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Creating a healthy breastfeeding diet plan is easier than you think! In this post, I’m going to show you how to create a healthy breastfeeding diet that will help your own health as well as your breast milk supply.
Creating a breastfeeding diet plan is really important to your health as a new mommy, as well as your milk supply.
Successfully creating a diet plan you can follow while breastfeeding means that you can start losing the extra baby weight while nourishing your body.
This is what I teach to new mamas in my program.
It is entirely possible that you can create your own breastfeeding diet plan to lose weight and keep your milk supply up.
I am going to give you the steps to take to help you do just that!
What A Healthy Breastfeeding Diet Plan Looks Like And How To Do It
Creating a breastfeeding diet plan uniquely created for your personality will help you stay happy and be successful!
As a Pre/Post Natal Fitness Specialist and nutrition coach, I have ideas about what a breastfeeding diet plan should look like, the best foods you should eat, and the recipes to go along with it BUT some women find it is easier to make their own plan.
The benefit of making your unique breastfeeding diet plan is the personal touch. You know yourself better than anyone else, so why not create the plan yourself?
Let’s get started on creating the best breastfeeding diet plan for YOU in 7 easy to do steps:
Decide What Type of Eater You Are
The first step to a successful breastfeeding diet plan is figuring out what type of eater you are.
There are many different “types” of eaters, but here are some main questions you can ask yourself:
- Do I like to eat large meals or small meals?
- Am I hungry right away in the morning?
- Do I go long hours without eating, then binge?
- Do I prefer carbs or fats? (would you rather have fries or steak?
Take your time answering these questions so that you can figure out your eating style.
Maybe you are a snacker and no matter how large your meals are, you want to eat something every couple of hours. If that is the case, don’t fight your natural instincts and try to do intermittent fasting or large meals hours apart. Knowing you’re a snacker who loves smaller meals will do better than trying to fit yourself into something that doesn’t feel right.
If you can’t stand eating every couple of hours and love feeling full and satisfied, maybe eating a larger meal is what works best.
At the end of the day, do what feels right for you – follow and leverage your natural tendencies!
Using your instincts needs to be a part of your breastfeeding diet plan.
This is also important when determining if you are going to be a low-carb eater or a low-fat eater.
In general, I advise one or the other because carbs and fats are both fuel sources. By giving your body two fuel sources, the carbs will be used immediately and the fat stored as fat.
If you eat low carb, and there is a lack of carbs, then your body will use the fat you eat.
However, if you eat low fat, then your body will use the carbs you eat, and tap into fat when the carbs are used and you still need energy.
If your body has both, then the fat loss isn’t as efficient, though in a calorie deficit you will still lose fat. This is a general guide I will go into more below.
Decide on How You Can Clean Up Your Diet
Your breastfeeding diet plan needs to be as clean as possible – it’s important for nourishing your body and meeting your goals for creating a breastfeeding diet plan in the first place.
Eating nutrient-dense foods is going to help you let go of fat, produce a healthy milk supply and nourish your baby.
Nutrient-dense foods are full of nutrients, not just calories. This means you need to get rid of low-nutrient foods to make room for higher-quality foods.
Need an example of nutrient-dense foods? Nutrient-dense foods are vegetables, eggs, garbanzo beans, quinoa, sweet potato, fruits, lean proteins, and more.
They are typically lower in calories than packaged and processed foods but high in nutrients.
In other words, adding more nutrient-dense foods will mean you’re eating fewer calories while getting all of the benefits.
This is a huge win when creating a healthy breastfeeding diet plan!
So, make sure to think about how you can clean up your diet.
To help you out, I have a 14-day clean eating challenge that will walk you through this, and give you the guidelines for free.
You can take what you learn and include it in your breastfeeding diet plan.
The best part? I give you some recipes so you’ll be able to use those!
Use Supplements To Support Your Breastfeeding Diet
Supplements can be a helpful part of a breastfeeding diet plan because they help you keep up with your nutrients.
I personally love protein powder because protein is hard for me to get in.
Many women who are trying to lose weight do well on salads, fruits, and snacks, but struggle to get lean protein in their diet.
It’s the reason I created Milk Dust, a very unique protein powder that is formulated to help women produce a healthy breast milk supply – it’s a supplement I make sure to include as part of my healthy breastfeeding diet.
Milk Dust also helps combat sugar cravings – breastfeeding often causes lots of carb and sugar cravings due to nutrient deficiencies and lack of protein.
This is a clean, plant-based protein powder that nourishes your body, boosts your milk supply with herbs, and balances your blood sugar.
If you need a good protein powder now, I really like this plant-based protein powder and this lactation protein powder.
(I use protein powder in my lactation shakes and smoothies – they are a great addition to any breastfeeding diet plan because they are fast, simple, nourishing, and EASY!)
