Dear Beautiful ladies,
Journey to pregnancy is both beautiful and challenging. We go through a lot of changes physically, mentally and emotionally.
Not a long ago , a lady looked at me and said congratulations looking at my tummy(LOL).That happened months after giving birth to my baby. You might have heard similar comments like” you still look pregnant “a lot of times and felt disappointed too.
So my dear ladies even before we start a journey to weight loss, lets lose all the negativities around weight gain. Our aim should be a healthy body and rest all will fall in place in time.
I have tried these 60 sure tips to lose post pregnancy weight which has worked very well for me
(still going on).
- Drink Water in a right way: I was always advised by my doctor, friends and almost everyone to drink water and did that. However I never understood the “Whys & When’s” of drinking water. Understanding the reason behind drinking water is very important. Drinking water boosts your metabolism and detoxifies your body. Drinking a right amount of water helps body to remove extra water from your body which helps to lose weight gained by water retention.
Points to remember:
Other important thing to understand water consumption is the temperature. You should consume water either at a lukewarm or room temperature. Refrigerated water or hot water is a no-no.
You should have water in any form (preferably lukewarm) first thing in the morning. Drink water an hour before your food (Lukewarm is a good idea) as it will leave less space in your stomach, reducing the chance of over eating.
Avoid drinking water immediately after or during your food consumption.
Credit- International Camelbank.com: How much water should you drink?
2. Get sound sleep- Sleeping for at-least 6 to 7 hours is extremely important for ones sound health and mind. Research shows that lack of sleep causes increases level of hunger causing hormones called Ghrelin.
I understand that getting enough sleep can be really difficult, if you are a new mom. How-ever a few strategies can help like sleeping when your baby is sleeping and asking for help from family.
If you feel anxious while sleeping, try sleeping in a colder room and try on a heavy blanket.
Listen to light music
Meditate or take a light walk
Have a glass of warm milk
Don’t use your phone.
This article published on USA today can help you more.
3. Eat six times a day: Eat small meals 6 times. Please note that it doesn’t mean that you will have 6 proper meals but have 3 meals and 3 light and healthy snacks. Avoid having any carbs or processed food like chips, burgers.
Include salad, fruits, juices, homemade snacks. Small and light meals are easy to digest and decreases the chances of over eating.
I came across this wonderful article on Woman magazine.
4. Don’t diet: Most of us aim at rapid weight loss after pregnancy. Your ultimate goal should be getting a healthy body rather than just weight loss. Dieting, is assumed to be one of the quickest ways to lose weight after having a baby but the fact is it includes very low calorie as well as low nutrient food to lose weight soon. But dieting that too after delivery can cause long term harmful effects. A low calorie diet food will leave you weak and tired and it will be difficult for you to take care of your baby and feed her.
5. Breast feed: I know this has been told to you time and again. Breastfeeding has a lot of benefits including baby’s good health. It includes the nutrients which helps baby grow and thrive well. It enhances baby’s immunity strength, Lowers the risk of any diseases in infants and not only that, it also reduces chances of any diseases in mother. Along with all these benefits, feeding also helps in weight loss as a lot of calories goes out when you feed.
6 . Have 30gm of protein within 30 minutes of getting up: You must take 30gms of protein within 30 minutes of waking up. It can be any form of natural protein like eggs, sprouts, legumes, nuts, dairy pulses etc. Your metabolism improves in a great way by taking protein rich food. Proteins make you feel full as it secrets fullness hormones (GLP-1,PYY , CCK) and decreases intake of unnecessary food. The reason protein is a recommended food is its “Thermic effect” it means, body has to spend more energy to digest it.
I found this beautiful article on Health line.
7.Avoid refined sugar and carb: You must reduce your intake of sugar and eliminate refined carb from your food immediately. Refined carbs includes every packed item and proceed eating items like chips, burgers etc. Avoid having packaged juice items for health sake. Carbonated drinks or any packed food items do no good. Remove white sugar from your diet and replace with Jaggery which contains a lot of iron. Don’t buy anything that you should not eat.
8. Eat food high in fibre: Fibre is another very important part of a healthy diet. Soluble fiber helps reduce appetite. A study published in Annals of Internal medicine suggests that something as simple as eating 30 gm of fibre a day can help us to lose weight. Soluble fibre is found in oats, peas, beans, apple, citrus fruits, barley and psyllium.
9. Stock up healthy snack: Ensure that your food rack is filled only with healthy snack items. It can be seasonal fruits, fox nuts, dry fruits, puffed rice, oats, Dalia, Quinoa etc. Not buying any chips, chocolates and any fired items at grocery item will help you avoiding eating them. Yes, just don’t buy what you don’t want to eat.
