch - like sweet potato, or squash...

Right now I'm VLC - trying to keep my carbs under 50g/day - w/o impact to my supply.  I'm hoping that after I'm at this state for while I'll be able to drop the dom all together...

If  you're not sure you're eating enough, add a whole avocado to 1 of your meals,  eat a tBS of coconut oil.  Looking at your macros I'd up the good fats and protein. 

[MrsBone]

well, I don't know if its affecting my supply or if DD is going through a growth spurt or something, but she has been nursing more frequently today and yesterday since eliminating grains.She also slept a whole lot yesterday so I'm thinking it may just be a growth spurt. Would it affect it that quickly? I really want to try and be grain free because my allergies are non-existent when I consume no grain, but I certainly don't want it to affect my supply. I can't even handle quinoa, it makes me get a stuffy nose almost immediately. The few grains I had been eating were the occasional slice of GF bread or tortilla chips(not the healthiest carbs of course, but they didn't bother my allergies that much) This morning I scrambled 3 eggs in coconut oil and a little coconut milk, mixed with leftover roasted veggies from last night and a side of cantaloupe and I feel pretty satisfied. I think that was my problem yesterday, I didn't have a big enough breakfast and was hungry pretty much all day. I really like smoked oysters, so I am hoping once I get some of those, I'll be more satisfied and get more calories. My carbs topped 130 yesterday and protein ended up at 150, calories I'm not sure but wasn't too concerned about the calorie count.

[keevelish]

Breastfeeding mothers will typically have sufficient milk production if they take in 1800 calories a day.  Even mothers in famine produce milk to feed their young, though the fat in it can be affected.

Babies change their behavior all the time. The best indication that your daughter is getting enough milk is that she's making lots of clear non smelly urine and is still pooing- and over time is showing an increase in weight.

I think that if you're feeling hungry all the time (which happens a lot when we're nursing!) adding more healthy fats can help satisfy that hunger. 

[shijin13]

You shouldn't see a decrease in supply.  I'm guessing you've got a growth spurt on hand... : ) that's always a good thing.  of - course depending on how far you are pp... your cycle could be trying to come back  ds always nurses more when my cycle is trying to make an appearance.

I'd increase fat, and decrease carbs - but that's me... my sweet spot is btwn 50-75gm/day...but right now since I'm focusing on the Leptin Reset - I'm shooting for under 50g.   If  you didn't know - Leptin is the master hormone - that triggers the release of prolactin (milk making hormone at night)   check out the following blog by Dr. Jack Kruse http://jackkruse.com/sleep-ya-big-dummy/

he talks about the linkage btwn leptin sensitivity and prolactin - which is important to mamas milk making, as well as general health.  I think I've been able to maintain my supply w/o as much trouble b/c I'm working on my leptin resistance.