Is It Safe To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding – Breastfeeding your baby is so magical. For some women, this has many benefits, one of which is weight loss. However, for others, it can actually keep weight off!
Breastfeeding burns calories, but the amount varies from person to person. However, breastfeeding releases hormones that can have the opposite effect: causing your body to cling to the last weight of your baby. It’s as if your body is worried that you’ll “run out” of food for both of you and is holding onto those fat reserves as insurance.
Is It Safe To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
While we can’t control our hormones, there are things we can control that can unintentionally sabotage your weight loss. The biggest fear of many women is milk drying up while cooking, and I can assure you that these tips will not put you at risk.
How To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
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This blog is for anyone who is thinking of getting pregnant, is already pregnant or has had a baby and is looking forward to getting their best body. Trying to lose weight while breastfeeding? You are not alone! Here are some top tips on how to lose weight while breastfeeding without damaging your milk supply!
Many women want to lose weight after having a baby, but worry about how it might affect the growth of the baby and breast milk.
Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
But there is good news: you can safely lose weight while breastfeeding while supporting your baby and helping him grow properly.
Although it is important to take some precautions, in this article you will learn some of the best tips and tricks for losing weight while breastfeeding.
Please always consult with your trusted physician and/or dietitian or nutritionist to help you navigate your unique circumstances.
If you are looking for an easy to follow and breastfeeding friendly meal plan, you MUST purchase our 28 Day Nursing Meal Plan. Created by a nutritionist, this meal plan can be customized to your goals and is packed with recipes you’ll love!
Day Breastfeeding Diet Plan For Weight Loss
This is important to do, especially when you start to exercise more, so that your body knows that even though some of your fat stores may be gone, your body still needs to produce milk!
On average, you burn about 500 calories a day while exclusively breastfeeding. If your baby is receiving formula in addition to breast milk or extra solids, his caloric intake will likely be closer to 300 calories.
It is important to understand that strict diets and exercise can lead to low reserves, so be careful. You can read this post about milk deficiency if you are already experiencing it.
As a new mom, it can be easy to eat any food you see, but often these “convenient foods” aren’t very healthy for you.
How To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding (safely!)
It’s important to choose filling foods that will help you stay fit longer. For example, if you eat only carbohydrates, you probably won’t stay full for long. Carbohydrates
Important, but you should pair them with some protein and maybe even fiber to help keep your blood sugar levels stable and you feeling fuller for longer.
I also recommend making sure to include collagen in your day to help with postpartum healing and continuing to take a quality prenatal vitamin.
When breastfeeding, you need to determine your BMR – which is basically how many calories you burn just by existing and on your regular schedule. Additionally I would add 300-500 calories.
Postpartum Weight Loss With Breastfeeding
MyFitnessPal is a great way to track calories if you’re into that. You can also add breastfeeding to your food diary section and this will increase the number of calories you can eat that day!
As you start to exercise more, make sure you consume more calories so your total doesn’t drop below 1500-1800. You also need to make sure you are consuming enough calories and fat.
Try to avoid foods high in sugar or fat. I know many people who eat a lot of calories (and most of them are sugar) and have a very hard time losing weight while breastfeeding.
Here are some great breastfeeding foods that will help you eat enough without much effort. My FAVORITE are these protein bars – they are the only ones I can eat and they feel like a treat. With this link you can get a 10% discount.
Ways To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
Be sure to check out our breastfeeding calorie and macronutrient calculator to help you determine some nutritional goals and objectives.
Drinking water is recommended for weight loss – regardless of breastfeeding status! This helps flush out toxins and excess water (I know, that sounds counterproductive) and helps you feel full.
There are many different opinions about what it takes to lose weight. A growing number of nutritionists and nutritionists say it’s more important to keep your blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day.
Easiest way to do this? Eat balanced meals rich in protein, fat and fiber throughout the day and do not fast for more than 12 hours at a time.
The Best Teas To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
Try to focus on getting protein at all meals, as well as good quality fats and fiber.
Exercise can be a great way to increase the number of calories you burn each day. Although there are some really intense exercises out there, moderate exercise is best.
This is great for busy moms of little ones because workouts can take as little as 10 minutes. You can change the intensity, so if you find that your breast milk supply is interrupted, you can simply reduce it.
Aaptiv also has several specially designed programs for postpartum moms – they’re called Fourth Trimester Workout and Walk.
Why Your Breastfed Baby Is Not Gaining Weight
They also have a great 40 week program covering your entire pregnancy – you can read more about it here – BEST pregnancy exercise app: from the first trimester to postpartum.
Getting to the gym when you have a baby can be tough! I mean, even if they take care of the kids, it’s bad enough because there are
So find new ways to exercise with your child. Put your baby in the stroller and walk around the house – it’s like carrying a load weighing 8-20 kilograms!
You can make exercise videos at home (I love HasFit). Something as simple as taking a 10-minute walk around the neighborhood while pushing your baby in a stroller can do a lot of good (plus fresh air is always good!
Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding: The Complete Nutrition Book For Nursi 9780679733553
I’m in a few different breastfeeding support groups on Facebook and it seems like not a day goes by that someone asks, “Is this or that diet/program safe while breastfeeding.”
Every time I see one of these, someone always comes up and says it’s completely…often someone is selling resources for the program.
I’m always curious about them, so I google it and see that while there were a few people who had no side effects from the diet, many, many more said their breast milk supply dropped significantly.
If you start doing something that will damage your breast milk supply, you need to decide what is more important to you – losing weight FAST NOW or being a little more patient to make sure your breast milk continues.
Ways To Exercise While Breastfeeding + Heal Diastasis Recti
However, I never think these “fast” diets are worth it, whether you are breastfeeding or not. They severely restrict caloric intake, and more often than not people who do them end up gaining the weight back. Yo-yo dieting is NOT healthy.
It’s easy to get fixated on the number on the scale – of course it is! While breastfeeding, you may be out of luck and unable to lose weight…but you CAN be in shape, and those measurements aren’t as noticeable in the numbers.
Learn to measure: All you need is a flexible measuring tape. I have the basic Qardio scale which I like because it tracks progress and measures my muscle mass and body fat percentage. She also has a pregnancy regimen that is very sweet.
Plan your meals ahead – If you want more ideas on how to plan your meals, be sure to check out this post. I think planning what and how you’re going to eat will definitely help you eat less and make sure you’re eating foods that are compatible and healthy for breastfeeding.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight While Breastfeeding?
I think one of the main reasons I struggle with weight loss is this. I get stressed very easily and it’s a good day when I go to bed before midnight.
I know that if I adjusted these two factors a bit, I would be more successful. Stress is associated with weight gain, as is lack of it.
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