How to Gain Weight While Breastfeeding

There are a variety of reasons why a woman may want to gain weight following a pregnancy. Many women actually lose weight during pregnancy due to excessive morning sickness and wish to regain their pre-pregnancy weight. Trying to gain weight can be very frustrating, and you might not be able to find a lot of help since most resources are directed at losing weight after pregnancy. There are, however, things you can do to successfully gain weight while maintaining your health.

Instructions
1
Record everything you eat and track your calorie intake for at least two weeks. This will allow you to figure out your average calorie intake so you know how much you need to increase your calorie intake.
2
Add at least 500 calories to your daily intake. The average woman burns 500 calories a day just from breastfeeding. In order to gain weight you need to compensate for that calorie loss. Once you've compensated for the calorie loss, add another 500 calories to put on weight.

3
Add protein and carbs to your diet to increase your calorie intake. You don't want to sacrifice your health in attempting to gain weight so you still want to avoid fatty junk foods. Try to increase the amount of chicken, fish, potatoes, pasta and rice.

4
Remain active, but keep track of how much you exercise. You'll need to compensate for those calories in your diet. You'll lose one pound for every 3500 calories you burn. So to prevent weight loss, you need to track the calories you burn and add it back into your diet.

5
Continue tracking your calorie intake each day, and weigh yourself once a week. You can adjust your calorie intake each week based on whether or not you've gained weight.

6
If you find you can't eat as much as you need to in order to gain weight, consider drinking a daily protein shake. Whey protein is fairly inexpensive and can be purchased at any GNC or other nutritional supplement store. You can add the whey powder to a milkshake or fruit smoothie.

 

Tips & Warnings
Find someone in your life you can confide in. Trying to gain or lose weight can be frustrating and support is always helpful.