Boobie Bites! plus Milk Supply Boosters

So, I’m here…I swear.  I’ve been in that first few month baby haze where days both fly by and take forever.  I’ve been more active on Facebook, so if you are missing me, come on over, but I’m going to do my best to start posting more.

So for a short update related to my post today, my almost-5 month old isn’t gaining weight…whose genes did this guy get?? So we’ve started him on Zantac for reflux because he was spitting up a ton (but super happy!) after ruling out a ton of other things.  We also have increased how much he’s getting in his bottles at daycare, which means I’m trying hard to keep up.

The happy kiddos

I’m eating a lot and not really counting my containers as I had been…but still trying to keep it to clean foods that make me feel GOOD.  I’m not losing weight, which is something I’d expected to be the same this time around.  I can’t lose weight without losing supply, but good choices and habits never hurt!

So, if you found me because you have trouble with your supply or can’t lose weight while breastfeeding…welcome!  I’m here, virtually holding hands with you.  Know that you can still make whatever your breastfeeding goals are even when it isn’t easy, but I’ll never judge you for supplementing or stopping.  We all make the best decision we can for us and our families!

Here is a list of some foods said to boost milk supply.  I’ve been including a lot of these in my diet and I do find them helpful!

• Water…all the water
• Oatmeal
• Flaxseeds
• Brewer’s Yeast
• Salmon
• Beer
• Dark, leafy greens
• Garlic
• Green Papaya (haven’t tried this yet! Have you?)
• Chick Peas
• Raw Nuts
• Greek yogurt
• Water…worth another mention!

I make these Shakeology Boobie Bites to help me from grazing for less healthy options and they’re delicious and milk boosting.  You can still have them if you aren’t breastfeeding, but if no one who will be eating them is, just leave out the flaxseeds and Brewer’s yeast for a treat!  Two of these would be a yellow on the 21 Day Fix or other container based plans.

Shakeology Boobie Bites
(per 12 servings)

1 Cup Chocolate Shakeology
1 Cup All-Natural Nut Butter (I used peanut)
1 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
1/2 Cup Pure Honey
2 Tbsp Ground Flaxseeds
2 Tbsp Brewer’s Yeast

Method:
Mix all ingredients.
Roll into 1 inch balls (I use my hands!)
Place on wax paper and refrigerate or freeze. Or eat right after!

Have you dealt with low supply (or just low pumping output!)?  I’d love to hear your story!

Time for a Refresh!

If you haven’t heard yet, there’s a new 3 Day Refresh that came out.  It’s a 3 day cleanse with shakes and some whole foods.  I bought it, knowing that I would want to do it eventually and it came Friday!

I was trying to figure out when would be best to do the refresh, and Monday just kept talking to me.  I wrote out a grocery list and decided to start tomorrow!

So, I plan to share it all…ups and downs and all arounds.  I need to hit the food store for a few more things tomorrow, but I feel well prepped for this.  I’m excited to see how it goes.

A big thing in when I started this was that I was still nursing every so often.  Most people will say that breastfeeding and cleanses don’t mix.  But it’s been so sporadic (I’m talking days between sessions) that I decided to go for this.  I don’t know if anyone here will judge me for stopping (or for still nursing at almost 20 months) but that’s okay with me.  I’m okay with it.  Getting there took about a month of the sporadic nursing to accept that this time was ending.

And if you’re wondering, so far today was just a regular 21 Day Fix eating day.  I didn’t decide to overeat and go crazy pre-refresh!

Easy Eating

How was your weekend?  We had a good one here!  I have to work today, but I have a 4 day weekend next week.  I’ll take it!

I wanted to go through and write out a day of food.  Not my perfect day, not super healthy, not anything special…not even a typical day.  What is it? Easy.  All of the food is quick, minimal cooking time, and reasonably healthy.  It’s a decent day.  Please remember, I eat a lot of calories right now to support breastfeeding.  This may be too much food for you, or it may be too little.   So pick and choose, use it for ideas, and I hope you find something that helps you out!

