Postpartum Diet & Exercise

“What is the best postpartum diet?” is one of the questions all new moms and breastfeeding moms ask at least once during their postpartum period.

If you’re like a lot of new moms, you’ll be eager to start shedding the gained weight soon after childbirth.

Not so fast with the aggressive postpartum diet, though.

Some of that weight is there to assist you in breastfeeding and producing healthy breast milk, and if you’re exclusively breastfeeding, then you’ll hit a point, usually around three months, where you will start to lose weight.

The important thing is to focus on healthy, balanced postpartum nutrition full of healthy foods that will nourish you and your growing baby through your breast milk.

Choose foods that keep your milk supply up, that sustain your energy, and keep your mental health on the positive side.

While there are a lot of cool trending, enticing, sexy, and alluring diets out there these days, that offer quick results (with little work), do not get sucked into crash cycles after your baby!

Discover the best postpartum weight loss plan, including exercises, to help you get your pre-baby body back safely and healthily.

Healthy postpartum diet

For balanced postpartum nutrition and high energy levels, a breastfeeding mother, a new mom, and all lactating women, in general, need to eat a variety of foods every day including protein, complex carbohydrates, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats.

Following are examples of each and how they help your body heal or keep up milk production.

Protein-rich foods

During postpartum recovery, your muscles repair themselves using nutritional building blocks called amino acids.

Your body gets those amino acids from foods rich in lean proteins.

You’ll want to stick to lean protein sources, however, as some meats, for example, can be too fatty.

Good protein sources include:

• Fish and seafood, which are very rich in vitamin D
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Eggs, which are also very rich in vitamin D
• Milk
• Cheese
• Cottage cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Nuts and seeds
• Beans
• Whole wheat bread
• Soy products like tofu.

Bone Broth

Bone broth is also known as liquid gold, especially for the role it plays in postpartum recovery, as it provides a variety of minerals in the most absorbable form.

It is loaded with nutrients and minerals to help your body repair ligaments, tissues (that were torn or stretched) and restore adrenal functions – something that is essential for battling deep-rooted fatigue.  

Bone broth also supplies essential fatty acids that support your nervous system and protect your gut probiotics.

These amino acids help you to digest food to get the most protein out of the meat.

The bone gelatin is also loved by your digestive tract and restores the fire in your stomach and spleen. 

They are also key to helping any kind of wound heal.

If you had a c-section or any form of tearing, stitches, or internal bleeding.  All mothers have had their placentas removed or delivered after birth, so drink your broth!

Bone broths also offer incredible hydrating powers if you are breastfeeding – not to mention keeping your immune system strong!   

Complex carbohydrates are crucial for postpartum diet

As much as you might want to stay away from carbs, they’re essential for regulating hormones, keeping up your breast milk supply, as well as for your mental health, and staving off postpartum depression.

Complex carbs are those that are higher in fiber and take longer to break down.

They won’t give you a sugar rush and crash as simple carbs do.

Great sources of complex carbohydrates include:

• Whole grains
• Bread and pasta made from whole grains
• Brown rice
• Quinoa
• Bone broth
• High-fiber fruits
• Starchy vegetables.

Fruits

Your body gets a lot of essential vitamins and nutrients from fruits and vegetables, but you’ll want to eat them in moderation.

Although fruit is healthy for you, overdoing it can provide too much sugar in your postpartum diet.

Some great fruit options are:

• Apples, which are nutrient-rich foods very high in fiber content
• Oranges and other citrus fruits, which are rich in vitamin C (vitamin C is very beneficial for strengthening the new mom’s immune system during the postpartum period and postpartum recovery)
• Pineapple
• Pears are rich in magnesium, folate, calcium, and iron as well as vitamin C and fiber.
• Kiwi
• Pomegranates – a wonderful source for building immunity and improving circulation.
• Dark berries such as blackberries, mulberries, and blueberries. Mulberries have some of the highest iron concentrations per portion. These also contain superfood antioxidants!
• Bananas are rich in potassium, vitamin B vitamin C, and fiber and also helps to moderate blood sugar level and aid the digestive system.
• Mango, papaya, passion fruit, and persimmon – are excellent sources of beta-carotene and anti-inflammatory qualities.
• Figs help to lower high blood pressure and are loaded with potassium, minerals, and a high density of antioxidants.
• Red fruits such as cherries, raspberries, goji berries, and strawberries are all fantastic and high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Watermelon are one of the most nutrient-dense foods, as they provide a lot of fiber and help balance electrolytes while hydrating with their high water content.

