Congratulations on being a new mom! As a new mother, you probably have a lot of things on your mind right now – the first one being how to give your child all the love, care and attention he or she deserves. Sometimes though, especially when you’re out on a date with the hubby, you can’t help but feel conscious about your figure, more so if you used to be a lot smaller pre-pregnancy. This article will help you learn how to lose baby weight safely and effectively.
Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself
Your feelings and emotions are probably all messed up now that you have to deal with so many things as a woman and as a mother. Post-pregnancy depression is not at all that uncommon, so you don’t need additional stress about how to lose baby weight! Try and not be too negative on how you look. Surround yourself with your support group – your husband, family, friends or fellow moms.
Give Your Body Time To Heal
Don’t rush things. You’ve seen celebrities bounce back from pregnancy with a rocking bod in just a few weeks, so why shouldn’t you do the same? The answer is simple – you want to lose weight safely and not sacrifice your health. Understand that it took you 9 months to put on all the pregnancy weight, it’s not going to magically disappear in a span of a few weeks. Realistically, the minimum number of months before you achieve your pre-pregnancy weight is about 6 months.
Don’t Diet, Eat Healthy
While it sounds counter-intuitive not to diet, eating when you’re hungry actually helps you lose weight. That is if, of course, you are eating healthy and nutritious meals instead of junk food or sugary sweets. Prepare healthy snacks like green smoothies, carrot sticks, and almonds.
Get Moving, Mommy!
It seems almost next to impossible to squeeze exercise time now that you have a newborn baby, but it’s very doable if you make it a priority. Gentle exercises like walking, stretching, leg slides or pelvic exercises are recommended. You can also take your baby outside on a stroller, so you get to exercise while the baby enjoys the scenery.
Once your doctor gives you the ‘go’ signal to take in more strenuous exercise (at least six weeks and longer for C-section deliveries), you can incorporate a postpartum workout program to your daily routine. Low impact aerobics and post partum yoga are a few options.
Be careful with abdominal exercises and try to do those only after eight weeks. Some mothers develop a condition called diastasis recti wherein a gap is formed in the abdominal muscles due to the expansion of the belly during pregnancy and labor. Hold off on the crunches or sit-ups until the gap closes.
Breastfeed
If you breastfeed, your body uses up 330 more calories in order to produce milk. This is taken from your body’s existing fat reserves. If you breastfeed together with a healthy diet and mild exercises, this will help with weight loss.
Those are some of our tips on how to lose baby weight safely and effectively. Go slow, take your time, pay attention to your body, and lead a healthy and active lifestyle!
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