BREASTFEEDING NUTRITION. Ive had a question put to me privately about eating clean and breastfeeding, so I figured Id answer it here for all those interested. What Im about to say may sound like common sense... Probably because it is common sense... But all too often the guidelines we are given are not common sense. So here it goes... Listen to your body. Thats it. Listen. To. Your. Body. This is true for breastfeeding mums... For mums of young children... For mums of old children... For dads.... And for the children themselves. Listen to your body. So what do I mean by this? The human body is both a simple and sophisticated machine. It has EVOLVED to survive and to reproduce... And if it wants to SURVIVE and REPRODUCE... Trust me... it will let you know about it! Now its Sunday lunchtime... So Im not going to go off on one about reproduction! Its the SURVIVAL bit were interested in today. One of the key elements of SURVIVAL is NUTRITION. Without nutrition... in the food we eat... we cannot survive. So the body has a range wonderful ADAPTATIONS... Designed to let us know WHEN and WHAT to eat. We all know the first one very well... It is called APPETITE. We feel HUNGRY because that is our bodys way of saying... I need nutrition! I need energy! I need fuel! You dont feel hungry after a 5 course blowout meal... Because your body has been given TOO MUCH fuel. Instead you feel the second adaptation... SATIETY. Which basically means FEELING FULL. Imagine living and eating... And never feeling HUNGRY and never feeling FULL. How would you know when to eat? How would you know when to stop eating? We all know and understand APPETITE and SATIETY.. ...feeling hungry... and feeling full... But in the modern world... We dont LISTEN to it!! We dont LISTEN to our BODY! We listen to government diet guidelines... We listen to the diet and slimming industry... We act on their advice... and feel STARVING all the time... Because theyre right and our body is WRONG... So f**k listening to your body when its time to eat... Listen to Big Sue at Fat Fighters... She knows what shes talking about.... not your body... Body says... Please feed me! Please! Im hungry! I need fuel! Big Sue says... No! You must eat a rice cake! And if you dont listen to your body? If you dont listen to your APPETITE? Thats when the next adaptation kicks in.... BINGE EATING! Binge eating is an ADAPTATION... Evolved to force us to eat and overeat... If we cannot fulfil the demands of our appetite. You know this. Youve experienced this. You dont need me to pull out SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.... To prove this. Because weve all tried cutting calories to lose weight... Weve all tried ignoring our appetite on a restrictive diet... And weve all ended up BINGING because of it! Havent we! Weve been there... done that... Tried IGNORING our body... and paid the price.. in FAT!! So I repeat... Listen. To. Your. Body. Men, you can stop here if you like... But women, now we get on to HORMONES and APPETITE. So far weve be learning about three adaptations.... Evolved to help us manage our calorie intake... APPETITE... SATIETY... BINGE EATING. Some scientists have called these the APPESTAT... Because in the same way a thermostat regulates heat... These adaptations regulate our food intake. Now think back to the last time you were due on... Did you notice a change in your APPESTAT? Did you notice an increase in your appetite? Did you notice you might have had more binges? Did you notice that even after eating a lot... You still didnt feel full? Basically... and I mean this in the nicest way possible... Did you turn into a FOOD MONSTER?! Out of my way man-ling... I need food!! Give me food!! If you get in the way of me and food... I will eat you too!! (I know not to talk to my wife at this time for fear of being eaten!) So whats going on here... Well, your body is TALKING to you... And as Ive said before... you need to... Listen. To. Your. Body. And give it what it wants... Otherwise it will activate the next adaptation.... BINGE EATING... To override your restrictive diet and force feed itself. So why does this happen at this time in your cycle? Its so simple people..... so simple it hurts... Your body is preparing itself for the possibility of PREGNANCY. Your body is sending a lot of blood and energy... To your reproductive organs... Which increases your bodys CALORIC NEEDS. Quite simply... your body needs more calories... So it asks for more calories by making you HUNGRY.... By increasing your APPETITE and CRAVINGS. Its just asking for more energy people... thats all.... But what do we do? Well, not me... but what do women do?! They IGNORE their body... They try to STICK AT their diet... They try to PLACATE their body with a rice cracker... Then they wonder why they end up BINGING!! Listen. To. Your. Body. If you dont give it the calories it wants and needs... It. Will. Take. Them. It will override your desire to be slim... It will release binge eating hormones.... And it will make itself FATTER to protect itself. So Listen. To. Your. Body. Now on to breastfeeding. When a woman is breastfeeding... Her CALORIC NEEDS increase. She requires roughly 500 extra calories a day to produce milk. So how does the body find these extra 500 calories?! Its so simple people... so simple it hurts... It GAINS WEIGHT and BODYFAT during pregnancy. Hands up if youve been pregnant? Me Liam!! Me!! Me!! Twice!! Ok... did you notice any changes to your body? Did you notice you gained a bit of weight and fat? Did you notice in particular... That you gained weight and fat on your HIPS and BUM? This isnt natures way of trying to piss you off... This is natures way of STORING ENERGY RESERVES... In preparation for breastfeeding. So most of the calories required to breastfeed... Are already there and in place... Before you even start breastfeeding!! So what happens next is a massive annoyance to me... And to many of my female clients over the years... They are told by the experts to EAT MORE!! Ah yes! I the expert see you are breastfeeding... Hmmm.. May I recommend a diet of refined grains... And raising your calorie intake substantially.... To fuel these demands. Mum then goes on the bread, pasta, cake diet... Gains an extra stone while breastfeeding... On top of the 2 stone of fat she gained naturally during pregnancy... Then starts hating her body and being a mum... Because the whole process has made her 3 stone fatter. Why?! Why do women have to go through this?! When nature has a wonderful way of managing her calorie needs! When women... naturally.... should listen to their APPETITE... Should eat more during their pregnancy to gain bodyfat... Then listen to their APPETITE after giving birth and lose bodyfat. Listen. To. Your. Body. If you are breastfeeding and you feel RAVENOUS... Then you are not eating enough! Eat more! If you are breastfeeding and your milk production drops... Then you are not eating enough! Eat more! But if your APPETITE and MILK PRODUCTION are both fine... Then eat as much as you feel you need to eat. Just Listen. To. Your. Body. It will TELL YOU if it needs more calories... By raising your APPETITE. And if your appetite is elevated? If you feel hungry? Dont dive into the bread bin or the cake tin to fuel it... Choose the most realistic, cleaner options first. Brown rice... potato... beans... pulses... fruit... nuts... milk... Are all very HIGH CALORIE foods... That will supply all the calories and nutrients your body needs... Without the risk of setting you off on a binge. ........................ Now a question, Id be grateful for your answers....... (close your ears / eyes if youre easily offended) Am I F**KING BONKERS?! Do you read posts like this and think... F**k me... that Liams a barmy quacko nutrition weirdo!! Or do you read this and think... That guy actually talks a bit of sense! I get it!!.... Listen to your body. Eat if you feel hungry. Choose natural foods. Dont try and manage your appetite with diet bars and crackers! Liam rebelfit.co.uk
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 13:08:37 +0000
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