Breastfeeding and intense sugar cravings

I’m having the same issue with craving sugar. I’ve never been a sweets person but for the past couple of weeks I’ve been craving anything with sugar.

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Hi so I exclusively breastfed my daughter for 13 months and I actually developed a binge eating disorder during that time. My cravings were so intense and I didn’t realize it was from breastfeeding. I was eating entire cakes and cookies containers of things, even though I was doing that I was extremely thin from breastfeeding and it was sucking everything from me. My best advice is to try to keep your protein and fiber intake up and sufficient amount of carbs and don’t restrict a sweet if you want it because it will worsen your craving. I was super super bad with it if you have any questions ab it you can message me too

I am also 5 months pp and seem to never get full! I can eat a full meal and still have hard cravings for sweets and carbs. I agree with a previous comment to up the protein! I try to always at least have a good large size portion of protein with my meals and I eat the protein first before the carbs and sugars. Along with lots of water. I’m noticing I am gaining weight and my jeans are getting harder to fasten but hey our babies are fed and healthy! That’s what matters most! I’m right there with ya mama!

I see the other ladies mention to up the protein, I know the cravings can indicate a deficiency so I looked it up and it says you may need more iron. So I would say try to do more red meats/beans/quinoa🤷🏽‍♀️ I craved sugar really bad at the end of my pregnancy and it turned out I was anemic so it makes sense

I was just reminded by my therapist that when our body is sleep deprived it craves those carbs and sugars to get the fast energy we need to function. Possibly we are craving so much because of the sleep deprivation? I’m def not sleeping and only napping with 2 under 2 lol just a thought! 🫠🫠

@Bella Gerry I was anemic in my pregnancy and craved carbs a lot. Didn’t realize the iron was a part of that.. hmm

Thank you all for your responses. It's nice to see I'm not the only one having this issue. It's easy to feel like putting on weight is just one more thing I'm failing at and feel guilty about in motherhood 😩. I increased the protein a little and my water intake. It seems like it has stabilized a little...

I didn’t realize this was linked to breastfeeding lol. I started thinking uh oh sugar addiction hahah for me

Me too!! I googled it earlier today because it's so intense and I was hoping it was breastfeeding related. I get shaky/dizzy if I don't scarf something with sugar. I don't feel like I'm hypoglycemic but I get intensely hungry and want nothing but sugar and fast. All I kept reading was the protein, more sleep and more water like everyone else is saying. Easier said than done I know. But you're not alone!! I'm so bloated and am usually wearing my maternity clothes.