Breastfeeding Can Lead To Weight Loss Or Weight Gain
Motherhood is full of changes and surprises at every step of the way, and breastfeeding is another step in your body’s transformation. Because breastfeeding can lead to weight loss, but also weight gain.
If you want to get back in shape after pregnancy, this is therefore important to keep in mind. It is easy to believe that the fat in breast milk comes directly from the thighs, but this is a myth. Milk production is linked to your diet, your hormones and a series of other factors.
If you lose weight while breastfeeding, it has to do with the amount of calories you consume and the amount you burn by producing milk. This has given rise to the idea that breastfeeding can lead to weight loss and thus counteract obesity.
However, this is not the case for all women. Some mothers instead report weight gain during breastfeeding, and do not understand why this affects them and many others.
To produce milk , a woman’s body burns at least 550 kcal a day. So how can we reasonably put on weight while breastfeeding? This change in the body can be compared to one hour of running a day.
This means that we use our body’s fat reserves, which is why breastfeeding can lead to weight loss. In addition, many women eat healthier than usual during this period.
But everyone is different, and each woman has her own metabolism. Some people exercise and eat healthy, but struggle with weight in the short term, while others lose weight without problems.
Whether you notice it or not, your diet can change as you breastfeed. Fatigue, anxiety and increased exertion go hand in hand with a higher intake of foods rich in carbohydrates and sugar.
At this stage in life, we tend to feel hungry and sleep less, which can seem like perfect reasons to “treat ourselves” to something good.
… Or up in weight
Breastfeeding can lead to weight loss, but with the above aspects in mind, you should not be surprised if this is not the case. You have to find the right balance between calories in the diet and the energy we burn in milk production. If we eat more calories than we consume, we will gain weight, just like when we do not breastfeed.
When we let hunger take over, we consume large portions of food. For this reason , specialists recommend not going for long periods without eating a meal or a snack as it can actually lead to weight gain.
However, for some mothers, this does not explain why they put on weight while breastfeeding. This is because there is another factor to consider: hormones.
When women produce milk, their menstrual cycles change and they undergo a stage of anovulation. This differs from woman to woman. Not having ovulation causes your endocrine system to release less estrogen, which can lead to slower metabolism. This means that you will burn fewer calories while you rest.
During this stage, you can also retain fluids, which makes you feel bloated. This will disappear when your menstrual cycle begins again. But as we know, pregnancy causes large hormone changes, which can take time to recover from after childbirth.
Some women suffer from thyroid imbalances after childbirth. This condition can cause weight gain and weight loss due to hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.
This generally disappears within 18 months of delivery, around the time when the baby stops eating breast milk. But for around 20% of these women, the condition will not go away on its own.
