Do I need the 4th meal? And other Q's.

[fifthj]

Hi all,

 

I'm on Day 5 (see log below) and I would love advice on the following (and anything else).

 

About me: I'm 36, two kids ages 3 and 8 months, in school part time and the rest of the time caring for them. Love good, local food. Have about 20 lbs to lose from the pregnancy, and finally realized that all the working out in the world wasn't going to make a difference if I was eating cheese and drinking wine every night. I am nursing my 8 month old (but not exclusively. She eats solids too and has 1-2 bottles of formula a day).

 

Wake time and Meal 1 timing: My wake time is . . . fuzzy. For example, I might feed the baby at 5:30, doze off, then my toddler comes in bed at 6, doze off again (sort of hard to do with a squirmy 3 yo), and get out of bed by 6:30, eat by 7. Is this OK? Is it within an hour of waking up? 

 

Meals: am I eating too much? It feels like a LOT. I know that is common in the beginning, and of course I also want to keep my milk supply up. But it feels like a lot.

 

I have only been ravenously hungry once, and that was a random 4am feeding. (I didn't have anything and was able to fall back asleep.)

 

Should I be hungry before every meal? Should I wait until I get hungry to eat the next meal?

 

Logging: I have been an on and off again calorie counter and I really want to get off that treadmill. However, keeping a log like the one below helps me plan ahead and anticipate mealtimes. And I would love to know from you seasoned people whether it looks like I'm on track - no way to do that without logging.

 

BUT is this detailed a log against the spirit of Whole30? I'm thinking of letting it go if I get a general sense that all is well.

 

Water: I didn't log my water religiously, but I typically drink 2 32 oz bottles, plus 2 cups coffee and a 16 oz kombucha. I know I should be drinking more water.

 

NSVs so far:

- Even energy all day. (Low energy after dinner, but this could just be burn out with the kids!)

- More time to get things done since I'm not always hungry, thinking about food and/or snacking.

- No cravings, other than for stevia in my coffee, but even that has not been much of a struggle.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice or tweaks!!

 

MON 3/21 // Day 1

 

(didn't track nursing/pumping on day 1)

 

M1: 7:50 sweet potato hash made with bacon fat, 

egg & sausage bake with tons of veggies, 

1/2 small avocado, 

1/2 tomato. 

coffee with carrageenan-free almond milk (Califia brand).

 

M2: 11:30am

Broccoli 1 cup

Chicken salad with apples, celery & homemade mayo

Potato salad

 

M3: 3:30

Kalua pork

Green beans

Pineapple

1/2 avocado

Handful olives

 

M4: 7:30 pm

16 oz kombucha 

corned beef

boiled cabbage, carrots & onions

**felt very full after dinner**

 

10:30 Bed

 

TUE 3/22 // Day 2

 

4 am 1st nursing session - very hungry after (kept me awake for a while) but didn’t snack

 

6 am son came into my bed - dozed but not good sleep

 

6:45 got out of bed

 

M1: 7:00 AM

egg & sausage bake with tons of veggies

1/2 tomato

1/2 champagne mango

coffee 

1 cup water

 

7:30 2nd nursing session

 

M2: 10 AM

Madras chicken salad

Greens

Green Beans

1/2 avocado

Small serving of potato salad (olive oil and vinegar, not mayo)

small serving pineapple chunks

 

11 AM pumping session

 

1:19 pumping session

 

M3: 2pm

Madras chicken salad

Greens

1/2 avocado

Sweet potatoes & purple yams

Cherry tomatoes

 

5pm 3rd nursing session

 

M4: 6pm

Korean ribs

Bok choy

Sautéed spinach/bell pepper/onion

Small serving of sweet potatoes & purple yams

Kombucha

 

10pm bed

 

1 am wakeup - toddler

1:45am wakeup - toddler

 

WED 3/23 // Day 3

 

4:50 nursing session #1

 

6:15 wakeup

 

PreWO: 6:40

2 hard boiled eggs

coffee with almond milk

 

7am workout

 

PostWO: 8am

kalua pork (small)

sweet potato hash (small)

**mini meal**

 

M1: 9:30

Egg bake with sausage & veggies

1/2 avocado

pico de gallo

sautéed peppers, onions & spinach

sweet potato hash

coffee w/ almond milk

 

9:45 pumping session #1

 

12:30 nursing session #2

 

M2: 2:10pm

kalua pork

bok choy

1/2 avocado

olives

 

4pm nursing session #3

 

M3: 6pm

chicken tenders

brussel sprouts

2 small white potatoes with ghee

kombucha

 

6:30 nursing session #4

 

10:30 pm bed

 

11:00 toddler wake up

 

 

THUR 3/24 // Day 4

 

1am nursing session

2am toddler wake up

3am toddler wake up

6am toddler wake up

7:15 wake up

7:20 nursing session #1

 

M1: 7:30am

Egg bake with sausage & veggies

1/2 avocado

sautéed peppers, onions & spinach

sweet potato hash

coffee w/ almond milk

 

9:25 pumping session #1

 

M2: 11:15pm

kalua pork

roasted brussel sprouts

green beans with ghee

sautéed onions, peppers and spinach

 

11:40 pumping session #2

 

2pm nursing session #2

 

M3: 3:15pm

chicken fingers

green salad w/ 1/2 avocado

green olives

small serving sweet potatoes & purple yams with ghee

herbal tea

 

4:25 nursing session #3

 

M4: 5:30pm

3 tandoori chicken drumsticks

curried cauliflower rice

olives

green beans with ghee

few bites sweet potatoes

kombucha

 

10pm bed

 

FRI 3/25 // Day 5

 

5:30am nursing session #1

 

6am toddler comes in bed

 

6:30am wake up

 

M1: 6:45am

Egg bake with sausage & veggies

1/2 avocado

1/2 tomato

sautéed peppers, onions & spinach

coffee w/ almond milk

[Physibeth]

To me your meals look pretty good. The one meal where you felt super stuffed after I noticed had cabbage which always makes me feel super stuffed.

 

Logging of this type isn't bad at all though you might want to start referencing your servings by hand size. We often encourage bfing momma's to eat on the higher end of the template (2 palms of protein and 2 servings of fat) and to have an extra meal. If you feel satisfied not stuffed, your milk supply is staying up, and you are having the NSVs you are having already I'd say don't stress too much and keep going.

[fifthj]

Thanks Bethany, for the reply and encouragement!

 

Funny: in the past couple days since posting this the anxiety about "am I eating too much/too little/too often??" has abated.

 

I have stopped keeping this log. I'm allowing myself to follow hunger cues more, rather than planning my meals times in advance (never going longer than 4-5 hours though). 

 

As a result some days I'm having three meals. Workout days I always have three plus pre- and post-wo snacks. Yesterday I had three meals and a minimeal because timing was odd around Easter dinner. Milk supply has been constant, as far as I know (baby is happy, anyway).

 

So, I think the Whole30 is doing its work on me, and I'm going to keep going with this more relaxed vibe. No more white knuckling it!

[Mrsvintage]

Hi there! If I'm calculating right, you should be close to day 30 - how was it?

My little one is 7 months and I am on day 8 and my supply has definitely dipped. If you have any advice, I'm all ears.

I'm finding it really hard to eat the fourth meal, I'm just not hungry. Drinking coconut milk and mothers milk tea everyday, fingers crossed I can make it to day 30.