Working Out While Breastfeeding!

One of the biggest concerns I get when talking to new mothers about starting to work out again is that their milk supply might dry up! Now, I am not a lactation consultant** so I can only tell you the things I have learned and the experiences I have had as a fit mother of two extremely healthy little boys. 

First of all, I want to tell you that breastfeeding  does not mean that you can't work out. It doesn't even mean that you can't work out HARD. Both of my sons were 100% exclusively breastfed, but I am really going to talk about my experience with my younger son, because I didn't work out as hard when Kieran was a new baby, because I thought it would hurt my supply! 

Silas is 7 months old. In the past month, I have slowly been introducing a few solids, but not everyday, and he only eats probably 5-10 bites of whatever it is that I am feeding him. So he is still relying solely on breastmilk to keep him alive.

I began training for the Pittsburgh Marathon about 2 weeks after Silas was born. (Much sooner than they recommend, but I was restless and couldn't wait to get back to it. You should listen to your body and talk to your doctor after childbirth about beginning to exercise!) Then, when he was 4 months old, and I was frustrated with the tiny bits of progress I was seeing with both my body and also with my endurance during my runs, I ordered the program Insanity Max:30. 

If you have never done any of the Insanity programs, let me tell you, this was probably the hardest workout I had EVER done in my life. I had never worked that hard, sweated so much, or pushed so much in my life. 

I also cleaned up my diet by leaps and bounds. Instead of heavy carbs and junk food and cakes and ice cream, I began eating whole grains, veggies, lean meats, and fruit and the occasional bit of dark chocolate (okay, maybe more than occasional!). And I also started to drink Shakeology, so I was sure I was getting at least one dose of dense nutrition per day, so that I knew my baby was too.

Through ALL of this, I continued to breastfeed my beautiful baby boy. And I think that this picture speaks for itself, that he was getting PLENTY to eat ;) :

If I ever do notice a dip in my supply, I know that I just need to drink more water. Maybe eat a bigger meal at my next mealtime (every 2-3 hours for me!). But I stay very healthy by being fit and eating healthy meals and staying very hydrated. So my supply has never suffered, and there's a good chance that yours won't either, so long as you are drinking enough water and eating GOOD foods. 

But for now, I think that my 23 lbs 7 month old speaks volumes ;). 

I hope this helps!

#fitmom #healthymom #breastfeeding