motherof9

I am posting this just so that others that have thought about it can know that fasting can be done while nursing. Those that have questions can ask but please don’t critique my lifestyle choices, ok?

How many days I fasted –

3  – 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, 3 suppers.  I started my fast after lunch the first day and didn’t eat until suppertime on the 4^th day.

Why I fasted —

1.   I felt a need to really spend time praying for my older kids.

2.   I couldn’t limit the amount of sweets I was eating — I had tried just “limiting” what I ate, but nothing changed, I just kept on eating junk.  I knew if I didn’t allow myself to eat anything, I could snap myself out of the bad habits.

What I allowed –

1.   Water  – as much as I wanted.

2.   3 glasses per day of Fruit and Vegetable juice — apple, grape, carrot…. 

      NOT orange, lemon, or tomato — they are too acidic.

3.   1 Cup of low sodium chicken broth per day.

I had done this while breastfeeding my other daughter (now 4) and after the second day, felt great, had answers to prayer, and didn’t want to end the fast.

This time, I was grumpy the whole time, finally didn’t feel too hungry on the last day, and then almost got sick when I ended my fast — probably b/c I tried eating pizza!  (Stupid! After the first bite, I chose something more bland to eat.)

I lost 8 lbs in that 3 day period but after eating for 2 days gained back 5 of them.  Losing weight had not initially been my intention, but it was a nice plus.  8 lbs is too much in that short of time, so I wasn’t surprised or upset that most of the weight came back.

I was able to accomplish both goals during my fast — praying and insisting that my body did not need the sweets.  My milk production did not seem to change at all;  the baby continued being happy and was satisfied after eating.