It has often been said that baby weight is some of the hardest weight to lose. It can also seem like every time you open a magazine or turn on the TV, that a celebrity had a baby last week and is vacationing on the beach in a bikini this week.
The best piece of advice may be to give yourself time. It took nine months to gain the baby weight, while you were growing another person, and you need to give yourself time to lose it. It can be harder to lose weight in the first few weeks, because your hormones may still be balancing and if you’re breastfeeding, you’ll need to include the right amount of calories and fat.
No Babysitter? Make it a Bonding Activity!
There are many different ways that you can exercise with your baby and get in shape. If the weather permits, get out there and walk…if it doesn’t, try walking the mall. Gentle exercise is often the best choice after childbirth, even if it has been six weeks. If you weren’t that into exercise before the baby, this is a great opportunity to make good choices that your child will want to imitate later on.
If getting out and about isn’t really possible, exercise on the floor with your baby. One fun exercise has you lie on your back and hold your knees at an angle. Hold the baby against your legs and you have leg lifts that are a lot more fun than the ones you do at the gym. If you have a spouse or partner who also is able to provide care for your baby, that might be your chance to join other moms. There is an excellent possibility that you are not the only mom in your area who’d like to get in shape. Be sure to get permission from your doctor before starting a new diet or exercise plan.
Consider What You Consume
A big problem for many moms is that once they get used to eating a few hundred extra calories a day during their pregnancy, it can be really hard to say no now. This becomes worse later on, when you don’t want to waste food, so it’s tempting to finish their plate when they don’t.
You can eat the lowest calorie, most nutritious food in the world and still gain weight, if you eat more than you should or drink too many calories
Instead, closely consider every bite that you eat and ask yourself two questions:
- Do you really want that food or beverage?
- Do you need it?
- Do you want or need the whole serving?
Unless you can say to all three of those, you probably don’t need it. Remember, if you saw it yesterday and you would have consumed all of it, but today you only consumed half…you are doing at least 50% better than you did yesterday. And that is something to be proud of!
