Breastfeeding Twins and menu

[TwinMama+1]

Hello. I just started sb phase 2 today and I am breastfeeding twins. I started gaining weight so I thought I'll come back to south beach since its healthier than anything else out there and especially for breastfeeding. What do you think my menu should look like? I know about the extra milk I'm supposed to be drinking but what about the fruit and bread? Start with 1 starch and fruit?

[Chris55]

Congratulations on deciding to breastfeed your twins!! I'm a former La Leche League leader, so love it when I hear about new moms nursing, especially twins. You don't say how old they are or whether they're nursing exclusively, and that might change things a bit. If all of their nutrition comes from you, you'll need to maintain your milk supply, which means making sure you get lots of fluids (your urine should be light, not dark), and that calcium that they need. This is breastfeeding advice, not necessarily SB info.

Definitely have 3 servings of lf or ff milk/yogurt every day. SB is recommending keeping cheese to 2 servings a day due to calories, but you might be able to have more, especially if it's very low fat or ff. If you've been having cravings, munching all day on crackers, etc., I would introduce P2 grains very slowly, possibly even using starchy veggies first for a week or so. It depends on whether eating grains would set you off munching all day (they do that to me!). With the amount of calories you need for nursing twins, I would think that you could handle 1-2 fruits per day right away. Having a banana or berries with your yogurt will keep you from using artificial sweeteners, which you might now want to use when you're nursing. I would definitely advise eating beans once or twice a day for good carbs and to help keep you full. A small dish of black beans with some chili powder and shredded lf cheddar can be microwaved in a minute for a quick snack or side dish. Just make sure you eat every 2-3 hours (sounds a lot like nursing advice, lol!) and keep up with your fluids.

[TwinMama+1]

Thanks for the advice!!! My twins are 2 months old. I am exclusively breastfeeding them with an occasional formula.