How can a nursing mother lose weight?

[WilsonFitbit]

Hi everyone. 😊

Do you have any recommendations for nursing mothers to lose weight? 

I was reading some information and it said that it is very important to maintain a healthy diet while breastfeeding so nursing mothers can produce nutritious milk for babies. That means cutting calories may not always be a safe option.

Nevertheless, there are several things that nursing mothers can do to safely support weight loss while breastfeeding. 

Here are some of my recommendations that will help those nursing mothers to lose weight while breastfeeding: 

Exercise safely: 

Once the doctor has cleared that you can exercise, gradually ease back into working out. Focus on postpartum-safe workouts like yoga and going on walks with the baby.

Don’t skip meals: 

If you don’t have a lot of time to eat, try to eat smaller snacks throughout the day. A good goal is to have a healthy snack, such as a piece of fruit, after feeding your baby to replenish calories lost.

Don’t skip meals while breastfeeding, even if you’re trying to lose weight. Skipping meals can slow down your metabolism and cause your energy to drop, which can make it more difficult to be active and care for your baby. Plus, eating too few calories per day may cause your weight loss to plateau or stop.

Rest when you can: 

If your baby is feeding throughout the night, try to take short naps during the day when your baby sleeps. It can be difficult to find time to rest when you have a new baby. But try to get as much sleep as you can. It can help your body recover faster and you may lose weight faster.

Also, sleep once you return to exercising. That’s because your muscles need to rest and recover after your workouts.

Stay hydrate: 

Drinking water and clear fluids will help your body flush out any water weight, too. And avoid sugary beverages if you’re trying to lose weight, as these are loaded with empty calories.

When you’re breastfeeding, it’s important to stay hydrated. Try to drink 12 cups (96 fluid ounces) of water each day.

When to seek help: 

See your doctor if you’re concerned about losing weight postpartum. They can assess your diet and lifestyle, and offer healthy suggestions for losing weight.

If you’re unhappy with your body image, your doctor may be able to recommend a counselor, therapist, or weight loss specialist who works with postpartum moms. 

Does anyone have any other tips to provide? 

I'd love reading your comments! 😊

[Heybales]

1 recommendation that I saw years ago that worked for a group, and after passing it on has continued to work for others.

Because indeed you really have to have good figures for what you eat and burn, or the production can suffer from making the deficit too big - that's not good at all.

So to avoid the whole aspect of how many calories do I add and what not.

Settings to no weight loss, maintenance.

Don't account for milk production.

That does take energy though, and therefore will create a deficit, more at the start when there is more fat weight to lose, and less as time goes on when less fat to lose - exactly the desired effect to not stress out the body and hamper production.

When weaning has occurred and no more unknown figure there, can do same minor deficit for the remainder of the weight. (ie 2 lbs weekly is likely extreme at that point).

[WilsonFitbit]

@Heybales Nice to see you around! 

Wow, this is a very great input! Thank you for taking the time to provide this recommendation. I'm pretty sure it will help a lot! 

Have a wonderful day! 

[Glenda]

If you google there is lots of information and help in figuring out how many calories an individual needs to produce milk and lose weight.  Of course it depends on her age, size, weight, etc.  Most estimates conclude making milk takes about 500 calories a day extra.

[WilsonFitbit]

Hi @Glenda. Nice to see you around! 

Thank you very much for the suggestion and I appreciate the information that you provided. I'm pretty sure this information will be helpful for nursing mothers! 😊

Have a great day!