Weight loss after pregnancy is a significant concern for many women, but we have to remember that we can't put on that postpartum weight as fast as we lose it. We all gain some weight during pregnancy, and we need time to lose those extra pounds. Here are some tips on how you can effectively lose your pregnancy weight gain.
Tracking you weight
The first thing that you have to do is to keep track of weight gain and weight loss. This way are we can monitor ourselves on how we are doing with our weight loss. You will know what weight to target, and when we lose more than expected, we can always ask a doctor about it, and he'll help us figure out what's going on.
Tracking the foods you eat
There's nothing wrong with keeping an online logbook or simply writing down all the things you eat for one week. Go over your notes after a few days and see patterns between your eating habits and weight gain during pregnancy. If there's something unhealthy in weight gain, we can find an alternative we can eat to ensure we will still gain weight, but we won't earn as much as we could.
Workout for your weight loss
Even if you were not very physically active before pregnancy, now is the time to start exercising and lose the extra pounds. Yet, remember that everything has its limits, and don't force yourself too hard to work out or eating healthy. Make sure you know what your body can handle so after the baby is born, you'll be able to get back into shape quickly.
Post-baby workout tips
- After having a baby keep pushing yourself even if it feels like you are not getting better. The results come! Just make sure that you are eating healthy too.
- If you have time, try using dumbbells to tone your weight loss muscles. You can do squats and lunches with them; it will help you lose weight faster because even if you don't realize it, your weight loss body needs that workout.
- There are also many post-part workout videos that you can buy online or in DVD stores. Make sure you choose the one that has easy moves so after having a baby, you won't feel exhausted just by trying out a new videotape.
After pregnancy, we will need to use our energy to take care of ourselves first and then on caring for the baby, but there's no harm in making it. We still have some time for weight loss. If we have no time to go to the gym, just walk for ten minutes after the baby has gone to bed, this will help you weigh off faster than not making any weight loss at all.
- Dancing is also a great weight loss idea. Most people don't think about it, but dancing is the best way to burn fat and get your weight loss body in perfect shape, even if you don't work out at all outside of dancing. So put on your favorite songs and pop some dance moves.
Ten post-pregnancy weight loss exercises
Pregnancy is a beautiful time in a woman's life. Many women look forward to it and treasure every minute of it, but we all know that we cannot eat for two throughout our pregnancy. After we've fulfilled our duty, we're left with quite a bit of extra weight, and we need to work on losing it as soon as we can. Here are some exercises you can do:
1. Yoga
Yoga has long been known as an excellent way to hold back your pregnancy weight because those poses will help tighten those muscles we all let go of during those nine months. It will also help tone our bodies and make us feel fantastic! It doesn't matter if you practice Hatha or Bik yoga - both styles will do wonders for your weight loss.
2. Cardio
Cardio exercises are great for losing weight because we can do them anywhere we want to! It doesn't matter if you're on the treadmill at the gym or jogging around the block - both will help you get that body back into shape. You can quickly lose 1 pound per week doing cardio for about 30 minutes 3 times a week.
3. Swimming
Swimming is a great way to lose weight because we don't stress our joints when we run, for example, so if you don't feel like going to the gym or doing other exercises, this one will be perfect for you! It's also good cardio exercise. If we can try and do it outside, we'll get some vitamin D during wintertime as well :)
4. Stairs
This may sound difficult, but it's not so bad - we need to start by doing this exercise slowly until we're comfortable with it! The idea is that we're running up the stairs fast, which makes us breathless quickly and helps us lose weight quicker. We can easily burn 200 calories per hour doing this.
5. Riding a bike
Another good exercise we can do is riding our bikes - we all had them when we were kids, so we probably know how to use one, right? :) If not, we should be able to get the hang of it pretty quick! The idea here is that we move around constantly on our gears which helps us burn calories faster than if we were sitting in front of the TV or on the couch reading a book.
6. Walking/Running
The most basic exercises are among the best ones for losing weight after pregnancy - what you need to do here is just pick one and start doing it every day.
7. Swimming laps
Swimming laps is a great way to lose weight, but we need to make sure we're not pushing ourselves too hard, or we might end up hurting ourselves. We don't want that! We just need to do our best at moving those arms and legs as fast as we can - if we go slowly, we'll burn fewer calories, right?
8. Stretching exercises
Yoga is also a good idea for stretching exercises because it will help us strengthen muscles we didn't even know we had, lol - so if you've given birth before, you should try this one out during your pregnancy.
9. Weight lifting
This is something we shouldn't do unless we know what we're doing, so if you haven't picked up weights since we were teenagers, we'd better not try this one by ourselves - we need to get a professional trainer, or we might end up injuring ourselves.
