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Breastfeeding and Supply Drop on Whole30


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For those of you who have done a Whole30 while breastfeeding, if you noticed a supply drop, what foods did you increase (coconut milk? avocado? sweet potatoes?, taro root? etc) and how long did it take before you noticed the supply start to increase again?

 

I'm currently doing my 5th Whole30 (on Day 8) in a 3 year window and am nursing a 16 month old this go around.  I'm full from my meals, but thinking I'm short on carbs/fat maybe?  Knowing I need to kick it up a notch with those, I'm trying to ease my anxiety of how long it will take for the supply to boost.  Out side of my past Whole30's I stick to paleo, but probably have more than my fair share of paleo muffins, I think I've lost some calories from cutting those out. 

 

Off I go to drink some water ;)

 

Thanks bunches :)

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Hey there!

 

I have had the same problem- a DRASTIC drop in supply starting on day 10.  I read elsewhere that starchy veggies and lots of fat were the secret to bumping that supply back up. So, that is what I am trying to do today.  I would love to hear from anyone else who might have other ideas!  Thanks so much!

 

Emily (and baby Levi!)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi!  I started my first Whole30 July 1st. I am breastfeeding my 8 month old son and am noticing a slight dip in my supply.  I feel like I am eating plenty of good fats (coconut milk, avocados, nuts) but I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.  Did you find anything that helped boost your supply?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Shanna

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Hi!  I started my first Whole30 July 1st. I am breastfeeding my 8 month old son and am noticing a slight dip in my supply.  I feel like I am eating plenty of good fats (coconut milk, avocados, nuts) but I'm not sure what I am doing wrong.  Did you find anything that helped boost your supply?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Shanna

 

Hi, Shanna! If you list a couple of days' worth of food and water intake and exercise, we can try to help you pinpoint what might be going on.

 

In general, nursing moms need to plan on eating four full template-sized meals to ensure they're getting enough food. If you work out, you also still get pre- and post-workout meals. Also, although we don't encourage "snacking" as in mindless eating, if you are hungry or if you're feeling weak or dizzy, definitely eat. Try to have a mini-meal of protein, fat, and vegetables, rather than fruit alone or just nuts. 

 

You want to be sure you get at least one serving of starchy vegetable a day, and you can have more than that. If you need some at every meal for a while, that's okay. Your body really needs extra energy right now. 

 

I'm sure others will weigh in with their experiences, but if you want more information, you can google Whole30 breastfeeding for lots of past discussions on this.

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Day 7- Sweet potato hash browns with 2 fried eggs in coconut oil and a banana.  Coconut milk in my coffee


           Grilled chicken salad (2 portions of chicken) with avocado, hard boiled egg, veggies, EVOO & Basalmic vinegar dressing


           Apple with almond butter


           Pork carnitas with fried potatoes topped with 2 tbsp guac.


           Prework out meal- Larabar and banana


           64 oz water


 


Day 8- Sweet potato hash browns with 2 fried eggs in coconut oil and a banana.  Coconut milk in my coffee


           4 slices applegate Turkey, peach, mango, 2 handfuls of almonds (this was an "on the go" meal at the swimming pool)


           Apple with almond butter


           2 Stuffed peppers with 2 tbsp guac


          64 oz water.


 


These are the last 2 days meals.  I have to admit, during the holiday weekend, I probably didn't eat as much as I should have since we were out of town with no access to a grocery store.  I took most of my food with me, but I was still pretty limited as far a food options.


           


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Day 7- Sweet potato hash browns with 2 fried eggs in coconut oil and a banana.  Coconut milk in my coffee

           Grilled chicken salad (2 portions of chicken) with avocado, hard boiled egg, veggies, EVOO & Basalmic vinegar dressing

           Apple with almond butter

           Pork carnitas with fried potatoes topped with 2 tbsp guac.

           Prework out meal- Larabar and banana

           64 oz water

 

Day 8- Sweet potato hash browns with 2 fried eggs in coconut oil and a banana.  Coconut milk in my coffee

           4 slices applegate Turkey, peach, mango, 2 handfuls of almonds (this was an "on the go" meal at the swimming pool)

           Apple with almond butter

           2 Stuffed peppers with 2 tbsp guac

          64 oz water.

