How to Lose Belly Fat While Breastfeeding

Once your baby arrives, you realize that you have some extra belly fat that you want to lose. If you are breastfeeding, you can't just do anything to lose that weight. You must select diets and exercises that will accomplish this goal, but still give the baby the nutrients he needs from your breast milk.

Things You'll Need
Six-week checkup Goal Water Work-out routine

Begin exercising after your six-week check up. Most doctors require new mothers to wait until after they have received their six-week check up before beginning any exercise and dieting.

Watch your calories. If you are breastfeeding, you need to have a goal of eating 1,800 calories. Make sure those calories are made up of fruits and vegetables, grains and proteins. Don't get your calories from doughnuts and Twinkies.

Make a goal for yourself to lose no more than 1 to 2 pounds per week. If you gained 30 lbs. of belly fat during your pregnancy and you lose 2 lbs. per week, you will lose all of your weight in 15 weeks or four months. This is a reasonable and healthy goal while you are still breastfeeding your baby.

Drink only water. If you want to get rid of that belly fat and still produce healthy milk, you need to drink only water. One glass of coffee or tea per day is fine, but no soda or sugary fruit drinks. You can lose weight by not drinking your calories and your baby will get more nutrients when your calories come from healthy foods instead of unhealthy beverages.

Create a workout routine around your baby's schedule. Begin exercising for 10 to 15 minutes after each breastfeeding session. Most newborns will fall asleep after eating, so this is a great time to get your exercising in. Don't overdue it with longer exercise routines. A simple 10-minute routine after each feeding is enough.

Eat six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three big meals. This will not only help you lose weight, but it will contribute to a better supply of milk for your baby. Your nutrients will be available more often since your baby will be breastfeeding more than three times per day.

Concentrate on cardio and then tone with some ab exercises. The cardio will help you burn fat fast, while the abs exercises will help to tone your belly back to the shape it was before you had your baby. Again, you don't want to overdo it, so incorporate these exercises in to your daily exercise routine.