Couple questions... pumping, diet, BF

I'm returning to work next Monday (kinda dreading it but gotta go.) Right now I mainly BF, I do occasionally give a formula bottle or a BM bottle because I want her to get used to taking a bottle... anyway, my question is about pumping, how am I supposed to get into pumping? Am I supposed to pump every so many hours? I pump now but not on any type of schedule or anything, in fact I haven't pumped in almost a week. I thought my supply was getting low so I started fenugreek and I read somewhere that baby's suck was better at increasing supply so I'm back to on demand feeding. I'm starting to feel slightly overwhelmed because I know I'll be away from her during the day and I enjoy nursing her and don't want to give it up.

Another thing is that I need to get back on my band wagon. I've spent the last almost year eating pretty much whatever I wanted and although I had gotten down to prepregnancy weight after Jade was born I've also seen an additional seven pounds pack on. I'm hoping to be able to get in for a fill this week so that I can get jumpstarted to losing again. My question about that is will it affect my BFing and supply even more? I don't know... If anyone can give me a sample list of what they eat daily so that I have a place to start I would greatly, greatly appreciate it. It's been so long since I've eaten right that I don't remember how to do it. Please help!

Thanks in advance!!

pumping can get out as much as the actual baby sucking, but it does a pretty good job considering what it has to do.   Depending on how much you nurse, I would think that every 3 hours would be a good start.   After the first month, I was nursing my daughter every 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.  I hardly used my pump at all though and hated when I did have to pump.   I have a nice Medela one too, but it just isn't the same as a baby and I felt like a cow being hooked up to the pump (LOL).   And I wouldn't get out very much when I pumped either, compared to just straight nursing.   My sister is bf her 6 month old baby and had to use fenugreek like 2-3 times a day to increase her supply and she said she noticed a change after 2 weeks, so it must mean that it worked for her.

As for your diet, don't be too drastic in changing it because it will affect your milk supply.  My sister tried to cut down calories to lose some weight and it affected her milk supply.   She wasn't producing as much and her baby got really fussy, because he wasn't getting enough milk.   So she went back to her old eating habits and then had to add in the fenugreek for a little bit to get back where she was before. 

Start pumping before you go back and freeze it so you have a little bit of a stockpile. What I do is pump every day, twice a day ( I have set breaks at work, so that is the only times I can do it). I can usually manage to get 10-12 ounces day that way (I don't make a whole lot of milk). I store what I pump on Friday and use it on Monday morning.

Thanks for the responses ladies! I will have to try that for pumping.