Losing Weight after Pregnancy
Although nothing beats the joy of holding your new baby in your arms, most moms can’t wait to burn their maternity clothes and shed their post pregnancy weight. The good news is that there is no magic potion or formula to losing weight after pregnancy. The bad news however, is that it will require tremendous patience on your end. You see, after a woman gives birth she loses an average of 13 pounds. Since most women gain between 25-35 pounds during pregnancy, that leaves an additional 12-22 pounds of extra weight to lose, a daunting task for any new mom.
Avoid the ‘d’ word. You’ve just given birth and there’s no need to go on a diet, you simply need to improve your diet. This is especially true if you’re breastfeeding because your child is getting vitamins and minerals important to their growth and development through you.
Forget what you think you know about losing weight, a steady diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will put you on the path to your pre-baby weight. These foods are stacked with nutrients and they make you feel fuller longer so you don’t overeat. Add in small servings of healthy proteins such as fish and lean, skinless chicken and turkey, and you’re food choices are nearly unlimited. Eating right is as much about portion size as it is about what you eat.
Eat when you’re hungry. This seems like a no-brainer, but after giving birth women tend to do a lot of multitasking, which means eating when you can. New moms often eat while cooking or on the phone, or paying bills, which leads to eating more than you need. Next time you reach for a snack, decide if you’re eating because you’re hungry or if you’re just bored or anxious. If you’re not hungry, put the snack away and call a friend or play with the baby. If all else fails, chores provide a great distraction because there’s always something to do…right?
Get moving! Accepted wisdom until recently has instructed women to wait a minimum of six weeks before engaging in physical activity. However, if you begin exercising while you’re pregnant (and it is highly recommended that you do), you can begin working out just days after delivery. Of course, you should speak with your doctor if you had a complicated delivery or a caesarean section prior to exercising.
With a new baby in the house, you don’t have a full hour to commit to your workout like you used to, and that’s fine. Successful weight loss will only come with regular exercise, so choose a program that will accommodate your new schedule. Next time you need to workout but don’t have time, consider these easy alternatives:
- Take the baby for a walk around the neighborhood. A long walk will get your heart pumping and your metabolism working. Walking is also a good beginning stage for more vigorous workouts later.
- Workout in front of the television. If TV is preventing you from working out, pull your treadmill or elliptical machine in front of the television and burn those calories as you drool over McDreamy.
- Crunches, crunches, crunches. Most of your weight gain is in your abdominal area, so working out this area will help you tighten and tone while you lose the excess fat.
- Exercise in intervals. Finding time for laundry, for dinner, and for you is difficult enough without trying to find time to exercise. Instead of looking for one hour to workout, get your workouts when you can. If you have 60 minutes free, use 20 minutes to work out now and save the rest of the time for you. When the baby goes to sleep again, continue the rest of your workout.
Be realistic. It took 40 long weeks to gain the weight as you nurtured your baby to maturity, so you shouldn’t expect to lose the weight after pregnancy in the first month. Other than the weight you lose during birth, you’ll continue to shed additional pounds as you lose other liquids retained during pregnancy. After that, you will have to work to shed the fat stored in your problem areas.
With a healthy diet and regular exercise its reasonable (and healthy) to lose 1 pound each week. Just remember that in order to lose weight you’ll have to burn more calories and eat fewer calories. If you currently consume more than 1,800-2,200 calories, cut your caloric intake until you fall within this range. Regular exercise that includes both aerobic and strength training exercises will help speed up your metabolism, which helps you burn calories even when you’re watching your little angel sleep.
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