Sarah’s Dairy Free Weight Loss due to breastfeeding a CMPA baby

Here I have a guest post for you from the lovely Sarah from Arthur Wears blog who lost weight after following a dairy free diet. Have a read of her story.

Sarah’s dairy free diet story

Before I became a parent I wouldn’t say that I struggled with being ‘overweight’. More that, I was unhappily out of proportion – with a curvy bottom and thighs but little to no chest and a slim upper body. I regularly watched what I ate. I toyed with diets such as the Dukan diet in order to fit comfortably into the clothes I owned. 

When I fell pregnant with my first child, I was a small 5ft 4 inches and weighed 8 stone. Having a short torso and a waist that went ‘in’ at the sides, I found that I ‘showed’ really early. My baby bump had nowhere to go but ‘out’. My weight ballooned to 12 stone by the time my due date came around. I was regularly asked if I was having twins. 

Pregnancy and weight gain

With such a huge baby bump, I struggled with stretched skin. My stretch marks used to bleed. There was just no elastin left and my stomach muscles took a real battering.

I struggled to lose the baby weight and when I fell pregnant with my second child, my weight crept up to 13 stone. A whole 5 stone heavier than before I became a parent. My ribs expanded so much that I needed extenders in all of my bras. My diastasis recti were so bad that the midwives believed I may have an umbilical hernia. 

In this position, it would be the perfect time to look into different weight loss options that work well with being a new parent as well as considering a weight loss group or specialist weight loss nutrition coach.

Breastfeeding and losing weight

Through breastfeeding and looking after a baby and a 2-year-old (and pushing a pram!) my weight dropped to 11 stone. I was still in maternity jeans and tops and struggled to find clothes that fit me.

However, I knew because of the severity of the diastasis recti (separated tummy muscles), and the loose skin I was left with, I would never go back to having a flat tummy. Unfortunately, I just felt bloated and too big for my small frame. 

I struggled with PND and PNA after the birth of my daughter. I was advised to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible. This aimed to help with the ‘happy hormones” and minimise the risk of feeling worse at such a vulnerable time.

Food was also a way of treating myself. With little sleep, I relied on treats to keep my energy levels up. Losing weight was hard. I couldn’t resort to my past diets without them having a huge impact on my ability to breastfeed and care for my children.

Having to follow a dairy free diet

When Charlotte was 4 months old I realised that she may be suffering from CMPA – cows milk protein allergy. If you haven’t heard of the CMPA rash then do look into it if you feel this could be an issue for your little one.

After cutting out dairy for a week and seeing an improvement, I started to keep a food diary, testing and reintroducing foods to check. I quickly realised that she was allergic to both milk and soya (very common as the proteins are so similar). I would have to completely cut out both from my diet. 

This meant cutting out butter, cream, milk, chocolate, cake, biscuits, ice cream, cheese, pastries, croissants and lattes. Basically, most of the foods I ate routinely were now off-limits. As I was new to this dairy free diet game I had no idea where to find the milk-free treats. Overnight, my diet became a whole lot healthier (and smaller).

Within a few months, I was down to 9 stone. Nursery parents who hadn’t seen me since before the Easter holidays couldn’t believe the difference when preschool started again. Suddenly, my size 20 pants were swapped for size 12 and ‘finally’ I managed to fit into a pair of non-maternity jeans. 

What does Sarah eat now?

Since starting a dairy free diet, I’ve added in a few ‘treats’ such as Bourbon biscuits, 85% dark chocolate (I have these most days!), vegan-friendly biscuits or puddings, and I use oat milk as a substitute for normal milk. I’ve also made sure to add in fat substitutes such as avocado, nut butter and vitalite to make sure I am getting enough in my diet – but I’ve managed to keep the weight off. 

Sadly, the weight loss made no difference to my tummy because this is simply due to damaged muscles and skin rather than being overweight – but it was reassuring to have this confirmed. Although I am mistaken for being pregnant much more now that the rest of me is slimmer as it makes my tummy stand out so much more in comparison!

I am worried about putting the weight back on when the day comes that I stop breastfeeding and can finally eat dairy again. It has been a real learning curve to see just how much of a difference going diary-free can make.

Look at the bikini body!

This picture shows Sarah in her bikini now over on Instagram. Give her a heart if you think she looks great!

View this post on Instagram

#bemorewitwitwoo . It’s been a year today since the loss of Kate @witwitwoo, a year since we all pledged to be more #bodyconfident in a swimsuit and a year since I decided that rather than continue to vow to never, ever wear a bikini again since pregnancy changed my body forever…I’d find one that worked for the new me instead…actually I found quite a few and I wore them ALL – I just had to go back to the old fashioned retro style and wave away my previous Brazilian briefs ?‍♀️ . These aren’t the prettiest, or most ‘instaworthy’ shots but they don’t half make me giggle because what is actually happening here is that Charlotte is attempting to get a look at my bottom and Arthur is shouting something about ‘vaginas’ and I don’t think there are many things that sum up #mumlife better than this ? . Whilst wearing the white and black bikini (scroll across) I had a woman come up to me by the pool on holiday and ask me if I was expecting…question if I was sure (when I said no)…and then proceed to tell me that I need to ‘get organised’ and have another ? – I very nearly allowed her thoughtless comments to make me reconsider my choice of swimwear, but in Kate’s memory, I promise I’ll be wearing them again next time ✨ . .. … …. #swimsuitselfie #diastasisrecti #mamaswimwear #honestmotherhood #honestparenting #mycrazykids #bikinimama #bodyconfidence #mumbod #freetobeme #freetobemeonig #behindthescenes

A post shared by Sarah – ??????????? (@arthurwears) on Jul 16, 2019 at 6:05am PDT

I love her story, don’t you? Do pop over to Arthur Wears and read her blog too. – Jen

Some Dairy free diet healthy recipes

• Cauliflower and chickpea curry
• Quick and easy ratatouille
• Moroccan tagine
• Pasta Arrabiata if using dairy-free pasta
• Fruity roast plum, sweet potato and quinoa salad
• Asparagus pilaf

Many soups are also good for a dairy free diet, check out a range here.

So many recipes are dairy-free or can be adapted easily to be dairy-free so why not check out my other recipes for inspiration?

Other success stories you might like

• Weightlifting not weight loss – how changing focus can make a huge difference
• Matthews 22 stone to 15 stone weight loss story
• Fibromyalgia weight loss story
• Ben – pre teen’s weight loss story
• Why I think you should ignore your BMI
• Emma’s weight loss surgery success
• Ten truths of slimming as a couple
• Weight loss whilst breastfeeding
• Adam’s 13 stone weight loss
• Emma’s weight loss story
• My weight loss story size 30 to size 6

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