10. Avoid junk/fast food: You must leave your habit of hogging over fast food items or any deep fried items from your market. Especially burgers, cakes, anything made of all-purpose flour must be avoided strictly. Fast food is high in sodium, sugar and highly saturated trans-fat. It causes obesity and high risk of heart attacks. So even when you are full with thee, your body lacks and craves for more food leading to over eating
11. Know what you eat by food journal: Anything that gets measured and noticed, gets improved. So if you notice and know, what is going inside your body then you can improve it. Keep a small note book handy to just mention whatever you ate for the day and go back to it, once a week to understand the development areas.
You can view this one i got from this site
12. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol is high on calories with no nutritional values. It can cause weight gain and belly fat. It can also cause reduction in milk production. It can have bad effect on your liver and hamper proper digestion. Alcohol has sever effect on liver and can lead to weaken the digestion system as well.
13. Start light exercise: You need to work out a bit shred that extra pound, but that does not mean any tedious heavy exercises. It can be a light walk, yoga, and breathing. Going out with your baby and little stretching. If you had C-Section, exercise is not allowed for 6 months. You can slowly start walking after the delivery and do slight nasal breathing exercises. Ensure you get your doctor’s advice about it.
14. Wear a maternity belt: It is really recommended that you wear a maternity belt in your initial days as your stomach is extremely loose and it can help you in tightening the stomach muscles.It gives a structure to your suddenly loosened belly after delivery and prevents it from becoming your permanent body structure.
15. Have warm water at least 3 months of delivery: You must ensure that you drink only warm water during first few days of delivery. Refrigerated water is a complete no. You can add ajwain to the water if you want. If you could not do this before. It’s never too late to start.
16. Home Chores: It’s a fact that you cannot work out for 6 months if you had a C-section but gradually, doing few of home chores can be very effective. Avoid any chores which involved weight for 6 months and can get back to it after 6 months. If you do your chores regularly, your body will remain fit. But do not rely on yourself completely, getting someone to help is a must do.
17. Do the baby weight training: Lifting weight for 6 month is a strict no, but you can always lift your baby and you will realise that as your baby will gain weight your capability to lift her will increase. Go out with baby, walk around with baby in your arms.
18. Make mindful choices: Make a habit of healthy snacking. Replace your candies, biscuits and cookies with dry fruits, nuts and fruits. Don’t eat chips, cod drinks or sugar based items.You can refer to post pregnancy weight loss diet plan here. This is one of the videos I watched .
I found this article useful.
19. Lower your stress levels: Please do not stress. Whenever you are stressed, your body responds like we are about to be harmed ,leading to release of hormones like cortisole,which causes body craving for unhealthy food like sugar and fat. This can lead to gain of fat in our body. Stress effects our metabolism, insulin level and blood flow.
You can refer to this amazing article
20. Dance: If you don’t enjoy work outs, dancing is your go-to thing .It will make you move and sweat, without letting you feel that you are working out. Zumba is one of the coolest way to lose weight. You don’t even need to spend a penny for this. Download any of good Zumba routines and copy them. You can make your baby a part of it.
This is my favourite Zumba dance
21. Healthy dessert: If you have sugar cravings try fulfilling it by having healthier sweets like dates, Jaggery, yogurt etc. You can also opt for healthier options like fruits .Stock your fridge with naturally healthy items and this way you can skip the habit of eating unhealthy sweets.
22. Don’t binge watch: It’s very important that you eat at a proper place and relish your food. Observe what you are eating. Avoid netflixing ,chatting or anything else while eating Eat with people you love and ensure you feel happy while eating.
23. Cut out on refined oils as much as you can: Anything with refined as a prefix is a bad idea. Start reducing use of refined oils. Used natural oil like olive oil, coconut oil and other natural oil. The easiest way to reduce it is by reducing the spoon you use for the poring the oil.
24. Early dinner: You must avoid late night eating at all cost.Have your dinner, as early as possible. I have made it a point to have my dinner and go to bed as soon as my baby sleeps. It would give ample time for your body to digest the food. It will also give you at least an hour of extra rest that is required for you.
25. Walk as and when you can: Walk it out. Walk, when and where ever possible. Walk in office, in your living room, to your kitchen, in the park, in the mall. I know it’s extremely difficult, especially after C-section, as body is too weak, you can build your stamina slowly.
26. Give yourself time: Please take yourself first. Lots of nutrients, calcium etc. has gone out of your body, first of all get them back. Eat your post pregnancy medicines and eat well. It’s alright if you fell hungry, eat properly.Don’t be in a hurry of losing weight.It takes time to lose weight and it is absolutely normal.
