Best Diet Lose Weight After Giving Birth

It’s no secret that the food we eat fuels our daily activities — an especially important point when those daily activities include caring for a newborn and breastfeeding.

But for many new mamas, the desire to lose the baby weight may take precedence over nourishing their body with the right foods to support recovery, milk production, rest, and all the other tasks required to get through the day.

Significantly reducing overall carbohydrate intake — the go-to weight loss strategy for many women — is not your best bet postpartum. Carbohydrates are necessary for new moms — not just for breast milk production, but also for mental health, hormone regulation and more.

How To Lose Weight After Giving Birth?

The good news it is possible to slowly shed a few pounds (if that’s your goal!) while still eating enough calories to keep up with the physical and mental demands of caring for your little one. The key is to be patient, eat well-rounded meals, and give yourself time.

Plus, if you have a health condition like diabetes, you may need to follow a different dietary pattern in order to optimize blood sugar control. Every woman’s nutrition needs are different and depend on many factors

For more information on how to create a healthy plate, visit the USDA ChooseMyPlate website. There, you will find topics related to nutritional needs, healthy weight loss, breastfeeding tips, and more. You can also get a customized eating plan.

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Dara Godfrey, MS, RD, registered dietician for Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York, says hydration, especially if breastfeeding, is critical. She recommends up to 3 liters of water daily.

However, hydration needs can vary so it’s best to let thirst be your guide. A good way to gauge hydration is looking at the color of your urine. Pale yellow urine indicates proper hydration while dark-colored urine indicates that you may be dehydrated and need to up your water intake

, a breastfeeding mother should consume approximately 2, 300 to 2, 500 calories per day compared to 1, 800 to 2, 000 calories for a non-breastfeeding woman.

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If you’re trying to lose weight while breastfeeding, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says a slow weight loss of 1 pound per week or 4 pounds per month is ideal.

Breastfeeding mothers should continue taking a prenatal vitamin, or a vitamin specific to postnatal mothers. If you’re not breastfeeding but would like the additional nutrients, talk to your doctor for recommendations.

While the small amount of caffeine that passes from you to the baby through breast milk is not known to adversely affect your infant, the CDC recommends sticking to 300 milligrams or less per day.

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Aim to minimize snack foods and items that are high in added sugar, sodium, and saturated fat, including fried foods, soft drinks, and desserts.

If you’re breastfeeding, avoid high-mercury seafood and fish like orange roughy, tuna, king mackerel, marlin, shark, swordfish, or tilefish. Instead, opt for salmon, shrimp, cod, tilapia, trout, and halibut, among others.

Although many women decide to avoid alcohol while breastfeeding, if you choose to drink, do so in moderation, and try to limit it to after breastfeeding or wait 2 to 3 hours after having a drink to breastfeed.

Postpartum Weight Loss: How To Lose Weight After Baby

Exclusively breastfeeding women require approximately 400 to 500 additional calories per day beyond what is recommended for those who are not breastfeeding, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

If you’re nursing, don’t fret if the pounds don’t come off right away. For some women, breastfeeding helps them lose baby weight more quickly than non-breastfeeding mothers.

Has shown that although weight loss is slower during the first 3 months of breastfeeding due to new moms increasing calorie intake to meet the demands of producing milk, weight loss seems to increase after the 3-month mark when lactating moms are more likely to burn fat stores.

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For example, eggs and fatty fish are excellent sources of protein and healthy fats while vegetables, whole grains, and fruits provide fiber-rich carb sources. Nuts, seeds, avocados, and full-fat yogurt are more examples of healthy fat sources.

Not only are these foods a great source of protein, fat, and carbs, but these whole foods are packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that help promote overall health.

. Amazingly, even if your daily nutrient intake doesn’t meet recommended amounts, your milk will still provide sufficient nutrition for your baby.

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That doesn’t mean you should cut back on necessary carbohydrates, protein or fat, however. Doing so will just leave you more depleted and run down as your body uses everything it can to make milk for your baby.

Women who have high blood sugar may need to eat fewer carbs to optimize blood sugar control, while highly active women may need more. It’s important to work with your healthcare team to come up with an individualized plan that meets your nutrient demands while optimizing overall health.

There are many ways to help your hormones recalibrate postpartum, says Godfrey, but it does take time, and we shouldn’t expect it to happen overnight.

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“There is usually an estrogen dominance in comparison to progesterone, and since it takes almost a year to have a baby, it should take time for your body to find its new normal, ” she explains.

Estrogen dominance can play a big role in whether you are able to successfully lose weight postpartum, because excess estrogen can lead to weight gain. So can high levels of cortisol — the stress hormone, which is made in excess when you’re not getting enough sleep.

Godfrey reminds women that everyone’s postpartum hormone timeline will vary, and that’s OK. She points out that hormones can be influenced by many things including diet, sleep patterns (or lack of sleep!), and overall stress.

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“Food can affect the production and secretion of hormones — the hormone insulin is secreted with detection of carbohydrate consumption, so choosing portion sizes that are right for our body can help ensure a healthy secretion of insulin, and help us prevent unnecessary weight gain, ” says Godfrey.

She also explains that hormones can, in turn, influence our food choices: ghrelin, our “hunger” hormone, and leptin, the “I’m satisfied” hormone.

In the brain, when it comes to maintaining mental health. While you can’t eat foods that contain serotonin, you can eat foods high in tryptophan. Tryptophan can be converted to serotonin, but only if carbohydrates are present to do the work.

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On the opposite end of the serotonin spectrum is protein. Ashley Shaw, RD at Preg Appetit! says protein decreases serotonin secretion. Therefore, it’s necessary to balance moderate carbohydrate intake with protein. “This is part of a feedback system that helps regulate the body and causes the body to crave certain foods at a certain time for adequate intake of different nutrients.”

She continues, “Unfortunately, if you consistently over-consume carbohydrates, especially simple carbs (refined grains and bread, sweets, baked goods), you tend to crave these foods more than others, and the feedback system gets thrown off, ” she explains.

That’s why experts recommend eating a diet that is centered around complex carbohydrates such as fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, brown and wild rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, beans, quinoa, and potatoes.

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Meal planning often takes a back seat when you’re caring for a newborn. The good news? We’ve got plenty of ideas for you! Here’s a 3-day menu from Shaw that will keep you fueled and nourished all day.

Eating a healthy postpartum diet is a key factor in recovering from pregnancy and childbirth as well as losing weight — if that’s your goal.

Before you make any significant tweaks to your current diet though, take some time to just enjoy the gift of being a new mom. Allow room for recovery. Be kind to yourself. Move your body when it feels right. Rest when you need to.

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Weight loss should not be your main priority those first few weeks home. You’ll know when the time is right. When you’re ready to begin your postpartum weight loss journey, remember that significantly reducing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet may do more harm than good.

Take it slow, and eat for hormone regulation, mental health, and sustained energy. The weight will come off eventually, and you’ll feel much better in the meantime.

Has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.A newborn baby brings you a bundle of joy but the changes in your body fill you with a mix of emotions. You are then left wondering about how to deal with the postpartum weight loss. Postpartum weight contributes to serious health consequences and increases the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. Those having normal BMI will find easy to return to the normal BMI. However, those overweight must first return to the pre-pregnancy weight and then continue losing weight. Here are some tips to deal with post-partum weight loss.

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Always remember that breastfeeding is not a quick fix although it helps to lose weight by burning extra 500calories a day. You will feel hungry when nursing your baby and also need