10. Using the stairs
This is one of the best pregnancy exercises we can do because it will help us tone muscles we didn't even know we had! If we go slowly, we'll be able to shape our legs properly and make our butt firmer, which will look great after that weight loss :)
Weight loss isn't usually easy, but it can feel near impossible when you're recovering from pregnancy. The good news is that when you begin to see the pounds come off, your body will start looking better than ever. After all the baby weight melts away, it's time for you to get your pre-baby body back! Replace this with an exercise of choice
Young moms love this one because there are no complicated positions to remember or exercises that put excess pressure on their bodies.
Start by lying flat on your back with legs straight out in front of you. Bend your knees and cross them at the ankles. Place both hands over your abdomen near your belly button. Breathe deeply, allowing your stomach to expand. Then breathe out all the way. Repeat several times.
This is another easy exercise that you can do while sitting down on a chair or standing up. It's perfect for moms who are busy cooking dinner or cleaning up around the house.
Press both hands against your lower back and take long deep breaths through your nose, expanding your diaphragm as much as possible with each breath. Hold for five seconds, then release slowly over another five seconds before repeating three more times. This is great for promoting muscle relaxation and works your abdominal muscles just enough to give them that toned look we're all after!
Try crunches for this one, but make sure to keep your back straight when you're in the sitting position. Otherwise, you could end up with a lot of back pain down the road. To protect your back, bend your knees and place both feet flat on the floor before lying down on the floor face-down. Place your hands at either side of your head for support and prop yourself up using only your abdominal muscles. Keep the movement slight, not to strain anything unnecessary, then return to good posture with each sit-up!
These are just three of the many post-pregnancy weight loss exercises you can try. No matter what your exercise goals are, we've got an exercise plan that's right for you!
Pregnancy abdominal crunches begin at home with this simple but effective tip: While lying on your back, put a round pillow under your head and keep it there throughout the entire exercise. It will help keep your spine in good alignment and take pressure off your neck to avoid strain during the workout.
Start by laying flat on your back with both feet placed firmly on the floor about hip-distance apart. Place one arm over your head while reaching toward the opposite side of the bed (if you're using a pill). If you don't have a round pillow, you can put your arm on a diagonal on the bed. Use the other hand to pull the knee on the same side as your top arm toward your chest and hold it there throughout the entire movie. Exhale as you slowly tighten your abs and start rolling up from the spine one vertebrae at a time until you're sitting up nice and tall with your chest lifted. Inhale as you roll back down to starting position, keeping your chest lifted as much as possible for ten reps.
Once you've mastered this move, we'll add another challenge: Keep both feet flat on the floor, but we're going to remove that pillow we used before! If we don't have pads, we can place our arm straight out at the side of the bed, not lifted. Try to keep both shoulders on the floor as we perform the move.
This is an advanced version; we're ready for this one if we can do ten reps! Split leg twist with knee raise is a tough one but works abs from every angle, and we'll continue to use that pillow we created before. Or we can keep our hand right beside our face without lifting it off the bed...we'll see about raising our legs in the air, so we go past 90 degrees or until we reach 180 degrees where we touch feet with opposite hands....let's try keeping knees bent but reaching toward the ceiling..almost there! However you decide to end this exercise, we have completed it. Post-pregnancy is hard work; let's be sure to take care of our bodies now that we are done baby-making.
Tips to an Effective Post Pregnancy Weight Loss Exercise
After pregnancy, weight loss is not easy; many women love to eat, especially after giving birth. If you are one of those women who find it difficult to lose weight, here are some tips on how you can achieve effective post-pregnancy weight loss exercise
1. Have a goal -
Think of the reasons why you want to lose some pounds during your first weeks after having a baby. There are lots of benefits if we engage in moderate activity and we control our dietary intake accordingly. So, stay focused on what you want to achieve. Write them down somewhere that is visible so that every time we see them, we feel motivated all over again! Make sure that these goals are realistic, too, because if they're not achievable, we will more likely lose interest in trying to lose weight.
2. Don't get too excited about diet changes -
Before we start, we should take some time for preparation. The last thing we want to achieve effective post-pregnancy weight loss exercise is to get sick because of drastic changes in our dietary intake without proper transition. Eating the same foods all over again may trigger food sensitivity which can cause flu-like symptoms. It would be better to take it slowly by introducing one new food every few days until we fully adapt and adjust to our new diet. We also need time for pounds lost during the early stages to come off gradually rather than getting discouraged because we didn't see any result after a week.
