Essentially, lactating people burn more calories each day and this, combined with fluid loss, a healthy, balanced diet and some light exercise, will all contribute to postpartum weight loss.
Some people may lose weight during breastfeeding, possibly due to the extra calories breastfeeding uses. Hormones, stress, sleep, exercise, and diet can all affect weight, and some people do not lose weight when breastfeeding.
It helps your uterus contract- to help you birth a baby, but then to return your uterus back to its original, non-pregnant size. This means yes, your belly (which after you give birth can still look like you're pregnant)- which houses your uterus- can decrease in size a bit faster if you breastfeed.
In the first 2 to 3 months postpartum, several authors19–21 have found that formula-feeding mothers consumed 600 to 800 fewer calories than breast-feeding mothers and lost substantially more weight. From 3 to 6 months post-partum, however, weight loss among breast-feeding women increased substantially.
Aim for a slow and steady weight loss: Experts recommend losing no more than 1-2 pounds per week to ensure that you are not compromising your milk supply or overall health.
Your body will almost always create milk for your baby even if you under-eat. But, the nutritional quality of the milk will be decreased. Your body puts baby first, so if you aren't consuming nutritionally dense foods, and enough of them, YOU will suffer the most.
This question comes up often as more breastfeeding moms are pumping and often times, exclusively pumping to produce breast milk. Another common related question that moms ask is does pumping burn as many calories as nursing? The answer to this helps answer the first question, which is a resounding Yes!
Lactation and Adaptations of Maternal Metabolism
Overall maternal adaptations during lactation include increased basal metabolic rates and mobilization of fat stores [22–24].
A history of breastfeeding, the number of children breastfed, the duration of each child's breastfeeding, or the amount of weight gained during pregnancy did not predict changes in breast shape—dispelling the myth that breastfeeding causes breasts to sag.
Calorie Burn and Weight Loss
But breastfeeding will help to contract your uterus and shrink it back down to its pre-pregnancy size much more quickly. Breastfeeding burns up to 500 calories a day. This means that even though you are probably eating more to sustain breastfeeding, you can still lose weight.
Signs of Poor Nutrition Postpartum
You may not be getting enough to eat as a new mom if you find yourself experiencing any of the following signs and symptoms: Feeling sluggish, lack of energy, and chronically fatigued. Recurring headaches. Lethargy.
Breastfeeding can reduce the mother's risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. Breastfeeding has health benefits for the mother too! Some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure are less common among women who breastfeed.
“Some women find that when you're not nursing and your metabolism changes, they keep weight more persistently or they gain. Others don't. We all have our own experiences,” she says. If you do start to pick up pounds after weaning, don't panic.
Some moms say their breasts stay larger after they've finished nursing, while others say they become smaller than they were before getting pregnant — which can be either a relief or a disappointment, depending. Regardless, it's perfectly normal not to notice a change in your breasts at all after breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding doesn't have a lasting effect on your body shape.
Moisturize your skin daily, focusing on the chest area, in order to maintain firmness and hydration. Select a herbal lotion with natural extracts which nurtures taut, youthful-looking skin. Also, be sure to use a body scrub or loofah to gently exfoliate your breasts while bathing every day.
While nursing, you should not consume less than 1500-1800 calories per day, and most women should stay at the high end of this range.
In fact, eating too few calories may impact your breastmilk supply. Aim to consume a minimum of 1500 to 1800 calories per day, depending on your individual needs. Any less than this and it may also be more difficult to get all the nutrients your body needs while nursing.
Though a 2014 study found that breastfeeding for at least three months gave moms a slight advantage in postpartum weight loss, many women have not found that to be the case. Some have even found it harder to lose weight while breastfeeding.
The infant is often able to remove larger volumes of the milk from the breast compared to an electric breast pump [3, 6] and fares better at maintaining milk production in the long term.
Producing breast milk consumes 25% of the body's energy; the brain only uses 20% by comparison. Almost 75% of all moms produce more milk in their right breast, whether they are right- or left- handed. Mama's body is constantly making the perfect milk for baby.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization also recommend exclusive breastfeeding for about the first 6 months, with continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for up to 2 years of age or longer.