How Lose Weight During Breastfeeding

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A lot of us hear that breastfeeding will have the weight just melting off, but for some of us that’s not the case. The good news is, you can still totally lose the weight, it just might take a little more intentional effort.

When you aim to lose weight while breastfeeding, it’s important to do so slowly and safely so that you don’t impact your milk supply. Rapid weight loss or extreme diet restrictions can cause your supply to dip – and none of us want that!

How To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding (2024 Guide)

Yes, exercise is an important part of any weight loss program, but at the end of the day what we eat often has the greatest impact and can be the main culprit if you’re not losing weight while breastfeeding.

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For starters, weight loss associated with breastfeeding alone usually doesn’t occur until moms are 3-6 months postpartum. So, if you are still ahead of that on your postpartum timeline, don’t assume you won’t lose the weight, yet.

Questions About Weight Loss While Breastfeeding

You see, around the 3-month mark our milk supply finally levels off. Until then, baby (and mama) are working hard to increase and build a solid milk supply. For the first few months you’ll likely be dealing with cluster feeding, engorgement, and leaky boobs, all as your body adjusts to what your growing baby needs.

Then this miraculous thing happens where your supply (and baby’s needs) finally normalize a bit! Around this time your boobs will stop leaking, and they probably won’t have that overly full feeling (unless baby goes an especially long time without eating).

And at this same time, many mamas report a sudden uptick in weight loss without changing too much else in their life. It’s like, our bodies hold onto fat stores to make sure we can supply what our baby needs, and once things regulate, your metabolism can start letting some of that weight go.

Can't Lose Weight While Breastfeeding? 3 Reasons Why

For some, it can be difficult to lose weight without intentional effort, even beyond the 12-week mark. This can happen for a few reasons:

When trying to lose weight while breastfeeding, it’s so important to give yourself enough fuel and calories! Our bodies need an extra 300-500 calories per day to maintain our supply.

The safest way to lose weight (especially while nursing) is at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week. This equates to a 3500-5000 calories deficit per week.

Healthy Ways To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding

But the thing is, I actually recommend NOT getting caught up on calorie counting. Instead, focus on eating to satisfy hunger, and make your calories count!

Instead, eat as much as you want, but choose REAL FOODS like lean proteins, fruits and veggies, healthy fats, and whole-grain carbs.

According to registered dietician Melinda Johnson, try to incorporate at least three food groups at every meal and at least two food groups at snacks.

Is Losing Weight While Breastfeeding Normal?

This will help you reach your serving goals for the day and challenge you to eat more variety instead of reaching straight for the carbs. Over the course of the day, here’s what you want to aim for:

The fact is, most experts don’t recommend following any fad diets or diets that completely cut out specific food groups (unless necessary for allergy/intolerance reasons). This is because our bodies need well-rounded nutrition when we’re milk making mamas!

Instead you really just want to focus on eating real foods from every food group. I know this can be challenging with a new baby around. I have found meal prepping and healthy crockpot recipes to be really helpful in making sure I’m eating real food instead of grabbing things from the pantry.

Weight Loss After Pregnancy While Breastfeeding

For snacks, I try to keep nuts, hard-boiled eggs, rice cakes with a healthy fat on top (avocado or nut butter), and fresh fruit around.

But I know that some of us do better with guidance! Here are two plans to are generally accepted to be pretty breastfeeding-friendly according to Kelly Mom:

South Beach Diet (low carb diet plans): As a nursing mama, start with South Beach diet’s phase two and you shouldn’t have any issues with supply. This program can really help you understand how to eat healthy, whole foods throughout your entire day. It’s a great lifestyle-change kind of diet program vs. a crash diet. The South Beach Diet cookbook is full of great recipes, and a quick Pinterest search will yield tons of results, too!

Why Am I Not Losing Weight When I Breastfeed?

Weight Watchers: if you really want a structured plan and guidance, Weight Watchers actually has a plan especially for breastfeeding moms. I haven’t used this (and this is not sponsored in any way!) but I have heard good things ?

I know that postpartum weight loss can feel frustrating and slow, but with some determination you can get back to your pre-baby weight.

Keep in mind that your body changed a lot and did an AMAZING thing during pregnancy. Growing a human is no easy feat.

No Crash Diets, No Guilt: A Natural Guide To Weight Loss While Breastfeeding

Give yourself grace, and remember that weight loss after birth takes time. But with some healthy lifestyle changes you will see results over the course of a few months. Focus on hydration, sleep, whole foods, and daily movement and you’re bound to feel better for it!

As a labor and delivery nurse, I’ve spent countless hours with women who felt anxious — even fearful — about giving birth. I want you to know it doesn’t have to be that way for you!

Everything in your hospital’s childbirth class – plus so. much. more. Get the knowledge and tools necessary for a positive birth experience – no matter how you deliver!Coming from a dietitian and breastfeeding mama of two, I’m giving you 5 Tips for losing weight while breastfeeding – without affecting your milk supply!

Not Losing Weight While Breastfeeding? Try These 5 Tips!

If you are currently breastfeeding a baby, I’m sure you’ve heard about all the great benefits of it. Beyond the close bond between moms and babies, mothers who breastfeed often recover from childbirth more quickly and easily,  have reduced rates of breast and ovarian cancer later in life, and some studies have also found that breastfeeding may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

As an added bonus, breastfeeding burns more calories – about 500 above a woman’s normal daily metabolic rate. This last reason is why most women hear that breastfeeding helps you return to your pre-pregnancy weight much faster than those who do not breastfeed.

Does this mean you have a free ticket to eat whatever you want, then? Not necessarily. I often joke with my family that since I am breastfeeding it means I get to have an extra cookie.  But in reality, this

How To Breastfeed And Lose Weight (not Your Milk Supply!) — Milkology®

What it means.  Even though the quantity of calories burned per day may increase, the quality of the diet must also be good in order to successfully lose weight safely. Meaning, those 500 extra calories can’t come from Oreos every day.

So how do we lose weight while continuing to have a successful breastfeeding journey? I am working on this right now myself.  My baby boy is now 7 months old and I am still trying to get those last couple pounds off (not to mention the mommy tummy) and have been for a while.  I struggled with milk supply issues with my first baby and didn’t want that to happen again with baby #2 – so far, so good.   I know losing weight isn’t easy – it is hard – but it IS possible!  We CAN do it – and without compromising our milk supplies!

#1: Don’t be in a hurry.  It took you 9 months to gain the weight and it can just as long, if not a little longer, to lose it all.  You do not want to jeopardize your milk supply by going on a fad or crash diet. These diets often highly restrict calories and do not provide enough nutrients your body needs on a daily basis. Losing weight too quickly, especially if you are restricting calories and/or omitting important vitamins and minerals from your diet may cause a decrease in milk supply.

The Dangers Of Losing Weight While Breastfeeding — Registered Dietitian Columbia Sc

A safe weight loss is about 1-2 pounds per week.  Some weeks you might lose 1 pound, others you might gain 1 and some you might stay the same.  Over the past few months my average weight loss has been a mere 1/2 pound per week.  The main goal is slow and steady weight loss over time.  Don’t get down on yourself if you aren’t losing weight as fast as you’d like. And whatever you do, DO NOT compare yourself or your body to others – especially celebrities – because your body is unique and bouncing back within a month or so is not realistic for the majority of new moms.

#2: Get enough calories. Breastfeeding makes you hungry! Don’t go against your body and starve yourself. As I mentioned earlier, breastfeeding women (single births) require about 400-500 extra calories per