Excercise While Breastfeeding

I went to Bikrams Yoga when my daughter was about 4 or 5 months old and I started losing weight fast and it did not drop my milk supply. I did eat more calories on those days. I did it once or twice a week. I stopped because I got pregnat again, but will do that yoga after my second baby. I would feel so relaxed, I sweat out tons of toxins and regained my prepregnancy weight in a couple of months.
Best of luck to you.
E.

Hi
I lost 35lbs doing www.babybootcamp.com
Classes include cardio, strength training and a whole section on abs. Plus you take your kid / kids with you and they get to play at the park after class
Good luck

Smitha,

Relax! You will get that weight off! I lost weight by fast walking, 35 minutes at a time,for 3 miles. A minimum of 3 times a week, or every other day. You can exercise, but remember, you will be chasing two children around very soon, and lifting those kids will give you great arms. Just remember to hold your stomach in when lifting the girls. You want your core to stay strong and it will even help pull in those stomach muscles. Allow yourself a full year to lose your weight if you have much weight on. Eat what your oldest daughter is eating and you should lose weight. I am sure you are making her veggies, good sandwiches, some protein(meat, fish, chicken, cheese, peanut butter, beans and rice, etc.). Drink plenty of water. That keeps your appetite down and also flushes your system out. If you eat within an hour of exercising, after you have exercised that is, you will burn calories faster for an hour. Stretches will help and start toning your body. Look at inches lost first, not what it says on the scale. Exercise will also help your personal outlook. A couple more suggestions: You can also take your daughters out for a normal stroll and that will help too. Walk with a friend, or exercise with a friend. Any form of exercise, even hard housework will do the job and counts as exercise. Examples are cleaning windows, vacuuming, scrubbing down showers, and up and down stairs if you have them. Put on the calendar the days you walk,or do some type of exercise. As you see the days accumulate on your calendar, you will feel energized and encouraged.

Have fun doing it!

E.:)

Stand on one foot while brushing yoru teeth and/or hair. It helps tighten your abs while you are doing something else...
Good luck!
R.

I've lost 160 pounds and now professionally help others to do the same thing. Check out my website and contact me if you are interested in working with me.
www.HolisticWellnessAndNutrition.webs.coms

I have been exercising pretty regularly since my son was 3 months old, he is now 8 months. Yoga and pilates are both good for abs, although just walking helps. I work out 2 times a week (yoga and Zumba), and then do at least a couple of other things-biking, hiking, or walking during the week. My body was back to normal within 6 months (and I gained 40 pounds during my pregnancy), but I also swam or walked at least every other day while pregnant. Just know that when you are breastfeeding and exercising, you will have to eat more food. I almost exclusively breastfeed, he only eats about a tablespoon of food a day, everything else he gets is breast milk, and I am hungry all of the time and eating constantly.

Just some ideas, you can start walking a few times a week, start out small, like half an hour, and work your way up to a couple of miles each time. Try to find a friend that also wants to get in shape, definitely helps when you have the support. You can use a yoga dvd, but going to a class with others will make it more fun, and you'll probably stick with it longer. Check out your city rec center, some have great deals (we have yoga, etc. for $2 a class), and since it's getting hot, take your kids swimming. Fun for them, and you'll be moving around enough keeping up with them that it's good exercise. Also, give yourself a goal, maybe see if there is a 5k in a few months you could walk in. Good luck!

My son is four months old and I am breastfeeding. Breastfeeding seemed to make the weight fall off VERY quickly. I am smaller now than I was when I got pregnant. Afterall, you will burn an extra 750 calories a day feeding your little girl.

In the past, I have used a dvd called P90X yoga. It's 90mins of intense yoga. It toned my arms, legs, abs, etc. (Good luck finding 90 mins of time to complete this...that's a whole different issue).

There is no exercise you can't do due to breastfeeding (although you probably won't enjoy jumping jacks!). First, lots of stroller walks at a good pace... pushing a double stroller is a good workout! Next, I did a Mommy & Me/ Bring your Baby class at the gym (24Hr Fitness in Santee has one T/Th at 10:30am) once or twice a week to get fit and toned. And finally, to get those FLAT ABS you want, do crunches/abs with your baby 5 minutes a day. With my first, I was able to do it 5-10 minutes a day 5 days a week, but now with my 2nd it is hard to prioritize it, but if you can, it really works. You can also "cheat" (although its not really cheating) by just tightening your gut any time you are standing, walking, in line a the grocery store... and it will help your back and posture too.
P.S. I'm glad to hear you want to go slow and steady--that is the only healthy way.
Also, eat when you're hungry, but keep healthy options on hand that you can eat on the go--you need them with 2 kiddos. and lots of fluids are essential.

This is what I did to lose 40 pounds, which I've kept off for a year:
(1) nurse my younger baby;
(2) follow a vegetarian diet;
(3) lift weights (of moderate weight) 60 minutes/session, 3 sessions/week (this is probably what helped me most in losing fat);
(4) push my double stroller with my two babies in it or run sprints on my local track 30 minutes/session, 3 sessions/week;
(5) follow Rodney Yee's Family Yoga tape 30 minutes/session, occasionally (my children also like to watch it and try to do the exercises).