27.Don’t buy anything else which is not in your list: Make your grocery list on your own. You can do the audit part if your partner makes it for you. Be very careful while making the list, ensure no unhealthy, sugary, fried or refined items are on the list. Now make a very restrict rule that no one can buy anything out of list. This way you can fight your temptations.
28.Eat at home: Eating out is fancy but it effects two things very badly, your pocket and your health. Do it once in a while but avoid it most of the times. Have your stomach full before going out. Yes, that’s exactly what I do. It would save you from all the temptations of unhealthy food.
29.Carry your box: Fill a box with dry fruits or makhane and keep it in your permanently in your bag. If you feel tempted to something unhealthy just eat from that box. You will instantly be out of that temptation to eat any junk or unhealthy food.It will save you and your wallet from bad health.
30.Stay motivated: You might have heard, several remarks like, “you still look pregnant”, “you won’t lose weight after c section, body doesn’t remain like before and what not. Please just ignore them. They have no idea what they are talking about. It gets all fine. I think it just gets better. You just get better after becoming a mom.
31.Stretch: Do as much stretching as possible. You can do it while sitting down or while sleeping. It’s very easy and it increases the flexibility of your body and tightens the loose muscles. This will not only help you lose weight but also strengthen your muscles.Any kind of stretchering activity ,helps you lose weight.
32.Never be negative while eating: You should never be unhappy while eating else it can do no good to your body. Respect and feel blessed to be getting food. Never sit for office gossip or discuss how worried you are about eating that butter chicken. Just enjoy while you eat. You food absorbs the vibration so stay very careful while eating .Saying a thank you before you start eating will be great .
33. Body and belly massage: If you had a C-section like mine, you need to wait till 4 months before starting. Even after that go easy on belly area, just a light circular massage will do. Proper massage will tighten the lose muscles and shape out your body.Getting massage will nourish your bones and give it strength required.
34.Ajwain is a boon: If your concern is ,how to lose weight after cesarean delivery? Ajwain water is your answer. Try having it as much as possible .Keep a sipper on your side and keep sipping it throughout the day. It cues you from inside and helps in reducing the belly fat up to a great extent. It is known to heal the wounds caused during delivery.
35.Stairs: Once you feel that your strength is back, you can start using stairs. Start slow, like taking stairs even for one floor is a great join. Trust me this small step can go a long way.It is a good exercise for muscles and your heart.It is an excellent way of getting light work out.Do not take stairs for more than a few minutes.Excess of anything is bad.
36.Eat your pinniyan or the traditional dry fruit methi ladoos: I never knew the benefits these home based, old aged things have. They completely heal you from inside for once and for all. It will give you physical and mental boost required. It will increase your milk supply and enhance the amount good cholesterol in your body.
37.Eat green: You still need all your greens. Please continue the good habits you have learned during pregnancy. Even I am still maintaining my good habits. Eat salads and try having smoothies if you can.Eating your vegetable will keep your stomach full and save you from any cravings for unhealthy food.It will also give you the nourishment required.
38. Start going out: I know that you are going through a lot, sleepless night, weakness and what not. Going out will help. Take a friend along and of course your baby too. You can even walk alone to the nearest park, to a mall, to a friends’ house, a neighbour’s house or even to your campus, just walk out. It will make you more active and positive. Remember every single action you take, counts!
39.Restart your outdoor hobby: Recall if you like doing anything that involved outdoor activities like badminton, running or anything else. Once you have completed six months just go for it.If you can, play with your kids or just walk around the corner,walk to a temple.Any form of outdoor activity will help.
40. Work for your dream wardrobe: I know every one of us wants to look beautiful. Post pregnancy weight gain, however leads to lack of confidence about our looks. If you are feeling demotivated as clothes don’t fit you any longer and you think you aren’t looking great. Just go online and create a dream wardrobe. Work out for that ladies. I know you can do it.
41. Do not eat at late night: I have been guilty of eating late nights during pregnancy. If you are going through same, please ensure that you don’t. You can stop that gradually. If you really feel hungry eat something light like soup or dry fruits.Eating late can lead to indigestion.
42.Portion control: Talk to your doctor after 6 months to understand if you have been over eating. If yes, slowly go for portion control/Eat well but reduce the quantity.You can eat everything if you eat it ina correct portion. Replace them with healthier substitutes like cucumber salad, curd or milk
43. DO NOT skip meals:Skipping your meals the most dangerous of all. Starving yourself means, starving your baby, moreover it can lead to low glucose and sugar levels leading to hypoglycemia. Apart from that starving leads to over eating at the end of day.
44.Go for yoga: Yoga is a holistic approach which aims at cleansing and rejuvenating the human body from outside as well as inside. Yoga manages stress and reduces the chances of stress eating. It creates an awareness in us about our body and emotions, which in helps reducing the need of emotional eating. It creates an awareness in our mind, results in mindful eating.
