Losing weight while you are breastfeeding your baby is quite normal and absolutely an added advantage you get after childbirth even without hitting your gym again or going back to your home workout routine.
It is said that you can around 500-700 calories daily if you are a lactating mother. On top of the same, you can still practice some of the healthy weight loss tips and tricks to speed up the process.
However, it is never okay to resume your workout routine after childbirth without the consent of your doctor. Apart from that, it is also important to ask for suggestions from your doctor about the nutrient and calorie intake for every day.
According to the same, you can make slight changes in your diet and thus make the weight loss journey more impactful throughout the lactating process.
It is also possible to stay away from some of the unhealthy practices and thereby prevent the chances of overeating and unnecessary weight gain.
In this article, we will be discussing some of the most effective and risk-free tips and tricks that would help you shed those extra pounds of accumulated fat in your body during your postpartum and breastfeeding period through the safest and healthiest ways.
What Are The Best Possible Ways To Understand Losing Weight While Breastfeeding?
It’s important to keep a careful balance between losing excess weight and making sure you and your child are healthy when starting a weight loss journey while breastfeeding.
A comprehensive understanding of exercise, nutrition, and the body’s postpartum changes is necessary to explore the best ways to manage this special phase.
Let’s explore the safest and most efficient methods that support your breastfeeding journey while meeting your weight loss objectives.
Limit your carbohydrate intake
Carbohydrate intake can be limited to effectively reduce weight during your lactating journey. However, if your doctor has prescribed a particular amount of daily calorie intake for you, it is important not to reduce on the same.
Hence, even if you are limiting your carbohydrate intake, make sure that you are filling the calorie count using other healthier sources such as proteins, and fiber.
Having more fruits and vegetables can help you have more quantity of food that may help in keeping you full for a longer period.
Protein sources of food can also help you serve the purpose of suppressing hunger and giving you a fuller sensation for a prolonged period.
Here, you are not reducing the intake of food you are having daily, but just substituting one kind of nutrient with other healthier forms that may not lead to a sudden weight gain and the accumulation of fat in your body.
It is also important to make sure that you are including all the essential micro and macronutrients in your diet during this period, even if you are cutting down the carb intake, to prevent any kind of deficiencies during lactation.
Start working out
Working out should only be started after having consent from your doctor. Even after getting consent from your doctor, it is not necessary to renew that older gym membership, go back to the place and start intensely training with the heavy equipment that you used to train before pregnancy.
One of the safest ways to begin with your workout routine would be to go out for small walks. If you can do that with your baby, you can easily increase the intensity of your workouts and thereby make the weight loss much more impactful and efficient.
One of the most important things to be noted in this regard is that, make sure to breastfeed your baby before the walks, so that you can effectively prevent the issue of engorgement.
Apart from the physical gains such as weight loss, you can have from these walks, it is also effective for both the baby and the mother to reconnect with nature and thereby have an improved mental health.
It can also help the mother deal with her postpartum blues and thereby have a healthy lactating period. According to experts, you may work out for around 20-30 minutes daily, postpartum.
Drink plenty of water
Drinking plenty of water is another effective remedy you can give a try, especially if you would like to increase the effectiveness of your weight loss journey after childbirth.
When you drink plenty of water, all the toxins and waste materials in your body may get flushed out through urine thereby helping you have a clean and healthy body.
This detoxification process can be really helpful, especially if you are trying to lose weight during the lactating period. It is also said, it can also help in reducing any water weight in your body and thereby lose the additional weight.
Apart from that, it is also important to increase the bodily metabolic rate of your body, which in turn helps in losing weight from your body.
Skipping meals is a big No
We tend to skip our meals, especially when we are badly in need of losing that extra pounds of fat from our body. However, it is important to know that these tendencies would only bring negative results to your body.
Skipping meals would significantly affect the bodily metabolic rate (BMR) and thereby the ability of your body to lose weight effectively would decrease significantly.
Apart from that, it may also reduce your energy and activity levels, making it much more difficult to care for your baby and even take care of yourself.
Even if you are not feeling like having heavy meals, you may consider having snacks of your choice throughout the day.
Make sure that the snacks you choose are rich in nutritional requirements and satisfy the calorie intake that has been prescribed to you by your doctor.
Conclusion
Now you know what to do and what not to do, especially if you are trying weight loss while breastfeeding.
Apart from that, it is also important that you live mindful and stay calm even if you are gaining a bit of weight during this period.
Try to accept the fact that, it is just a phase of life and it is possible to get back to your dream body through intense strength training, weight training, and cardio.
However, for the time being, you may enjoy the new life of being a newborn mother, ignoring all other physical and material concerns, with all your primary concerns for your and the baby’s health.
References:
- When breastfeeding, how many calories should moms and babies consume? (2017).
https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/breastfeeding/conditioninfo/calories - Jarlenski MP, et al. (2014). Effects of breastfeeding on postpartum weight loss among U.S. women. DOI:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4312189/
