dieting after pregnancy!?

Question

i know everyone is gonna tell me to talk to my doctor, and im going to, i have a doctors appointment on wed. but i have been thinking about this the last couple of days and wanted to see if anyone has ever heard of this before. ok so i had my baby 6 weeks ago and i was thinking about going back on my diet that i was on before so i was talking to a nutristonist a couple of days ago and she told me that i shouldnt go back on my diet until my daughter is a year old, she said it takes 9 months to put the weight on and it will take about 9 months to get the weight off, but that i should give it a few extra months to be safe because if i go on a diet now i will prolly loose alot of weight and fast but when i get off my diet i will gain it back really fast and it will be harder for me to loose it later, if i even can loose some of it. i dont plan on staying on the diet forever jsut until i get to the weight i want, but i am gonna be eating healthyer after i get to my ideal weight.

i just thought that i would ask and see what you guys have to say about this because i thought that it was a little weird sounding to me, i know the best person to go to and ask would be my doctor but like i said im still curious. thanks guys :)

Answer 1

I teach a birth prep class and work in a hospital. We tell mom's to NOT diet by cutting back on calories if you are breastfeeding. You need to be eating about 1 1/2 times your normal calories to make breastmilk. Make sure you are eating healthy foods. Try not to lose more than 1 to 2 lbs a week if you do lose weight while breastfeeding because the breakdown of too much fat can cause you to excrete not so good things in your breastmilk. Walking and exercise are okay once your doctor say it is okay at your follow up visit.

Weight watchers is a great plan to be on if you are breastfeeding! They give you extra points if you are breastfeeding.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I think you should listen to that nutritionist. Your body needs a lot of extra nutrients to recover from pregnancy and delivery, more if you are breastfeeding. I am overweight and went on diets after each of my first two pregnancies (I'm still pregnant with the third). While I was breastfeeding, the weight was just falling off of me. As soon as I weaned the baby (both of them weaned at about 15 months), I started gaining a whole bunch of weight and still don't know why. I was eating less, exercising more, but putting the weight on fast. I eat mostly fruits and vegetables now and always have, I am not a vegetarian (I'm a Biologist, I know better) but I don't like the taste of meat, even well prepared. I'm really sick of being fat, but I'm not making the same mistake a third time, I will definitely talk to the doctor about losing weight this time.