Brand-new moms shouldn't even begin to worry about losing weight until at least six weeks after delivery. Let your own natural hunger pangs guide you. Eat when you're hungry, but try to eat good, healthy food. Don't focus on what you shouldn't eat. Instead, emphasize all the good foods you can have.
Calories are important, but there's more to losing weight safely.
Use your calorie needs as the starting point for planning a good, healthy diet. There's a terrific chart that illustrates food choices for a balanced menu. Behan cautions mothers that at 2,300 calories a day, calcium intake may be low, so choose foods with a high calcium content such as green leafy vegetables, cheese, tofu, or canned salmon with bones. If you decide to go the 1,800 to 2,200 calories a day route, you must make very good food selections to meet all your nutritional needs. Last, exercise is the final piece of the puzzle that will help to stimulate weight loss while making you feel energetic, vibrant, and really excited about the changes going on in your body.