Article: You won't have to force the dieting in order to shed those post baby pounds. Breastfeeding naturally burns calories (about 500 a day) and much of the weight will go away naturally as your body shrinks. Even your lactating breasts can add a couple pounds, so don't worry too much about dieting. Losing those 30 pounds will be easier than you think. This article will discuss healthy ways to keep you from putting on any more weight (and possibly even lose a small amount of weight), but in general you should wait until after you stop breastfeeding to start dieting. For example, let's say you normally ate about 2000 calories a day, pre-baby. During pregnancy, you gained 35 pounds. Now, you'll lose about 9-10 pounds just by giving birth. You'll lose another several pounds as your body naturally shrinks down and puts itself back together. Now for the rest of those pounds, right? A diet would normally involve cutting your calories intake by about 500 calories, which your body is already doing by making breast milk. Simply by feeding yourself a healthy diet and breastfeeding your baby, you will lose all of the baby weight in just a few months. The fact of the matter is that you're supposed to eat more and be a little rounder when you're pregnant and for a while after you have your baby. This is normal and healthy! By trying to get thin again so soon after your baby is born, you put yourself at risk. You may also be putting your child at risk, if your dieting choices lead you to an unhealthy diet. The diets that you normally consider when you think of dieting are largely going to hurt you and your baby. This is especially true of any diet which limits your food groups. You need to a widely varied diet in order to get the nutrients that your baby needs and keep your own body healthy. As a general rule, you want to eat healthy and exercise during this time, not do anything that that promises to drop X pounds in Y days. Atkins, South Beach, and any diet that goes very heavy on the protein and fish (like the Mediterranean diet or the Zone diet) can pose a problem for your health. You will find websites that tell you not to count calories at all, but that advice is a little too black-and-white. What you definitely shouldn't do is listen to some specific number of calories you should be having in a day. However, if you tailor your calorie count to your age, body, and activity level, then you can help make sure that you won't gain any more weight. Done carefully and slowly, you can even begin to lose a little weight by getting slightly fewer calories than you need. You can find a number of calorie calculators online. The best method, however, is to talk to a registered professional who can help you calculate the right number for your body. Keep in mind that breastfeeding naturally burns 500 calories a day. If you're eating healthy and at the same level you did before your pregnancy, you should lower your weight naturally over time. Eating a widely varied, healthy diet is the best thing that you can do both for your own body and for your baby. Your baby is growing very quickly at this time (growing almost 1" a month and gaining more than 50% of its birth weight every week!), so it will need lots of nutrients in order to do that. What you don't provide by eating a healthy diet, your body will forcibly pull from its stores (which can have a harmful affect on your health). You'll want to make sure to cover all of the food groups, getting the right amounts of protein, grains, fruits, and vegetables for your body. Generally, 50% of your food should be fruits and veggies (mostly veggies), with the remaining half of your food being roughly split between grains and protein. Food actually changes the taste of your breast milk, so eating a highly varied diet may also make your baby a better eater down the line. There are also, of course, lots of things you're not supposed to have while breastfeeding. The least dangerous are parsley and mint, which will just make you stop producing milk, and the most dangerous are alcohol and many medications, which can damage your baby's body. You should also avoid caffeine, which includes coffee, soda, and chocolate, and black teas, since your baby's body cannot break it down yet. After your baby reaches 3 months, it will become easier to digest the caffeine and you may be able to have small amounts. Some women pump their milk ahead of time so that they can fit in one night of drinking or other of these dangerous substances. This can be okay as long as you do it smartly and infrequently, but keep in mind that some trace amounts of these substances can remain in your milk for a while and you might still be putting your child at risk. Some foods cause problems for some people and don't cause problems for others. It is not that these foods are necessarily dangerous (like alcohol); they might be hard for your particular baby to digest, making diapers a bit more interesting for a while and giving you a cranky baby to deal with. Foods that you can experiment with, but might want to avoid, include: Citrus, which bothers some babies' tummies. You'll have to be really careful about getting Vitamin C if you cut citrus, however. Broccoli and garlic, which affect the taste of breast milk. These strong flavors will end up in your milk, which might make baby turn away from the breast at first. They should get over it, though, when they get hungry enough. Spicy foods. Painful for you, painful for them. Common allergens (milk, peanuts, etc.)

What is a summary?
Let your body naturally lose weight first. Don't follow structured or fad diets. Count calories the right way. Vary the food groups in your diet. Stay away from foods that are hazardous to your baby. Consider cutting out foods that may cause problems for some babies.