The last 5-7 months, as I’ve figured out Luke’s food intolerances, I’ve had new challenges when it comes to eating. I’ve cut dairy, soy, nuts, and wheat out of my diet. When you suddenly have to avoid foods that have been staples for you, it can be daunting. There are days when I get frustrated and feel sorry for myself, but most of the time I try to stay positive and focus on all the foods I can eat instead.
The time of pregnancy and breastfeeding are the most important times for a woman to eat a nutritionally adequate diet. What I eat supports the health of both me and Luke. I need to make sure I’m eating enough to maintain my milk supply and keep my energy up. My body is working hard to make milk for Luke!
I keep these things in mind as I choose my daily foods. Here’s a snapshot of what a day of my eating looks like, with an estimation of calories, protein, and fat amounts. I wish I had time to calculate all of the nutritional data as I think it would be interesting to see how much of each micronutrient I’m getting, but I just don’t. I don’t usually count my calories, protein, or fat grams, so this was interesting to see what amounts I’m getting.
7: 30 am Breakfast:
I most often eat oatmeal for breakfast. I really like it, plus it is supposed to be good for milk supply. As you can see I eat a huge breakfast. I’m really hungry in the morning and with this diet snacking is hard, so I like to eat enough to keep me full until lunch. This does the trick.
1 cup (dry) old-fashioned oats with 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, 1 cup water, 1 banana, 1/2 cup wild blueberries, 1/2 cup raspberries, and a huge mound of sunflower seed butter. I also had an unpictured cup of black coffee around breakfast time.
Calories: 785 Protein: 23 grams Fat: 23 grams
12:00 pm Lunch:
I eat a lot of salads for lunch because I like to be able to get a large amount of vegetables (especially leafy greens) in and find it to be the easiest and tastiest way to do that. I always include some sort of protein with it, usually either leftover chicken (like this one), beans, or eggs. As the weather continues to get colder, my salad lunches tend to turn into soup lunches.
Large salad with romaine lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, grilled chicken, and topped with a mustard dressing. Also a side of fruit salad.
Calories: 583 Protein: 20 grams Fat: 33 grams
3:00 pm Snack:
I usually need a small snack between lunch and dinner. I miss all my old go-to snacks (like these high protein energy bites), but I’m finding new snacks I enjoy. These stuffed dates are one of my new favorites.
5 dates filled with sunflower seed butter
Calories: 200 Protein: 3.5 grams Fat: 8 grams
5:30 pm Dinner:
This was a bit of a random dinner, but very good. I was using up some of our CSA corn and tomatoes.
Apple chutney stuffed portobello mushroom, roasted cauliflower and carrots, corn on the cob, and roasted tomatoes.
Calories: 487 calories Protein: 14 grams Fat: 15 grams
8:30 pm (unpictured) Snack
Popcorn air-popped and topped with a drizzle of coconut butter
Calories: 130 Protein: 2 grams Fat: 10 grams
Daily Totals:
Calories: 2,185 Protein: 62.5 grams Fat: 89 grams
On this particular day, I did a short workout, probably burning about 200 calories. I don’t know exactly how many calories I burn breastfeeding as the information I’ve read varies greatly. One source says that you burn 26 calories for every 1 ounce of milk you produce. When Luke takes a bottle he drinks between 6-9 ounces, so if I take the low end of that for the 5 feedings he has in a day it equals 30 ounces. This means I’m burning close to 800 calories breastfeeding!
If I really do burn that much breastfeeding, this puts my net calories for the day around 1,100. Other sources put that number closer to 500 calories a day, which would put my net calories for the day around 1,400.
My weight is basically staying the same (I’m right about at my pre-pregnancy weight, give or take a few pounds depending on when I weigh myself) and I’m producing a good amount of milk, so I guess I’m eating the right amount.
I try to eat according to hunger. It sounds simple, but it’s so easy to eat out of boredom or as an emotional outlet. When I want to eat, I just make sure I’m eating because I’m truly hungry and stop eating when I’m satisfied. I keep a mental count in my head of if I’m eating enough vegetables and fruits and figure everything else will fall into place as long as I’m getting a good variety of foods throughout each day and week.
Quick disclaimer: I’m just a regular mom trying to do my best to eat well. I’m not a doctor or a dietician. Please seek the advice of your health care provider if you are looking for personal dietary advice as a breastfeeding mom.
Good afternoon,
I hope this comment finds you all well. My baby is 5 months old now. We have been having bloody streaks on – off since she was 2.5 months old. Now I stopped dairy products, soya products, all types of nuts, eggs and wheat. Exclusion of those products happened gradually, last product to exclude was the eggs. Now, it has been almost 2 months of dairy products and 4 days since I last ate eggs. She still has occasionally minimal amounts of bloody streaks. My question is: I m having rye bread that am baking at home, do you think it s the cause? How long should I wait until her stool clears?
Thank you
Have a great day
Rye flour does contain gluten, and it’s the gluten that is typically the problem in wheat products, so it’s likely that is the issue.
my baby is now 8 month old .when he was born he cried alot in pain for continue 3 days..may b the formula was the cause ..bt after one month rashes appeard on his skin..nd he always constipated ..my bad i started solid wheat cereal nd cows milk in forth month he had then severe diarrea of bloody mucus aftr that day his poop always mucus sometime greenish..with black specks nd foul smell. then after 6 month i started solid to him his eczema getting worse nd worse..sleeples night with itching..now m confused sometime my milk is not enough to him i stoped anu solid its seem like he is allergic to eveything he is totly on breastfeeding bt how can i satisfied his hunger..?plz guide me
It sounds like you gave him more than his system could handle much too young. Wheat cereal with cow’s milk is a lot for any 4 month-old baby’s digestive system, especially one who has a sensitivity. I’m confused if you actually are breastfeeding or doing formula based on what you wrote here, so it’s hard for me to guide you. My recommendation is to consult with your pediatrician. I wish you the best of luck and hope your baby finds comfort.
hey..thanx for such a wonderful sharing ..m experiancing it first time with my first baby..even thoughi never had listen nd seen in my family history to any baby with food allergy .its v hard to me.so hv very minimum knowledg of my elders to guide me in good way .here ur posts helping me out..m fighiting alon in all these circumstances bcoz no any docters guided me correctly tht my son has food allergy they prescribed topical creams for my baby eczema.which its made worst nd worst..so after stuggling i myself started to work on it in internet surffing then i read ur articals.its admirable .love ur work..
