This post may contain affiliate links to items I love, and I am confident you will too! All opinions are my own, however, I may receive a small commission on purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For any health advice I give on nutrition and weight loss, make sure you check with your doctor, as I am not a health professional.
Breastfeeding and postpartum weight loss are a hot topic for new mamas because balancing milk supply and weight loss can be super tricky. I think it’s safe to say that most mamas would choose a higher milk supply for their babies, rather than losing weight fast, but you can really do both. I’ve gained and lost over 25lbs with each pregnancy, and never had an issue with milk supply because of my nutrition.
Nutrients are the key to losing the baby weight while keeping a healthy milk supply. Your body needs the building blocks to function properly. This includes balancing hormones correctly, creating enough breast milk and ultimately using the stored fat as fuel to produce breast milk. This is why we store fat when pregnant. So there is plenty of extra nutrients and fuel to use to create breast milk. We are supposed to lose weight while breastfeeding. When we don’t give our body enough nutrients, then our bodies are stressed and in panic mode.
Lack of nutrients means we need to store extra nutrients in order to function and survive. This had nothing to do with calories. Of course your body will store extra calories too, but it also stores nutrients. This is where my 5 tricks come into play. These 5 tricks will help you eat the right nutrients, so your body isn’t stressing and storing more nutrients.
I have developed such a passion for helping mamas lose their baby weight while breastfeeding, that I developed a program, The Postpartum Cure. As a Pre/Post Natal Fitness Specialist, I LOVE to share my knowledge and expertise. This program comes in the form of an app, and it is a full breastfeeding diet plan with a meal plan, recipes and grocery lists to ensure you are eating a diet that is full of milk-boosting nutrients that will help you lose weight.
The program goes over healing postpartum, specifically your abs and pelvic floor, grocery shopping, how to batch cook, how to grocery shop and more! I highly recommend it if you’ve had multiple babies and need some help, or if you struggle with milk supply and weight loss.
With these 5 tricks, you are telling your body it is okay to let go of fat and nutrients to make breast milk. This in turns causes your body to tap into fat stores, and burn fat!
First, Fill Up On Fruit:
Fruit provides essential nutrients and fiber that ultimately help so much when working to lose the baby weight while breastfeeding. I go into more details on how I’ve managed to lose the baby weight and keep it off after three babies now. Part of that is focusing on healthy fruits. Apples, oranges, citrus, berries, grapes…whatever your favorite is really.
Snacking on fruit while breastfeeding provides your body with lots of nutrients, satisfies your sweet cravings, and the fiber and water content in the fruit helps fill you up. If you eat an apple and some berries before a meal, you will have a harder time eating a lot because your stomach is full of water and fiber. Fruit has so many wonderful nutrients, your body will feel fantastic and function optimally because you are filling it with whole, healthy food. Most fruits have some type of milk-boosting properties as well, so they will benefit milk production, in addition to phytonutrients, antioxidants and more!
Sugar cravings are a big road block for breastfeeding mamas, which is why I’ve created Milk Dust, a protein powder that actually boosts your lactation while curbing sugar cravings with special minerals and nutrients to keep your body from needing to signal cravings! You can find out more about it, and it will be available for pre order soon!
Second, Protein Powder:
I talk a lot about protein powder here on the blog, specifically this brand, because its super clean, full of milk-boosting nutrients, and protein is so important for weight loss. Until Milk Dust is out, I highly recommend this protein powder because of how clean and safe it is for breastfeeding mamas and babies. It helps save your muscle, which tends to also get lost with fat.
It also keeps your metabolism running faster because it is harder to break down. It costs more energy to digest. Protein powder is just a lot easier and tastier for me personally, and smoothies really help me get in a lot of nutrients, feel satisfied and give my body everything it needs to shed weight while producing a lot of milk. Check out some of my smoothie bowl recipes for inspiration.
My favorite protein powder brand, Ora Organics, also offers 10% off your first order, which makes it a great deal! They offer a money-back guarantee too, so if you don’t like it, no big deal.
What To Look For in A Protein Powder + The Best Ones For Weight Loss
How To Get A Trainer, for A Fraction of The Cost (less than $6 a Month!)
Third, Walking:
This may seem too simple, but honestly, walking an hour a day is so good for you, especially postpartum. Doing short, HIIT workouts or 30 minutes of some kind of body-weight workout is good, but it won’t burn the fat you need. Those short workouts that fatigue your muscles build muscle, but they don’t burn a lot of fat. Walking for an hour or more is going to get you into a fat-burning zone and burn more calories.
Running is even better if you can get yourself to start running. I finally started running again after 5 years off. It was hard, but I have my 5 tips to help in this post. Running/jogging for 45 minutes burns fat and calories, and if you keep yourself at a slower pace, so you aren’t literally sucking for breath and dying, you won’t compromise your milk supply.
Your heart will get stronger, but overall the workout isn’t as strenuous as something like a HIIT. This is what I focus on while breast feeding, and if you follow me on Instagram you’ll see all my running stories and photos of our adventures in our stroller.
Fourth, Milk Boosting Helpers:
Of course my Milk Dust protein powder is a wonderful milk booster, but there are other supplements that work as well. One of my most popular posts on this blog is one I wrote about increasing milk supply. I know lots of tricks to keep your supply up and one of them is Fenugreek tea. I drank this stuff while I was still pregnant, to help my supply before any of my babies arrived. This tea is fantastic! It works really well for me, and I don’t really like the taste, so I mix it with some almond milk and stevia. Other milk helpers or boosters that I love are:
Birth Song Botanicals Let There Be Milk Best Lactation Liquid – with Fenugreek and Goats Rue
Giving your body the nutrients, herbs and vitamins it needs to produce milk really helps! Don’t be afraid to try a couple different products to see what really helps you. Fenugreek worked really well for me. I also have some great recipes I love and are healthy treats, all focused on increasing your milk supply.
Protein Powder Recipes For Milk Supply and Postpartum Weight Loss
Fifth, Caring for Your Core:
Many times, mamas don’t think they are losing weight because their core isn’t repaired, and they develop Diastis Recti. I have a small bit of it, with an umbilical hernia. I talk all about it in this post. Sometimes we can think we aren’t losing weight, because our tummy stays flabby, but in all reality we have lost weight, but our core is in need of some serious help.
As a part of my program, The Postpartum Cure, I developed a 3-week system to strengthen your abs and rebuild your pelvic floor. I KNOW how awkward things can be when your core and pelvic floor are out of whack after baby. It can be difficult just to engage your pelvic floor at all. This program is an in-depth, video workout program with detailed explanations on how to breath, move and points to remember while you are doing the exercises.
Losing the baby weight without tanking your milk supply is possible! You can completely transform your body through the right nutrition, even if working out isn’t an option in the first few weeks. Nutrition is 80% of your body composition, so focusing on what you eat is really going to do wonders for your weight and milk supply.
2 Comments
What pelvic floor rehab are you going to try?! After my first pregnancy I had the same exact problem running (eh motherhood huh?) And religiously did a phenomenal pelvic floor rehabilitation DVD and it worked wonders! I’ve thought about reviewing it before but haven’t gotten around to it yet, it was an amazing help. Wondered if it’s the same program? And thanks for the great codes for your favorite protien powder, I have yet to try but it sounds wonderful!
The program I just grabbed was introduced to me by a friend, and she said it helped her tremendously! It’s a super affordable, digital download called, “Body After Birth” By Amanda Fisher, DPT. I am JUST starting it, but she did give me a discount code for all my readers! JOY20 for 20% off, and it’s only $17 to begin with I believe! I will keep you updated on how it works for me!