Breastfeeding can help you drop weight in the first few months postpartum, but does not always return you to your pre-pregnancy form. Strict calorie-restriction during nursing is not encouraged, as you do not want to interfere with the quality or quantity of your milk supply. After you and your baby are done nursing, you can take more aggressive measures to lose the last of your baby weight. Like anyone seeking to lose weight, you must reduce calories and increase physical activity to experience results.
Step 1
Check with your physician before beginning a reduced-calorie diet. Medical experts at the Babycenter website emphasize that you should be at least six-weeks postpartum before dieting, so that your body has had time to heal from the stress of childbirth.
Step 2
Aim for a slow rate of weight loss. Settle for losing just ½ to one pound per week. This rate allows you to take in enough calories to provide the energy you need to care for your baby, operate on less sleep and avoid feelings of deprivation that may arise from excessively low calorie dieting. Your new family member adds enough stress to your life, you do not need to undertake the additional stress of restrictive dieting, which can increase cortisol—a stress hormone—production and hindering weight loss results. The April 2010 issue of “Psychosomatic Medicine” published a study showing that women who strictly adhered to a 1,200-calorie per day diet experienced greater stress than women who ate normally and that this stress may actually hinder overall weight loss.
Step 3
Build your daily meal plan around quality, low-calorie density foods like lean proteins, whole grains, fresh produce and low-fat dairy. Aim for five or six small meals, containing between 200 and 500 calories—depending on your daily needs—to keep hunger at bay. Load your pantry and fridge with healthy options like whole grain crackers, cut-up vegetables, low-fat string cheese, plain yogurt and fresh fruit, so you are not tempted to graze on chips and cookies during days at home with baby.
Step 4
Make exercise a priority. Walk with your baby or take advantage of childcare at the gym. If you feel trapped at home, invest in a set of dumbbells to do strength training moves and bouts of simple cardio like jumping jacks and jogging in place while your baby naps or watches from a bouncy chair. Aim for an hour total of moderate intensity cardiovascular activity—like a brisk walk—to spur weight loss, says the American College of Sports Medicine. The hour can be achieved all at once, or in 10-minute bouts over the course of the day.
Tips and Warnings
- Be patient with your efforts. It took nine months to gain the baby weight, expect it to take at least as long to lose it.
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