If you are watching your calorie intake, watermelons are a great snack option, because they are high in volume but low in calories.

Vegetables

Vegetables also provide a lot of vitamins, and their high fiber content prevents constipation and helps you feel full longer, which is a key part of any postpartum weight loss plan.

When it comes to vegetables, the common expression, “Eat the rainbow,” is great advice as it’s best to have as many different colors in your postpartum diet as possible.

You almost can’t go wrong with vegetables, especially leafy greens, but some of the best ones are:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Legumes
• Bell peppers
• Spinach and other dark, leafy vegetables
• Cucumbers.

Starchy vegetables, although given a bad rap in the past, are also very healthy for you.

Good options include:

• Potatoes, especially sweet potatoes and yams
• Corn
• Peas
• Beetroot.

Healthy Fats

We get so bombarded with messages about how fat is bad for us and that we should eat low-fat diets.

However, our brains need fat to function, and while breastfeeding, fat greatly aids in milk production.

That doesn’t mean you can fill up on ice cream and binge on your favorite cheeses, but in healthy portions, fat is an essential part of a well-rounded postpartum diet.

Good fats give you more energy than any other food source. They saturate you and help you heal from the inside out.

The best sources of healthy fats include:

• Walnuts and other nuts
• Avocado
• Peanut butter
• Cheese
• Eggs with the yolk
• Chia seeds
• Whole-fat milk and yogurt.

Fatty fish like salmon is also a great source of healthy fat, but make sure that it’s wild-caught and not farm-raised as farm-raised fish could contain heavy metals like mercury.

Healthy fats help you to maintain balanced hormones, mood, sleep, keep your digestion moving, and brain function to help you remain clear (which is lacking with sleep these days).

They can enrich your breast milk with significantly higher fat content which will also directly contribute to your baby’s brain development.

Since good fats give you more energy than any other source, they boost your metabolism and help you to get back to a stable weight. Good fats also help to build a healthy immune system and saturated fats help supply the body with usable energy.

Hydratation

Along with your diet, keeping hydrated is equally important postpartum to support your recovery journey and prevent dehydration, especially if you are breastfeeding.

Great sources of hydration are:

• Nut milk such as almond, oat milk, and hemp milk, are remarkable by the glass or in your cereal. Unless it is unpasteurized and raw, cow’s milk is not on this list as the proteins are quite large and difficult for mom and baby to digest.
• Lemon water – add a squeeze to freshen up any water, vitamin C, helps with digestion and weight loss
• Healing teas are great alternatives. Goji berry, raspberry, peppermint, fennel, chamomile, roasted dandelion teas!
• Soul-loving cacao – nutrient-rich hot chocolate but without the negative processing qualities of chocolate. Add in cinnamon with a pinch of nutmeg
• Chai tea – this treat should be caffeine-free. It has the benefits of herbs and spices to stimulate the circulatory system and digestive fire.
• Probiotic beverages such as kombuchas. Some new moms like the fuzziness of this, but some may pass for now. This is a great low-caffeine beverage, probably equivalent to a decaf coffee. Now be your judge here as there are some raw qualities. But unlike raw cheese and milk and many other raw, unpasteurized foods, kombucha is highly acidic, so acidity is considered an effective way to prevent the growth of unwanted pathogens. Add a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to water to aid in healthy gut probiotics and help with digestion.
• Prune juice can work wonders if your digestion is slowed. Prunes are known for their mild laxative effect, which helps relieve constipation.

Foods to avoid in the postpartum diet

Although you don’t have to completely restrict yourself, there are some foods that shouldn’t be on your postpartum diet plan, especially if you’re breastfeeding. Others are okay in moderation, but best to keep them at a really minimum level.

