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Keeping both you and your baby healthy while breastfeeding requires a proper meal plan and some guidance. If you would like a step-by-step program to help you lose weight safely, check out all our courses, programs, challenges, & recipe book.
Deciding what to eat while breastfeeding to ensure you have a healthy milk supply can be overwhelming. Add on top of that, trying to lose weight, and any breastfeeding diet plan can quickly go out the window.
I’ve breastfed three babies and had to lose weight three times now. Most of my weight loss was strictly diet because, let’s be real, it is really hard to get a workout in with a new baby. I had a 3, 2, and newborn for a while, so walking was all I did.
Your diet is what is going to make or break both your milk supply and your weight loss.
That is why I want to help you learn to create your own, so if you can feel great, let go of the extra weight from pregnancy and feed your baby with lots of healthy milk.
Let’s get into the 5 tips on creating a breastfeeding diet plan, so you can customize your own independent breastfeeding diet plan at home.
Breastfeeding Diet Plan Tip #1 | No Restrictions On Meals/Snacks:
This turkey burger is in my program, MY FAVORITE!!
This is important for nursing mamas because hungry and low blood sugar can come on quickly.
I have always been a snacker, and I think it depends on your personality and appetite for what works best.
If you enjoy snacking, eat smaller meals throughout the day.
If you like a large meal, space out your meals to allow your body to work through food.
There are no restrictions in this area. If you try too hard to restrict yourself, you will find that you are just HANGRY all the time. A new mama who is tired and hungry is not a good idea.
The key is consuming the right amount of calories and nutrients daily. Everyone digests and metabolizes food differently.
If you are a snacker, go ahead and snack all you want. Just don’t snack and eat big meals.
If you enjoy sitting and eating more food at once, try intermittent fasting and larger meals (I intermittently fast most of the time, and it keeps my appetite in check and helps productivity!!).
My program has a general guideline on what to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and even a complete plan for 20 days if that works well for you. However, your diet plan should never completely rely on sticking to only three meals.
For example, your milk supply-demand changes as the baby grow. This means your nutrient needs to change.
Having things too strict can make it difficult to adapt to your and your baby’s needs. Your caloric needs also may change as your milk needs change, so your first step is to clean up your diet as much as possible.
Choose nutrient-dense foods, and your breastfeeding diet plan will be off to a great start.
Some days you may need an extra snack, which is fine. But the type of snack you choose is very important. Here’s what one mama said about my program:
As far as counting calories, yes, that was so helpful!… It was an eye-opener… But your concept of reducing and monitoring milk supply was so helpful!
I have lost 6lbs-yay!- and have 12 more to go! I am encouraged for sure because it is usually not until I’m done nursing that I can lose weight. So I’m all in for hopefully the rest of my life-on clean eating like this and exercise! Thanks so much for your help!!
Breastfeeding Diet Plan Tip #2 | Focus on Clean Eating:
This in itself makes a HUGE difference.
By cleaning up your diet, you are filling your body with nutrient-dense foods.
By cleaning up your diet and focusing on fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and high-nutrient carbs, you are giving your body fuel it can process.
Your body will feel safe and allow itself to let go of fat. Eating a nutrient-dense diet will also ensure you get nutrients for the baby.
Specific nutrients like proteins, fat, B12, and Zinc (to name a few) must be absorbed by the mama to pass on to the baby.
I created Milk Dust as a wonderful supplement to help take the guesswork out of trying to eat all the foods.
This lactation-boosting protein powder has hand-picked nutrients by me that are essential to both mama’s and baby’s health during postpartum and breastfeeding.
This protein powder has minerals and ingredients to help reduce sugar cravings and balance blood sugar, which makes it easier to stick to your clean eating plan.
In my years of helping mamas lose weight while breastfeeding, there was a protein powder missing that was specifically designed for breastfeeding mamas to combat these sugar cravings and fully nourish mamas.
I am a firm believer in nutrition for milk supply, so I created Milk Dust.
Milk Dust is your best friend for lactation and weight loss. It has a milk-boosting herb blend, plenty of protein, sugar-craving-busting herbs like Tumeric, Cinnamon Bark Root, and minerals like Chromium which have all been used to balance blood sugar. In addition to all these fabulous items.
I hand-picked specific vitamins like Folate (L-Methylfolate) because folate is still important during lactation! Almost just as important as in pregnancy.
I also hand-picked vitamin B12 for energy and superfoods like Chlorella, Spirulina, Spinach, Blueberries, and more.
The Milk Dust protein powder is free of soy, gluten, dairy, and corn. It is NON-GMO, Vegan, and plant-based!!
I highly recommend you check it out if you are craving sugar. It is only sweetened with Stevia, Monk Fruit, and Organic Cane Juice, which means very little sugar. It is still very sweet so you can drink something like a milkshake!
No other clean, super nutrient-dense protein powders are specifically made for postpartum healing, nourishment, lactation, and weight loss.
Thousands of mamas need this protein powder, and I am so excited to finally have a product that helps them nourish themselves while also losing weight.
Eat as many fruits and veggies as you want!
Eating clean means eating as many fruits and vegetables as you want.
This is something I tell the mamas in my program and anyone asking for advice on losing weight. If you fill up on fruits and veggies, you give your body plenty of nutrients for fewer calories.
