Is It Safe To Lose Weight While Breastfeeding?
Every woman puts on a considerable amount of weight during pregnancy. This is necessary to provide nutrition for the baby. During post pregnancy, losing this extra weight can become a cause of concern for most mothers, especially the ones who are breastfeeding as too much weight loss happens to affect the quality and quantity of milk.
How Much Weight Loss Is Safe
During pregnancy a woman gains around 25-35 pounds. And will lose around 15-20 pounds during child birth and the first few weeks post pregnancy. According to health experts, the safe limit of weight loss post-pregnancy is about one pound per week. The mother should under no circumstances lose more than that as it will affect the baby. In other words, the total calorie intake should not go below 1500 calories per day.
Breastfeeding And Weight Loss
Experts feel that weight loss schedule should not start until the baby is two months old as the milk supply is not fully established till then. If the mother starts cutting the calories before that, it severely affects the quantity of milk.
It is a proven fact that mothers who breastfeed lose weight faster than those who don’t. In order to make the breast milk, the body has to work hard round the clock which results in much calorie burning. Hence breastfeeding continuously for at least 6 months helps the mother lose weight quickly.
Losing weight too quickly often results in the release of toxins like PCB or ketones which gets into the breast milk thereby affecting the quality of milk severely. Taking weight loss pills during this time will also make the breast milk unhealthy for the child.
Losing Weight Safely
Trying to lose weight while breastfeeding can be safe provided a well defined plan is followed. Following are some of the guidelines:-
Crash diets are a big no. It is advisable to lose weight gradually as breastfeeding mothers cannot afford to put their little one’s health at risk. On an average it takes anything between 10 months to a year in order to return to the pre pregnancy weight.
During breastfeeding the mother normally feels hungrier. This is the body’s way of asking for more nutrients for making the milk. In such cases, instead of taking 2 or 3 large meals per day, it is advisable to take 5 meals per day which include snacks [like nuts, string cheese, fruits, grain crackers etc.] in between. The diet should be a healthy one with food high in fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals. A small percentage of fats [“healthy fats” like canola, fatty fishes, avocado, nuts etc] should also be included.
Alcohol is not good for breastfeeding mothers as it takes around 4 hours for the body to eliminate it, say, one serving of wine or beer. Moreover alcohol just adds to the excess body weight.Lastly, moderate non-strenuous exercises can accelerate the weight loss in the breastfeeding mothers.
