Get your post-baby body back with these super effective workout tips and healthy eating plan. There is no quick fix solution, remember it took 9 months to gain the weight so allow a similar length of time to regain your pre-pregnancy appearance. Just as it is best to put on weight slowly and steadily during your pregnancy, you need to be slow and steady in losing weight after your pregnancy. For optimum health, aim to lose no more than 1 pound per week, and continue to focus on eating nutritious foods as recommended by your doctor.
Exercise plays a major role in returning you to your post-baby body. Apart from weight loss other benefits of new mothers engaging in exercise, include alleviating postnatal depression and, unlike dieting, it won't interfere with breastfeeding.
With a new baby at home it will most definitely be difficult to dedicate time to exercise, therefore a good trick is to find easy ways to increase and incorporate exercise into your daily routine like parking farther away or using stairs instead of lifts.
After 2-3 months, when you feel your strength is returning and when your period has returned to normal, start light exercise. Such exercises include walking, swimming, yoga, cycling, dancing or stair climbing. It is important to use one or more of these cardiovascular exercises daily, preferably one that you find comfortable and maybe have an interest in.
Most new mothers find walking to be more practical. You can take a 10-20 minute walk with the baby every day or with a friend or new mother. Babies can be carried using a snugli, baby strollers (prams), or even secured on your back with a wrapper, the more traditional way. A 30 minute stroll at a light three-miles-per-hour pace will burn at least 106 calories! Hence do not underrate the weight-loss power of walking.
Other important tips to losing baby fat are:
• Drink at least 10-12 glasses of water every day. You can cut out hundreds of calories a day this way.
• Eat lean meats such as skinless chicken and lean beef. Also resist the urge to indulge in a fast food meal.
• Eat whole grains (breads, cereals, pastas) instead of the "white" versions. The “white” versions are more common in Africa, but whole grain products are being sold in a number of stores.
• Breastfeed! Fortunately African women are more likely to breast-feed after child birth than other ethnic groups. Breastfeeding burns about 500 calories per day so the longer you breastfeed, the more calories you burn. One of the reasons your body puts on weight during pregnancy is to help store the caloric energy it takes to breastfeed your baby. Therefore take advantage of losing calories the way your body naturally intended!
I have sourced out helpful exercise regimes should you wish to go a step further and engage in more rigorous routines. Follow the links below:
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/videos/m/28298552/better-body-after-baby.htm
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/lose-baby-weight/workouts/lose-the-baby-weight-fast-toning-circuit-workout/?page=6
http://www.womenshealthsa.co.za/list/weightloss-baby
www.befitmom.com
Debby Soetan
