If you’re on a diet to lose those pregnancy pounds and you’re also breastfeeding, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is moderate calorie reduction isn’t going to impact your baby’s health—he’ll still get milk power-packed with all of the nutrients he needs to grow and thrive. The bad news? Going on a less-than-2200-calorie diet while breastfeeding can seriously impact your health.
Nursing is estimated to burn about 500 calories a day. Without even going into all of breastfeeding’s countless health benefits to your baby, this factoid alone is a pretty good incentive to nurse—especially if you are like me and put on, oh, a wee bit more than the recommended 25-35 lbs during pregnancy.
But not all women have an easy time losing weight when they are nursing. Nursing can make you very hungry! And going on some kind of extreme weight loss regimen could potentially affect your milk supply.
There are safe ways to lose weight while breastfeeding, though. (I should know—I lost 40+ lbs. of baby weight three times while successfully plumping up each of my kids!)
Here are my tips for reclaiming your pre-pregnancy jeans…while you’re still wearing a nursing bra:
