What Should You Do to Lose Weight While Breastfeeding?

Is it dangerous to lose weight while breastfeeding? When can you start losing weight? What diet should you follow? In our article, which includes the opinions of various experts, you can find answers to all your questions about losing weight while breastfeeding!

When can you start dieting while breastfeeding?

Nutrition and Diet Specialist Gizem Akgül says that if you eat healthy, the amount and quality of your milk will increase, so you can start the program with a dietitian after the first 6-8 weeks. By this time, your body needs to recover.

Her diet is not just for losing birth weight; It is better to think in a way that focuses on a healthy and balanced diet. Breastfeeding is a good time to lose weight, as an additional 500 calories a day are burned in this process.

What should you do to lose weight while breastfeeding?

In fact, what you will focus on at this point is not directly losing weight; What kind of nutrition program you should follow to reach the ideal weight. After checking your eating habits, daily life, blood values ​​and whether you have any discomfort, you can get a nutrition program that will not reduce your milk together with a dietitian.

If you add a little exercise to your program to lose weight while breastfeeding, it will be delicious. Moreover, don’t forget that breastfeeding helps you lose weight thanks to the calories it burns!

How should you diet while breastfeeding?

• How to lose birth weight? We know that you can’t wait, but it’s not right to cut calories to lose weight right after giving birth. Due to the hormonal changes in your body and your needs, you need to rest for at least 2 weeks.
• You will need more energy than ever before while breastfeeding. You need to add 400 to 500 extra calories per day to the amount of calories you need to maintain your energy level. From 6 weeks postpartum, once your recovery is complete and your diet is safer, you can reduce these numbers to 200 to 500 calories per day.
• His daily diet should consist of protein, vitamin C foods, calcium, iron-rich foods, unground grains, liquids, green leafy vegetables, small amounts of high-fat foods each day, and limited amounts of salty foods. This is especially important for the continuation of the quality of the milk.
• Carbs are a complicated subject. Unrefined complex carbohydrates are among the foods you need to concentrate on after birth. Whole wheat bread, cereals, muffins, brown rice, dried beans, peas, and fiber and refined grains, although enriched, contain plenty of vitamins and minerals that they lack. It is enough to get 30-40% of the calories that should be taken in the diet from carbohydrates.
• Skipping meals is less damaging than during pregnancy, but constant irregular eating can lower your maternal energy as it will reduce your reserves.
• Choose foods that are high in nutrients for fewer calories. If you have a situation such as losing more than necessary, consume foods that are high in nutritional value, such as avocados and hazelnuts, with plenty of calories and less volume. But stay away from foods like popcorn that will fill you up without meeting your nutritional needs.

What should you pay attention to when dieting during breastfeeding?

• Not to lose weight fast
• Not getting too low calories,
• To create a balanced diet with fresh and high quality nutrients,
• To support his diet with simple exercises,
• To control the intake of micronutrients (especially vitamin D and iron),
• Making sweet escapades that will cause you to consume a high amount of empty calories per day,
• You should be careful to monitor your fluid intake and make sure you are getting enough fluids.

What kind of exercise should a breastfeeding mother do?

Another way to lose weight while breastfeeding is to exercise during this period. Studies show that exercise increases the level of lactic acid, which makes milk taste sour. Most babies squint at this state of milk. Therefore, no matter what exercise you do, breastfeed your baby immediately after exercise so that the sourness level of the milk decreases until the next meal. There are some other things you should pay attention to. Your exercise;

• not long term,
• Does not contain stress,
• It should not promote fluid loss.

Otherwise, you may harm your baby due to decreased milk supply, and you may harm yourself with excessive metabolic stress. Especially swimming and pilates are among the most suitable exercises for you. It’s also good to start light aerobic activities like cycling. There are also Kegel Exercises that you can start right after giving birth , you should definitely try it. You will see a lot of benefits.

Instead of doing long-term exercise, do short-term exercises several times a day. As your stamina increases, increase the duration of the exercise.

How many pounds is healthy to lose each month?

The ideal weight loss range is 2-4 kg per month. However, this may vary depending on your diet compliance, motivation, whether you have any ailments, metabolic rate and physical activity. Losing more than 2 kilos a month is not good for both your health and milk production.

How can you achieve weight control?

Losing weight while breastfeeding was your dream and you did it. So, how can you achieve weight control?

• After a while, instead of losing weight while breastfeeding, it is important to diversify what you eat and take care of a balanced diet in order to maintain your weight. Eating low-calorie diets while getting used to the motherhood period can increase the stress you experience and cause you to gain more weight.
• You don’t need to follow a diet list to lose weight while breastfeeding. You can also lose weight by gaining healthy eating habits.
• Pay attention to a diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Such high-fiber foods provide a feeling of satiety for a long time and provide some important nutrients.
• It’s not just you who prefer foods that are high in nutrients, low in calories and low in fat; It’s also important for your baby’s health. Choose healthy foods.
• Downsize the portions. It always works if you replace traditional dishes that you eat and love often with smaller ones.
• Skipping meals and restricting fruits and vegetables in the diet cause the loss of essential nutrients. Skipping meals, limiting fruit and vegetables.
• Don’t let the fact that you’ve lost weight push you to get away. Having healthy foods around prevents junk food from tempting you. Don’t even let them into your house. 
• Don’t forget to drink water. Drinking 3 liters of water during the day will both accelerate your metabolism, prevent your body from being dehydrated and help you stay full. In addition, water for breastfeeding is the most basic nutrient with a milk-increasing feature!

What are the mistakes made to lose weight during breastfeeding?

• During this period, mothers may experience psychological changes due to the changes in their lives. This can push them to eat more.
• It is important not to become obsessed with weight and think too much, because weight gain can sometimes increase with stress.
• Unconscious diets for weight loss and weight loss drugs can both disrupt metabolism and reduce milk and its quality.