breastfeeding and low(ish) carb

[ktgrok]

I have an email out to my bariatric nutritionist about this, but she can be a bit flakey sometimes....so asking the HIVE. 

 

Normally, as a bariatric patient I'm supposed to eat meals that are mostly protein, and then if I have room eat veggies and then if I have room eat carbs. What this would look like on a plate is say, some turkey filling half the plate (SMALL plate), then 1/4 veggies and maybe a few bites of potato at most. Many bariatric patients eat very low carb while losing weight. 

 

Then in pregnancy we are advised to eat about 100-150 grams of carbs. Which is a big increase. 

 

Well, now I'm nursing a 6 month old and will be nursing for at least the next two years. She still gets most of her nutrition from breastmilk. I'm 5 pounds from pre pregnancy weight and at least 20lbs from where I'd like to be. But I can't find much info on how many carbs or calories I need right now without sacrificing milk supply.

 

Any BTDT advice?

[Guest]

My milk drops when I go below 40 net carbs. Atkins always advised 70-ish for breastfeeding, but it's individual. I aim for 22-2400 calories and that works well.

[Guest]

This is the fourth baby I've done this with, btw :)

[ktgrok]

Thank you! I'm thinking if I'm in the 50-100 net carbs range that may work best. 

[busymama7]

I dropped my supply every time I tried to drop my carbs. Looking back I think I was inadvertently dropping my calories too much at the same time since I would give up the easy/quick food and junk. And I've since read that the drop in calories is the biggest problem as your body starts conserving. Who knows as now I'm past that but maybe you can be aware of eating enough as you pull the carbs back.

[Guest]

I dropped my supply every time I tried to drop my carbs. Looking back I think I was inadvertently dropping my calories too much at the same time since I would give up the easy/quick food and junk. And I've since read that the drop in calories is the biggest problem as your body starts conserving. Who knows as now I'm past that but maybe you can be aware of eating enough as you pull the carbs back.

Yeah, that's why I have to track both. I can go lower carb if my calories are higher. But when I'm more satiated getting enough calories can be challenging. That's a bigger issue the older my nursling is, I'm always completely ravenous the first few months.

[ktgrok]

good point. I did have a bit of supply drop the first time I tried to drop carbs, but it could have been the calories. or to dramatic a change maybe. Easing down now. Had 100 grams of carbs yesterday. Trying for a bit less today. Milk is good. 

[Soror]

I did around 50 g total with dd3 and didn't have an issue, I lean towards over supply. With dd2 I was around 50-100. This last ime my body didn't tolerate lower carb so I couldn't do it very long, no issues with milk supply though. I think you just have to see how it works for you.

Edited September 21, 2017 by soror

[ktgrok]

So, my nutritionist got back to me. I think her numbers are a bit high....I think I can do more like 1300 calories and 60-75 grams carbs...but this is what she said:

 

Your needs are approximately 1800 calories with breastfeeding, which includes about 500 calories for breastfeeding.

I would not drop too much lower than 1500 calories during this time.

We can talk about a lower calorie diet when you are done breastfeeding

Your protein needs are 64 to 84 grams per day.

Your carbohydrates should be around 100grams or more per day

 

Any thoughts? I've been eating anywhere from 1000 to 18000 (once) with an average of about 1200 this past week and lost two pounds and feel pretty good. Food cravings are less to none, etc. 

[Ravin]

https://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/#methods

 

https://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-lowcarb/

 

http://www.lalecheleague.org/faq/lowcarb.html

 

 

If you are doing 1300 calories for you, plus 500 for the baby, that's 1800. As long as you don't make dietary changes too quickly, and keep weight loss gradual and plenty of protein and fat to make up for the reduced carbs, you'll probably be fine.

 

 

[ktgrok]

https://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/#methods

 

https://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-lowcarb/

 

http://www.lalecheleague.org/faq/lowcarb.html

 

 

If you are doing 1300 calories for you, plus 500 for the baby, that's 1800. As long as you don't make dietary changes too quickly, and keep weight loss gradual and plenty of protein and fat to make up for the reduced carbs, you'll probably be fine.

Before I got pregnant I was eating between 800 and 1000 cal. Or at least that's what was recommended by the bariatric doctor is a nutritionist if I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. I'm only just over 5 feet tall. If I wasn't nursing I'd probably aim for about 1000 cal a day. Keep in mind I do you make sure to get enough protein, and take bariatric vitamins. I guess I'm questioning if it is really 500 cal for breast-feeding?