You can actually feel more full on fewer calories, as well as give your body more nutrients.
Filling your tummy with healthy, fibre-rich fruits and veggies is going to help you fill up your tummy. Add slower digesting, lean protein to the mix, and you feel full for hours!
Protein also takes more energy to digest, so you are revving up your metabolism at the same time.
Breastfeeding Diet Plan Tip #3 | Practice Intuition, Not Regimen:
After taking out processed food, high-sugar foods, and chemicals, your body will learn to queue you for hunger rather than an actual addiction craving.
That is a HUGE transformation process that can be uncomfortable but so worth it.
Your body gets addicted to the sugars and chemicals, so it will confuse you with hunger and headaches to get more.
After cleaning things up, you will realize when you are tired or need food. Never eat breakfast just because you are supposed to.
I believe in eating when your body tells you to eat. Your body is smart and will tell you when it is ready for food. Work on feeling that out, and distract yourself if you are bored.
As moms, we are often stuck in the house, which enables us to munch and eats when we aren’t hungry.
Getting out of the house, playing, and staying busy can help you learn when you are hungry.
Intermittent fasting, many times, will help you learn when you are hungry or eating out of habit. This is an important skill for weight management years down the road, so I highly recommend learning to know hunger!
Create new habits of eating when you are hungry!
Breastfeeding Diet Plan Tip #4 | Never Forget Water:
Sip on water all day. It is better to use the bathroom constantly than be dehydrated.
Breast milk requires water and nutrients, so you can help yourself out by drinking tons. It will also help with losing the water weight from pregnancy.
Your body will have plenty of liquid to flush the stored water into your breast milk and sweat the rest out.
Did anyone else get night sweats for the first month after the baby?? That is normal, and your body gets rid of the stored water.
Remember to sip on water because your body only absorbs so much at once. By sipping on it, rather than gulping it down every few hours (guilty!), you won’t have to use the bathroom as much and will stay more hydrated.
Water is actually really important while breastfeeding.
It also helps you shed some extra water weight gained during pregnancy. Drinking enough water allows your body to feel safe and not store so much water.
If you go hours without drinking, your body will store some water to prepare for a situation where water might not be available.
Keeping water available tells your body not to store so much and keeps you from being bloated or puffy.
Breastfeeding Diet Plan Tip #5 | Remember DHA:
Supplements and vitamins are super important and helpful for your breast milk supply.
Whether you are following a breastfeeding diet plan or creating your own, you want to ensure you get in some healthy DHA. I really like this one, but you can take it as a supplement or get your weekly salmon in.
I have a great mustard salmon recipe in the program!
DHA is super important because this type of fat actually gets into your breast milk, and to the baby, which is needed for brain development.
Not all things pass into breast milk, but DHA does!
Protein and fat pass through to the breast milk, so it is important to eat lean, healthy protein.
I am a huge fan of wild-caught tuna, protein powder, salmon, lean ground turkey, and oven-roasted chicken.
Protein powder is the easiest, fastest way to get protein down, but eating pure and whole food sources is also very important.
If you haven’t yet, check out all our courses, programs, challenges, & recipe book!
Additional important tips that are easy to follow:
- Keep healthy snacks available at all times
- Focus on fiber and protein at every meal/snack
- Eat only when you are hungry
- Use fruit and protein shakes to minimize sugar cravings
- Batch cook meals and food for less cooking and cleaning
There are 5 tips for creating your own breastfeeding diet plan to help you lose the baby weight and keep your milk supply up.
Milk Dust was created by a Pre/Post Natal Fitness Specialist, a mommy of four boys, and the founder of The Postpartum Cure.
After years of helping mamas lose the baby weight while saving their milk supply, there is now a nutritional product to help mommies get in enough nutrients and protein while also curbing those endless sugar cravings during breastfeeding.
About my breastfeeding diet plan program – The Postpartum Cure
I am so passionate about my breastfeeding diet plan, which is much more than a postpartum weight loss program. It covers true nourishment for breastfeeding mamas wanting to protect their milk supply while losing the baby’s weight.
It enables new mamas to safely lose the baby weight while nourishing their bodies properly for breastfeeding.
Being a mom of four, I’ve learned the incredible importance of properly nourishing your body with the right foods to keep your milk supply up while losing the baby’s weight.
I created this program to be more than a breastfeeding diet plan. It is a full recovery and fitness program with meals and recipes specifically designed to help you lose weight and keep your milk supply up.
I’ve also learned the importance of postpartum recovery for your core and pelvic floor.
This program includes specific exercises to walk you through protecting and rehabilitating your core and pelvic floor after a baby.
I made the mistake of losing the baby weight while keeping up my milk supply but not giving my muscles the attention they needed to recover properly. I ended up with a small umbilical hernia because I never worked on my core post-baby one or two.
No mama needs to experience that. So join me in The Postpartum Cure Program.
Let’s start your breastfeeding diet plan that helps you lose the baby weight while breastfeeding now!
1 Comment
I have tried the Milkdust and absolutely love it! I read that you do intermittent fasting and I’m wondering how you did that? I read not to do that while breastfeeding because it sends toxins to your baby. How did you do it? That is how I kept my weight off before I got pregnant and I was really wanting to do that afterwards but read that and decided against it. I would love to start that again.