It’s funny how my perspective about weight loss after baby has changed from my first baby to my third. I was of the “bounce back” mindset after I had Bella, my first. I thought it’d be easy to go about losing weight after baby and “bounce back” to the old me. Oh, how naive I was. It’s not so simple.
Mamas, if I can tell you one thing remember this- your body needs to recover after you have a baby. It doesn’t matter what mode of delivery you had, you just grew a freaking human being from nothing. Your body used a lot of energy and nutrients to do that. Your body needs to heal and recover. Eating well, resting, and NOT stressing about weight loss is how that will happen. Instead, think about how you can heal and recover more so than you need to lose weight.
If you’re breastfeeding, your body is doing some heavy duty work, requiring even more repletion of nutrients. Again, not a time to be stressed about weight loss, but instead about recovering, healing, and fueling your body.
Now, as much as I can remind you about not stressing about trying to lose the baby weight, and how it’s not as important as you think it is… that’s not why you’re reading this. You’re here to see how you can lose a few lbs. So let’s talk about 7 ways to start losing weight after baby.
7 Tips for Losing Weight After Baby
1. Stop the dieting mindset.
Dieting causes stress. Stress makes you gain weight, prevents weight loss, and can decrease your milk supply. You can eat all the healthy foods, take all the right supplements to help with your milk supply, but if your stress levels are too high, your dopamine isn’t going to be kicking in the same way, and won’t allow the process of producing milk and your let down to kick in.
2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
Drink water as your source of fluids! Avoid juice, sodas, sweet tea, etc. You don’t need those extra sugars (or artificial sugars). Making sure you drink enough water! It can help you feel full, curb cravings, improve your skin and also help with your supply. Moms I know who are nursing or pumping are constantly thirsty. Keep a water bottle with you at all times.
3. Focus on what you can have, rather than what you can’t have.
Add in more fruits and veggies, lean proteins, healthy carbohydrates and healthy fats. Nursing? Review this article on foods you should eat when breastfeeding.
4. Don’t eat naked carbs.
Naked carbs are carbs without some protein and fat with them. So instead of just having an apple, have some apple with almond butter. Instead of just crackers, have some crackers and cheese.
5. Add more healthy fats.
Eating more healthy fats, such as avocado, nuts, seeds, guacamole, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, almonds, cashews, etc. When we include a diet that is higher in healthy fats, we fill our stomachs up having less space for less healthy foods. Foods rich in fats are also higher in many of the nutrients you need while recovering after a baby and to help you lose weight.
6. Low carb, should you do it?
Many moms ask me if they should eat low carb while breastfeeding. I’m an advocate of low-ER carb, but that doesn’t mean keto or very low carb. Less than 150 grams a day, is still low-ER than most people eat. 150 grams give you plenty of wiggle room to eat rice with your stir fry, to have fruit, apples, etc. If you start experimenting with lowering your carbs more than that, just be aware of what you’re doing. Make sure you drink plenty of water, because eating low carb acts as a diuretic. Also make sure that you’re eating enough calories and enough food.
7. Work out.
Yeah, you should. But you should workout because it feels good. Find something that is enjoyable to you. Whether that’s going for a walk, going to the gym, lifting weights, doing yoga, taking a dance class…. Do something that gets your body moving. What you eat, your hormones, your stress… these things play a bigger role in you losing weight than going to the gym. Do it because you need to blow off some steam, stretch your body, have some alone time. Do it not to lose weight, but because it’s good for you.
Real talk
How often are you indulging in treats? Be honest! Treats can be wine, eating out, cookies, candy, ice cream, high-sugar cereals, extra slice of pizza, etc. Your treats need to truly be a treat, once or twice a week, no more than that. Plan your treats accordingly, look forward to them, and enjoy them! I don’t want you to deprive yourself, but if you want to lose weight, you need to get more serious with your eating patterns.
Mom to mom
Moms, hang in there. The whole year after you’ve had a baby you might feel like you want to try to start a diet, or you feel like you want to rush to lose the baby weight. I get ya, I swear I do! But, don’t diet. I want you to eat better. I want you to recover. I also want you to know that just because you’re breastfeeding doesn’t mean you’ll lose weight faster.
Many moms find that when they stop nursing, those last 5-10 lbs slide off. Don’t make your decision to stop nursing based on your weight loss goals, just know that it may take waiting until baby is done nursing for those last few pounds to come off.
The weight will come off gradually, and in good time. These tips for losing weight after baby will get you started, but this isn’t a sprint to get back to your pre-baby weight, and striving to bounce back certainly shouldn’t be a goal either. Heal, recover, bond, get to know this new human you’re responsible for, and hang in there, mama! For more support, join the Mommy Feeding Family Facebook group.