Mila: Nursing a delusion?
Breast-feeding’s no magic formula for weight loss
Talk about a bunch of boobs!
New celebrity moms Mila Kunis and Scarlett Johansson have been gushing lately about how breast-feeding got them back to their pre-baby bodies in no time. “Breast-feeding is a great workout,” Kunis said, rocking a little cutout dress on Craig Ferguson’s show Tuesday. She claimed that feeding little Wyatt, her daughter with Ashton Kutcher, helped her lose the weight in just two months.
And Johansson told Barbara Walters for an upcoming broadcast that breastfeeding is “the best way to get back into shape” — and showed off her body three months after having her baby, Rose. Sorry, ladies, but real moms need to pump iron as well as breast milk. “I breast-fed my son — he’s 23, and I still have the weight!” says Maureen Mallizzi, 52, from Staten Island. “These celebs have personal trainers and plastic surgeons.”
Brooklyn mom Sotanus Sorrise, 62, didn’t see the pounds melt off, either, even though she suckled her now-adult daughter.
“I breast-fed and I didn’t lose weight. Did [my daughter] breast-feed? Yeah. Did she lose weight? Heck, no!” she laughs.
So what makes the stars so successful at slimming down? “It has to be personal trainers,” Sorrise says.
Breast-feeding, of course, is beneficial to both mother and child — reducing the baby’s likelihood of developing allergies, and yes, helping mom burn 350 extra calories a day.
But there’s no lactation revelation: The Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology reports that 75% of women actually get heavier after giving birth.
“You do not typically lose all of the weight by breastfeeding,” says Dr. Iffath Hoskins, an ob/gyn at NYU Langone Medical Center.
Hoskins adds that celebrities have an advantage over regular moms because they were probably already keeping fit and active during their pregnancy — as they are paid to do — which keeps their metabolism revved up to drop the weight sooner postpartum.
They’re also able to return to their diet and fitness routines more easily.
“It’s a rare person who has the luxury like a celebrity to continue working out. The everyday postpartum mother is barely getting any sleep, so it’s very unlikely she’s going to get on the treadmill,” explains Hoskins. “But a celebrity often has (hired) help with the baby (and) a trainer who keeps her on the straight and narrow,” adds Hoskins. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Kitty Clarke, 33, from Westchester, has shed almost 40 pounds since giving birth to her son three months ago.
“I love it! I’m going to breast-feed until he’s 27,” she jokes.
Clarke recognizes that her breasts are blessed. “Some women are predisposed to retain body fat while breast-feeding,” she says, “so it doesn’t work for everybody.” And even she admits taking a few extra steps. “I also walk almost every day,” she says.