The struggle with kilograms is a leading problem for many people all over the world. Especially as a young mother, having recently given birth and losing weight after pregnancy is a matter of health and mental balance. Your health will reflect on the health of your baby, and if by sticking to a certain diet you deprive your body of vital nutrients, your child will suffer the most. So a low-calorie diet or a ketogenic diet can skim the scenes but should not be present in the daily life of a breastfeeding woman who has recently given birth.
What are the consequences of extra weight after pregnancy?
Any woman who is affected by the “baby weight” factor is at increased risk for overweight, diabetes, and heart disease, a potential danger of complications during pregnancy. Currently, the percentage of women with gestational diabetes is high.
The list below provides evidence-based advice for weight loss after pregnancy.
Pregnancy Weight Loss Tips
Moms-to-be are very sensitive to their faces and hope for quick results from celebrity stories. Except that reality does not meet the goals and losing weight after pregnancy takes time.
Depending on how much weight you gained during pregnancy, it is realistic to expect that over the next 1–2 years you will be able to lose around 5 kg. If you’ve put on more weight, you could end up a few pounds heavier than before you were pregnant.
Of course, with the right diet and exercise, you should be able to achieve any level of healthy weight loss that your doctor approves.
Breastfeed as much as you can
All world medicinal authorities recommend breastfeeding. Breastfeeding your baby for the first six months of life, or longer has many benefits for both of you. Notably, breast milk contains all the nutrients a baby needs to grow up healthy. Thanks to mother’s milk, which contains important antibodies, the infant’s immune system becomes resistant to being able to fight viruses and bacteria.
If you breastfeed your little one, you decrease the risk that he will get sick with asthma, obesity, type 1 diabetes, respiratory illnesses, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and gastrointestinal infections. As for the breastfeeding mother avoids high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. So, boost your lactation. However, during the first 3 months of breastfeeding, you may not experience any weight loss or even some weight gain. This is due to increased calorie needs and intake, as well as a reduced physical activity while breastfeeding.
Control your calorie intake
Calculating calories is no fun activity. But if you find that eating intuitively just doesn’t seem to work, monitoring calories can help you figure out how much you’re eating and where the issues are in your diet. Additionally, it can make sure that you are consuming enough calories to provide you with the energy and nutrition a nursing woman needs. To make it easier for you, writing a food journal is a good idea. Also, take pictures of your food to remind you of what you ate. There are mobile apps that will help you track calories. Using these techniques can help you reduce your portion size and choose healthier foods.
Eat foods high in fiber
Healthy grains and vegetables should be on your shopping list. Considering the role of fiber for good digestion, the consumption of foods rich in fiber will stimulate weight loss after pregnancy.
Increase healthy protein
This means that the body uses more energy to digest them than other types of food, which counts more calories burned. Some sources claim that protein can suppress appetite by increasing the satiety hormones and reducing the hunger hormone, ghrelin.
You can get healthy protein from lean meats, eggs, low mercury fish, legumes, nuts and seeds, dairy products.
Make sure you have healthy snacks on hand
Keep processed foods and sweets out of the kitchen, alternating them with chopped vegetables and hummus, a mix of nuts and dried fruits, Greek yogurt and homemade popcorn, cheese.
Avoid added sugar and refined carbohydrates
While they can be tempting, sugar and refined carbs are high in calories and generally low in nutrients. Research links high consumption of added sugar and refined carbohydrates with increased weight, diabetes, heart disease, certain cancers, and even cognitive decline. No more sugary drinks, fruit juice, any type of refined sugar, white flour, sweet spreads, cakes, cookies, and pastries.
When choosing foods at the grocery store, read the labels. If sugar is one of the first ingredients on the list, it is best to ignore the product.
Forget alcohol when you are breastfeeding
Research has shown that small amounts of alcohol, such as a glass of red wine, have health benefits. However, when it comes to weight loss, alcohol provides extra calories without much nutrition. Additionally, alcohol can be linked to weight gain and can cause more fat to be stored around organs, also known as belly fat.
When you’re in the mood to celebrate, we recommend something low in sugar and sparkling like unsweetened flavored sparkling water.
Weight loss after childbirth as a result of physical activity
To stimulate weight loss after pregnancy, you have to move. Like walking, jogging, running, cycling, and interval training, Cardio helps you burn calories and lose belly fat. Exercise improves heart health, reduces the risk and severity of diabetes, and may reduce the risk of many types of cancer.
Let’s say exercise alone can’t help you lose weight, so a combination of good nutrition is especially important for fat loss and heart health.