 

Edited to add: OK, it looks like 2 pounds a week is more than you're supposed to lose while breast-feeding. Which is probably why my estimate and hers are different. I guess I'll try upping the calories and carbs a little bit. But I don't see me consistently doing carbs quite that high. If they get too high I start having a lot of cravings.

Edited September 26, 2017 by ktgrok

[StephanieZ]

Well, I breast fed for about a million years, and I got to know my milk supply pretty well. It was also very responsive and would pop back even after a 5-7 day total break (at 1 year of age) when I had to be away from my baby for a family emergency (Dad in the ICU across the country). I used to manually express milk (like a cow!) for rice-cereal mixings and even to put bottles in the freezer for emergencies (although none of my stinkers would ever drink it from a bottle . . . ). It was really easy to manually express. 

 

So, anyway, if you can do that, I'd start doing it a bit to get a feel for your supply. . . and then you can adjust up/down your carbs and calorie counts relative to the supply. 

 

Since your baby is 6 months, I'm assuming s/he will let you know if they aren't getting enough when they suckle. It's not like a newborn who might just drop dead (or so I thought, lol) if they don't get a good meal . . . My 6 months old would demand more, lol. 

 

 

[StephanieZ]

Before I got pregnant I was eating between 800 and 1000 cal. Or at least that's what was recommended by the bariatric doctor is a nutritionist if I wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. I'm only just over 5 feet tall. If I wasn't nursing I'd probably aim for about 1000 cal a day. Keep in mind I do you make sure to get enough protein, and take bariatric vitamins. I guess I'm questioning if it is really 500 cal for breast-feeding?

 

Edited to add: OK, it looks like 2 pounds a week is more than you're supposed to lose while breast-feeding. Which is probably why my estimate and hers are different. I guess I'll try upping the calories and carbs a little bit. But I don't see me consistently doing carbs quite that high. If they get too high I start having a lot of cravings.

 

Can I just say that I have to give you a LOT of credit for living on those few calories and that few carbs. If I were limited to that number of calories for the long term (longer than a couple weeks), I'm pretty sure I'd lose what little sanity I have remaining. I read about those sorts of calorie counts and think "starvation". I mean, that's one damn (good) bowl of ice cream.

 

You ROCK. You are SO STRONG. I'm pretty sure you can do anything. I'm just bowled over. 

 

I hope that came out as an encouraging and awe-struck compliment, because that's entirely how it is intended. If it came out any other way, please let me know, and I'll delete it and apologize. Sometimes, I don't say things quite right.

[CadenceSophia]

I just started keto this week. I did a ton of research about breastfeeding and low carb. The minimum addition for breastfeeding is going to be 20cal/oz your baby is taking in, but that says nothing about how efficient your body is at producing breastmilk.The actual calorie cost of lactating has to be higher.

Why not try lowering your carbs, while keeping your calories high? Give it a couple weeks and if your supply holds, you can then lower calories back to where you think they should be.

 

I'm tandem nursing and 5'9 so your #'s sort of make my heart stop. I couldn't imagine eating that. Maintenance for me is like 2700-3000 calories!

[ktgrok]

Can I just say that I have to give you a LOT of credit for living on those few calories and that few carbs. If I were limited to that number of calories for the long term (longer than a couple weeks), I'm pretty sure I'd lose what little sanity I have remaining. I read about those sorts of calorie counts and think "starvation". I mean, that's one damn (good) bowl of ice cream.

 

You ROCK. You are SO STRONG. I'm pretty sure you can do anything. I'm just bowled over.

 

I hope that came out as an encouraging and awe-struck compliment, because that's entirely how it is intended. If it came out any other way, please let me know, and I'll delete it and apologize. Sometimes, I don't say things quite right.

Lol, well it helps having 80% of your stomach removed! Before that I could not have done it. But thank you.

[Ravin]

I really think the upshot is that as long as you make changes gradually, pay attention to how baby is doing, and pace your weight loss to 1.5/week or less average, you'll be fine. Go with 1500 rather than 1800, keep your carbs down, just not as low as you would if not lactating.

 

But yes, that 500 calories for baby is a pretty solid number. You're building another human out of what you eat, even though the baby is outside your body now.

[CadenceSophia]

Also, carbs vs. net carbs. If you are eating veggies, you can probably come close to 100g carbs with under 40 net.. Not that you need to hit that goal but the type of carb you choose has a pretty big effect in the discussion with the nutritionist.