5am – Wake up – Chocolate Shakeology with frozen berries and water
8:30am – Quick Cooking Steel Cut Oats (I get these that take about 5 minutes total) with almond butter and banana
A little later – Clif Z Bar (I buy the Chocolate Crispy)
11:30am – Chicken sausage (I have two of these), Butternut Squash soup (I buy the Pacific brand…not making it!) with coconut oil, nutritional yeast and cinnamon
A little later – grapes
2:30pm – P90X bar (I buy the variety box and alternate through all of them).  Larabars are also a good option, but I find that the P90X bars keep me satisfied longer.
A little later – Chocolate PB2 mixed with water
5:30/6pm – Gardenburger, Steamed spinach (in the microwave…I use this) with olive oil and Garlic Gold nuggets
8pm – Tofutti Marry Me bar

I wouldn’t usually eat all of this for one day.  Often, dinner is from the crockpot (still easy) but I wanted to throw in an even easier option there.  I will also make chili (crockpot again!) for lunches.   The “a little later” foods would typically be while I’m pumping during work and aren’t always, but I left them in as quick snacks in case they’re helpful.

Are you out and about?  I have posted before about eating at Chipotle and sometimes I’ll also do Starbucks for their egg white sandwich.

Do you have questions?  I’d love to help.  You can still eat fairly healthy when you have no time!

Some updates

Here are some other things I have been up to that haven’t made it to the blog yet…

I participated in an Insanity flash mob.  It was fun, but we got broken up in 8 minutes 😦  And since I was doing Insanity, I got one picture!  My sister and I ended up jogging in NYC to keep up the fitness portion of the day, so that was fun.  I was wearing the wrong sneakers for it and haven’t been doing any running, so it was slow and short.  But a good time.

My baby turned 10 months old and hates light sabers.  That’s okay.  She’s still cool

She also ate banana pancakes.  We all had pancakes this morning – banana protein pancakes for adults, bananas dipped in pancake batter for the baby.  Enjoyed by all!

I learned how to back carry in the ergobaby…without assistance of a couch or husband!  I did use a mirror, so I may not be doing this alone out of the house just yet.  Practice is important when it comes to carriers!  I love my ergo.  I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a baby carrier.  The front carry is so easy and comfortable.  Hip carry is a little more complicated, but not bad.  Back carry is more logistical than difficult…you have to get the baby on your back, but then it’s nothing.  And I can feed her discretely while she’s in it.  If you need help with yours, let me know!

We went to Mariano Rivera’s last home game.  It was emotional.  He’ll be missed.

What have you been up to lately?  Any end of summer/start of fall fun?

9 months on, 9 months off

At least that was the plan for weight loss. Reality, not so simple!

I even put in my goals for the year to fit into some pre-pregnancy clothes by now. There are a few things that fit but not much. Mostly workout clothes! I suppose that’s helpful. But for the most part, nope. I have almost 20lbs left to lose and have been within a 5lb range for about 3 months.

Have I tried? Of course. I exercise most days, track my food and try to eat reasonably. I do have lapses in my food choices, but that’s normal and I track them. I have my daily Shakeology which makes such a difference for me. If I go low on my calories a few days, my milk supply drops. And that’s basically the thing here. I’m choosing supply over weight loss. I struggle with this daily (hourly?) but I know I’m making the right choice.

So I’m deciding to give myself another 6 months. Which is really 3 months from the year mark, when I plan to stop pumping during the day. I’ll ride out my freezer stash for daytime and then it will just be nights/morning. I won’t be clinging to supply anymore, so hopefully my body won’t cling to the weight.

I’m enjoying my workouts. I would exercise for stress relief even without the calorie burn. And I have seen some results (see my results posts from TurboFire, Pump and Insanity!).

I know I’m doing my best all around. If you’re in a similar position, I’d love to hear from you!

Insanity Results

It took me an extra week, but I finished up Insanity yesterday!  I gained about 4 lbs doing it, and lost just over 2 inches.  Not huge differences, but I see a change in pictures.  I feel a change in how I feel.  And my fit test results make me proud.

The before pictures are from 5/25, when I finished Les Mills Pump.

 

I am happy with the results.  I finished, and almost stopped because of milk supply.  But I have kept just ahead of what I needed and added slightly to my stash.  I think that if I was not breastfeeding, I would have seen more results, but I’m not giving that up!

 

My final fit test results impressed me!  I could not have been happier with my progress.  All in all, a good experience though i am happy to be moving on.  I started Focus T25 today and am excited to check it out…plus the shorter workouts wont hurt!

 

Milkmakers Cookie Review

I tried the Milkmakers lactation cookies a few weeks ago.  I had been meaning to try them and they were on zulily.com at a discount, so I jumped on it.

