After my first son was born it took a little while for the extra weight to start coming off. He was three months old before I really began to notice that I was losing the extra pounds I put on during my pregnancy. I didn’t make any changes to my diet, but I did breastfeed. I lost my thirty pounds of pregnancy weight by the time he was five months old.
After my daughter was born, I decided I wanted to make the most of my breastfeeding metabolism to lose not just my pregnancy weight, but a little more as well. I have always been over my ideal weight by about twenty pounds. My weight haunted me and I thought about it constantly. I avoided looking into mirrors or even sitting without my legs crossed. I felt heavy and unattractive.
I waited six weeks after the birth of my daughter before I made any changes to my diet. I felt it was important to give my body six weeks of recovery time. I also wanted to make sure that my milk supply was well-established in case it was affected by my dietary changes.
My regimen was very simple and included only a diet change, not an activity adjustment. Ideally, I would have accompanied my diet with exercise, but my daughter was born in December in northern Minnesota and my opportunities for exercise were limited. Oh well, they say each breastfeeding session is equivalent to running a mile!
Every morning for breakfast I ate Cheerios or oatmeal. I started out just eating oatmeal, but I really don’t like the texture of it and so I alternated Cheerios and oatmeal every other day. Yes, I did put brown sugar on my oatmeal, but I did not add sugar to my Cheerios. I did not snack during the morning, but I drank much water (about 3/4 gallon a day).
Wild rice became my power food that I really believe helped me get the weight off. Every day for lunch I ate wild rice mixed with vegetables. I would boil the wild rice for about 10 minutes, drain it and add more water, boil another twenty minutes and then drain and add more water and boil once again. Why all the changes of water? I changed the water to get all of the bitterness out of the rice. I also added some chicken bouillon to the water with my last water change in order to season it so that I wouldn’t be tempted to add salt or butter to it. When I got bored with the plain wild rice I began adding vegetables to it. I would add sliced carrots, broccoli, celery, onion, peas, etc. to the water at the same time I added the boullion and let it cook together. It tasted great and was extremely healthy.
The afternoon is my time of weakness when I really crave sweets. I did not “deprive” myself. When the kids were sleeping, I had my “treat”. For dinner I ate whatever I made for my family. We are the typical American family who love cheese, carbohydrates, red meat, etc. I did not change any of this.
How much weight did I lose? I weighed 175 pounds after the birth of my daughter and when she was just about four months old I weighed 135 pounds. It has been over a year since I did this “diet” and the weight is still off. I went from a size 14 to a size 6-8.
I should also mention that my milk supply was never affected by my regimen. Wild rice and oatmeal are both loaded with the protein that is necessary for a good milk supply. The wild rice and oatmeal are also both loaded with fiber and very low in calories; an excellent combination for weight loss. I loved the way the weight came off because I never felt cheated. Instead, I felt healthy and energetic.
Please check out my blogs!
Weight Loss for Breastfeeding Moms: An Introduction
The Effect of Weight on Fertility