How I lost weight after pregnancy (guest post).

by

How I lost weight after pregnancy.

The first thing to do is not to worry about your weight after pregnancy, you have a baby to look after and that is more than enough to think about for the time being! Wait until around six weeks to even think about losing weight. Pregnancy takes a lot out of your body and it needs time to recover.

Many women still look like they are pregnant after birth but this is not something to worry about. Taking reasonable steps to lose weight over a reasonable period of time is what you should concentrate on.

My trim figure before pregnancy took a while to get back.

It is so easy to stress yourself out and worry that you have lost your figure. Remember celebrity women who have lost weight will have had a personal trainer and dietitian so don’t worry if you don’t follow their weight loss. It’s not good for you – every doctor will tell you that.

The other thing I would suggest is don’t rush back to work – take as long as you can get! I saved up my holidays so had an extra month and a half off.

So what are the steps you need to take to lose weight?

Stick to fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These foods are high in fiber and make you feel full longer. Low fat dairy products such as cheese, skimmed milk and yoghurt.  Fish and white meat are also good options along with lean cuts of pork and beef, giving you protein and zinc, iron and B vitamins.

Breastfeeding – Burns around 500 calories a day!

Lose all junk food in the house! Don’t have cakes or biscuits in the house even if they are just for visitors. Replace the junk food with healthy snacks.

Eat smaller portions – increase the portions of things like vegetables and reduce the food that has the most calories.

Eat when you are hungry! Think about why you are eating. If you are eating just because you are bored get yourself out for a walk with the baby to the park.

Include your baby in your exercise program.   Take the pram for a walk in the park or the shops. The baby will enjoy the fresh air and you get a nice relaxing day and burning calories at the same time.

I tried to take the baby for a walk at least once a day, sometimes twice.  I found it relaxing and the baby seemed to enjoy it two.

Target your abs – I did abdominal exercises every second day, nothing to strenuous, 5 min is probably enough every second day.  Building your abs will give your stomach a flatter look.

Nicola sanders is mum of two and writes for the baby website Baby Names.

POSTS BY EMAIL

Never miss a post. Enter your email to get my latest posts delivered to your inbox.

Comments

  1. Excellent post! Our twin boys turned 1 year old this past weekend and this is how I lost the baby weight, which I have done. Especially the part about not thinking about it in the beginning.

  2. That must have been my problem – I didn’t have a pram. Just a stroller. Darnit.

    Seriously, great post. (And I second the tip on the abs) I think we all could use the reminder NOT to compare ourselves to what we see in the magazines for SURE.

  3. Tks for sharing… I have something more to add.

    I think weight loss and fitness always boil down to 2 things: 1) Metabolism and 2) Nutrition.

    Metabolism: You worked to expend the excess calories so that they do not turn into fats. To do that, either you create a calories deficit or you increase your calories usage.

    For most cutting calories (aka reduce portion size) is easier but not everyone can withstand the hunger pangs. That’s when a hoodia gordonii supplement can be useful as it make your brain think you are full so that you won’t feel lethargic or cranky.

    For those who prefer to exercise, you should focus on weight training and high intensity interval training like wind sprinting. Forget about cardio.

    Nutrition: First thing is to get the habit of reading labels. If you see anything that says high fructose corn syrup, trans fat, hydrogenated or partial hydrogenated oil, put it back.

    Next understand that you need to eat a balance meal, and not follow a fad diet. One that contains carbohydrates, protein and fat.

    Opt for unprocessed carbs and when possible, it’s better to take fruits (not fruit juice) and vegetables. Technically speaking, fruit and vegetables are less calories dense. Good for losing weight.

    Get your plant protein from beans, legumes, and nuts, while animal protein, eat free-range and/or organic meats.

    Get this straight, we need fat. And the right kind of fats would make you fat. What we need is natural fats from fishes like salmon and tout or fruits like avocado.

    When you need oil, use coconut oils and pure virgin olive oils.

    By the way, for the ladies and gentlemen out there, avoid soy based products and beer.

    Guys, soy and beer (contains estrogenic compounds) cause fats to accumulate on your chest. So unless you are interest to grow boobs continue eating.

    Ladies, one of the reasons why your stubborn belly fat never go away could be due to your high intake of soy based product and beer.

    Oops, I blah too much on a blog post! That’s it. 🙂

  4. I don’t have any kids yet, but I’ll admit to being shallow and being really scared of what pregnancy will do to my body. This was a great post and it’s good to know that it’s possible to get your body back, even if it takes work.

  5. Great advice. I did most of this after my first and was much fitter for my second. Then I lost it for the next 3. The youngest is now 12, I’ve just gotten back in gear in the last 2 years

  6. Great post. So many of hubby’s family are so concerned with their look during and immediately after pregnancy. I’m like, it’s 9 months up, 9 months down. Relax, start doing healthy things, not these restrictive diets. They don’t work long term and now its not just about you, but your baby too.

  7. I think that what you said about not rushing into weight loss is really important- if you’ve just had a baby, your body needs to recover and re-adjust to the changes! Waiting a couple months before trying to lose the weight is a healthy approach to take.

  8. Just one suggestion. Make sure you do some static poses like planks and lateral planks to restrengthen and heal the lower abdominals or transverse abdominus sometimes these muscles get stretched during pregnancy.

  9. Great advice, Nicola! Thanks for sharing it! Even though I was sort of in denial/oblivion with respect to the whole postpartum, must-get-my-old-body-back thing, I found that I didn’t gain *more*, because being home with my kids for awhile kept me pretty active! (My career was quite sedentary in comparison.) Keeping junk food of the house does help; if we wanted to get cookies, we’d make it an outing and get *a* good quality cookie at the bakery, rather than a whole package of ho-hum cookies at the grocery store, and usually followed it up with a park visit or a nice walk around town.

  11. Thanks for the tips. I just entered my 2nd trimester, and I’m starting to show. Excited about the baby bump and actually looking forward to the challenge of getting back in shape postpartum. Always encouraging to hear from others who have gone through it. Thanks Nicola and Miz! 🙂

  12. Am totally cracking up at Mrs. Fatass’s comment!! Put me in the camp of I wish it were that easy for me to lose the baby weight. Honestly for me I think it won’t happen until I wean. C’est la vie!

  13. Thanks for all the nice comments! I wanted to keep the article as non technical as possible, and easy to read.

    Plenty of good tips to add to the post in the comments section as well.

  14. Great post! Ive bookmarked it to return to in November after baby #3 arrives. Another tip is to stay active during pregnancy and to eat healthy during the pregnancy too – that way there isn’t as much “damage” to undo, yanno?

  16. Hello,Fantastic blogging dude! i am just Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D.
    PS:Have you thought putting video to this blog posts to keep the people more enjoyed?I think it works.Best regards, Dante Knick

  18. Really enjoyed this post because it makes fat loss simple. I agree as well that its all about getting as much nutrients from natural foods that were put here for humans to eat. the calorie deficit matters and stressing over exact amounts doesnt, as long as your burning more energy!

Trackbacks

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This