Thank you! I hope you are able to find some relief for your baby.
Hi, I just stumbled across your blog about Luke and it’s honestly the best things my I’ve read…ever. My son is 6 months and has MSPI. Did you find that eating shellfish or any other seafood made any difference.
I don’t eat any shellfish (because I don’t like it) and pretty much the only seafood I eat is salmon. I didn’t noticed a difference when I ate salmon. I’m glad you found me! 🙂
I don’t know if you look at comments from old posts, but I’m wondering if there’s a brand of coconut milk you recommend? I’m currently off dairy as I’m nursing and my baby has a dairy intolerance. So many milks have so many added ingredients to make them shelf-stable. Side-note: I’m a long time reader and have enjoyed reviewing your breastfeeding journey with Luke as I go through my own breastfeeding journey. I’m looking forward to reading a post about his 3-year breastfeeding experience! You are an inspiration!
Thanks so much, Katie! That post is coming. 🙂 As for the coconut milk, I used Silk unsweetened coconut milk. It does have carrageenan, but I couldn’t find a brand that didn’t have it. Now that I don’t have to worry about intolerances, I don’t use coconut milk on a regular basis. I usually use almond milk for oatmeal and smoothies. When I cook with coconut, I use the canned kind (and the only ingredient is coconut milk).
Look at all those wonderful eats! I’m seeing many fiber-rich ingredients sprinkled throughout your day and I think that’s great. Fiber is an important nutrient that can not only help you feel fuller throughout the day, but can benefit your long-term health as well.
It always shocks me how many calories are in things, especially meals like your salad and fruit. I would never have guessed that to have over 500! I guess it’s good I don’t count calories then because I am sure I would freak if I knew exactly how many I eat in a day. Anyway, lot’s of great food–Luke is so lucky to have such a healthy mama! I applaud you in your efforts to keep breastfeeding despite the sacrifices you’ve had to make!
Me, too! When I first counted the calories in my bowl of oatmeal I was like, WOAH! I knew it was a lot because it fills me up and keeps me full a long time, but over 700 calories?! That’s a hearty breakfast. 🙂 And salads are always deceiving. Adding things like dressing and avocado can really up the calories. Nutrient dense, though, at least the avocado calories. They’re worth it. 🙂
I really loved this post. I don’t have kids, but my sister just had a baby so I love reading about diets when breastfeeding. I give you a lot of credit–I couldn’t imagine having to cut out nuts! It looks like you’ve found wonderful alternatives, though! SO many healthy fats and veggies! I’ll have to try out those sunflower seed butter stuffed dates–I bet that would satisfy my after dinner sweet cravings 🙂
Nuts have been really tough to cut out! I love my peanut butter and almond butter. Sunbutter doesn’t even compare in my eyes, but it’s a temporary alternative I can live with. 🙂 And yes, the stuffed dates are great for sweet cravings!
My 3 kids have an allergy to wheat and other gluten stuff. Their are days I would get so mad when someone would find out and say ” oh how sad, that must me so hard”. The kids never knew they were “missing out” until some one said that. At home I never let them feel sorry for them selves. I always say look how healthy you are. The junk food they can’t eat is so bad for them anyway. So it was really a blessing in disguisse. I had to stick to my guns, or they would go crazy (taking me along for the ride).
In a lot of ways having to cut out some of the foods has been an blessing in disguise for me, too. The dairy especially.
I wonder about how many calories I burn while nursing too. I’m in weight loss mode as you know, and I’m guesstimating 400 calories… I’ve read conflicting info. I have read pretty consistently though that nursing mom’s shouldn’t consume less than 1500 – 1800 calories a day, which I have no problem doing. I’d be way too hungry and miserable! Not to mention worrying it might effect my supply. When I subtract exercise and nursing, my net calories sometimes surprise me being so low!
I meant to comment on your last post that I’ve got a big boy on my hands too… Kaz is 3 months and 18 pounds! The girls weren’t anywhere near 18 pounds by 3 months. I can’t wait to see the difference in boys and girls as he gets bigger, it feels like a little sneak peek to see what Luke is up to now and how he’s changing as he gets older!
I know it’s really hard to know exactly how many calories you burn breastfeeding. Some days I think it must be a ton because I’m so hungry and able to eat quite a bit. I’d still like to lose a few pounds (I was a little heavier than my ideal weight when I got pregnant), but I just don’t see myself being able to eat any less right now, so I’m going to wait a few more months until he’s breastfeeding a little less.
Wow–18 pounds at 3 months?! That is a really big boy! I think Luke was just under 18 pounds at 4 months and he’s a tank. 🙂
For this breastfeeding mom of a 7 month old I loved reading your post. In fact, I just ate 3 PB filled dates! Such a yummy snack (thanks for reminding me about them). Overnight oats are my go to morning breakfast because I’m famished when I wake up and can’t wait for regular oats to cook 🙂