 

These are the last 2 days meals.  I have to admit, during the holiday weekend, I probably didn't eat as much as I should have since we were out of town with no access to a grocery store.  I took most of my food with me, but I was still pretty limited as far a food options.

 

You are definitely not eating enough for a person who is not breastfeeding and exercising let alone one who is doing both.

 

Eggs as protein is as many as you can hold in your hand.  That is, at the very least, 3-4.  How thick were those slices of applegate turkey? Were they palm thickness? If it was deli meat, please remember that your protein portion should be equivilant to the length, width and thickness of your palm, You would need a lot of deli meat to make that happen.

 

Pre workout recommendation is protein and fat, post workout recommendation is lean protein and a starchy veggie.  Fruit is not recommended for either and a larabar is just a candy bar in disguise.  The fruits and larabars are just going to keep your blood sugar spiking and dropping, best to include the fruit with a main meal and let the larabars go.

 

You should be eating at least 4 full template meals every day.  That's at least 1-2 palms of protein, at least 1-3 cups of veggies (more is better) and at least 1-2 thumbs of fat.  FOUR times a day. 

 

64oz of water is perfect if you weigh 128# and don't exercise or nurse.  The recommendation is half an ounce per pound of bodyweight, MORE for exercise and MORE for nursing. Drink up.  Eat more.  You are keeping another human alive with your body. Give it the fuel to do so.

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Hi,

I just started my first day of Whole30 and am so thankful I found this thread!  I can already see that what I have planned to eat today is not going to cut it for my fat intake so I plan on taking some of the advice in this thread tomorrow to make sure I, too, don't have a significant drop in supply.  I am nursing a 9 month old and have already noticed a dip in my supply over the past 2-3 weeks because I started losing weight (without trying).  I definitely can't afford to have my supply drop even further.  I am a pretty picky eater so I'm hoping to find some ways to bump up my fat considering my unfortunate picky taste in food so wish me luck!  Good luck to you guys too, looking forward to talking with you all again soon!

 

Jen (and baby Kaitlyn)

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  • 1 month later...

I am on day 11 and noticing a definite drop in supply. I'm working out on getting enough fat and protein but don't have much of an appetite. Any suggestions? I have a two year old and I'm exclusively nursing our almost 3 month old. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

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I am on day 11 and noticing a definite drop in supply. I'm working out on getting enough fat and protein but don't have much of an appetite. Any suggestions? I have a two year old and I'm exclusively nursing our almost 3 month old. Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

See the excellent post that Shanny did above yours. Keeping your supply up really breaks down to eating enough and drinking enough. You mention fat and protein but what about your starchy vegetables? So very important right now!

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See the excellent post that Shanny did above yours. Keeping your supply up really breaks down to eating enough and drinking enough. You mention fat and protein but what about your starchy vegetables? So very important right now!

Thanks- the other posts are very helpful. I'm just struggling with not having enough appetite to get the full meals described. I'm having either a potato or sweet potato once a day. Last night I had half an acorn squash with a little ghee. Should I be eating more starchy veggies than that?

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Thanks- the other posts are very helpful. I'm just struggling with not having enough appetite to get the full meals described. I'm having either a potato or sweet potato once a day. Last night I had half an acorn squash with a little ghee. Should I be eating more starchy veggies than that?

Could you post 2-3 days worth of your food (include portion sizes), fluids, any stress and exercise?  It's hard to make suggestions in a vaccum so if you can give us a bit of info we might be able to help more.  Off the hope I would say yes, increase your starchy veggies to at least 2 of your 4 meals (you are eating four full meals, right? ;) ).  You can also try adding more fat in the manner of whole avocados with each meal, sipping on a can of coconut milk throughout the day, homemade mayo blopped onto everything you eat.  And how much water are you drinking?  Is it at least 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight?

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Yes working on getting a full 4th meal and enough water. I've been sipping on herbal tea all day with a spoonful of the cremfe on the top of a can of coconut milk.

