Mothers in motion

Hydration
Weight Loss
Benefits
Exercise
Public Places
Accessories

Mothers of New Babies and Toddlers

Breastfeeding

Weight Loss

Note: Women who breast feed exclusively for the first 4 months and continue nursing until at least 6 months will experience a greater weight loss than mothers who choose to bottle-feed their baby.

During this time following giving birth you need to rebuild your strength, rebuild the nutrient stores in your body and get accustomed and adjusted to breastfeeding and your new life. A day's worth of breastfeeding your baby, 8-12 feedings a day, will generate an extra energy demand of 500 calories or more. The energy required for you to breastfeed your baby comes from the fat stores you accumulated during your pregnancy. So all the fat that you had been putting on during those 9 months had a real physiological purpose - to provide the energy required to breastfeed your newborn baby!

The first 6 weeks postpartum is NOT the time to diet and do excessive amounts of physical activity to try and lose those extra pounds. It took some time for you to put that extra fat on; so don't expect to take it off overnight. If you decide to decrease your calorie intake to promote weight loss, make sure you don't go below 1500 kcal, as this might decrease your breast milk volume production.

Weight loss will come gradually in the first year after giving birth and is more prominent at around the 5th month and after. Click here for Healthy Weight information.

You can promote a gradual weight loss especially in the first six weeks after giving birth with the following tips:

  1. Rate Your Plate to see where you can make some improvements in your diet.
  2. Drink sufficient fluids, especially water, to stay well hydrated and help fill you up
  3. Eat nutritious high fibre snacks throughout your day.
  4. Resume or start a light physical activity program.

The first year after giving birth still requires you to rebuild your nutrient stores in your body and maintain a good energy level to keep up with your busy schedule. You can reasonably progress to a moderately intense level of physical exertion in your physical activities if you have been slowly working up to it over the previous month. An actual physical activity training type of program after the first six weeks after giving birth is now more feasible and will help promote a gradual weight loss.

As you increase your physical activity level, don't forget to compensate and eat accordingly and rehydrate yourself efficiently so that you don't wear yourself out and that you still have some energy left in you at the end of your day.

Do your physical activities AFTER breastfeeding or expressing milk AND drink fluids before, during and after your physical activity and at each feeding. Click here for some quick facts on physical activity and breastfeeding.