meal replacement shakes?

[Ethereal]

Hi, i have suddenly become very aware of the lack of calories i am having, and often don't eat anything until my OH gets home and makes an evening meal. I'm ferling very tired and worry it may/already is affecting my supply.

I'm not looking to lose weight, but need something that will give me calories and vitamins which i can quickly grab from the fridge. My LO is very demanding and screams blue murder if i leave her alone, so making lunch is impossible, i can sometimes rush some cereal or toast in the morning. I know it will get easier when LO is older, but i was wondering if its ok to have a meal replacement shake (slim fast) and snack on fruit in-between meals and have a healhy, hearty evening meal.

Surely its better to have a shake than carry on missing lunch?
I'd make sure to have breakfast and just have shake fir lunxh, as that's the time im alone and never find time/energy to eat.

Thanks ladies xx

 

[girl friday]

Could you/your OH make a sandwich first thing in the morning and leave it in the fridge? What about cereal bars?

I know the shakes should be avoided in pregnancy cos of the levels of vitamin A, I don't know about when breastfeefing though.

 

[summer rain]

Although multivits say avoid when pregnant and breastfeeding there's no evidence vitamin A causes harm in normal doses in either and nothing I've read from reliable sources say vit A should be avoided while breastfeeding. I personally think its fine, meal replacement shakes aren't ideal but in certain circumstances when you have no real alternative then why not? When my son was younger I went onto a delivered diet and due to BF and having greater calorific needs I opted for the slightly pricier option which had the choice of an extra meal replacement shake every day. The restof the meals were proper food. Have to say the millshakes were too delicious much nicer than slim fast. The studies around vitamin A were not backed up with other studies anyway and were based on women taking bodybuilder type supplements not normal amounts found in vitamin supplements. The studies were also done over 20 years ago, it mystifies me as to how it has resulted in vitamin A, even beta carotene, being removed from all pregnancy vitamins in the UK xx

 

[Ethereal]

What was the company you got delivered meals from?xx

 

[Sproglet]

I keep breakfast bars handy (Nutrigrain, cereal bars and breakfast biscuits), easy to grab and eat one handed! I would think the shakes are fine, they typically have only 1/3 of your daily requirement of each vitamin anyway, so probably not as much vitamin A per shake as a vitamin supplement would have.

You could try cup a soups too, or instant noodle pots, you can make those 1 handed with a bit of practice.

By the way, I know it's hard because my LO is the same, but sometimes you do just have to let them scream for a minute while you grab food, drink or go to the toilet! If you don't keep yourself healthy then how can you nourish your baby? And they might surprise you- my LO has started being able to stay on her own for a couple of minutes before crying, and occasionally (if I'm very lucky lol) will stay asleep for 30 minutes or so!

 

[Sproglet]

Here's a quick tip for you- when you feed LO, tuck a muslin cloth between you to mop up any stray milk. Then if you have to leave LO, lie them down and tuck the cloth under their cheek so they can smell you. This is the only way I get those few minutes with LO settled!

 

[summer rain]

What was the company you got delivered meals from?xx

Diet chef. They say they don't recommend while BF but at the time I worked out on many days I was only eating 1200 calories a day so their plan was providing me with more and I was providing my own fruit/veg and pasta/rice to make up to 1800 calories a day. I actually found my supply increased and I lost weight too, lost 28lb in all. I kept it off for 6 months after stopping despite not doing anything special, but unfortunately I then got very ill and was bedbound for ages, so I put about half of it back on then. It was expensive but worth it as I have tried weight watchers etc online (no meetings near me) and I just don't have the discipline to keep those up xx

 

[summer rain]

I only started it when LO was 11 months though I wouldn't advise doing any specific diet in the early days xx

 

[Ethereal]

Thanks girls. Gonna nip to tesco tomorrow and get some breakfast bars, noodle pots and fruit to snack on. really need to boost my calories. I'd say I'm easily taking less than 1k a day.

 

[Millnsy]

Have you thought about complan rather than slim fast? I think they have more calories in. Also horlicks is quite calorific. Dried fruit is also tasty filling and healthy. Although beware the after effects of too many dried apricots!

 

[jd83]

I think they would be okay, but I would try to fit in plenty of fresh fruit and veggies as well. I am always soooo hungry, I don't know how you can stand to wait for your OH to get home, lol!

Some things I do to make it easier: when my OH is home and helping watch the kids, I make up some sandwiches and freeze them, make some soups/chili in the crock pot and freeze meal portions, I make a big crock pot full of oatmeal or a big pan of baked oatmeal to have for breakfast throughout the week. It doesn't take too long to make up a bunch of things, and it makes life much easier throughout the week, especially now that I'm back to work and really don't have the time to do this on weeknights after work. Everything is cooked or ready made, just needs defrosted and warmed up.