Making The Decision To Start A Weight Loss Diet While Breastfeeding
Postpartum recovery can be tough on any new mom. If youre not feeling good about yourself, your body, and your image, you may want to think about starting a diet. If youre experiencing other signs of depression or anxiety surrounding these feelings, you should also speak with your doctor about it.
I knew dieting would be hard for me because I was never a healthy eater. Ill admit that in my younger years, I didnt have to work at being thin. I was fortunate to always have a petite frame and high metabolism. However, since my first pregnancy and as I have gotten older , Ive gained a lot more weight than I ever thought was possible!
Not only did I want to look good in a bathing suit again, I wanted to feel comfortable with my body. I didnt feel confident with the way that I looked and couldnt wait to start feeling like myself again. Looking back at our wedding photos that are hanging around the house, I just kept thinking that I have come so far since then.
- Before
- After
Of course, I have two beautiful children to show for some of the weight gain which makes me more than grateful.
However, I didnt want to keep letting my weight go up because the more you gain, the harder it is to lose. Especially since we plan on having a third baby, I didnt want to start off the next pregnancy without first losing all the previous baby weight.
- Before
- After
What Not To Eat While Breastfeeding And What Are The Nutritional Recommendations For Breast
- Restrict foods that your child has been shown to have an allergy to
- In the case of alcohol, it is safest to cut it out completely for the sake of your child.
- Keep an eye on your caffeine intake, which should be no more than 200mg. This corresponds to two to three cups of coffee. Caffeine is also found in black, green or matcha tea and some soft drinks.
- Avoid fish that contain higher levels of mercury. As a rule, it is larger fish such as shark, swordfish or pike. Instead, choose salmon, cod, sardines, tilapia or trout.
- Avoid unpasteurised dairy products, mouldy cheese, as well as undercooked meat, fish and eggs. These foods pose a higher risk of maternal infectious disease caused by bacteria or viruses. They should not endanger the baby through breast milk.
- Foods that contain a lot of fibre, such as legumes, do not necessarily need to be eliminated from your diet. However, if you have difficulty tolerating it and it causes digestive problems, you can choose other foods that are rich in fibre . Foods that cause bloating do not get into breast milk.
- Maintain an adequate intake of foods with important vitamins and minerals for child development.
- iodine
- vitamin B12
- vitamin D
- calcium
Can I Do Keto While Breastfeeding
Youll find lots of opinions on this, but I will tell you, I have worked with many mothers who have lost their milk supply due to the Keto diet. If you do it, you must do a modified version. You do need carbs while breastfeeding, and its important to remember that. A much safer approach that can help maintain your supply is counting Macros, especially because there are specific breastfeeding plans created for this.
If you are able to keep your calories above 1800 with Keto, then go for it. But otherwise, maybe look for something else.
Its important to not let your calories get too low with any diet you do and to have a variety of healthy foods from all the different food groups.
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Easing Into Postpartum Exercise
Being mindful of what you eat is the best way to jumpstart your metabolism and lose weight while breastfeeding without sacrificing the quality or quantity of your breast milk, but postpartum exercise should be part of your regime too. Not only will it boost your energy, but engaging in light movement as soon as you feel up to it will help get your stretched-out abdominal muscles back into shape.
Its not just about the extra pounds your body tissue changes too, says Susan Clinton, PT, a physical therapist and co-founder of Embody Physiotherapy and Wellness in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. A lot of people look at a drooping belly as fat to lose, but its more that the muscles need to learn to come back into a shortened position to be part of the abdominal wall again.
The natural weight-lifting program of early motherhoodlifting your newborn, walking up and down stairs, pushing the strollerare enough to get started in the first two or three weeks after giving birth, says Clinton, noting that even women who didnt experience tearing or an episiotomy need time for their pelvic muscles to heal. As long as youre staying active, your body will start to change, she says.
Other ways to help tone your muscles after giving birth and lose weight while breastfeeding:
Do Kegel exercises to help strengthen your pelvic muscles more quickly.
Pull in your stomach, which can also help toughen up muscles.
Go for a walk, even a short one, each day.
How To Eat Healthily
- Add vegetables or fruit to every meal, with the idea that these superfoods should make up about ½ of the plate. Then eat 500 600g of these foods over the course of the day, especially vegetables.
- Have protein in every meal. You can alternate lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, tofu, tempeh and seitan. Protein should make up approximately 14 plate.
- Choose complex carbohydrates. Pick from for oats, wholemeal bread, rice, pasta, quinoa, buckwheat, bulgur, couscous, potatoes or legumes. These foods should make up about ¼ of your plate.
