Does More muscle = Less Milk? Inside Breastfeeding and Fitness
Being a mom and finding time for yourself can be TOUGH. Especially when you're worried about breastfeeding and all the stresses that can come with it. A lot of breastfeeding moms want to workout, but have concerns when it comes to their health and how it impacts their milk supply, and also how breastfeeding affects their fitness. Here are some basics to help ease your mind and protect your supply.
I nursed my first child until she was 15 months. It was certainly a long journey, but I won't lie,
breastfeeding came very naturally for me with my first. Pumping was easy, I didn't have a lot of pain, my supply was plentiful, it just seemed to work well for us. My second, however, was a different story. I only was able to breastfeed until about 5 months, I couldn't even wear a sports bra, or even be too active because if they bounced even a tiny bit I would get a painful let down, I couldn't keep up with pumping, they were huge and always hurt, needless to say it was less than ideal. Through both breastfeeding journeys, I was able to find some great ways to help me maintain my supply, avoid pain while working out, keep myself and my milk healthy, and fortunately was able to be active enough to work off some of the baby weight.
A lot of people wonder if their milk supply will diminish if they start working out. Let me give you the basics. Firstly, in general, weight loss may not be an ideal goal for breastfeeding mothers. When you're breastfeeding, you need an average of up to an additional 500 (healthy) calories per day in your diet to keep a bountiful supply. When you are trying to lose weight, you are in a caloric deficit, meaning you burn off more than you consume. If you are burning off more than you consume, you are certainly not consuming enough calories to keep your supply up. See the conflict? A healthy fitness goal for br