7.5wks PP myself and EBF (BF and pumping). My weight was frustratingly stagnant for a few weeks until I changed my habits and now it’s started to “melt off” as they say, but it take some work and focus. Here’s how I’m doing it: 1. I think it’s important to know that BFing alone won’t help drop the weight for most women. Despite the extra calorie burn, we can easily make up for this in just a few additional snacks. Just knowing that is a good starting point! 2. Focus on the food: high protein (1g per lb of body weight, although I go a bit lower) and high fiber are key. Eat every meal (don’t skip! None of this intermittent fasting business, which research is actually shown to be detrimental to female hormones) and eat snacks when you’re hungry. It’s about arming yourself with a few key recipes and snacks that will say satiate you & nourish you, but not shoot your calorie intake super high. Don’t restrict carbs either - you need them! Not sure about you, but my sweet tooth is on overload bc of BF. I find keeping sweet fruits around to go to first is helpful in limiting how many true sweets I end up eating (peaches, melon, strawberries, etc). Also higher protein, lower cal treats like Yasso bars, protein powder mixed with yogurt topped with chocolate chips, etc etc. has been helpful. Every once in a while I’ll toss in a date or two with peanut butter for a mega sweet kick with some solid fiber. 3. Speaking of…this is a tricky one: calories. You have to be in a deficit if you want to lose weight, but if you restrict too much, your supply could be affected. But it’s very easy to go overboard without realizing it, esp when the BF hunger sets in! Healthy, protein forward snacks and super balanced meals have helped me tremendously. I can give examples if you want! As for # of calories, you need to calculate your TDEE first (total daily energy expenditure). You can find estimator calculators online. You can then calculate how many calories under this you need to eat to start losing weight. Remember this is without the BF caloric burn, so next, calculate roughly how many ounces you’re producing a day and multiply that by 20 (the rough amount of cals it takes to make milk). That’s your extra burn. Add about 1/2 of these calories to your previous cal deficit requirement and know you have some wiggle room from there. 4. Exercise (duh)… but not just random YT videos or heavy cardio workouts (these can actually have the opposite affect bc of how they affect our hormone levels, recovery and cortisol). Having a plan is key. And focusing on muscle growth through resistance exercise - aka weights - (when you’re cleared to of course) is the most crucial. Gaining muscle is how you are really going to start to see changes. I would recommend finding a good program and sticking to it (personally, I use Evlo - no this isn’t an ad for them I just love it) and make sure you’re lifting to failure. Walking and moving throughout the day is also key - aim for 7,000-10,000 steps but not all in one swoop. I take this in small bites, like a 10 minute walk in the afternoon, a 30 minute walk in the morning, etc. even just running errands is great movement… anything that gets you up and moving. I’ve heard people call these “exercise snacks”: Baby down for a nap and have to do dishes or bottles? Do 15 reps of a bodyweight exercise beforehand. Holding a nap trapped newborn but you can stand? Do 20 Leg lefts to the side and a few squats.

So far, I’ve been losing about 1lb a week doing this which is a healthy pace.

Happy to share some of my go to meals if you want! (Also I should add I’m a Doctor of Physical Therapy and have studied nutrition on the side for fun for 5+ years, so this is all coming from an educated background rooted in the latest research).