11 tips to help you lose your baby weight
As if parenting wasn't already hard enough recent research shows that if mums do not lose their baby weight within six months that they are at a much greater risk of being overweight and obese ten years later.
And when you combine this with another research study shown below - the results can paint a gloomy picture for new mums:
It really is a personal choice and some mums feel ready after a few weeks whereas some mums do not even want to contemplate it until 3 - 4 months.
A lot also depends on the physical birth and if the birth was natural or via caesarean. The most important thing is to listen to your body and do what feels natural and only start on losing your weight when you feel mentally and physically able to and do not push yourself to do it a minute sooner.
11 tips to help you lose your baby weight
A loss of 500g - 1kg is a good goal to aim for. Losing more than this each week can release the toxins stored in fat into the blood stream which can result in feeling sick and if you are breastfeeding can make the baby restless.
Losing your baby weight doesn't need to be an impossible task - you just need to be committed to eating healthily, taking light exercise and giving your body the right nutrition - oh and steering clear of junk food. Extreme dieting which will only make you feel grumpy and down which isn't good news for you, your family or your baby so take it easy and lose your weight sensibly and healthily.
And when you combine this with another research study shown below - the results can paint a gloomy picture for new mums:
- More than 89 per cent of mums who had tried to lose their baby weight had not been successful.
- More than 72 per cent of mums put on over 15kg during their pregnancy and of those 35 per cent had over 25kg to lose.
- More than 78 per cent of mums surveyed said the hardest part of losing the baby weight was tiredness and lack of motivation.
- More than 63 per cent had tried more than 3 times to lose the weight.
It really is a personal choice and some mums feel ready after a few weeks whereas some mums do not even want to contemplate it until 3 - 4 months.
A lot also depends on the physical birth and if the birth was natural or via caesarean. The most important thing is to listen to your body and do what feels natural and only start on losing your weight when you feel mentally and physically able to and do not push yourself to do it a minute sooner.
11 tips to help you lose your baby weight
- Go for long walks with your baby in the pram - this will give you a great workout and the fresh air will do you both good
- Muscle burns 35 times the amount calories when resting as opposed to a fat so do weight bearing exercise like squats, mini push ups and bench tricep dips to build lean muscle
- Eat little and often - every 3 hours - to keep your metabolism fired up
- Try a Nutritional and protein packed smoothie for breakfast to give your body everything it needs on a cellular level and will be great for milk supply if you are still breastfeeding
- Eat lots of low fat lean protein
- Drink 2 litres of water every day
- Drink caffeine free green tea
- Increase fibre in your diet at every opportunity
- Keep motivated and know why you want to lose the weight
- Keep a food diary to make sure you don't over eat at certain times
- Have a stock of healthy fruits and vegetables in your fridge to snack on and don't keep junk food in the house
A loss of 500g - 1kg is a good goal to aim for. Losing more than this each week can release the toxins stored in fat into the blood stream which can result in feeling sick and if you are breastfeeding can make the baby restless.
Losing your baby weight doesn't need to be an impossible task - you just need to be committed to eating healthily, taking light exercise and giving your body the right nutrition - oh and steering clear of junk food. Extreme dieting which will only make you feel grumpy and down which isn't good news for you, your family or your baby so take it easy and lose your weight sensibly and healthily.
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