It’s a daunting task to shed those extra kilos after you’ve had the baby. Before you draft that strict diet-plan or hit the gym, you ought to know that weight gain in pregnancy is completely natural and healthy. Just as it’s best to put on weight slowly and steadily during your pregnancy, you need to be slow and steady in losing weight post-pregnancy. With a little effort, you can easily get into great shape after having a baby.
Give your body enough time to recover from labour and delivery. You should ideally wait until your six-week post-partum check-up before you start watching your calorie intake.
An excellent way to lose some of your pregnancy weight is to breastfeed! One of the reasons your body puts on weight during pregnancy is to help store the caloric energy it takes to breastfeed your baby-about 200 to 500 extra calories per day.
Wait six weeks after a normal birth and eight weeks after a C-section to start exercising. Do some modified push-ups at home and go for a walk in the park with the baby to start off. Engage in low-impact exercises such as swimming or yoga.
Eating a healthy diet is step one to get back your pre-baby body. With a new baby and schedule, as a new mother it can be hard to find the time to eat. But skipping meals or fad diets won’t help you lose weight. Many moms find that eating five to six small meals a day with healthy snacks in between (rather than three larger meals) fits their appetite and schedule better.
Before you realize, your baby will soon start crawling and walking. That itself, will keep you moving around all day and your weight will drop faster.
