Healthy Routine While Breastfeeding To Keep Weight Under Check

Amidst the excitement, and joy of new mommies, there is also a thought haunting many moms how to lose weight, as our priority is always our baby's nutrition and best nutrition for the newborn is the mother's milk.

Breastfeeding indeed burns almost 500-700 calories per day depending upon your metabolism, but it is also true that it requires about 500 calories daily intake as compared to pre-pregnancy. So if you want to lose weight without compromising your baby's nutrition, you have to develop a healthy routine as follows:

Drinking Plenty of Water:  

Whether pre-pregnancy or during pregnancy or post-pregnancy, drinking water is always advisable as it not only keep your body hydrated but also eradicates your body's toxic and regulate kidney's functionality. So at least drink eight glass of water, also keep in mind to lose weight never drink water immediately before or after any meal, there should be 30-45 minutes gap between your meal and water.

Also, in the first month of postpartum, you should not drink normal water, but drink the boiled water with green cardamom, carom seed and cumin, it will help to clean your uterus from lochia. If possible, even after the first month, try to drink warm water and avoid refrigerated drinks.

Healthy Diet:

 Planning a diet which is safe and nutritious for your child but equally good help for losing weight is the vital step. So the first thing you need to understand is, a person with a healthy lifestyle consume almost 2500-2700 calories per day and, if you are breastfeeding, you have to consume 300-500 extra calories. So plan your diet accordingly, here are some tips:

• Start your day with a breakfast which would include almond milk, or you can even make the smoothies with your favourite fruit along with almonds and some green vegetables like broccoli or spinach. You can also take a boiled egg if you eat the one.
• Between the meals, if you are hungry munch on some carrot or any raw vegetable, you can also take some fruit like apple or orange.
• Add some lean protein to your diet like fish and chicken and if you are a vegetarian, beans and protein powder to your milk is also beneficial.
• Take healthy fats like almonds, walnuts, chia seeds or avocados. In oils, you can take coconut oil or olive oil. 
• During lunch, make yourself a bowl of salad along with olives and sprinkle some olive oil for dressing. In between lunch and dinner, you can have some nuts. For dinner, you can cook fish or chicken with a dab coconut oil.
• To lose weight, keep in mind not to consume a processed diet like junk food, white bread, pasta or baked products. You should also not drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages.

Safe Exercise:

 For losing your baby fat, along with a healthy diet, you need to incorporate some safe exercises also in your daily routine like:

• Start with walking, at first don't go for power walks, but take an effortless stroll. Then as days, passes start walking backwards or in a zig-zag pattern as it burns more calories than regular walking. Start with at least 15 minutes daily then increase the time limit gradually. 
• Along with the walking, start breathing exercise also. For this you have to sit upright and breathe from your diaphragm, contract and hold your abdomen muscle tight while inhaling and relax abdomen muscle while exhaling, this will help to tone muscles in the early stage after delivery.
• Next, you can try Kegels; it is an exercise where you contract and hold the bladder muscles for some time and then release them. If you don't know which is your bladder, try to hold the flow while urinating and when you get control over it, do it 10 times thrice a day when you are not urinating. It'll help to bring back your bladder muscles in its original position.
• Once your doctor gives you the green signals for exercising, divide your workout regimen into cardiovascular and weight-bearing exercises. But before you start these exercises, you do need to reduce diastasis recti. It is the separation between the abdominal muscle at the linea alba. If that separation is not taken care of well, any of the exercises would not be capable enough to reduce weight. So go for core strengthening exercise first.

Have a happy and healthy journey of losing weight but remember one thing, for some this journey is six to nine months, while for others it may take 1 to 2 years, but never lose hope and be kind to your body.

Please let me know if you found this article useful!

 Check out benefits of walking for new moms.

Jatinder Kour is an M.Tech graduate, a full-time mother of triplet daughters and a son. Her passion for writing took to another level after a wondrous journey of motherhood so far.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mom Store.