Remember Beyonce Knowles, high profile breastfeeding mom and fantastic example for lactating mamas everywhere? Consider that stage of her life over. Blue Ivy's mama showed up as promised at a Memorial Day weekend concert series looking pretty bootylicious.
And as she told the crowd, the mother of a 5-month-old worked her tail off to get there. But her weight loss secret doesn't exactly jive with the super breastfeeding rep she's gotten since her daughter was born.
Beyonce told the crowd at her second of four shows that she dropped 60 pounds with constant work on the treadmill and a diet that consisted of lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce. Brave. Maybe even inspirational. But not a diet plan that any breastfeeding mom should follow, you hear?
I don't know how many times I see this happen. A mom decides she is going to breastfeed, but she still wants to lose the baby weight. She thinks she can do them both because hey, don'tcha know, breastfeeding burns calories?
It's true. BUT, and this is the big ol' BUT, it doesn't burn that many calories. And while it does, a breastfeeding mom's intake should remain somewhere between 1,500 to 1,800 calories at least: much more than a whole lot of lettuce will give you. That poor kid needs something to eat too! In fact, following the type of healthy weight loss recommended for a lactating mother, Beyonce would have only shed about half of the weight -- about 30 pounds.
I should make it clear that Beyonce may have given up breastfeeding a long time ago. She hasn't been caught nursing in public in awhile. If that's true, that's her choice, and I support a mom's ability to make the choices that best fit her own lifestyle. But that leaves us only two conclusions here. Either she didn't even make it to the six-month mark the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for nursing, or she nursed Blue Ivy while following a dangerous diet.
She's still a fabulous singer, and probably a pretty great mom. But for moms who are looking to the singer as some sort of fantastic postpartum breastfeeding role model, I think we can safely say that ship has sailed. Just look at her:
How do you balance weight loss against the need to provide your baby with nutrients? What do you think of Beyonce's post-baby transformation?
Image via AtlanticCityBeats/YouTube
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Comments 108
Here's an idea that you might haven't thought about when writing this article: STOP. BEING. SO. JUDGY.
She stated a LONG time ago that she gave up breastfeeding at 6 weeks! Wheres the fact checking on this one!
If you guys knew anything about breastfeeding then you would know that if the mom was eating only lettuce (primarily a veg of water substance) then her body would take anything from the moms body to make up for what she did not eat, So in all reality the mother would only be eating to maintain mothers health. Water intake is actually more important for keeping a milk supply then food is, Now I am not saying that is good to do that but it is still perfectly ok for baby.
She was never a role model for me anyway. I can't stand her.
HONESTLY I DONT BELIEVE THAT SHE ACTUALLY IS THE MOTHER OF THAT CHILD SO HER CHOOSING TO LIVE OFF OF LETTUCE FOR SHOW DOES NOT BOTHER ME WHAT BOTHERS ME IS THAT EVERYONE IS STILL PAYING ATTENTION TO HER NONSENSE. I AM A MOTHER AND I BREAST FED MY CHILDREN SO I KNOW THAT THEY GET WHATEVER YOU GET AND IF YOU ARENT EATING PROPERLY THEIR LIVES WILL BE AT RISK. SO IF THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT BEYONCE IS REALLY A MOTHER THEN SHE NEEDS TO INCORPORATE OTHER HEALTHY MEALS THAT WILL HELP THE CHILD.
I don't see how YOU can know how many pounds could have "safely" come off of someone else's body, what if a lot of the 60lbs was water weight that just came off after giving birth? I lost 60lbs by the time my daughter was 6 months old and I wasn't even trying to lose weight! I think it was a combination of water weight, and my hormones getting back to normal so I didn't eat everything in sight like a crazy person like I had when I was pregnant. My daughter was fine, looked like a fat formula fed baby but was exclusively breastfed from day 1.
Wow, if anyone's daughter has a good chance of growing up to be a stripper it's Bethany S.