 

 

I tried to get a picture below to show size with my grande Starbucks cup.  But the cookie still looks smaller than actual size.  It’s one big cookie!  Not that it’s bad, but I would rather a few smaller cookies.  I have been eating half at a time sometimes, but it’s hard to put half a cookie back!

 

They taste good as well.  I usually make oatmeal chocolate chip ones, and these are raisin instead.  I like mine better, and I think it is more than just the chocolate.  Mine are a bit sweeter.  These are on the spiced side.  But I do like them.

I have bought another batch since my first, so I obviously give them a thumbs up!  It is hard to judge them for milk production as I do so much to boost that and keep it up.  I continue to break even though.  In theory, I’ll continue making my own and have these for back up, but each day I say I’ll make cookies, I have something pop up.  I bought raisins for the next batch, so I’ll post about that once I test them out!

Insane weekend!

That’s what you call it when you get certified, yes? I went to Insanity instructor training yesterday! I had originally signed up to go today at a location super close to home, but that one got cancelled. Change of plans!

It was tough, but a great day. It was a packed room of positive folks…very clear when laughing at trying to do anything involving a plank!

Also tough was choosing to spend another day away from the baby, and pumping during training. It’s a hassle to always be thinking about when next to pump, what to wear to make it easier, and on and on. But it worked out.

The rest of the weekend was fun and spent with the cutest sidekick!

Mind Over Madness

On Friday, I got to experience yoga in a crazy place for the second time. I had gone to the Times Square Alliance’s solstice yoga event in 2011, rushing over from work with my yoga mat and pretending my yoga clothes were work appropriate for the day. It was an amazing experience to be on the mat in the middle of a busy place, with cars still beeping and the tourists and New Yorkers looking on.

This year, I took a day off from work and did the Bikram class in the middle of a nice hot day. This year, I also didn’t go alone (well, as alone as you could be in Times Square). I had a great time and hope that I can do it again many times.

I had a few days of terrible sleep leading up to Friday. Some days here are better than others, and we had a few rough nights in a row (tonight is looking to be fun as well, though the last two were pretty good ones). I literally fell asleep during the class…for just about a minute. It was a time where I typically would have my eyes open, but since the sun was right overhead, they were closed. And I woke up a bit confused but tried to continue with my practice without dwelling on it.

Also, to bring it fully into the mom + fitness world, I had to bring my breast pump as I was gone for about 6 hours. I pumped in Times Square, under a nursing cover (I rarely use it, but it came in handy for this and for changing into my yoga clothes when done).
So in review…I did yoga, fell asleep, pumped and changed in Times Square on Friday. Now we get pictures!

Breastfeeding and Exercise

So here will be MY experience.  I’m not a doctor, a lactation consultant, or any other medical professional.  I’m just a regular woman with a baby and boobs (pardon me).

Everyone asks about losing weight, breastfeeding and exercise.  No one really wants to know if it can be done.  The true question is “will it hurt my supply”, and the answer is maybe.  This “everyone” doesn’t include those who lose tons of weight by breastfeeding (many do) but the others who can not shed weight until after they wean.

You need extra calories to breastfeed so you shouldn’t diet to lose weight.  It’s good for you and your baby to eat good food and not be starving.  I count calories, but give myself 500 extra a day to accommodate breastfeeding, and don’t really worry if I go over.  I also eat any calories burned from exercise.  And that’s what this post is about.

At this point, I am doing Insanity.  I have also done TurboFire and LesMills Pump, along with some running and yoga.  These can be intense, and I started slowly and built up to the Insanity program.  I don’t think I could have handled that first for many reasons.  I find that I’m okay as long as I drink water and eat extra.  And by water, I mean a LOT of water.  I have dips in supply, but nothing that would be noticeable if I wasn’t working and pumping.  My baby always gets enough!  I’m losing weight slowly but surely.  Baby is gaining weight.  Everybody wins!

So, what exercise did you do before pregnancy (or during!)?  You can probably do it now, starting slowly and working your way up.  The important things for me have been to listen to my body, drink a lot of water, eat when hungry, and eat healthy foods.  If you feel it is too much or that your supply is taking a hit, adjust.  I’m serious on the water!  Cookies help too!

What has your experience been?  I’d love to hear your stories!