The author of this book makes losing weight while nursing sound much harder than I found it to be. She sites studies which show nursing doesn't really help you take off the pounds, which is odd because most nursing resources tout easier weight loss as one of the benefits to the mother (and they site studies to back their conclusions, too).

She is also FAR too conservative in her idea of how much weight it's safe to lose while nursing. For the first six months, she says a one to two lb loss per month should be your maximum! If, like me, you gained a bit more weight than the recommended 25-30 lbs, that's downright depressing... and, I believe, inaccurate. According to La Leche League, after 2 mos. post partum you can safely aim to lose up to a pound a week with no adverse affects on nursing.

The other problem I have with this book is her pronoucements on nursing and sleep duration. She asserts that breastfeed babies wake up more often at night than formula babies. I don't think that's necessarily true, as I know formula-fed infants who wake every 2-3 hours all night long and breastfeed ones who slept a 6 hour stretch from birth. Worse yet, she says that breastfeed babies won't sleep through the night until "well into the second year of life." That's CRAZY.

When your baby sleeps through the night depends on your child, your parenting practices, your sleeping arrangements and a lot of other variables--not just on what or how you feed them.

I'm so glad I didn't read this book with my first child, because the message is "breastfeeding = being chunky and sleep deprived for up to two years" and, not knowing better, I would have found that completely depressing.

This book covers a diet plan for nursing mothers but I would reccommend it for anyone looking to lose weight. It is gentle on the body and very easy to follow. The plan doesn't make you count calories or carbs, basically it breaks down all foods into fat, meat, milk, starch, fruit, or vegetable. You can eat so many foods from each category during the day.

I found this book to be very helpful. It provides a lot of information on what our bodies are going through during breastfeeding and what our bodies need to support breastfeeding. It is not a book that will help you lose a large amount of weight. It does teach how you can lose a healthy amount of weight and directs you to more appropriate foods choices. This book makes you feel good about your body whatever weight it is and it really supports women who breastfeed.

I think this book is great. It is a guide to help you eat healhty and lose weight. The book tells you how many calories for your ideal weight you should be taking in. I do not see how you could not "safely" lose the extra pounds by following this diet. It is not a diet to lose the weight over night, this would not be healhty for you or your baby. There are not magic spells in this book that will tell you how to drop those last 10lbs over night. You worked at putting the pounds on to have a heathly litlte baby so now you have to work to take those pounds off. I think that this book is a great guide for breastfeeding moms and even moms who just want to better their diets.

I have been struggling to lose weight while breastfeeding my third child.......with the first two it came off easily..this time (15 years after my second child!) it has been a real struggle. I just recieved this book last week and have not been on the plan for long enough to see any real difference yet,but I feel a boost in my energy level already! This diet follows an exchange diet plan which is the same diet diabetics are taught to follow. It is a sensible and healthy lifestyle change. It requires some time and planning..but is probably one of the most sound nutrition plans out there. Keep in mind that breastfeeding mothers must follow a higher calorie "diet" to meet their own needs while their breastmilk is meeting their baby's needs. The exchange diet is easy to taylor to your needs after you wean the baby by adjusting the number of calories you take in and burn off, so this is an adaptable diet for anyone. You are not "dieting" in the traditional sense of the term........you are eating soundly and sensibly. The weight loss will be "gentle" as the author states. I love this book because it has answers to so many breastfeding mother's concerns. The book also explains the importance of exercizing in the process of losing weight. I hate exercising, but enjoy being active and am reminded that I must do so for any weight loss plan to work. I am regaining the energy (by making nutritional changes the author recommends) that I lost while being on moderate bedrest during a difficult pregnancy, and am confident that I will be successful. There are no gimmicks here......just sound advice. The author lays out some sample menus and there are some great ideas for snacking as well as some really good recipies. I tried the "orange cream" drink and it's really good...tastes just like a creamcicle and it's zip to make. I recommend this book to all breastfeeding moms.......it offers smart advice and is very readable.......the author engages my interest and keeps my attention.