7 Tips to Help You Lose Weight While Breastfeeding

Published on July 18, 2022

How to lose weight after childbirth while breastfeeding? After childbirth, the main goal of a woman is the full development of the baby, the basis of which is breastfeeding. While enjoying breastfeeding, many young mothers notice that the former prenatal harmony does not want to return. Sometimes, despite all efforts, the weight continues to increase.

Losing weight while breastfeeding: Breastfeeding Mom Diet Tips

Usually, the problem of unwanted kilograms is solved with the help of a special diet. But is there an expert-approved balanced diet plan for breastfeeding mothers to lose weight? After all, their diet should be complete, containing the full range of nutrients needed by the baby. It is important to understand that, contrary to popular belief, eating for two is not worth it during pregnancy. The amount of food eaten is unlikely to increase the amount of breast milk, but the lifeline at the waist will definitely grow.

1. First of all, you need to get as much sleep as possible

Sleep with your baby, dirty diapers, and clutter at home have never harmed anyone's health, but lack of sleep is one of the main reasons millions of people feel unwell. Enough sleep will lead to a moderate appetite and a good mood.

2. Drink plenty (2-3 liters per day) of clean water

The breast milk contains about 87% water. You need to constantly monitor the flow of a sufficient amount of fluid into your body.

Moreover, the amount of milk depends on the amount of fluid that a woman consumes.

In addition, water helps in the fight against excess weight, as the body sometimes takes banal dehydration for hunger.

3. Eat small meals

It is recommended to eat several times a day, but always a little. Don’t overeat, eat only when you are hungry. Dieting while breastfeeding is not recommended. However, you should eat only useful products. In addition, given the constant employment and lack of time, a nursing mother should ensure that there are always vegetables and fruits in the house. You can eat homemade cottage cheese, eggs, greens, seasonal berries, dried fruits, almonds, pine nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, which you can eat without wasting time on cooking. These are all the best foods for breastfeeding.

4. Eliminate allergens

As a rule, it is recommended to exclude all allergens from the menu of a nursing mother. But this must be done without fanaticism. With poor and insufficient nutrition, not only the mother's body will suffer but also the body of the baby.

The basic rules for the nutrition of a nursing mother include an important principle—the gradual introduction into the menu of those products that the mother's body needs. This is especially true for the nutrition of mothers whose kids are less than 3–4 months old, when infant colic and other intestinal disorders are so inherent in their bodies. Just carefully observe how the baby reacts to the new product. Imagine that you are reacquainting yourself with the products and try to make the food as separate as possible so that it would be easier to track the baby's reaction.

5. Refuse harmful products

Some products should be completely abandoned, at least during pregnancy and lactation. It is not so difficult, especially when there is such a wonderful stimulus as the health of your baby. 

We advise you to completely exclude: foods with dyes and preservatives, semi-finished products, fast food, canned, fatty, smoked foods, dishes that contain a large amount of spices, exotic fruits, all kinds of confectionery, except homemade, all peanuts, especially peanuts, shrimp and all shellfish, carbonated drinks, all packaged juices and alcohol.

If you really want to treat yourself to something of the above, then at least know the measure. A strawberry or a favorite cookie in the diet of a breastfeeding woman is unlikely to harm the child, but it will cheer up mom!

6. Be physically active

Once you've been discharged from the hospital, it's time to start moving. After all, it is such a pleasure to return to lightness! For starters, walking for 10-20 minutes is suitable, but you need to walk every day, and preferably twice a day! Gradually, when you feel that there is more strength, increase the load, accelerate the pace of walking and the duration of the walk. You can add swimming, yoga, Pilates, gymnastics, dancing, exercises with your baby.

7. Be a woman

And last, but probably the most important. Be a woman, the one created by nature, not society. The main purpose of a woman is to create a new life, to bring joy and inspiration, tenderness and kindness, beauty and peace to this world! Do not dig into household chores to exhaustion, turning yourself into a slave of everyday life. Be desirable for your beloved man, leave time for the two of you, at least 30 minutes a day.

Love yourself and be open to new things! Love your children, sincerely and unconditionally! After all, they make us better, kinder and smarter, more gentle, soft and feminine, patient, calm and enduring. The child learns to rejoice and be surprised at every moment in life. The child turns the girl into a real woman.