Saturday, June 20, 2009

a kink in the plan

*Lactation Information Warning*

As mentioned in previos blogs, I had cut my caloric intake as specified by the P90X nutrition plan. I began this last Saturday, and since I began making these changes, I have seen a drastic reduction in my milk supply. Poor Tegan would suck until there was nothing left and cry in desperation for more food. Truth be told, I've been supplementing his night feedings because by the end of the day, I'm completely dried up. I thought there might have been a connection between my change in diet and the change in my breastmilk, but as I scoured through all the breastfeeding infromation I had, I found nothing on the suggested amount of calories a nursing mother should eat.

Yesterday, I decided to visit a local health food store to purchase some fenugreek, an herb to help stimulate my production. While I was there, I spoke to the store clerk about the possible cause of my lack of milk. He said that most definitely the change in diet would have an effect on my lactation and that I should up my caloric intake. I went ahead and bought the fenugreek as a precaution for any future lactation problems.

So, I'm a little disappointed that my P90X results might be affected due to my inability to follow the nutrition plan by the book. However, being able to breastfeed my son to a year, and perhaps beyond, is much more important than attaining "killer abs." My plan is to continue to eat as healthy as possible, following the nutrition plan but adding more carbohydrates to the my meals. So this morning I had a bagel with peanut butter...it felt sinfully indulgent.

Well, I'm off to start week two of P90X!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good for you! Such a good mommy. I'm a fan of bagels with peanut butter... oh wait this isn't Facebook... oh well, I'm a fan anyways!