Read this beautiful article on yoga.
45.Don’t give in to body shaming: It is good to accept compliments and work on feedback. Genuine suggestions coming from your people, matters but do not let everyone comment on your body and make you feel bad. If you let them do continuously, it might even effect on your confidence. Be assertive and calm while responding back to such people.
46. Replace your coffee and tea with green Tea: Green tea is great for weight loss as flavonoids and caffeine in green tea can help in strengthening metabolism. Green tea helps in weight loss but excess of anything is bad, don’t have it more than 2 cups a day. It contains many nutrients including antioxidant, anti-cancer and brain health ingredients.
You can refer to this informative article here.
47. Cumin-ginger-lemon drink: This is one of my favourite home remedies for weight loss after delivery. This is a high energy, metabolism booster drink. Take 2 glasses of water, 2 tablespoon of Cumin, grated ginger extract. Keep it for boiling for some time. Take it out once the water has reduced to half. Add half a lemon and some honey if you like. You can have it once it remains luke-warm.
48. Fix your meal time: Our body has a natural defined clock for eating and sleeping .Eating and sleeping at random hours lead to slow down of our body metabolism. Eating late nights or at different time every day can lead to bad digestion and over eating.
Refer to this article
49. Light dinner: Eating light and early at night can help your body to digest the food properly, you will not feel heavy. It also helps to maintain a good metabolism. Never skip your dinner as it can lead to over eating at late night or even lower down the sugar leave due to starving your body for the entire night.
Read this article for reference
50. No carbs with non veg: Eating non veg with rice and chapattis, is not a good idea. Carbs on Carbs ultimately leads to difficult digestion. All the carbs breaks to sugar and , the more the sugar ,the more the weight.
51. Eat as much vegetables and fruits as possible: Fruits are best to lose belly fat. It also protects you from some types of cancer and chronic diseases. Fruits are rich source of fibre and many other vitamins and minerals. High fibre diet leads to good digestion, which means a healthy weight.
You can refer to this article
52. Replace your white rice with brown rice: People who eat whole grains like brown rice have lesser weight in comparison to those who eat white rice. White rice is a processed version of brown rice. White rice has lesser vitamins and minerals in comparison to brown.
53. Juice up: Juices are rich source of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Juice is a liquid diet and hence it is very easy to digest. It also detoxifies your body. It can work as filler between main meals. Avoid packed juice as it is rich in chemical preservatives and sugar. You can chose to take a glass of fresh vegetable or fruit juice and stay healthy.
54. Have your post pregnancy supplements: Different deficiencies can be reason of your high food cravings or irregular sleep time leading to weight gain .If you have been advised to have certain supplements, then continue having them for the prescribed time.
55. Get your check-up done: If you have done everything and still putting on weight, please don’t feel sad. See your doctor and get proper medications. Pregnancy and post pregnancy period is full of hormonal changes. It may be due to some kind of imbalance. Take medicines, exercise and relax, it will all be fine.
56. Sweat out: Once you have completed your 6 months post C-section, start slight exercise. You can start with running, skipping, planks, go to a gym or chose any of your home chores like mopping and cleaning. Get your self-involved in some physical activities. You can refer to post pregnancy weight loss exercise here.
57. Find a support group: If you have been feeling too low or feeling less confidant due to weight gain, try joining communities of moms. Ladies who have been through same can suggest you things that work for you. They can help you regain the confidence. You will realise how normal it is to be going through this phase and it will be easier for you to lose weight.
58. Be realistic: Please don’t expect any magic to happen over-night. The weight gain has taken time, so will the weight loss. You have all the time of the world. Just be slow but consistent. Don’t lose hope if you missed your schedule or diet one day, just start again. The key is to keep trying till you succeed.
59. Make a gratitude journal: If you are feeling too low about your weight, pause a second and count the blessings you have.Thank god every day for giving you such a beautiful life. Be grateful for what you have and accept yourself the way you are. Every individual is unique and it’s time for you to celebrate yourself.
60. Love yourself: Last but not the least, show yourself some love. There are so many people who love you a lot .You are a wonderful and beautiful woman, the way you are. Your people are going to love you the way you are. Wear your favourite clothes, pamper yourself with some spa and do what make you happy.
Bonus: Include turmeric and ginger in your diet as they are good for your gut and digestion.
You can view my Video here:
Remember our aim should be to have a healthy body and mind not a certain weight.
Please show some love for my first blog. It will not only make my day but my entire year. Leave your comments, like ,follow and share with everyone who needs to read this.
Believe and good things will happen to you!
Lokah Samastah sukhino bhavantu!