3. Drink enough water -
Most of the time, we tend to mistake thirst for hunger. If we drink our eight glasses of water every day, we will lessen our appetite and, at the same time, speeds up the metabolism that helping in effective detoxification. Furthermore, fluid retention can cause weight gain after pregnancy because it makes us look fatter than we are! So better hydrate more often by drinking plenty of fluids, especially during hot weather or when we're doing heavy exercise. It's essential to avoid high caloric drinks such as fruit juice and soda, though, because they may contain lots of sugar which we don't need anymore if we're on a diet program.
4. Workout at least three times per week -
You don't have to spend more than 30 minutes of your precious time per workout session as long as you feel you had a good workout. We can lessen the time we spend exercising and increase the intensity as we get fitter. Just make sure you follow your doctor or fitness expert guidelines first before engaging in any heavy activity, especially if you didn't lose weight after having a baby. It's essential to warm up our muscles for at least 5-10 minutes and cool down afterward because it helps prevent injuries and muscle soreness.
5. There is no such thing as effective post-pregnancy weight loss exercise -
This means we need to engage in different activities throughout our day so we won't feel quickly. We don't have to spend money on joining expensive post-pregnancy weight loss exercise classes or activities. Let's be realistic here; we have a baby we have to take care of, which is the most important thing we need to do at this point! So we can't just go out and join a gym because we don't want to leave our baby alone with a babysitter for more than an hour. Worse, we may not lose weight after having a baby because we will even have no time to sleep more often than not.
There are lots of tips that we can follow to achieve effective post-pregnancy weight loss exercise, but it doesn't mean we will lose those extra pounds off. What's important is we give ourselves enough time by starting slow adjusting with changes as we move along. Finally, we need to maintain our new lifestyle, and we will lose weight after we have a baby.
Benefits of losing weight after pregnancy
Some women have a difficult time losing weight after pregnancy. While we know that we should never lose more than one or two pounds each week, an average woman breastfeeding her baby may gain six to eight pounds in the first few months of her child's life. That extra weight is critical for lactation, and we need to try not to focus on importance at this time but instead on eating well and taking care of ourselves during a stressful period.
Every woman loses weight. Differently, there are some ways we can help you get back into shape faster:
- Eat small meals five times a day instead of three;
- Do cardiovascular exercise four times a week for 30 minutes; eat protein every 3 hours to keep your metabolism strong;
- Walk whenever you can; however, we want to emphasize that we should be careful with the training we do after pregnancy, we should consult our doctor for more information.
After childbirth, we need at least six weeks to get back into shape; we will need the help of a nutritionist if we get frustrated because we are not losing weight. We all know that it's easier said than done, but after nine months of breastfeeding and caring for a newborn, we have to take care of ourselves to take care of another little person in this world.
The most important thing is not how much weight we lose in a week or a month, but how we feel in our bodies. There isn't a magic trick to losing weight; we have to take it one day at a time. We know we will feel better if we take care of ourselves and lose weight in the process.
A complete diet is high fiber ingredients and contains:
- Proteins like lean meat or fish.
- Whole grains with healthy fats like olive oil.
- Lots of fruits and vegetables.
If we start with this type of food, we won't crave fattening food; we can make our meals healthier by grilling meats instead of frying them, adding more vegetables in soups, or choosing salad over fries. Try these small changes every day, and you will see how your body reacts positively.
We should consider that we need to change some habits after having a baby, we will need tight control over our diet and have to buy new clothes. We can't stop eating because we feel bad, we should try to eat healthy balanced meals every four hours because we won't be able to go long hours without eating. If we start exercising, we will see how much better we look and feel much better.
Our bodies are different after pregnancy; we don't want to put any pressure on us to lose weight. The most important thing is that we do what is best for us and not just think about the number on our scales every day; we want to take care of ourselves and safely lose weight. Every woman loses weight differently after giving birth; we need to remember that we are not the same before having a child.
If we need any help, we can ask our doctor, or we can see a nutritionist, they will explain what we need to do to get back into shape faster after pregnancy. Our baby is essential for us, but after nine months of caring for her, we have to take care of ourselves too. We want to lose weight gradually, not to feel frustrated with ourselves; remember that you have changed in many ways since having your little one.
There isn't a trick to lose weight successfully after giving birth; we have to keep trying and set small goals every day to get discouraged over time. A healthy diet is the first step we have to take when we want to lose weight after pregnancy; we need a nutritionist's help if we get frustrated because we aren't losing weight as fast as we expected.
So if you want to lose your pregnancy weight fast, these are the exercise routines you should do with dedication to be able to fit into your bikini in time for summer.
