Breastfeeding

[youaremychocolatecake]

I know from reading posts and t'net in general this is a controversial subject and not recommended but are there are breast feeding mummies here successfully doing 5:2 on an increased fast day allowance? Not actually doing it before anyone jumps on me. My weight is falling off naturally so far. I am just interested to know x

[Breadandwine]

Hi Chocolatecake

Looks like this has slipped people by, so I'll answer it for you.

Ever since these threads started, there have been posters successfully bfing and fasting.

A few of them, from memory, still went down to

[youaremychocolatecake]

Thank you. X

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Hi, sorry I missed this thread. I'm on the main one.

I'm breast feeding my 10 week old. Only been fasting for 2 weeks but its going well. I am having 1000 cals on a fast day and its working well so far. I'm planning on dropping my calories as ds gets older and I get used to fasting.

Another poster with a similar age baby went straight for 500 cals and felt very unwell at the end of the day.

Best of luck

[DottiestDoris]

Hi there, yes that was me! In hindsight, I think feeling do rubbish was more to do with not drinking enough water. A huge amount of our hydration comes from what we eat and so if you're not eating as much, you need to drink more. My second fd, more from chance than design, I ended up eating fewer calories but drank and drank and drank water and sailed through feeling energetic and well.

[justonemorecake]

Hi, I am breast feeding my 13 mo dd and I did my first fast on Wednesday at 500 calories. I felt fine in myself, although very thirsty. I am used to drinking a lot of water though.

Does anyone know if fasting at 500 cals will damage my supply, or will it be ok given that I have been breast feeding for a while? I currently feed once in the morning, once in the evening and once at night.

[fairypangolin]

I've been fasting for about 4 weeks and am ebf my 12 week old. No problem with supply - if the theory is correct that this way if eating mimics how our healthier ancestors ate I don't see why bfing would be harmed. Your body will prioritise milk production over everything else. Actually starving would cause problems of course but a fast of 24-36 hrs is hardly that, esp as you are eating after all. I have been sticking with 700-800 cals tho. I have lost 6 lbs so far!

[enjolraslove]

Hi all- can I join you? I've been lurking on the main thread for a while but it is sooo big! I'm ebf my 3 month old ds and have been doing 5:2 for 7 weeks. The first 4 weeks the weight just fell off and I lost a stone. I've now been at the same weight since 22nd dec and I'm getting fed up!
Logically I know with christmas and everything I shouldn't be disheartened but I am. I guess I feel under pressure as I am a bridesmaid at a big family wedding this summer and I really want to look my best! My goal is 10 stone (but realistically I've never been less than 10, 7 in 14 years so really I think I would be happy there) but I really want to get to 11 by the dress fittings which are mid march. That is one stone to go.
I've been doing 2 fd a week at 600-750 and then 4 days at 1800 ish and then 1 day where I don't count (alcohol mainly!). I'm 5'7 btw.
Does anyone have any ideas about how to get it going down again?

[DottiestDoris]

Hi Justone. From what I've read on the main thread, 500 calories will not harm your milk supply at all. They recommend we eat more because of how we might feel during the fast, as we are burning off quite a bit before we start.
I did 750 on my first fd and didn't drink enough and felt rubbish. Then ended up only eating 460 on my second fd (id overestimated my dinner and didn't realise until I entered it in mfp) but drank loads and felt completely fine.
On both occasions ds2 (12 weeks) ate perfectly well!

I am super impressed with the losses I've read about on here-wow to all of you!

I've only done a week and am struggling to understand why any weight I lose on a fd isn't just going to ping back on when I revert for my nfd.

[justonemorecake]

It's good to hear that people are fb and still doing 5:2 successfully. I really like the idea of this way of life and I think it will work well for me. I'm also using mfp to log what I eat for the rest of the week.

[fairypangolin]

doris the way it works is by reducing your caloric consumption on a weekly basis. Say you need to consume 2000 cals per day just to maintain your weight (ie your total daily energy expenditure or TDEE). If you eat only 500 cals per day on two days of the week you are creating a deficit of 1500 cals x 2=3000. To lose a pound of body weight you have to create a deficit of 3500 cals so on this diet if you don't eat over your TDEE on the other five days you will lose approximately a pound a week.

The reason why this way of decreasing your caloric consumption has never been previously promoted was that received wisdom was that if you deprive yourself too much one day, you will make up for it by gorging the next. However, the research quoted by Michael Mosley in his boom showed this was not the case, people tended to eat only +10% TDEE on non fast days even when encouraged to eat as much as they wanted. In order for the diet to work you have to watch you don't over consume on non fast days but most people don't seem to find that a problem.

There also may be an additional fat burning effect from going more than 12 hrs without any food at all, which is why many advocae either breaking your fast late in the day or leaving a large gap between your breakfast and dinner on fasting days.

However if you weigh yourself every day you may see the scales creep up the second NFD but I believe this is mainly due to water retention or the weight of food in your digestive system rather than regain. It should average out over the course of the week.

I hope this helps to clarify? Glad other bfing mums are trying this.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Good to see lots of breast feeders trying and succeeding with the 5:2 diet. I'm hoping for some success too. So far I've only done two weeks but have lost 4 pounds.

enjoir I'm 5"7 too currently weigh 11 pounds 7 and like you would love to get to 10 stone but that would really be pushing it. Best of luck being a bridesmaid, it's good to have a deadline to spur you on. When is the dress shopping / fitting happening?

fairy well done on the 6 pounds loss.

