It is quiet common to hear women talking about losing Fat after pregnancy to get back to the same pre pregnancy shape and Fat. During pregnancy the body of a woman goes through lot of changes in order to allow the growth of fetus. Typically women add about 25-35 pounds of Fat during this period. At the time of delivery one may lose 12-15 pounds. This leaves about 15-25 pounds to lose in order to attain the pre pregnancy Fat.
However post pregnancy there are several challenges that a new mom has like – taking care of the new born, maintain good health, have high levels of stamina and energy, feeding the new born at night and several others. Even if you are not breast feeding you just cannot start a dieting program immediately. You can start losing Fat after pregnancy in a gradual manner only.
It is best to allow a 2-3 months recovery period before you can start something rigorous. Of course this will be only after a proper check up with a doctor. Once your doctor gives a go ahead, you can begin some vigorous stuff. In the interim you can start simple exercises like a 15 minute walk in your garden or maybe taking the stairs to your mezzanine floor once or twice in a day.
As far as diet is concerned you will need to take a healthy and nutritious food that has fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Having all the meals is important. It is always better to have 5-6 mini meals to keep up the energy requirements. This is important for your own health and for the new born. Avoid any kind of stress or strain and complete your quota of 8 hours of sleep even if you need to sleep in installments.
After a 2-3 months recovery period your normal menstrual cycle would have started and if you doctor provides the go ahead then you may start some moderate exercises. Again don’t ever think of any of the crash diets, these can be harmful for you. Also remember that you may not have the luxury of time like before to spend hours together at a gym. Take these factors into account and start some simple workouts and gradually increase the intensity.
As far as exercises like resistance training and interval training are concerned it may take you a while to start doing these. Probably it is best to start with some simple body Fat exercises and some dumbbells. And remember that you really don’t have to sweat it out every day to achieve your Fat loss goal. You can get good results by even doing moderate exercises, 30 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week.
Ideally you should only plan to lose about 1-2 pounds of extra fat every week. This would workout to 7-8 pounds of fat loss per month. If you have added an extra 40 pounds then it may take you between 6-8 months for losing Fat after pregnancy, including the recovery period, to get back to pre pregnancy fitness level.