- Focus on healthy fats. These include vegetable oils , nuts, seeds and nut butter. Their portion size is about the size of your thumb, two at the most.
- Drink unsweetened beverages such as fresh water and tea. To enhance your water intake, you can make water tastier with lemon or a no-calorie sweetener. Drink about 30-45 ml of water per kilogram body weight per day. Add an extra 700ml while breastfeeding. Alice currently weighs 75 kg, which means she should drink at least 3 litres in a day.
If you are interested in the benefits of healthy eating, read our article What Is a Healthy Diet and How to Learn to Eat Healthily?
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Keep A Healthy And Well
Contrary to popular belief, the best way to lose weight isnt to go on a crash diet. People who do this end up tired and gain back the weight at some point. Getting enough calories through healthy foods is a better option for anyone, but specially for new moms who need extra energy!
Your postnatal nutrition plan should include 3 to 5 meals during the day. Many new moms find it difficult to sit down for full meals, so having smaller meals that are interspersed with healthy snacks can help.
Dont skip meals, since this can cause more cravings later on. Breakfast is especially important, since it will help keep you satiated and energized.
Will This Diet Effect My Breastmilk Supply
I did not notice any significant changes to my supply when I started this diet while breastfeeding. However, I did feel a small drop and my breasts feeling less full.
However, I started the diet right around the time when your supply naturally dips because your body starts to regulate your milk production. Once I completed the diet and went back to my regular eating habits, I noticed an increase in breastmilk production. However, Im not sure if this was related or not.
To ensure that I still had enough breastmilk to feed my baby, I started taking Fenugreek supplements and continued to pump at least once a day in addition to my regular feedings. Fenugreek is an herbal supplement that helps breastmilk production. Pumping will also trick your body into thinking you need to produce more milk.
So if youre thinking about losing weight while breastfeeding, I highly recommend this plan. Read on below for tips and tricks which helped me stay on track.
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Get As Much Sleep As You Can
Sleep is just as vital to post-pregnancy weight loss as exercise and diet, but getting adequate sleep can be difficult when youre breastfeeding a newborn. However, the importance of sleep cannot be overstated. Why? Because when youre asleep, your body repairs itself and returns to a healthier state.
Heres how your body becomes healthier while you sleep:
- Blood pressure returns to its normal level .
- Muscles relax.
- Blood supply to organs and muscles increases.
- Growth hormone is released.
- Breathing and heart rate stabilize and become more consistent.
And thats just the tip of the healthy iceberg. In fact, weight gain has been linked to lack of sleep. To add insult to injury, hungry, sleep-deprived new moms tend to satisfy their cravings with simple carbohydrates, which often result in weight gain .
So even if youre doing everything else on this list right but you fail to sleep enough each night, you may struggle to lose those last few pounds. For that reason, we recommend getting at least seven hours of sleep every night.
If your baby isnt sleeping through the night just yet, make it a point to nap when she naps. This will give your body the time it needs to recover and stay as healthy as possible.
Drink Plenty Of Water To Stay Hydrated And Flush Toxins From Your Body:
Drinking plenty of water is an easy way to stay hydrated and flush toxins from your body. You might also want to consider how much caffeine youre drinking while it can help with energy, too much will lead to dehydration which isnt good for either the baby or mom!
You must consume at least 16 cups of water. It will help you to remove toxins and will improve both you and your childs health. But remember, every human has a different body structure, and their needs are different. So you must consult your doctor before and Consider how to lose weight after pregnancy while breastfeeding?. You are taking the proper steps for this purpose.
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How To Lose Weight After Pregnancy While Breastfeeding:
Being a new mom is not an easy job. But it is also the most rewarding feeling to be a mom. But Not only do you have to figure out how to take care of your new baby, but you also need to worry about how and when to get back in shape. A lot of mom asks this question of How to lose weight after pregnancy while breastfeeding. You must considor in gradual weight loss and achieve a healthy weight.
It is possible, though. There are plenty of ways to help both the mother and her child stay healthy while losing weight. If you are still breast feeding, then you must make sure that to continue milk supply of breast milk for baby as a breastfeeding mother you must follow a proper meal plan, so that you must take proper calorie intake for proper breast milk supply.
How Do You Start Exercising Again After Giving Birth
- Begin with walks. The extra load in the form of a pram will burn more calories than a normal walk.
- Add exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor . In these, the muscles in the pelvic area contract and relax in a controlled manner. It is usually possible to start them as early as a few days after giving birth, except in women who have had a Caesarean section. These exercises will help prevent the decline of abdominal organs as well as incontinence and improve your sex life.
- If you are diagnosed with diastasis , see a physiotherapist, who will help you choose the appropriate exercises and get rid of the problem as quickly as possible. Dont try classic sit-ups.
