Is it possible for a nursing mother to play sports after childbirth: sports during breastfeeding

Many women, even in the maternity hospital, looking at themselves in the mirror before discharge, first fall into stupor and melancholy, and then decide to “urgently do something about this horror.” In the very first days after the birth of a child, it is still too early to plan a diet on a calorie deficit, but tightening muscles and giving them strength and shape is a feasible task. Moreover, there are special exercises for nursing mothers. They do not harm lactation, are gentle on certain muscle groups, and the intensity in such complexes increases gradually.

Proper nutrition for weight loss during breastfeeding

How can a nursing mother lose weight without harming the baby’s gastrointestinal tract and her own health? Of course, through proper nutrition with proper selection of products and adherence to the regime.

How to calculate calorie intake

In order not to gain weight, it is necessary to eat exactly as much as the mother’s body requires during breastfeeding. It’s better to calculate the calorie content of your own menu like this: ideal weight × 30.

After childbirth, it takes some time to recover, so the mother should consume at least 1,800 calories per day: this is enough to safely lose about 0.5 kg per week [2]. With active lactation, this figure increases by 600 kcal.

Eligible Products

Nutrition for young mothers should be as healthy as possible. Sometimes they have to follow a strict diet, but not for weight loss, but in order to alleviate the baby’s condition with severe colic and food allergies. Restricting food intake will benefit a woman’s figure, but during lactation, weight loss should not be too drastic. For example, buckwheat alone is not enough to provide the mother’s body with useful substances. You should eat:

• products containing protein (turkey, cheese, river fish);
• complex carbohydrates (homemade bread, cereals, potatoes, rice);
• baked apples, cauliflower;
• low-fat fermented milk products (kefir, cottage cheese);
• natural vegetable oils.

After giving birth, a nursing mother needs to recover quickly. The maternal body especially needs calcium and iron. The last microelement is involved in the process of hematopoiesis, and also regulates the production of a hormone that stimulates fat burning. Therefore, losing weight in the absence of iron is impossible for young mothers.

Women should not suddenly change their diet during breastfeeding. Stressful situations are strictly contraindicated, especially for losing weight while breastfeeding. For those with a sweet tooth, it is better to replace sugar, jam and sweets with dried fruits, baked apples and pumpkin.

Unwanted Products

Breastfeeding mothers cannot eat everything. Many products can cause stomach upset, bowel problems, and allergies in infants. These include:

• Legumes.
• Many vegetables, especially white cabbage, cucumbers.
• Smoked meats, pickles, marinades.
• Eggs.
• Nuts.
• Garlic, onion.
• Spices.
• Chocolate and other sweets.
• Tropical fruits.
• Coffee, strong brewed tea, soda.
• Alcohol.

In addition to the negative impact on the baby’s condition, these products greatly prevent mothers from losing weight during breastfeeding and after it.

Recommendations

If a child has colic, then the following should be excluded from the diet:

• grape;
• sauerkraut and fresh cabbage;
• legumes;
• fresh apples;
• chocolate;
• ice cream;
• fresh baked goods.

These products increase gas formation. First you need to give them up for a week, then look at the situation.

If you have allergies, you will have to avoid all products that can cause such a reaction:

• nuts;
• honey;
• chocolate;
• citrus fruits and various exotic fruits;
• eggs;
• red berries and vegetables.

Don't forget about fasting days. Fasting is prohibited; it is recommended to eat natural yoghurt and kefir. Be sure to drink at least 2 liters of liquid per day.

After a cesarean section, a recovery period is implied with appropriate nutrition in order to improve the functioning of the urinary and digestive systems. On the first day you are only allowed to drink water, 2 sips per day up to 1 liter. On the 2-3rd day the amount of food increases. Broth, cottage cheese, rosehip infusion and tea, jelly, oven-baked apples, yogurt, and rice water are allowed.

Sports while breastfeeding: types of training for weight loss

There is already a separate article about the benefits of sports during breastfeeding, which describes in detail the possible risks and potential benefits. Doing fitness will allow a nursing mother to lose weight faster, restore the elasticity of the ligaments, and the firmness of the muscles.

At home

The available exercises are recommended for mothers to perform immediately after returning home. Is it possible to lose weight through exercise alone while breastfeeding? In general, no. Fitness should become one of the components on the way for mothers to return to their previous volumes.

The very first exercises should be limb swings, squats, rotations, turns, bends. For a nursing mother who does not know how to lose weight at home, it is better to do them near a mirror in order to control the technique. It is recommended to start exercises 2-3 weeks after birth. It is better for mothers to consult a doctor about whether it is already possible to exercise and start losing weight during training.

Mothers should study at home every other day for 40 minutes. Exercises for weight loss are done after feeding, or 60 minutes before it.

In gym

Fitness center classes begin at least two months after birth. In the absence of independent experience, it is better for mothers to seek help from a trainer who will tell you how to lose weight while breastfeeding.

You should not perform exercises on all muscles at once; it is much more effective to limit yourself to 2-3 muscle groups. Over time, the mother’s body itself will begin to tell you how much to exercise. To begin with, 50 minutes is enough, of which 10 are allocated for warm-up and cool-down, and the remaining 30 for the main part.

A strong workout in the gym will help young mothers simultaneously breastfeed and lose weight without compromising their health.

Pool

Swimming is one of the most useful and effective exercises for pregnant women and women who have recently given birth. Swimming will strengthen your muscles, tighten your skin, and improve your overall well-being and mood. Many mothers choose aqua fitness. It not only helps you lose weight after childbirth, but also restores your joints and ligaments to their former elasticity.

