How to Safely Diet While Breast-feeding

Lately I have been seeing a lot about detox diets and fad diets. Many of these are completely unsafe for anyone, especially if you are breast-feeding. After having a baby, you are bound to have extra weight you wish to dispose of. After having my son, I still had about 10 pounds of unwanted fat. Caring for a newborn and breast-feeding can make dieting difficult but not impossible.

A woman who is breast-feeding needs about 500 extra calories a day. Luckily, though breast-feeding alone burns about 500 calories a day. I do not nor have I ever counted calories. I just watch what I eat and make sure those extra calories I have to eat daily are not empty or sugar filled.

I eat until I am satisfied, not over full. Fresh vegetables and fruit are very important. Vegetables you may want to limit you intake of however are cabbage and broccoli. Cabbage and Broccoli tend to cause gas for both mom and babies. Gassy babies are not happy babies so just limit how much you eat of these. Do however eat lots of carrot, which are good for eye development and make a tasty quick snack.

Limit intake of coffee, tea, soda and any other caffeine loaded drink. These pack tons of extra calories, usually sugar filled, as well as causing gas for both mother and baby. It is very important while breast-feeding to keep yourself hydrated. Water is my preferred drink of choice but there are many options out there. Sobe makes Life Water that is packed full of vitamins and tastes good without all the calories. Life Water comes in a variety of flavors, my favorite is the strawberry Kiwi.

Exercising is also important but who really has the time or energy while caring for a new born. To remedy this I get up about 30 minutes before my newborn usually awakens and do my exercising then. This is also the best time to exercise because you are burning of fat stores instead of calories you just ate so it is a lot more effective.