Nowadays mums are breastfeeding their babies for longer but mums still want to lose their baby weight whilst breastfeeding and there is a lot of confusion and questions about what is and isn’t safe to do whilst breastfeeding.
We are extremely passionate about ensuring mums lose their weight in a healthy way – and as such we don’t advise dramatic weight loss. Although ensuring mums lose weight in a healthy is very important to a mum who is not breastfeeding, it becomes even more so when a mum is still breastfeeding as whatever mum puts into her body can be passed through to the baby through the milk.
Many mums who are still breastfeeding have a ravenous appetite so trying to focus on a calorie-controlled diet can be very challenging and not realistic. During breastfeeding, mum’s need to intake approximately 500 calories extra but from breastfeeding a mum will also burn approximately 500 calories per day. Mum’s often want to lose their baby weight immediately after birth and will do anything they can to lose the weight quickly – however a point that needs to be noted is that toxins are stored in our fat cells so if the weight is lost too quickly then those toxins are released into the body and can pass through the milk to the baby. So the message is to not even try and lose the weight for at least 6-8 weeks after birth and when you do try, aim for slow and steady weight loss.
Mums who are breastfeeding also need to be cautious about supplements for sale to aid weight loss as there are some programs that contain products that could make your baby sick such as phentermine, aloe vera, caffeine, kelp, high doses of chromium and phenylpropanolamine (an ingredient in dexatrim and acutrim). Many weight loss supplements also contain ephedrine which is a substance that increases metabolic rate and has been associated with severe increase in blood pressure, palpitations, heart arrhythmias, and seizures – so best to steer clear of all of these.
At Lose Baby Weight, we believe that it is important to lose the baby weight through safe and healthy methods and by taking a holistic approach which when followed correctly will shed the weight. This approach includes a focus on the health and nutrition on the mum’s diet, as without consuming the right nutrients and achieving cellular nutrition then the body cannot function correctly which becomes a barrier to weight loss and in turn has a big impact on the mum’s energy levels, as well as mild exercise, motivation and support. We don’t believe in fast or dramatic weight loss and aim for a 500g – 1kg loss per week as it is important that the weight loss is safe and steady.
The concept behind the Lose Baby Weight plan is that through the nutritional smoothies the mum gets the right amount of nutrition for their body at breakfast and lunch time. The smoothies are filling and are easy to make so that you don’t have to worry about skipping vital nutrients for you and your milk supply. There are no weight loss accelerants added and the reason the mums lose the weight is because they are now giving their body everything it needs to function properly which means it can eliminate waste better, it doesn’t have the sugar cravings and it can function better from a metabolic perspective.
A typical example of a day on the New mum plan includes;
Breakfast – 1 x caffeine free green tea, 1 x nutritional smoothie with oats, skimmed milk and fruit
Smoothie recipe example;
- 2 x tablespoons of smoothie mix
- Half a cup of frozen blueberries
- Half a cup of frozen raspberries
- Half a banana
- 3-4 tablespoons of oats or oatmeal
- 5-6 ice cubes
- 200 – 250ml of rice/soy milk or skimmed milk
All popped in a blender and easy to make
Mid morning snack – cottage cheese and carrot sticks or a fruit salad with yoghurt plus a caffeine free green tea
Lunch – 1 x caffeine free green tea, 1 x nutritional smoothie
Mid afternoon snack – wholegrain toast with tinned sardines or a handful of nuts with a caffeine free green tea
Evening meal – A high protein and high vegetable healthy meal such as seafood and vegetable pasta, stuffed peppers with lamb, super nutritional rice salad, white fish, tomato and eggplant – all available under the recipe section.
We also recommend mums to drink at least 1.5-2litres of water per day – see www.losebabyweight.com.au