Unhealthy snacks

Right off the bat are processed foods, fast foods, sugary snacks, fried foods, and soft drinks.

They’re full of sugar, sodium, saturated fat, and preservatives, which can affect your body’s ability to regulate hormones, among other things.

These shouldn’t be part of any kind of nutrition plan, but especially your postpartum nutrition plan.

Fish with high mercury levels

The fish that are at the top of the natural food chain also tend to be the ones with the highest levels of mercury. This can not only be dangerous over time to adults but can be harmful to a baby’s brain development.

Fish that tend to be high in mercury include:

• Shark
• Tuna
• Marlin
• King mackerel
• Orange roughy
• Tilefish
• Swordfish

Alcohol

Alcohol should be avoided while breastfeeding, but if you do decide to have a drink, either have it after you breastfeed or at least 2-3 hours before to minimize the amount passed to your baby through your milk.

If you’re breastfeeding a newborn up to 6 months, it’s best to avoid it completely as it may not be possible to wait for 2-3 hours between feeds.

Caffeine

Caffeine can stunt a baby’s growth and development, so try to keep it to a minimum when breastfeeding.

It’s best to limit the amount of caffeine to below 300 mg per day. This includes coffee, caffeinated teas (green, black, and white teas), soft drinks, and energy drinks.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t drink it at all. One or two coffees can be tolerated, but don’t overdo it!

Aside from caffeine passing into breast milk, which can affect your baby’s mood and sleep, the stimulant is also a diuretic, which means it causes you to lose fluid and can have a dehydrating effect on your body.

TIP – Be careful with coffee as these beans are some of the most processed crops out there. Coffee should be organic since these beans contain some of the largest amounts of pesticides of any crop.

Raw Foods

Raw foods should be avoided in the early days postpartum.

Raw foods pull away from the body’s healing after delivery.

Your body will use more energy to process and break down these raw types of foods versus focusing on healing.

Raw foods will also slow digestion and can create gas, as it pulls water from the body to help digest and can cause more constipation and tiredness.

Postpartum diet plan while breastfeeding

An effective diet plan that new mothers and breastfeeding mothers can follow during their postpartum period, first and foremost, needs to be balanced.

While breastfeeding, it’s especially important to get all your food groups in, and your calorie needs will be higher than usual.

On average, a healthy diet for a woman would be around 1,800-2,000 calories a day. A breastfeeding mom, however, needs closer to 2,300-2,500, as she also burns more calories (from 300-700 a day).

Make sure to have a balance of carbs, proteins, and fat at each meal, too, because carbohydrates increase serotonin (which prevents postpartum depression), while protein suppresses serotonin.

That doesn’t mean skipping the protein, however.

A balanced diet means balanced hormones and a balanced mood and metabolism.

In addition to food, make sure to drink around 3 liters of water per day.

This will not only help flush excess fluids from your body but will keep you hydrated so you can feel better.

Sleep is another important factor in an overall postpartum weight loss plan.

Adequate sleep keeps cortisol levels down, which are also contributors to weight gain if too elevated.

Postpartum foods from around the world

Each country around the world has its tapestry of postpartum healing. Here are some of the most common first foods and drinks women eat after giving birth:

Taiwan – a beef bone broth soup and ginger plum tea.
Korea – the first meal is a seaweed soup made in a base of beef bone broth.
Vietnam – women are given green papaya and pork stew with ginger and vinegar.
China – a soup is usually served with organ meats. Eggs are also prepared in the first few days as they are believed to aid in lactation.
Mexico – chicken soup sprinkled with well-cooked onions, garlic, and cilantro is a common postpartum recovery meal.
India – a mother’s first drink will be hot cow’s milk with a dollop of ghee and honey. This is not the Western milk type. This is fresh and unpasteurized.

Exercise

Although you’ll need to take it easy at first, especially if you had a cesarean delivery or have diastasis recti, there are some exercises you can do almost right away after giving birth.

These exercises not only burn extra calories and help you lose weight, but they help your body and muscles heal.

The following are safe and effective exercises you can do as part of your overall postpartum weight loss plan.