I'm a strong believer in variety in exercise, meaning both aerobic (cardio)training and anaerobic (resistance) training, both upper and lower body, both alone and in a group, and both indoor and outdoor. (I plan to resume swimming and dancing and take up basketball this summer.) If you include a variety, you will minimize the chance of becoming bored, maximize the number of areas of your body you exercise, and maximize the number of ways you improve your physical health (flexibility, balance, coordination, strength, endurance, weight maintenance,etc.)

With this regimen, without killing myself, I achieved my goal weight and still ate dessert every day!

Good luck,
Lynne E

for a lifestyle change I reccommend setting a long term goal and then setting a mini goal every month. I have been doing this somewhat consistantly since the beginning of the year and it helps.I have lost at least a size and a half. Some of the goals I have done are drinking all my water for the day, getting all of the serving of fruits and veggies in a day, same thing for fiber, working out for a total of 80 mins in a week (broken up into at least 2-3 days). The idea is too keep building on the progress you have made. While you are trying to get into the habit you may need to post reminders around. Good luck, keep at it and it will happen. Slow and steady wins the race.

look up reader's digest Change One. they have a book that's easy to read and easy to follow as well as a website. it's a 12 week program for lifestyle change. gives great suggestions and specifics that you can follow.

just remember that as long as you are breastfeeding, your body will hang on to a few pounds as a survival mechanism. this is in case of any disaster where you might not have access to food or water might occur, you're body has reserves for your baby.

and making breastmilk is one of the easiest ways to burn calories!!!! and avg of 500 a day. I think it's the best work out ever. :)

my baby is almost 5 months old now. i found that restricting my intake made a difference in milk production, and my energy level. so i decided not to limit my intake but to make healthier choices. so far the pounds have still been coming off.

good luck

I recommend you check out Tracy Anderson's Post Pregnancy DVD. She is the trainer who got madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow back in shape after they had their kids. During my pregnancy I worked out until about my 7th month as well as chased a 3 year old around a house with 4 floors. I purchased the DVD 10 weeks after I had my baby. I thought I was in pretty good shape because I felt great and had lost most of my baby weight - just had the normal post natal areas to work on. I was afraid the DVD was not going to be challenging enough for me....boy was I wrong!!! Her ab work is very difficult and I have no doubt that if it was done 4-6 times a week like she recommends it would be very effective. It is 45 minutes long broken up into 3 chapters. It focuses mostly on abs and arms with some leg/hip work. It came in two weeks ago right before our movers came, so I havent been able to do it as consistently as I would like....but I have high hopes of getting back on track this week.
http://tracyandersonmethod.com/

I am all about yoga. My son is 2 and they actually do yoga once a week at his school so he does know some basic positions. I remember enough from college to do a few things but I know there are some really great dvds out there for mom and baby. You can get your toddler into the game too. If you find a dvd that incorporates the baby have your older girl bring one of her baby dolls. I have also found that with yoga the best results come if you have a mirror close by to check your form. Yoga isn't any good if you aren't doing it correctly. My 2 year old will actually be quiet and calm so it's a really nice way to wind everybody down and get your hot mamma shape back! Good luck to you and keep working on it.

I love power 90 by beach body. My husband does P90X which is too long for me - I need to keep the exercise short because my son goes crazy when I don't pay attention to him. :) Good luck!

Pilates Pilates Pilates....that is the answer. I am 52 yrs old and hate exercising. I also don't so much like diets although I have tried it all. I am a SAHM for 4 kids ages 27, 25, 20 and my youngest is almost 14 so I decided to do something for myself. I have been going since last October and its awesome. Started doing it 2x a week for half hour and now just upped it to 3x for one hour. That is saying alot for me. Its something I have stuck to, as far as routine and miss it if I have to cancel or something interrupts my weekly schedule. ANGELLA of Poway Pilates is the one to call. ###-###-#### -- they are 3 women there, but they are independent contractors so I find her to be the best. I have lost weight and inches, and my appetite has gone way down. Still working out some of my bad habits, but its definitely changed me. Everyone can notice the difference too, which is amazing. My husband and kids say its an amzing change. Gradual but effective and starting soon, they will have onsite child care which will be a big help to young moms like yourself. First Time consultations are the best. Tell her Lori Hutter sent you this message. I can't stop telling people how much I love this instructor and the classes. I am having my husband begin classes too to get him exercising again.

Great job bf. I walked about 1 mile or less a day, not real fast, did Gaim pilates & yoga and the Denise Austin show on tv. I was in my normal clothes by 4 weeks post partum. It was easy for me because bf requires ALOT of calories and I worked out my entire pg.

I couldn't lose a pound while breast feeding any of my girls and I'm a workout junkie. Once I stopped nursing and my period returned the weight literally fell off. I suggest that you start lifestyle change by walking each day. You know what you can manage. Work up your time and speed from there. Check out what your fatburn heartrate should be as it is different by age. The reason one checks heartrate really has to do with oxygen. Usually, a lower heartrate means more oxygen going through one's body. It's the oxygen that helps eliminate the fat. I'm close friend to a highly esteemed individual in the field of sports nutrition and science.