How to Lose Weight While Breastfeeding

You can lose weight while breastfeeding, as long as you do it the right way. Many are led to believe that they should not try to lose weight or diet while nursing their baby. It can be done as long as you do it the correct way. Dieting is not recommended but a lifestyle change is alright.

Every mother that chooses to breastfeeds often wonders if the baby is getting enough to eat and if all is going well. Since you cannot keep track of how many ounces the baby is taking in, it is often a wonder on a new mom's mind. Some are even told that they need to eat a lot of extra food while nursing to keep up with the milk supply. This is turn scares some woman into thinking that losing weight while breastfeeding is not a good idea. Breastfeeding shouldn't be looked upon as a scary event. It is a beautiful time in a woman's life.

Many new mom's cannot wait to lose the pregnancy weight that they have been carrying around for the past nine months. There should be no rush to lose what took nine months to put on but still, many women are in a hurry. While you are breastfeeding, it is not advisable to go on a traditional diet. There are a few things that you can do to make losing the weight a little easier.

First off, just the act of breastfeeding burns approximately five hundred calories a day. Getting in a daily walk with the baby or doing a workout tape a few times a week will also speed things along a bit, not to mention the health aspects to exercising. Exercising shouldn't be started after giving birth until a physician tells you it is ok. Usually, it takes about four to six weeks after birth to be able to start doing light exercising. By the six week postpartum point, you should be able to slowly return to a workout routine.

While breastfeeding, you should make sure that you do not lose too much weight too quickly. You should lose the weight a little slower than someone that is not breastfeeding does. You should aim for one to two pounds a week for the first six months. Many women will not be back to prepregnancy weight until after they stop nursing. Nursing breasts weight about two to three pounds. The majority of the weight seems to come off for most between three and six months postpartum.

New moms should make sure that they are eating enough calories daily as well as the right type of calories. It is recommended that a nursing mother take in about five hundred extra calories a day on top of what her normal caloric intake should be. The recommended amount of calories per day for the average fifteen to fifty year old female is 2200 calories. So a nursing mother should aiming for about 2700 calories a day, unless there is a reason otherwise to increase or decrease the amount of calorie due to health issues. If a breastfeeding mother does not take in the recommended caloric intake, she could jeopardize her milk supply, quality and quantity.

Mothers should make sure that they are eating the right type of calories from each food group. The minimum serving from the milk group is three, protein is seven, fruit and vegetable is four each and grains is seven. These are just the minimum recommendations. Variety is key to not becoming bored. You should never deny yourself as long as you only eat reasonably and not binge eat. There is no reason you cannot have a piece of cake or a few cookies occasionally. Just don't overdue it. Another piece of advise is to make sure you eat small meals throughout the day. If you eat every two the three hours, your insulin will stabilize thus ensuring that you can lose weight easily. If you wait many hours in between eating, your body has to use up the insulin in the body and that can actually make you gain weight. So eating small, frequent meals has its advantages.

Like mentioned earlier, exercise is extremely beneficial. It may not be as easy to find the time though with a new baby. Incorporating your baby into your workout routine sometimes helps. The best way to get a good workout with the baby is to put that baby either in a stroller or in a carrier and go for a good, brisk walk. That usually calms a baby down to the point of taking a nap. Some quiet time for the mother then too. Another option is to join a gym with childcare on the premises. This way, you can get in an hour workout and the baby is nearby. Swimming is also a good option to do with your baby in the summer or if you have access to an indoor pool during the winter. If at any time during exercising you have any of these symptoms, you should stop exercising and contact your health care provider: pain, bleeding, feeling faint, shortness of breath, heart palpitations or dizziness. Starting off slowly and taking it easy for the first few weeks is a good way to avoid any of those symptoms. Just don't overdue it!!

More recently, some companies are making it even easier for a breastfeeding mother to start losing weight. Slim Fast and Weight Watchers have a special diet plan just for nursing moms. The South Beach Diet can also be used if you just skip over Phase One of the plan. Many diets have now altered their plans to fit a nursing mother's requirements.

Losing weight is hard. It can be even more difficult when you have a new baby, especially if you are nursing that baby every two to three hours. It can be done though. Breastfeeding is a wonderful time in a woman's life. Enjoy every minute of it and do not put too much emphasis on losing weight and it will happen. Always remember, it took nine months to put the weight on so it will take at least that long to take it off.