Just remember to ease into them and don’t push yourself too much. You won’t have the same strength levels that you had before the baby, and overdoing it might cause injury to muscles and tissue that are in the healing process.

Walking

As boring and obvious as this sounds, walking is one of the best exercises you can do – postpartum or not.

For starters, walking helps put your body back into alignment.

If you have diastasis recti, walking will help encourage your ab muscles to go back together as your core becomes stronger.

It also helps get your pelvis, spine, and knees back into healthy positions now that they’re not supporting extra baby weight.

The movement from walking massages your insides, as well.

This can keep your bowels flexible and prevent constipation, and it can help your body to flush out any postpartum fluids that cause swelling.

Lastly, walking aids in weight loss, although you shouldn’t feel pressured to focus on this early on after childbirth.

Breath Work

Breathwork is the first & best postpartum technique women should do immediately after birth.

Not only does this focused diaphragmatic breathing lay a solid foundation for healing and restrengthening your deep inner core, but it also begins restrengthening and rehabbing your pelvic floor as well.

Having the tools, knowledge, and ability to “simply breathe” in the early days postpartum also allows you to truly honor your body, your birth and restore your lost energy.

If you’re like most women, breathing from your chest is the norm.

Be sure to take the breathing out of your chest and into your diaphragm (belly).

This simple shift happens with a little extra awareness and allows new moms to build the core foundation needed for daily movements and reintroduce their favorite workouts, safely.

During this key breathwork, you intentionally change your breathing pattern which results in improved mental, physical, and overall well-being.

All breathing focuses on the conscious awareness of your inhales and exhales.

When and why to use your breath

All the time! Breathwork should be part of your daily life.

• To foster a deeper connection between mother and baby
• To fall asleep
• Clam a busy mind
• Begin to heal Diastasis Recti
• To de-stress
• Needing more focus
• During meditation (follow prompts in meditations)
• Process emotions
• Heal from your birth, including any emotional birth pain and trauma

Reintroducing daily activities – picking up your baby from the crib, carrying the car seat, packing up the stroller, carrying other children, carrying groceries, multitasking, and everything in between!

Activating your breath creates a physical response that cascades into countless benefits for the body, including:

• Maintaining a more relaxed state
• Assisting with re-aligning your organs to their original positions
• Returning your body to its pre-pregnancy shape
• Reducing stress & anxiety levels
• Releasing negative thoughts
• Boosting immunity
• Increasing self-awareness
• Improving personal & professional relationships
• Increasing confidence and self-image
• Increasing joy and happiness

Kegels

You’ve likely heard of Kegels. They’re a popular exercise for strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, which hold up your uterus, bladder, rectum, and part of your intestines.

Carrying a baby for nine months, and then pushing it out in delivery, puts serious strain on your pelvic floor muscles.

Kegels are an easy and effective way to get those muscles tight again, and strengthening them will even enhance your sexual pleasure.

The great thing about kegels is that you can do them anywhere and no one will even know.

It might take some getting used to in the beginning, but imagine that you’re sitting on the toilet to pee, and then you want to stop the flow of urine.

The muscle you contract to stop that flow is your pelvic floor muscle, and Kegels are “flow-stopping” exercises.

Even just a few kegels here and there as you think of it throughout the day will help strengthen those muscles.

And an added side benefit? You won’t pee when you sneeze anymore! They’re one of the best postpartum exercises you can do.

Postpartum exercises

Specialized postpartum exercises help your body get back to its natural state.

They help regain the strength in your abdomen and strengthen the muscles in your body.

If you’re looking to start exercising after birth check out our 12 Best Postpartum Exercises guide. 

Conclusion

Although the focus shouldn’t be on weight loss in the beginning, it’s understandable that you’ll be eager to lose that still-pregnant look as quickly as possible after the baby comes.

Just remind yourself that the most important thing is you’re and your baby’s health.

Everything else will come later in due time. The weight will come off. Just give yourself the space to heal and connect with your baby.

By following a safe and healthy postpartum weight loss plan, you can ensure that you’re eating the right foods and doing the right exercises to support your body.

With balanced postpartum nutrition, you’ll keep your milk supply up, as well as your energy levels.