Even while in the pool, you should constantly drink water: the loads there are high, so the nursing body begins to experience severe dehydration.

Allowed exercises

Is it possible to lose weight through exercise if you are breastfeeding? Indeed, there are exercises that are allowed to be performed immediately after the birth of the baby. For example, breathing exercises, which help the abs get in shape faster. After a few weeks, you can exercise on a fitball, as well as perform basic exercises on a mat:

• Standing on the floor, take a deep breath and exhale intensely, trying to completely release your lungs and tensing your abdominal muscles. To lose weight around the waist, this exercise must be performed daily and for as long as you have the strength and patience.
• Leg raises up to 90° in a lying position. This exercise is effective for those women who find it difficult to lose weight while breastfeeding.
• Swing your arms while standing on the floor - “Mill”. This exercise allows you to restore muscle tone and avoid sagging skin.

Fitness with a child

Getting out of the house to visit the gym is usually not an easy task for a young mother. Then a set of exercises with your child will be an excellent alternative. It’s good for both mom and fun for the baby.

Here are some examples of such exercises:

10 minutes of such daily exercise will help you lose weight while breastfeeding and will definitely relieve depression and blues.

How to lose weight quickly after childbirth with breastfeeding

Proper organization of your daily routine, as well as following some recommendations, will help with this.

1. Eat regularly. Long breaks in eating put the body in a state of stress. Therefore, when food arrives, it instantly makes reserves in the form of fat. Frequent split meals, on the contrary, speed up the metabolism, allowing you to lose weight as quickly as possible while breastfeeding.
2. Eliminate fatty foods, including dairy. A nursing woman does not need heavy food: it is less digestible, causes problems with the baby’s gastrointestinal tract, and negatively affects lactation. The main emphasis in the weight loss menu should be on light foods rich in vitamins.
3. Avoid fasting. The mother's body requires a lot of energy for recovery, lactation, and caring for the baby. Fasting will harm the female body, cause loss of strength, and loss of breast milk.
4. Walk a lot, do feasible exercises.

Daily walks, coupled with warm-up or basic gymnastics, bring the female body into shape within 1-2 months. And mom no longer needs to think about how to lose weight quickly and effectively.

Can I take diet pills?

Nutritionists are categorically against external interference in metabolism. Even after breastfeeding is completed or in its complete absence, losing weight in this way is dangerous for women’s health. Fat burners interfere with the absorption of vitamins A, E, D, which negatively affects a woman’s appearance and well-being: problems with hair and skin begin, increased excitability, sleep disturbances, and loss of appetite occur. The impact on the saturation center of the brain compromises the production of serotonin and norepinephrine. In addition, problems with the gastrointestinal tract and metabolism begin.

Some women, dreaming of losing weight after breastfeeding, stop feeling hungry, while others, on the contrary, do not feel full even with a full stomach. When you stop taking the pills, the weight comes back.

Mistakes when losing weight: what to watch out for

Often, excess weight remains due to the mother’s failure to comply with the recommendations of specialists. To lose weight during breastfeeding, you need proper nutrition, good sleep and feasible physical activity.

Starvation

In order to quickly return to their former shape, many women go to extremes, including starvation. This is despite the fact that the need for nutrition increases markedly during lactation. Normal calorie content during this period is 1800-2600 kcal. Thinking about how to lose weight during lactation, a woman in labor deprives her baby of essential nutrients. With milk that is poor in composition, the child does not receive enough protective antibodies, often gets sick, and lags behind his peers in development.

One-component diet

Is it possible to lose weight on a mono-diet? Absolutely yes. When you constantly eat one product, your body experiences enormous stress. Energy has to be drawn from available resources - adipose tissue, and then muscle tissue. At the same time, metabolism slows down and the amount of milk produced drops sharply.

One-component diets allow you to lose weight quite quickly, but does the body need such stress? Another thing is fasting days once a week, which will only be beneficial.

There are only vegetables

A large amount of fiber in the diet of a woman in labor increases intestinal motility, which is why people lose weight on vegetables while breastfeeding. However, the lack of animal proteins forces the body to draw energy from muscle tissue, and as a result, the spine and joints, which have lost support, suffer.

To lose weight, it is not necessary to limit yourself to vegetables alone; the menu of a nursing mother should be balanced, with sufficient protein and polyunsaturated fats.

Sedentary lifestyle

Long walks and feasible exercises make your muscles work. Maintaining the latter requires a lot of energy, so young mothers should not think extra about how to lose weight. In the absence of normal physical activity, additional calorie burning does not occur. In addition, weak muscles are not able to hold the spine in a straight position for a long time. Hence severe pain, osteochondrosis, hernias.

Intense workouts

Muscles need at least 48 hours to recover. If you do not give them this time, playing sports will only cause harm. High intensity training will cause dizziness, tachycardia, and shortness of breath. It is necessary to control the pulse: too fast will burn not fat, but muscle tissue.

Is it possible to lose weight with such training? Of course, yes, but only the fat will remain in the same place. In everything it is necessary to observe moderation, including in training. The load should bring pleasure, and not exhaust you to the point of loss of consciousness.

Laxatives

Some are addicted to enemas, which lead to intestinal atrophy, others swallow pills and drink laxative drinks. All this is harmful, because this way we lose weight solely due to water loss. The fat remains in the same place.

Sample menu

You will have to think through a sample menu for every day. It is best to make a detailed table for the week.

For a woman with a child, the following diet plan for a nursing mother is suitable:

You can wash everything down with compote, tea, or rosehip decoction. Before going to bed, it is recommended to drink a glass of kefir, yogurt, natural yogurt (without additives).