If you’re on this site, you’re already taking the first step to effectively melting away those pregnancy pounds.  Breastfeeding is an excellent way to rid the body of extra calories that were stored during pregnancy. Breastfeeding requires generally 300-500 calories more per day than your pre-pregnancy requirements. It’s common knowledge that all you have to do to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit – that is to expend more calories daily than you’re eating – and it’s no different after giving birth. It’s important not to put any serious stress on your body after giving birth, as you need time to recover and adjust to nursing your baby. As a rough guide, focusing your diet around 2000 calories should provide a good baseline for you to test out. It is generally safe to incorporate at least 30 minutes of light exercise daily after giving birth, but first discuss this with your midwife – as some woman have difficult births that require a few weeks downtime.

Exercise
Including at least thirty minutes of exercise per day will help you lose weight while breastfeeding. Finding the time when you are a new nursing mother is difficult, but it is an important part of post pregnancy weight loss. Try to find particular times of the day when your baby is resting and use this time to do a quick yoga or pilates workout. Going for a walk with the baby in the push chair is another great way to fit in an easy, short work out. Many mothers suffer from postnatal depression and exercise is a gentle way to help alleviate some of the feelings that can be weighing you down. The most important thing is to find something that works in with your schedule that you can be consistent with.

Weight loss pills
It is not recommended to take diet pills while breastfeeding. If you can’t resist this route, then it is strongly advised you do not consume them until you have had two month’s breastfeeding your baby. This provides you with enough time to realise your baby’s breastfeeding demands and to be aware of how much milk is required to nurse your baby. Diet pills can affect the amount of milk produced, so it is important that you have enough time to get to know your baby’s needs. It is important to consider that it took nine months for your baby weight to pile on, so you should use nine months to lose it as a rough guide. When setting weight loss goals for yourself remember to be realistic.

The good news is: the longer you breastfeed, the more calories you’ll burn.  This is good for your weight loss and this is also good for your baby. There are numerous benefits to breastfeeding and breastfeeding assisting your weight loss is just one of them.