Another helpful thing that I wanted to mention now is finding tools that help making recipes for your breastfeeding diet plan easier!
I just grabbed an air fryer that was on sale at Target, and I am in LOVE!
It makes healthy cooking faster, and everything tastes so good! This isn’t a supplement, but an example of how you can use the tools available to help you achieve your goals.
Take A Look At Your Body Type
The next step in your breastfeeding diet plan journey is looking at your body type.
Your body type is going to tell you a lot about the type of foods you should focus on in your breastfeeding diet plan.
There are three basic body types we learn about as fitness professionals, ectomorph, endomorph and mesomorph. These are technical terms for thin/athletic, pear shape, and stocky/muscle.
What you need to assess here is where you gain and store your fat.
If you store fat in your belly, in general, a lower-carb plan is going to work for you.
This is because you have more insulin resistance (in general).
If you gain and hold your weight in your lower body, then a lower-fat diet (in general) is a good direction to go.
Knowing your body type is really helpful in giving you a direction, based on what your hormones and insulin levels are doing.
Of course, there are unique situations, genetics, and other factors that can make this not work.
But as a general guideline, it works pretty well.
If you gain weight all over, very evenly, then you are probably okay eating a balance of carbs and fats, or alternating with high carb and high fat days depending on how you feel.
Make A List Of Healthy Foods You Love
Focusing on foods you love will help make your breastfeeding diet plan something you can sustain.
By this point, you should have an idea of how you like to eat, what foods will suit your body type, and how you can clean up your diet.
From there, focus on what you CAN eat so it is motivating.
Find recipes with the foods you can eat to inspire you and help you realize you can enjoy this way of eating.
For example, if you are pear-shaped and a snacker, then making a list of foods and snacks that are low-fat is a great step.
These might be deli turkey and cucumber sandwiches, fruit slices, overnight oatmeal, protein smoothies, hard-boiled eggs, etc.
I have a great list of healthy breastfeeding snacks that will get you started.
Keep All Your Recipes Simple
Do not make a recipe list full of ingredients, prep, and stress.
Focus on the foods you are eating in your breastfeeding diet plan.
Find simple recipes for salads, smoothies, and dinners that you can prep and freeze, or prep and cook quickly.
I have a video in my breastfeeding diet program, where I share how I grocery shop so that I can make easy recipes – even with kids in tow!
I also go over what I prep and have on hand during the week. This is super helpful because by having large batches of healthy staples like cauliflower rice, turkey burgers, quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes, and cooked eggs, I always have something on hand and ready.
Making salads can be fun each day because you can change what you put in them.
Keeping frozen fruit and veggies in the freezer is affordable as well as super simple for smoothies as snacks or breakfast. I find this to be a huge help!
Don’t be afraid to repeat meals you really enjoy. Food doesn’t have to be different and exciting – it needs to be nourishing.
Track Your Food and Calories
This may be the MOST important step of your breastfeeding diet.
Because if everything I’ve mentioned above gets too overwhelming, you can always just track your calories.
I HIGHLY recommend getting into this practice because life happens.
Maybe you haven’t had a chance to get to the grocery store, so you are left with meatloaf and potato chips to eat. No problem. Just eat within your caloric needs. Simple.
Too tired to cook anything? Do fast food, just eat within your calories.
Doing this means you won’t give up and let months go by before making changes.
Figuring out your caloric needs is actually very simple while breastfeeding, and I go over that in detail in my program. I detail how you calculate YOUR calories, not a general amount for a wide range of women.
Before you try to reduce your calories, make sure you’ve established your milk supply.
Once your milk supply is where you want it, reducing your caloric intake is possible. If you notice any effects and changes in your milk supply (by looking at baby’s soiled diapers, not just guessing!), you can use supplement boosters and increase your nutrients. These are my favorite tips to increase your milk supply fast.
Follow these 7 steps and watch as your breastfeeding diet plan gets created while keeping your unique needs in mind!
Creating a unique breastfeeding diet plan means there are more chances of success and less chances that your breast milk supply will dip.
You will ultimately find a way to live a healthy lifestyle that works specifically for you.
No need to follow fad diets since they don’t take your individual needs into account. They also aren’t great for a breastfeeding mom!
If you want more support and guidance, make sure to check out my program where I teach all about breastfeeding diet plans in a healthy and safe way.
We work through the foods you need to focus on, and the foods you need to eliminate.
You’ll learn how to calculate your calories and get access to healthy recipes, meal plans, and grocery lists to make it as simple as possible to lose weight while breastfeeding.
If you feel confused or have been looking for more guidance with diet and breastfeeding, I highly recommend checking out my program.
It also has a section of videos on healing your abs and pelvic floor, workouts, and so much information.
A must for any new mom who wants to create a healthy breastfeeding diet while losing the extra baby weight! Hope to see you in my program!
