Does breastfeeding help you lose weight? Breastfeeding is considered one of the best ways for a new mother to lose their baby weight. Research studies show that mothers that breastfeed exclusively burn an average of 500 additional calories daily. And that is the equivalent of cutting out a small meal or large snack or doing a 45-minute cardiovascular medium intensity workout.
Moms that are nursing are typically more conscious of what they eat. And this additionally contributes to weight loss through healthy foods such as high protein foods, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. There was a study where women who breastfed exclusively for at least 3 months lost 3.2lbs their first year. And this was more in the first year than those who formula fed their babies.
Does breastfeeding help you lose weight? Photo credit: iStock-Prostock-studio
Other studies reveal that women who breastfeed get to their pre-pregnancy weight on an average sooner than those who formula fed their babies. Another study showed that women who breastfed for 6 to 12 months had a lower bodyfat percentage 5 years after giving birth than those who didn’t.
There are some women that don’t lose weight through breastfeeding and the reasons are not being able to maintain a deficit of 500 calories per day. The only way a woman can stay in the deficit is to burn more calories than they consume. If you eat too much food to compensate for all the breastfeeding, then you will have difficulties losing weight even while breastfeeding.
Sleep deprivation is one of the things that can increase your hunger and appetite making it harder to lose weight for nursing mothers.
Some tips to help nursing mothers lose their baby weight:
- Focus on eating high fiber foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories such as fruits and vegetables. Those fruits and vegetables are apples, bananas, oranges. Vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, spinach, green beans,
- Exercise- Starting off with walking, gardening, riding a bike, walking on a treadmill, jogging, swimming, dancing. These are all good cardiovascular exercises to do.
- Stay hydrated and drink up to 8 cups of water per day. Drinking water is a great appetite suppressant as it signals your brain that your stomach is full.
- Try to get up to 8 hours of sleep because if you get enough sleep, it will tame your cravings. At times the less sleep you have the more you will want to eat.
The Benefits of Breastfeeding are:
- It protects your babies against diseases
- It promotes brain development in preterm babies
- It reduces the risk of depression
- It provides great nutrition for breast-fed babies
For women that are breastfeeding eating enough food is very important for the health of the baby. So be mindful of being on any low caloric diet while breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding mothers should avoid eating less than 1500 calories per day. Because doing this will make the nursing mother produce less milk for her baby and minimize the important nutrients that should be in breast milk.
“Breastfeeding mothers should avoid eating less than 1500 calories per day. Because doing this will make the nursing mother produce less milk for her baby and minimize the important nutrients that should be in breast milk.” Celebrity Fitness & Nutrition Expert Obi Obadike
The Bottom Line is breastfeeding can contribute to weight loss if you are creating a 500 calorie a day deficit. And if you are exercising and eating the right healthy foods like fiber and high protein foods.
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