VOLUMEGUIDE 2

Weight Loss After Having Your Baby

Learning how to lose weight fast and easily after having a baby can be easier now because of the internet. There are so many different diets on the web that will give you a good start. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that if a healthy woman gets pregnant she will gain 25 to 35 pounds before the baby is born. But during my first pregnancy, I gained 52 pounds. Can you imagine how I felt carrying all that weight around?  Now I am relieved to hear that according to the CDC that almost half of the women gain more weight than they recommend during pregnancy. I realize that the baby weighs a few pounds and so do the placenta, amniotic acid, breast tissue, blood, the uterus, and extra fat, but too much fat gained is called baby weight. If that weight stays on your body your weight will increase as time goes on, diabetes and heart disease will be at a higher risk. So it’s best to work on a plan during pregnancy to lose weight after the baby is born.

Why is baby weight hard to lose?

            After having your baby your body has to take time to heal. But while your body is healing you don’t have time to do a lot of things you should be doing like exercise, sleeping and eating right. So taking care of the baby is taking most of your time, you are really not thinking about losing weight.  

            Never stop eating to cut calories because your metabolism is not the same as before you had your baby. If you don’t eat your body slows down when it’s not getting the necessary nutrients for you or your baby if you are breast feeding. When breast feeding, your metabolic rate speeds up which calls for you to take in extra calories just to make the milk healthy for your baby.

            If you are choosing the wrong foods just to have something that’s convenient for that time it could be costly for you. You should plan meals ahead of time to be sure of nutritional value. Health experts recommend that nursing mothers take in 2500 calories in a day. It is hard when there is a new born to take care of. Even I had trouble getting things done when my children were infants. I ate when I could, sleep when I could and so on for cleaning and personal things. Sometimes I had help and it meant a lot to me, so thankful.

            Staying hydrated is important when trying to lose weight. Most women don’t get enough water. You should drink about half the weight of your body. Staying hydrated keeps you from overeating, helps gut health, your metabolism, keeps your energy level up, and helps regulate your mood.

10 Tips to help with weight loss

• Be realistic when you set your goal for weight loss – It would not be realistic for me to plan and lose over 50 pounds a month after pregnancy. Because after 1 or 2 years the expected weight after the baby is 10 pounds.
• Crash diets are not the way to go – Using low-calorie meals will not give you enough good nutrition for you or the baby. You need the energy to take care of the new baby and if you are breastfeeding the milk needs the nutrients for the baby.
• Put lots of protein in your diet at breakfast – Proteins in your diet will help metabolism, decrease your appetite, and cut down on your calorie intake. Some proteins are lean meats, eggs, fish, beans, nuts, seeds, and dairy.
• Breastfeeding your baby – Breastfeeding has benefits for you and your baby. It provides nutrition, helps the immune system to fight viruses, bacteria, other diseases like diabetes, and asthma in your baby. It helps lower the mother’s risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and breast and ovarian cancer.
• Watch calories when eating – This will let you know where your problem areas are and get the energy and nutrition for your health.
• Put a lot of fiber in your diet – Fiber – grains, and vegetables help with weight loss, it helps you to feel fuller by reducing hunger.
• Choose foods with nourishing nutrients – Foods with the most nourishing nutrients are Salmon, Kale, seaweed, garlic, shellfish, potatoes, liver, sardines, shellfish-clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels.
• Take extra sugar out of your diet – Taking in too much sugar is very high in calories and can cause weight gain and has no nutritional value. Sugar will also cause an increase in diabetes, heart disease. A few foods and drinks that are high in sugar are sugary drinks like soda and fruit drinks. Foods are cakes, pastries, biscuits, white flour, and processed foods. Eating vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, eggs, and yogurt are great alternatives instead to eating sugar.
• Get the sleep you need at night – Obesity can come when you’re not getting 5-6 hours of sleep at night. When not getting enough sleep slows down the way the body makes calories into energy, this called metabolism. If the metabolism is not active the body makes energy that’s not being used as fat.
• Keep your stress level down – When you are continually under stress it will make you hungry and you will eat more. It will set off the hormones known as adrenaline and cortisol that decrease your appetite. The cortisol tells the body that nutrition needs to be replaced with carbohydrates a necessary fuel. The insulin sends the sugar that comes from the carbohydrates from the blood to your muscles and brain. If the sugar is not used it will be stored in the body as fat. Exercise is also important when trying to keep your stress levels down and recommended for keeping the weight off.

            Losing weight after childbirth is never easy. But you can do it by listening to your body to see what’s needed. Exercise and eat right to assure your success in losing your baby weight. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if needed. Because every new parent needs a break sometimes, so they can come back strong and ready to meet every challenge that will be there.