- After six weeks or when you feel ready, add more forms ofmovement. Choose an activity that will keep you motivated and start with it slowly. You dont have to run tens of kilometres a week like you used to before you got pregnant. Increase the intensity and duration of exercise gradually.
- Try yoga, Pilates, cycling, riding stationary bike or swimming .
Find inspiration for body weight exercises in our article 12 Body-Weight Exercises that Will Get You in Shape.
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Is It Safe To Diet While Breastfeeding
You may be enticed to ramp up your weight loss efforts by doing more than just breastfeeding, especially if it’s not helping you reach your goal in the way you hoped it might.
But while you’re nursing, it’s not a good idea to try to lose weight very quickly by going on a strict low-calorie diet. Limiting the amount of food that you eat can leave your body and your breast milk lacking in important nutrients. Drastically cutting calories could also cause a drop in your breast milk supply.
You should also avoid taking any type of weight loss pills. These products contain herbs, medications, or other substances that may travel into your breast milk and harm your baby. In fact, while you’re breastfeeding, it’s best if you don’t take any medications or supplements or go on any special diets unless approved by your doctor.
Building Yourself Back Up
Once your healthcare provider gives you the green light to start exercising more regularlyfor moms who had a c-section or lots of tearing, thats usually about eight weeks after giving birthyou should still go easy. If youre super-fatigued, the worst thing you can do is get all crazy with high-intensity exercise, says Clinton. It could actually make you gain weight instead of burning excess calories.
To help you in losing weight while breastfeeding, try to work yourself up to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, which is about 20 to 30 minutes a day of walking. You can also resume things like yoga or tai chi, especially if you were practicing before baby. While exercising doesnt impact the composition of your breast milk, you should replace any fluid you lose through sweating to keep your milk supply up, says Davids. You also might want to pump or nurse before working out so youre not uncomfortably engorged.
Signs you may be working your body too hard too soon: You regularly leak urine while running, leaping or sneezing during workouts or you experience recurring joint pain. Dont brush any of this off to Oh, I just had a baby, says Clinton. These are signs your system isnt optimal and you need to go back to your medical team.
Expert bios:
Jennifer Ritchie , IBCLC, is a lactation consultant in Newport Beach, California. Shes the founder and owner of Milkalicious and author of I Make Milk, Whats Your Superpower?.
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How To Lose Weight While Nursing
Published by Emma Johnson on November 23, 2020November 23, 2020
Breastfeeding is a trying time for every mother. Not only does she have to wake up in the middle of the night to feed the baby but also has to make sure she is eating healthy foods and drinking adequate fluids to build a strong supply of milk. In the beginning, it is recommended to breastfeed at least every two to three hours. Because of this, she has to take extra snacks, fruits, and milk in between the three main meals. If she starts skipping on these, not only will the milk supply suffer but she will also start feeling weak and lethargic.
Many mothers therefore ask, is losing weight while nursing safe for the mother. This is the weight that she gained during pregnancy and now that the baby is finally here, she wants to go back to her normal shape. However, with breastfeeding the process of weight loss is somewhat complicated. It may also take weeks or even months before you could see your pre-pregnancy weight on the scale again. So, be patient!
In this article, we are going to give you practical tips on how to lose weight while nursing, how often you need to exercise, and how long will it take to finally get back to your normal pre-pregnancy shape.
So, lets get started.
Simple Tips On How To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
1. You need to drink lots of water.
Waternourishes and purifies your body, and when it comes to weight loss, this isyour best friend. And as a breastfeeding mom, water is essential to produceenough breastmilk for your baby. The aim is to have at least 8 cups of water ina day.
Water has been found to help you shed unwanted weightnaturally. Water is responsible for proper digestion, circulation, and adequateregulation of your body temperature. And when it comes to breastfeeding, wateris the medium to transport all the right nutrients needed for proper milkproduction.
Water also goes a long way in keeping your bodytoxin-free by assisting your kidneys in washing away all these unwantedimpurities. And if you want to reduce the amount of food you eat, take a glassof water before your meal this will help make you feel full and minimizeovereating.
Remember we said water keeps you healthy it also helpsin keeping your muscles healthy and strong, while offering your skin thatradiant glow.
How to go about drinking more water
- Try and start your day with two glasses of water just before you have your breakfast. Before having lunch or dinner, take two glasses each this comes to a total of six glasses. The other two glasses of water can be in a 16-ounce bottle that you sip through the day. And just like that, 8 glasses of water in a day.
2. Ensure you are eating a healthy diet
- Your vegetables and fruits
- Load on lean proteins
- Get some healthy fats
4. Include some exercises in your day
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