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Your body has spent the past 9 months growing your perfect little human, and while your body knows perfectly what is needed oftentimes by the time your baby arrives you are depleted nutritionally. Add nursing and recovery to the mix and this becomes one of the most important times in your life to pay close attention to your nutrition. The good news is most women will lose weight naturally while breastfeeding and you get to eat extra calories! It is extremely important for both your recovery and the nutrition of your baby though, that those calories come from nutrient-dense sources. Let’s take a look at the general dietary recommendations for breastfeeding and postpartum recovery.
How Much?
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs) for caloric intake for all women 19 to 50 years old are based on activity level, and is as follows:
Sedentary: 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day Moderately active: 2,000 to 2,200 calories per day Active: 2,200 to 2,400 calories per day
The increased caloric need for women who are breastfeeding is about 450 to 500 calories per day. That is a serious amount of food, and it can be easy to fill up on empty calories which is not good for you or baby.
How Often?
This is greatly going to depend on your personal preferences, but in general, most mothers will want their regular meals and at least one snack in between meals. Having easy to grab nutritious snacks on hand is a must, check out the nursing snack list at the end of the post for ideas.
What?
Quality protein at least 2-3 servings per day
3 servings of vegetables (eat the rainbow)
2 servings of fruit
Whole grain starches (oatmeal is great for milk production)
Water to thirst (you will be more thirsty and water is crucial for keeping your milk supply up)
What to Avoid?
The good news is that the foods that were on the avoid list during pregnancy are now OK. There is quite a bit of misinformation out there about what you should and should not eat while nursing, but in reality, this is going to be different for every mother and baby. Keep an eye on your babies behavior to see if they are sensitive to dairy or caffeine as you may need to limit these items, but most babies will be fine and you can enjoy freedom in your diet again. You can even enjoy alcohol in moderation again, alcohol does not remain in your milk. It is removed as your blood alcohol levels go down. If you are sober, the alcohol is gone from your milk. There is no need to pump and dump because of this, a good general guideline is if you are safe to drive you are safe to nurse.
Snacks?
One of the best ways to make sure you eat a healthy diet is to stock your home with healthy easy to grab foods. Try one of these easy make-ahead snacks to help you meet your nutrition goals without turning to convenience food!
You may need to play around with your intake a bit and either increase or decreased your calories based on your weight loss progress and your milk supply to find that sweet spot. Just be sure to not fall below the minimum recommendation or your milk supply will suffer.
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