Advice on How to Get Back My Body

Sounds like a good start. I lost about 4 sizes breastfeeding my second child and was my smallest adult size. I started working out again at 6 weeks (I hadn't done that regularly for a long time) and worked my way up to about 30 minutes of cardio a day 4 or 5 days a week and walking with the kids on the weekends, etc. I also ate pretty healthfully and tried to get between 1500 and 1600 calories a day. Your body needs between 500 and 600 for full-time nursing, so if you take that away you still need to eat enough for you. :)

I did make sure to treat myself to things once in a while, I kept dark chocolate pieces at work and tried to bring almonds to snack on. I find that if I set my food out ahead of time and take my days' worth to work I stick with it pretty well. When it's gone it's gone, as long as I bring enough. Oh, I also pretty much gave up soda but do treat myself to a real Coke once in a while when I really need it. I don't like any "lite" versions of foods with the artificial sweeteners. I don't know enough about them but they sound nasty. Good luck!

Sounds like a good start to me.
Only I would just cut out pop completely. Even the diet stuff has a lot of sodium and other chemicals that can make you gain weight.

Besides your eating habits, try gettin some exercise. One good thing is most women who BF lose the baby weight quicker.

One thing that really helped me lose weight was www.sparkpeople.com
Now I didn't use EVERYTHING on the website. I personally hate gyms and don't even really have time for them either.
I went on that site, and watched their exercise videos. You can watch and do the exercises at home.
I did 2 10min vids a day. With some added exercises like, squats, crunches etc after.
It was a big help for me, being a SAHM and having the lil ones to deal with.

I exclusively breastfed both of my children--and my secret to losing the baby weight was weight watchers! They have a special program for nursing Moms--I was never hungry, it's a healthy meal plan and my supply was fine the whole time. If you can't make it to meetings (I couldn't) you can do the online program, which is what I did. Good luck and enjoy that precious baby!

You are better off laying off the diet soda. They can make your body crave more of the stuff you are trying to avoid. I'm a coke fiend too so i feel your pain. Even if you limit yourself to one real coke a day you'd be better off.

It really depends on your body too. Finding the type of exercise that your body responds well to will also make a huge difference.

Try eating 6 small meals a day. That will help keep your blood sugar level so you don't crash out and go for the bad stuff.

I try to keep almonds or peanuts around to eat just a few to keep me going between meals. Oatmeal with wheat germ, raisins and apples is great for breakfast. So is Stonyefield fat free vanilla yogurt with some granola and berries.

Think lean protiens, whole grains, veggies, fruits. Just common sense balanced diet will help you feel better, have more energy and along with exercise, help the weight come off.

And here's something I learned after I weaned my son at 16 months-don't be surprised if you hang on to 5-10lbs over your pre-pregnancy weight. Some breastfeeding moms do this and I was one of them. I think it's our body's way of making sure we don't get too depleted while we are growing a little one with our amazing boobie juice!

Best to you and baby!

Not to be rude but your exclusively breastfeeding and worrying about eating salad and drinking water effecting your child when you have been consuming soda and chocolate!!!!

Hi,

Good for you for breastfeeding! Keep to a healthy balanced diet, with adequate protein (to make that great breastmilk!) and that should help. Cutting out the fried things and junk food sounds good, I personally could never give up chocolate totally.....

Loved your comment on turning eating chocolate into a sport! ;-)

I'm not sold on diet drinks and artificial sweeteners, I'd probably just cut down on the regular cokes, although the high fructose corn syrup in them is not good either. For more on that, read the book Ultrametabolism by (I think) Mark Hyman MD.

Start some kind of exercise too, even if just walking. Push baby in the stroller, it is good to get fresh air! or walk on lunch hour at work. And/or incorporate little bits of exercise into your daily routine--park farther away from store, take stairs if only 1 or 2 flights, pace while on phone, etc.

Good luck to you!

K. Z.

I know the feeling:)
Water is way better for you than Coke Zero. I am not a fan of diet soda of any sort because everyone I know that drinks them has weight issues or has become diabetic. I breastfed three children. You will be happier if you do the best you can, eat real food and not focus on your weight until you are done nursing. The baby is just going to demand you eat more if you are trying too hard to loose weight. I was there with my middle child and I felt I could never eat enough to keep up with her because I was working out too hard. I am an Independent Team Beachbody Coach. There are a lot of wonderful meal plan ideas offered on my website. Feel free to check it out and send me a message if you have questions! Love talking about my journey to regain control of my body after 3 kids in 36 months.
www.myfitnessrules.com

I am in the same boat as you are. This is my second baby and she is two months old. I only gained 22 pounds during the pregnancy but I personally feel like I havent lost very much of that. Even though it is pretty cold outside I still will only buy one pair of jeans because its a size I have never been before.
I think that the stuff you are going to cut out sounds like a really good start.
Especially because when you are BF you have to be careful not to loose too much weight to fast.
What I did with my first that I am going to start doing with this one is doing those workouts that you can use your baby as your weight. It worked really well for me.
Give yourself time!

I have never breastfed so am not an expert , but I do know that when you are feeding baby you need extra healthy calories. So you need to eat healthy and satisfying foods that will make your milk the best it can be and nourish your body the way it needs to be. So yes that means no junk food , fizzy soda , chocolate/candy etc. Google something like "healthy meal recipes for breastfeeding mom's" and see what you get.