Weight Loss for Breastfeeding Moms: An Introduction

by Pattie Hughes | More from this Blogger

03 Feb 2007 07:11 AM

When you read about breastfeeding one of the benefits listed is "breastfeeding helps you lose your baby weight." For some women, this is true. They seem to go right back to their pre pregnancy weight with little or no effort. I hate these women, with their large breasts and skinny waists.

I am the Pregnancy Blogger here at families.com. I gave birth to my fourth baby in July. He's now six months old and I'm no where near my pre pregnancy weight. I'm still wearing sweat pants. Only one pair of my pre pregnancy pants currently fit. When Lisa called for guest bloggers in weight loss, I jumped at the chance. I'm hoping that writing this blog every Saturday will help keep me on track to reach my weight loss goals.

Losing baby weight is always a challenge. There are special challenges for mothers who breastfeed their babies. You can't restrict calories, as you would in a typical weight loss regimen. To restrict calories is dangerous for a few reasons: it can decrease your milk supply. Restricting carbs has a negative effect on your milk supply as well, so no Atkins diets.

Rapid weight loss can also cause toxins to be released from the stored fat in your body into the breast milk. When your baby ingests the milk, he will be taking in the toxins as well. Normally, flushing toxins from the body is considered to be a good thing. However, when the toxins are flushed into the milk that nourishes your baby, it's not a good thing.

Losing weight very quickly makes the body burn stored fat, rather than sugars. This is known as ketosis and results in ketones being released into the bloodstream and breast milk. Ketones may alter the taste of the milk and cause a nursing strike. It's not known what level of ketones are safe for the baby, but most experts advise that women avoid ketosis when breastfeeding.

Slow weight loss with a sensible diet and exercise is the safest way for breastfeeding moms to lose weight. Since I am not a person who loves aerobic exercise, this will be a challenge. I will be blogging on this topic every Saturday. Join me in the challenge and together we can find our pre baby bodies again!

Related Articles:

A Diet Without Restrictions?

Eating Healthy on the Run

I'm Not Pregnant I'm Fat

Learn more about Pattie Hughes

Pattie Hughes is a freelance writer and mother of four young children. She and her husband have been married since 1992. Pattie holds a degree in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University.

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oweirdo (33643) 03 Feb 2007 11:49 AM

I really had to laugh at the big breasts little waist! When I had my first child everyone told me bfing will take you to pre-pregnancy wait in no time. So I did not try, and stayed big! I had the huge breasts, and a huge waist to match

Sara Denomme (1063) 03 Feb 2007 01:43 PM

It worked for me, but not the first time! After my first pregnancy, I had gained forty pounds and even breastfeeding didn't seem to make it budge. I attribute this not only to the extra pregnancy weight but also to the fact that I went back to work full time. Now with my second pregnancy, I only gained half the weight. I am also with baby nursing round the clock, and not pumping or supplementing at all. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight immediately BUT I am no where near to my pre-parenting weight yet.

Maybe some important things to mention is that if you go back to work full time, pumping and supplementing can affect how much calories you're really burning by breastfeeding. Also, the amount you gain during pregnancy can affect your weight-loss success ;)

kimchee67 (16781) 10 Feb 2007 10:09 PM

I hate huge boobs! They get in the way too much and they make everyone all googly eyed. I have cleavage in a turtleneck! I have such a hard time working out to loose the weight. I went to yoga a couple of time. I pumped before I left, but by the time I got ready to go, got to class, and finished the class I couldn't even do the meditation because my chest was going to explode! That's what I hate about trying to workout while lactating! LOL!