How to Lose Weight While Breastfeeding

Many mothers face the challenge of how to lose weight while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is one of the most natural ways of feeding a baby. In order to nurse, a mother has to be physically capable of doing so. This means that a woman can't start a new diet or exercise regimen immediately after childbirth. Some individuals, however, might find that after they have nursed a few months, that they simply want to change their normal eating habits or exercise routine. Getting something you like to do will help you stick to an exercise program.

If you want to start a new diet, there are some basic rules that you should follow. First, reduce your calorie intake to around 1200 calories per day, which is the recommended daily intake for most individuals. Some women will find they need more calories to nurse, especially if they are taking supplemental vitamins. If this is the case, it's OK to add breast milk in through the use of a nursing pillow, a bottle, or other such devices. Just be sure to add the same amount of calories as you would with diet soda, diet ice cream, or other sugary foods.

Another thing you will want to look at is your electrolyte drinks. Many mothers find they lose muscle control or feel nauseous when they drink these types of drinks. So it's best to avoid them altogether as long as you continue to nurse. Instead, opt for herbal or organic teas or water. These drinks will provide your body with the necessary nutrients to stay healthy and strong, even while breastfeeding.

Another great source of nourishment during breastfeeding is food rich in fiber. Foods like barley, buckwheat, flaxseed, and millet are full of these wonderful ingredients that will help you burn calories and fat. These foods will fill you up without increasing your blood pressure, making you feel bloated or leaving you hungry for breakfast. They will also prevent you from overeating when you eat them. When you choose foods like these, it's important to balance your meals so you don't become too hungry between meals.

In order to lose weight while breastfeeding, it's important to remember about how many calories you should be consuming each day. Remember, as long as you're eating three meals a day, you should be able to maintain your ideal weight. For an ideal weight, you'll usually want to be consuming 35 pounds of body weight, plus the number of ounces you're putting into your mouth. That means if you weigh 35 pounds, you'll want to eat between nine and eighteen ounces of food each day. If you eat less than this, you'll find you get hungry faster and end up overeating when you do eat.

Not only will the vitamins and nutrients you get from these foods help you lose weight, but they will also keep you healthy through your pregnancy and breastfeeding. Research done on mothers who were nursing their babies when President Bill Clinton was elected in 1996 says that these women had lower incidences of breast cancer. Of course, correlation doesn't mean cause and effect. You may not have developed cancer because you were eating too much when you were pregnant, but you could have gained weight. And while many moms worry about how to feed their babies, research shows these early breastfeeding effects can be very beneficial to your child's health.

Studies also show babies who are breastfed have a longer and healthier life than those that were bottle fed. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breastfeeding mothers give their baby just six months of breast milk before introducing other solid foods. You should be able to nurse your baby for at least six months before you introduce other solid foods so your baby gets a good nutritional start to life.

One of the best ways to get your baby to start consuming more calories is to start exercising right after birth. Your body needs time to adjust to the fact that it is getting a lot of new nutrition, especially if you are pumping iron during your pregnancy. Exercising regularly will increase your metabolism so your body can burn calories longer than normal. You should be able to exercise five times a week with your baby until he or she is one year old. As your baby starts to grow, you can then increase your physical activity to get your body back into shape before you need to put on some extra weight. When you get older, your body burns calories even more slowly and you'll need to eat and exercise more often to help yourself stay in shape.