Looking back, I was a little insane: I started the Whole30 diet just 5 weeks after our son was born. Pregnancy swelling had gone down and stitches were healed, and I was feeling a little insecure about my post-pregnancy body. Doing a diet half-heartedly never works for me- I need strict rules if I’m going to get results. And yet I was really nervous about losing my milk supply or having trouble breastfeeding! Both of those things happened with my first pregnancy without dieting, which made me a bit more anxious!

Well… I’m ecstatic to report that while doing Whole30 while breastfeeding, I had a weight loss of 14 pounds and 22 inches in just 30 days!!

Here’s my tips for doing the Whole30 diet while breastfeeding:

Don’t count or restrict calories.

Whole30 is all about shifting your mindset and making wise food choices. A huge part of that is fueling your body! Instead of Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine meals, or other diet plans that focus on calories (and often leave you starving between meals, getting headaches and having trouble focusing), Whole30 is about filling up with protein and complex non-grain carbs so you stay full and satisfied longer, without a sugar crash. If you restrict calories while breastfeeding, you have a huge risk of your milk supply dropping. I can almost guarantee it will happen! The beauty of Whole30 is that because you are eating so well, you will STILL probably lose weight without looking at calories once the entire month.

(Side note, this post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase through them, your price won’t change- but you’ll be helping me feed a toddler who literally eats more than I do!)

Eat lots of complex starches.

Potatoes and sweet potatoes definitely help increase your milk supply! I know we usually think of potatoes as “bad” on a diet, but I actually fried up potato wedges in ghee or olive oil many times, and still lost all that weight! This is 100% ok on Whole30. I know, it takes a huge mindset shift. Potatoes are not inherently bad. Almost every day I had a snack of a baked potato with ghee, scallions, and a bit of bacon. Not only was it delicious, but I was helping stabilize my milk supply in the midst of cutting out dairy (which can cause a milk drop). Because you are not snacking nearly as much (and therefore eating less calories without meaning to), your milk supply may dip during the first week of Whole30, so enjoy your spuds! I have a Whole30 Pinterest board here that includes some favorite potato recipes, as well as other meal favorites. I also enjoyed the official Whole30 Fast & Easy Cookbook!

Give yourself grace.

Please note: I’m NOT saying to halfway do Whole30. I wholeheartedly believe that the benefits of Whole30 come from sticking to it for the full 30 days. If I tell myself there’s an option of quitting if it gets too hard, I usually end up quitting. 😉 You can do it!! But Whole30 means that you can’t eat any take out, processed foods, frozen pizza, etc. You basically have to cook everything for scratch for every single meal- that’s 90 meals! Allow yourself to spend a bit extra on pre-cut lettuce, jars of prepared ghee butter, cooked rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods (double check the label!), compliant tuna cans, etc. There is even a new line of Whole30 frozen dinners at Walmart. 

You will still be spending way less than you would eating out at a restaurant. Don’t strive for perfection- strive for sustainability.

Have lactation supplements during Whole30.

Whole30 can shock your body, leading to a temporary drop in supply. Overcome it quickly by compensating with supplements. My favorites are Organic Milk Maid Tea (instead of milk, use unsweetened vanilla almond milk, coconut milk, or Nutpods to flavor) and Fenugreek tablets. Just know that a study showed that 90% of breastfeeding moms either had their milk stay stable or increase during Whole30! So, press through to even greater milk, mama!

Drink a ridiculous amount of water.

Of course all breastfeeding mamas should do this, even if we’re not on a diet! My favorite new water bottle is the HYDAWAY because it’s dishwasher safe and collapses to fit into the palm of your hand. So convenient!!

Keep emergency snacks around.

No one knows starving like a breastfeeding mama. You will no longer be able to stumble over to the pantry in the middle of the night and chow down on granola bar, or chocolate, or any of your usual comfort foods. And when you’re out running errands and suddenly have a huge hunger headache, you’ll suddenly have a big problem on your hands! Plan ahead and always keep Whole30 compliant snacks around, like nuts (not peanuts), certain jerky brands, apples, certain olives, etc. And speaking of…

Plan ahead, or plan to fail.

In case you haven’t figured it out by now, Whole30 is a ton of work, with huge benefits! But you really have to plan things out in advance. I always planned a week at a time, because if you wait til dinnertime to try and plan a nutritious meal that doesn’t break the rules, you’ll probably get overwhelmed. My favorite cookbooks during this process were the Whole30 Cookbook and the Whole30 Fast & Easy Cookbook. I’m a visual girl so I appreciated that these books have pictures of the food, haha. Between these and my Pinterest board, I marked go-to favorites and also a couple new ones to be adventurous with. This is a great task for when you’re nursing, because you can do a lot of it on your phone.

Bonus tip: Avoid cauliflower.

I know tons of recipes use it as a rice or mashed potato replacement, but cauliflower = one angry little baby. I’ll spare you the story about that disastrous week for us! 😉

And there you go! My best tips for the Whole30 diet while breastfeeding. Whole30 changed not only my waistline, but my perspective toward food. I also learned how certain foods affect me, so that I can knowingly decide whether a certain treat is worth it or not. I highly recommend doing this challenge! You CAN pull it off with a baby, and feel great in the process! Regardless, if you’re looking to love yourself more and boost your self esteem, know that your worth isn’t wrapped up in your pant size – you are a great mom at any weight.

If you thought this post was helpful, please share with your friends, pin on Pinterest, etc! I appreciate you helping me spread the word that you CAN do a successful Whole30 while breastfeeding! 

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, of course. 😉 Consult your doctor before beginning any new diet plan or taking any new supplement.