Here are my meals for the past few days:

8/26

Sweet potato, sausage and pepper hash (1.5 c)

Fruit salad (banana, peach, blueberry shared with son)

Coconut cream coffee

RX bat

Coconut cream chacashews and grapes

Chicken breast (cooked with mushrooms, olive oil and artichoke hearts), few bites of leftover baked potato

Baked apple with almond butter and ghee, cinnamon and nutmeg

Chicken breast, sweet potatoes and onions, 1/2 avocado, zucchini cooked in ghee

8/27

Chicken Sausage, spinach and bell pepper frittata (probably 1 c spinach, 1/2 chicken sausage and 1.5 eggs)

Coffee w coco cream

Cashews and grapes

Chai tea w coco cream

Salad (1.5 c lettuce) chicken, olives, salami, .5 bell pepper, olive oil and balsamic dressing, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 walnuts

Baked apple with ghee and almond butter cinnamon and nutmeg

Chicken breast, 1/2 acorn squash w ghee, green beans with olive oil and homemade bbq sauce

8/28

Frittata (same as yesterday)

Fruit salad (same as yesterday) and coconut flakes

Coffee with coco cream

Tea w coco cream

Baked Apple with ghee, almond butter cinnamon and nutmeg

Salami and olives

1/2 baked sweet potato, chicken patty (trader joes), 2/3 cooked bell pepper, guacamole (2 100 cal packs)

Cashews

Ground beef, peppers and onions, lettuce, guacamole

Thanks so much for reviewing my food! I know not everything is perfect so your comments will be really helpful.

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What was the timing for those meals? I'm looking mostly at the fruit lines - were those part of a meal or something you ate outside of one? You're having a lot of fruit and a lot of caffeine - the fruit appears to be taking the place of a more sugary pick me up snack and probably is feeding your sugar dragon pretty strongly.

 

Without knowing what's a snack vs. what's not, I can tell some of your snacks at a minimum aren't what the W30 would recommend - if you're hungry enough to eat again, you're supposed to have a mini meal instead of cashews (the sweetest nut, also likely a sugar dragon thing). Protein, veggies, fat. Not fruit with fat. Those are just replacing whatever delicious fatty sweet we are all guilty of eating pre-Whole 30.

 

Cutting out all of the snacks will probably help you eat more at meals and, instead of going for the cashews or fruit that is acting as a dessert (baked apple with ghee, almond butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg), eat more of your previous meal. Half of a sweet potato and 2/3 of a bell pepper isn't enough veggies for a whole meal...make it the whole pepper and an onion on top of your sweet potato and you're much closer to a full meal's worth of veggies.

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Thanks for the input. I will work on bumping up the size of my meals- especially the fruits and veggies.

The apple and almond butter were a snack.

Cashews and grapes were on the go. I will keep in mind a better snack structure if I need one between meals.

Do I need to limit caffeine? I normally have either two cups of coffee or a cup of coffee and a cup of tea. I could swap for herbal tea.

Oh, the fruit salad was eaten with breakfast. My appetite for heavy food just isn't there (yet) in the mornings though I've been forcing myself to eat some eggs and sausage. I tried to add a lot of coconut flakes to the fruit for some good fat, at least.

This is definitely a learning process!

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I have noticed a massive increase in supply! But I am inhaling starchy veg like it's going outta style, usually two servings a day. And, following an intervention by a mod on day 4, I'm eating SSSSSOOOOOO much more. Every meal is a massive, full plate. 

Yay, so glad to hear this!!!!!

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Mariah -- Would you post YOUR current menu for the past few days?  Please?!?!

 

I am hesitant to start a Whole 30 right now because of the supply dips I had the last three times I did it, but I am also craving the structured eating and the energy.  I have three kids -- my youngest is five months.  I work full time, and I pump about 100 extra ounces a week to donate.  It would be the family I give milk to who would suffer if my supply was knocked down.  I'd love to hear what you are eating. :)

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I have noticed a massive increase in supply! But I am inhaling starchy veg like it's going outta style, usually two servings a day. And, following an intervention by a mod on day 4, I'm eating SSSSSOOOOOO much more. Every meal is a massive, full plate.

Would love to see your meals!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am planning on starting the program next week and have a 2 mo old that I exclusively pump for. I am very worried about my supply! I am also very overwhelmed about starting and getting a good meal plan ready and getting ready for this big change. So I need to plan for 4 meals a day, plus snacks? is that the 4 "template" meals that is mentioned above? I need to make sure I do this as right as possible so that I have a better chance of succeeding. If my supply starts tanking, Im worried I might bail. I cant bail! I have the recipe book and the "it starts with food" book, should I just start with the meal plan thats in the recipe book and add a meal to each day? Thanks!

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