After delivering the baby new moms are overwhelmed about so many new things from managing the baby to what to eat, what to do when baby cries and how to get rid of those extra pounds added during the pregnancy. Many women hold on to at least a couple of pounds postpartum and few may retain 11 or more pounds a year after giving birth. It’s very important to shred those extra kilos as they can lead to serious health issues like heart disease and diabetes in future. Moreover, if you want to plan pregnancy in future you may put yourself and the baby to the risk of medical complications such as gestational diabetes and hypertension. To look like your old self again, one of the most important things to keep in mind is to be patient with yourself. And give yourself until your six-week postpartum checkup before you start watching your calorie intake and actively trying to slim down.
Losing weight after pregnancy may be difficult and may take time but you must keep this in mind that you don’t have to hurry as you don’t want to harm your body. Moreover, your new born baby’s growth and nutrition also depends on what you eat.
You can try these safe tips to lose those extra kilos after pregnancy.
- Don’t Diet: Depriving yourself from your favourite food can make you more stressful while you’re already stressed out by your new role as mom. Stress could actually cause you to gain weight. Instead of dieting you should eat balanced variety of foods. You can eat healthy snacks like apple slices, carrot sticks etc. when feel hungry. These foods will keep you energetic throughout the day. It’s important to have minimum 1800 calories a day if you are breastfeeding.
- Breastfeed: Yes breastfeed is not beneficial only for your baby but for you too. Studies have shown that you can burn around 300-500 calories when you breastfeed. You just have to eat right and you can shed extra fat from your body.
- Drink lots of water: Drinking plenty of water not only keeps you hydrated but also fills you up so that you don’t feel eating much. Drinking at least 8-10 glass water per day also helps in speed up the metabolism.
- Exercise: To lose those extra kilos diet is important but you also need to incorporate little exercises with it. You can go for aerobics and strength training exercises as these burn calories and keep muscles and bones strong. If you had C-section you must consult your doctor before starting any kind of exercise.
- Get proper sleep: When you have a baby getting proper eight hour sleep is like a dream. If you don’t get enough sleep it will be harder for you to lose weight. In such situation the best idea is to catch a nap when your baby is sleeping.
- Eat early: An early dinner somewhere before 8 pm will help to boast your metabolism and you will reduce weight more effectively. If you don’t sleep early you can take a glass of milk or green tea instead of taking any other snack..
- Avoid caffeine and alchohol: You may feel exhausted at many point of time due to lack of sleep. In such situation having a cup of coffee is not a good idea because it can make harder to lose weight for you. You should also avoid taking alchohol even if you are not breastfeeding. Instead of coffee or alchohol you should go for green tea.
- Proper calcium intake: After pregnancy your body need proper calcium intake. You should be having at least one glass of milk every day. Dairy has conjugated linoleic acid which helps to burn more fat and fatty acids leads to mobilisation of fat from stubborn areas such as tummy.
In addition here are some tips to get rid of that post pregnancy “mummy tummy”.
