Breastfeeding

Congrats on your baby! Usually by 8 weeks post-partum, you'll have dropped the majority of your water weight and be cleared for normal activity. Since you're only 4 weeks post-partum, now is not a good time to judge how much weight you'll have to lose so I suggest waiting another 4 weeks before starting.

Secondly, breastfeeding burns a significant number of calories per day. Unfortunately, none of us can tell you how many it burns because it's dependent on the nursing habits and demand of your baby. This will go up and down over the course of your nursing relationship depending on how much your baby is nursing. For that reason, I recommend starting out by eating at least at maintenance for your current weight. Get in the habit of logging your food consistently and accurately for 4-6 weeks, a food scale can help you be more accurate, and track your weight with a trending app like Libra to help determine what kind of deficit breastfeeding is creating.

Losing more than one pound a week is discouraged while breastfeeding in order to protect your milk supply and health. If you only have 10-20 pounds to lose, you should focus on losing a half pound a week. If you are exclusively breastfeeding and tracking all of your food properly, it's highly unlikely you'll need to eat below your maintenance calories. If you exercise, eat your exercise calories back and make sure you set the appropriate activity level to get the proper amount of calories. It's vital that you collect your own data over time and adjust your calories as you go along.

I'll give you an example of how this can work. Say your maintenance calories are 2000, and we estimate that breastfeeding creates a deficit of 550 calories a day after logging and tracking weight loss for 4-6 weeks. That means you can eat 2050 calories a day to lose one pound a week. If you exercise and burn 200 that day, that means you need to eat 2250 calories. Eat a wide and varied diet of whatever makes you feel happy and energized.

Congratulations! I am a mama to 3 kids and breastfed all of them until 2. I am currently breastfeeding my son who is 19 months. I made the mistake with my 1st because I wanted to lose weight so bad I didn't eat enough in the beginning. I didn't have enough milk in the beginning. I ended up supplementing. So DONT DIET!!! With my first son I was back to pre pregnancy weight by 3 months, my daughter 3 months and my son it took a little longer. I was 42 and it just was a little harder. I went back to work after 3 months still in maternity pants. By 4-5 months I lost it all.
With my daughter I wasn't able to lose vanity pounds until I stopped breastfeeding her. She was 2. Now, with my son who is 19 months I am at a plateau now. Im lighter than pre pregnancy weight but again having hard time losing the 10 lbs of vanity pounds. But I did lose 42 lbs so far in 1 year and half. (gained 35 lbs) Plus I swear your body holds on to 10 lbs to make milk etc.
In the beginning just don't count calories. You need to establish a milk supply. Don't go crazy with calories but by eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. Aim for the meals to be balanced with protein, healthy fat (good for brain development) and carbs.
I suggest you eat real foods and healthy foods. Try to eat foods that help with milk production.
Oatmeal, nuts, dark breads like pumpernickel, lean protein, spinach, sweet potatoes, fruits, veggies, etc.
Think of what you are eating is going to your baby. So I didn’t want to eat crap. I wanted to eat good nutritionally because my baby was getting all of the good stuff.
With my son I didn’t need to supplement because I knew what I was doing but I just didn’t watch my calories just ate when hungry and stopped when full. And I had enough milk!!
I went back to working out right away with walking and yoga but I didn’t lift weights again until 4 weeks post partum. After I was cleared at 6 weeks I lifted heavy again, did HIIT training, spinning, etc. I was back to teaching my muscle/tabata class at 8 weeks post partum.
Take your time and enjoy your baby and your breastfeeding journey. My kids are almost 8, 5 and 19 months. It goes by fast. I love breastfeeding and this is my last baby so I am cherishing it so much. You have your whole life to lose the weight. Just do it slowly. Move your body, eat real healthy foods and it will naturally come off.

Congrats I wouldn't worry about it for now. Don't restrict calories for a couple months. The beginning is really crucial for establishing your milk supply. If you must count calories I would eat at maintenance plus 500 or so to account for calories that you are giving your baby.

I would not recommend trying to lose weight until you have been breastfeeding for at least 6 months. You do not want to do anything to jeopardize your supply. What you can do is start to making healthy changes, maybe walk a little each day, add more fruits and veggies to your diet, stuff like that. It took 9 months for your body to grow a human, you need to give it time to recover, especially since you are breastfeeding. Enjoy your baby. You have the rest of your life to lose weight.