Realistic Tips for Losing Baby Weight

You survived your pregnancy — way to go! If you’re hoping to lose that baby weight, be sure to read these realistic tips for losing baby weight. 

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Slimfast, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #14daystoslim 

Women are always wondering how to lose baby weight or how to get their body back after pregnancy. While I’m certainly not an expert, there are several things you do to help aid in weight loss after pregnancy. I’ll admit — I lost all my weight within a week with not a lot of effort, but I also didn’t gain hardly any weight (I was sick to the brutal end.) That is not the norm though.

Before I give you my tips, I think these two things are important to remember:

• It took you nine months to gain that weight. It’s illogical to think you will lose it all overnight (even though it does happen to some.) Give yourself some time to adjust to taking care of a tiny human. You should still try to eat healthy right away, but lay low on the physical exercise side of things for awhile (recommended is about six weeks for a normal birth.)
• Your body may never be the same. Now, this isn’t the same thing as just letting your body go and not trying. You can still get back into good shape after you have a baby, but it might not be the same! Wider hips and a little bit softer of a stomach is just a sign that you participated in one of the most wonderful events.
• It is important to lose the weight as much as you can. Debra Krummel, endowed professor in University of Cincinnati department of nutrition said, “It’s very critical that you do get the weight off, because if you don’t, it has been associated with overweight and obesity 15 to 20 years later in life.”

1. Have a Healthy Pregnancy

I know what you’re thinking — um, I’m looking for tips on how to lose baby weight, pregnancy is over! But I think one of the best ways to lose your baby weight, is to prepare before you even give birth. Gaining the recommended amount of weight for your size and exercising regularly not only prepares you to give birth but to help shed the pounds after pregnancy as well. Be sure to check out my tips for a healthy pregnancy!

2. Don’t Skip Meals

It may seem tempting to skip meals or go on a crash diet. Don’t do it! If you are breastfeeding, you need to be eating around 1800 calories a day. Despite what some people may believe, eating less than about 1200 calories a day can be detrimental to your health and even if you lose weight quickly, it will come back just as quickly. Losing about 1-2 pounds a week is recommended.

When you’re in those first few months of sleep deprivation, you might accidentally skip meals! I’m sure I did (and let’s be honest, sometimes I still forget to eat.) I like to have shakes or smoothies around for quick meals, such as Slimfast products. They are packed with 5 grams of fiber, 10 grams of protein, and 180 calories. It’s perfect for those times when you just need energy and don’t have a lot of time. Plus, you can lose up to 6 pounds in two weeks, thanks to their 14 Days to Slim program. And their new Piña Colada flavor? SO good.

3. Drink Water

Staying hydrated with water is important for everyone, even if they aren’t trying to lose weight. However, drinking water can help get rid of water weight (ironic, right?), keep you from eating too much, and will give you energy. There’s all sorts of recommendations for how much water to drink (I just read today it should be half your body weight in ounces…so if you’re 140 pounds, you should be drinking 70 ounces of water), but I think the general consensus is 8 eight ounce glasses a day.

When I gave birth, my hospital gave me a snazzy cup that had a nice straw and was really, really big. I used it for probably a year, and it really helped me drink a lot of water. I always had it filled up with ice and cold water, and I really needed it. Plus, if you are breastfeeding, you will probably crave water — it really dehydrates you!

If you have trouble drinking water, I highly recommend trying infused water. Not only does infused water help detox the body (with the right combinations of fruits, veggies, and herbs), but it’s delicious. It’s definitely my favorite way to drink water nowadays. My infused water bottle is one of the best purchase I’ve made lately!

4. Make Exercise a Priority

The days of going to the gym for hours and attending classes every day may be over for awhile (not that those days ever started for me.) However, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still exercise. A brisk walk around the neighborhood pushing your stroller can still get your heart rate up and burn a lot of calories. If you wear your baby (and after following my DIY Moby Wrap tutorial, you’ll have no excuse not to!), that’s a great way to burn calories, too. I mean, it’s like carrying around a 8-15 pound weight all the time.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend getting a gym membership. I’ve found that I force myself to workout a lot more, and it’s also nice, because our gym has a child watch center. Most of them require the child to be at least three months (maybe older), but gyms or rec centers have so many resources for exercise.

Whatever you do, just make sure you move. If you do a search for exercises with babies, you’ll be able to find a bunch of great ideas. I totally do leg lifts with Jack!

5. Keep healthy snacks around

Eating healthy is key. And I know how easy it is to eat healthy for the main meals of the day, but totally falter when you see cookies on your counter, or a tub of ice cream in the fridge. While those treats are totally fine in moderation, it’s far too easy to eat 10 cookies, or an entire pint (or gallon) of ice cream when they are the only snacks around.

Stocking your refrigerator and freezer with healthy snacks and treats can really help keep you on track. We always have fresh fruit available, healthy-ish fruit bars, and other snacks. Slimfast has some great healthy recipes pinned as well over on Pinterest.

6. Write Down What You Eat

This is probably one of the most tedious and annoying things to do, but it sure is effective. I’ve found that when I write down what I eat, it really makes me think twice about what I’m putting into my body, and it really helps with mindless snacking. I personally do better when I actually write down what I eat in a journal, but MyFitnessPal  is a great way to track what you eat and other fitness/health goals, especially if you have a smartphone!

6. Sleep

I know, sleeping and a baby don’t usually go hand-in-hand. However, getting sleep is essential to weight loss. As hard as it might be, sleep when your baby sleeps (assuming you don’t have other kiddos to demand your attention) and go to bed early. You may feel like you don’t have enough time to do everything during the day, and in turn stay up until midnight, but let me tell you — very few things a worth staying up that late for! Getting your sleep well help you be a better mom, spouse, and will improve your health.

7. Breastfeed

Now, before I go further, let it be known that I know some women can’t (or choose not to) breastfeed. And that’s totally fine. However, breastfeeding does burn calories and can help you lose weight. However, it’s not a solution for everyone — I know plenty of people that can’t lose weight until they stop breastfeeding. However, many women do lose weight while breastfeeding, and it’s often an added benefit. I think it definitely kept the pounds off for me! Maybe that’s why I didn’t give it up so easily 😉

8. Talk to your doctor

After doing everything you can, if you find yourself just not losing any weight, it might warrant a trip to the doctor. Many women have thyroid issues after pregnancy, which results in weight gain. Doctors will also have more insight into tips for losing weight as well.

Be sure to follow our health and exercise board for more tips!
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Need some motivation? Be sure to enter the 14 days to Slim Challenge Sweepstakes on Slimfast’s Facebook page from May 12th until May 27th. There will be two $5,000 grand prize winners!

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, personal trainer, or nutritionist. This is NOT medical advice.