I have a horrible habit of weighing myself everyday so can get very disappointed when the scales don't say what I want them to. I should try and do a weekly weigh in instead. When is it best to do it? Day after a fast day or a normal day?

I think I'm going to try and push for 750 on a fast day. I was aiming for 1000 but came in yesterday at 820.

[DottiestDoris]

Thank you fairy, that makes it a lot clearer. I'm doing the 16.8 on fds, but mostly because I find it delays my hunger from kicking in. A big coffee fills me up and then I'm fine until I eat!
whenshewasbad I'm just the same with weighing! I can restrict myself to once a day if I really try, but it's a definite compulsion. It might well be best to weigh just once a week or less, but I'd have to sell my scales to achieve that. Is there a Weighers Anonymous?

[justonemorecake]

I always end up weighing myself every day. I don't mean to but then I can never resist temptation! I only log my weight once a week though.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Glad it's not just me that's addicted to the scales. I think I'm going to go for a Monday weigh in.

Ds has just thrown up all over dd's bed as we were trying to get her into it, really not what you need at bed time.

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Ok Monday weigh in done and I'm 11 stone 8. So put on one pound since yesterday. My goal weight for next Monday is 11 stone 6

[DottiestDoris]

Oh dear whenshewasbad, was it a full bed sheet change? That is not fun.
11.8 is still great progress. The trouble with the daily weighing though is that you do see the fluctuations.
I was 11.8 after my last fd on Fri, then put on a pound by Sunday morning but had dropped to 11.7.6 this morning without another fd! I'm on a fd again today so hoping for good things on the scales tomorrow morning.
Bitg boys and I are thick with colds at the moment. They're grumpy so I'm hoping the lack of food won't affect my mood too much. Poor DH.

[DottiestDoris]

*both boys

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

Oh no sorry about the colds, if its what's been doing the rounds where I live it's a vile virus. Get well soon.

It was a full bed change, totally exited toddler bouncing on the bed at 7.45pm is not a good thing.

Have a confession to make I haven't epilated or shaved my legs since ds was born I'm planning to take dd swimming on Thursday so drastic action needs to be taken. At least it's easier losing hair than fat.

[DottiestDoris]

Gosh, you might lose a few pounds with the hair shred
I invested in a new epilator in the january sales as my last hit the dust last year. Time is short though so I did one leg one night and the other the next. Glad I didn't have to go swimming in between! Also, it's amazing how much it hurts when you haven't epilated for a while!
I've fasted today. Have felt ok but not as good as last fd. Might have had more calories in my dinner than intended but definitely under 750 so not too shoddy.
What've you planned meal wise for tomorrow?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

I never thought of the hair loss helping with weight loss I think there's about 1/2 pound of hair that has to go.

I've forgotten just how much it hurts, it's going to be bad. I'm glad it's not just me who does one leg at a time. I've only done this since having kids. I do my armpits too as using a razor gives me eczema, that really hurts.

How are the boys doing with their colds?

[DottiestDoris]

Ouchy to armpits. I'm not brave enough for that!
Oldest boy is v snotty but brighter in himself. He wanted to make some rocky road muffins today so we did that and i reduced my dinner so I could fit one in under my TDEE. Im working to the Tdee of my ideal weight so I don't have much wriggle room. But where there's a will...
Baby boy is feeling sorry for himself. Very sad and doesn't want to be put down. Luckily he had a sleep when it came to making muffins.
And im losing my voice while dh is as healthy as ever.
Have you fasted today? How was the swimming?

[WhenSheWasBadSheWasExhausted]

The armpits are painful but better than the eczema I used to get. I have kept ontop of the pits as it really is stupidly painful if left of too long.

Swimming is scheduled for Thursday, both legs have been epilated up to the knees so that's a start.

Managed a fast day and came in at 800. I'm impressed you are doing your TDEE on non fast days. I'm not organised enough for that yet.

Sorry your ds is poorly, there's something so sad about a baby with a cold. Hope he shifts it soon.

[Felix90]

Hi all, I know it's been about 10 days since you last posted but didn't want to make a new thread when there already is one. My dd is 5 weeks today and I desperately need to focus on shifting some pounds! I was already 3 stone overweight when I found out I was pregnant and now I've gained around 2 stones more

I'm no longer bf but I am expressing and dd is having a combination of formula and expressed milk. As I'm only expressing I've found I'm not as hungry as I was when I was just bf. Do you think I'd be ok doing the normal 500 cals or should I increase it slightly?

I've done this sort of diet before but it was a 3 day fast/4 day normal cals thing. I've seen a lot of proof it works but I just feel a bit sceptical as 2 days doesn't seem like much! Also do you think it will still suit me as I have a lot to lose?

[BigChocFrenzy]

On this WOL, health is our top priority.
Dr Varady recommends 1000 cals for BF on her tougher EOF/ADF diet.
For 5:2, we say start on 1000, but reduce gradually to 700 if you feel ok. Since you are just expressing, I would recommend 700 to start and get used to fasting. Then reduce gradually to 500 if you feel ok.
If you find fasting tough, go to 1000 for a few weeks.

[Felix90]

Thank you for replying! I'm going to start on Tuesday and give 700 a go. I'll just make sure I listen to my body and don't over (or under!) do it