The 9 Best Slimming Breastfeeding Smoothie Recipes for Lactating Mothers
If you’re a lactating mother looking to safely lose the baby weight postpartum, you may be wondering if breastfeeding weight loss smoothies are the right choice for you.
The good news is that breastfeeding mothers can safely lose weight by following a healthy breastfeeding diet and exercise plan, which can include drinking plenty of nutritious breastfeeding smoothies.
In this blog post, we’ll talk about ingredients you can add to any smoothie that make it better for breastfeeding weight loss, which weight loss smoothies to avoid while breastfeeding, the benefits of adding breastfeeding-safe protein powders to your smoothies, and we’ll provide a list of 9 delicious weight loss smoothies to drink while breastfeeding.
**This post might contain affiliate links to items I own and love and feel will benefit you immensely. Read full disclosure here.**
What is a Breastfeeding Weight Loss Smoothie?
Basically, a breastfeeding weight loss smoothie is a nutrient-dense meal replacement smoothie that is ideal to drink while breastfeeding and attempting to lose the baby weight postpartum.
Lactation smoothies are a great way to lose stubborn belly fat while breastfeeding.
There are lots of weight loss smoothies out there (whether premade in a can or bottle or recipes that you can whip up) but not all of them are a great choice to drink while breastfeeding for a few different reasons.
Let me explain.
Why Regular Weight Loss Smoothie Recipes Aren’t Great While Breastfeeding
First, many weight loss smoothies on the market today are chock full of stimulants like caffeine and guarana that can reduce milk supply and make your baby restless too.
While some breastfeeding mothers can get away with drinking these types of weight loss smoothies without any issues, others find that their milk supply plummets after just one drink. That is because they can actually dehydrate you. It’s imperative to know the importance of proper hydration for your milk supply (plus how to easily increase it without drinking gallons of water.)
It’s just not worth the risk.
Second, many weight loss smoothies also contain artificial sweeteners like sucralose (Splenda), aspartame, and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K) that can pass into breastmilk and cause gastrointestinal upset in your baby. Plus they are just overall horrible for you.
These weight loss smoothies are best avoided while breastfeeding, or really ever.
Third, a lot of premade smoothies (even those marketed for health and weight loss) are absolutely loaded with sugars! Whether it be added sugars or natural sugars. When attempting to lose weight, you want to be aware of how much carbs and sugars are in your drinks as your body will store the excess sugars as adipose fat.
Lastly, many weight loss smoothies are low in calories and/or nutritional content. You can’t just add some protein powder to water and shake it up as a meal replacement while breastfeeding and expect to keep a high milk supply.
Drinking lactation smoothies specially created for breastfeeding moms that are nutrient-dense and filled with galactagogues is your best bet for weight loss while breastfeeding.
So, what makes a breastfeeding weight loss smoothie recipe breastfeeding-safe?
Let’s take a look.
Breastfeeding Safe Weight Loss Smoothies
When it comes to choosing the best breastfeeding weight loss smoothie recipes, you want to make sure that they are:
- Caffeine-free
- Free of artificial sweeteners
- Low in sugar
- High in nutrients
- Contains enough calories (300-400 is a great aim for a meal replacement smoothie while breastfeeding)
- Filled with galactagogues
RELATED: The Pros and Cons of Each Lactation Protein Powder for Your Weight Loss Smoothies
Why add galactagogues into breastfeeding weight loss smoothie recipes?
Galactagogues are ingredients that have been shown to increase milk supply. When you are decreasing calories (as you probably are if you are following a specialized breastfeeding weight loss plan) in order to lose weight postpartum, it is a great idea to add milk-boosting ingredients to compensate for the calorie reduction.
RELATED: How to Safely Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
Lactogenic foods are commonly known to increase milk supply in most women! Note, not everyone responds well to every galactagogue, so knowing a lot of galactagogues and trying them out in your breastfeeding diet can be helpful.
For me, the two most effective galactagogues are fenugreek and garlic! But these scrumptious lactation energy bites removed fenugreek from their formulation and the last batch I got worked wonders for my milk supply overnight, so I must have a few others I react extremely positively to as well.
Some of the best galactagogues to add to breastfeeding weight loss smoothie recipes are:
- oats
- flaxseed (best digested as flax meal)
- fenugreek(highly effective and one of my faves but causes some women or their babies intestinal discomfort or gas)
- Brewer’s yeast
- Sesame butter
- Fennel
- Almond butter
The Best Way to Lose Weight While Breastfeeding
There is one struggle that so many moms have postpartum, knowing how to lose the baby weight safely while breastfeeding.
Wondering if it is even safe to attempt weight loss while breastfeeding if it is not naturally falling off is a valid question, and one many moms share. Let alone how to attempt that without tanking your milk supply and causing your baby to suffer.
For years I’ve been asked by my mom clients questions about this subject again and again. So as a certified online health coach, fitness trainer, maternal nutrition specialist, and mom of 3, I decided to compile the proven successful postpartum diet and exercise plan that I created for my breastfeeding mom clients into a program that now anyone can have access to!
It’s called the Milky Mama’s Postpartum Plan and it is built for you! To teach you everything you need to know to be successful at postpartum weight loss while breastfeeding!
And guess what?
It is loaded with milk-boosting weight loss smoothie recipes!
Check out my 28 day plan now to help you regain strength postpartum with short effective workouts, increase your milk supply with tons of delicious recipes, and finally lose that excess baby weight at the same time!
The 9 Best Breastfeeding Weight Loss Smoothie Recipes
Now let’s get into some amazing breastfeeding weight loss smoothie recipes! They are all so fresh and tasty and very satisfying. Just click on the title or image to check out each mouthwatering recipe.
Morning Milk-Makin’ Blueberry Smoothie from VIO
Mango Madness Lactation Smoothie from VIO
Ultimate Lactation Smoothie Recipe from Birth Eat Love
Green Lactation Smoothie from Amber’s Natural Nutrition
Tropical Lactation Smoothie from Vigor it Out
Green Lactation Smoothie to Curb Sugar Cravings from Love Majka
Pumpkin Spice Lactation Smoothie from Vigor it Out
Kourtney Kardashian’s Lose the Baby Weight Smoothie from Blender Babes
Simple Strawberry Oat Milk Lactation Smoothie from Healthy with a Chance of Sprinkles
Wrapping Up Breastfeeding Weight Loss Smoothie Recipes
You can lose weight while breastfeeding and you can drink meal replacement weight loss smoothies while breastfeeding! You just need to know how to do it. Seeking the guidance of a weight loss program specially designed for breastfeeding moms is an easy way to know you are approaching postpartum weight loss in a safe manner.
Which of these recipes are you most eager to try? Let me know in the comments below! I think the simple strawberry oat milk lactation smoothie will be next for me.
