How To Lose Weight After Baby

  

How To Lose Weight After Baby

In this Article we will see how a mom can reduce weight, how to reduce tummy, what are the options available, when to start and how to do? Tips are included both for normal as well as cesarean delivery. If you follow these tips then you will reach the pre-pregnancy weight for sure. But it will not happen within few days or weeks. It will take at lease 3 to 6 months for you to reach previous shape. 

There are 4 ways of weight reduction breastfeeding,diet,exercise and other methods and tips. 

1. First we will see breastfeeding. This is the most easy way for a mom to reduce weight. While breastfeeding, brain secretes a hormone called Oxytocin. This Oxytocin helps to force milk out of breast by compressing breast tissues. 

The same Oxytocin helps to squeeze the muscles in uterus and to decrease its size helping in 'Uterine involution'. So during each breastfeeding episode, this hormone helps to decrease uterine size. Even for mothers with poor milk secretion, the amount of oxytocin may be sufficient enough to help with decreasing uterine size. 

2. breast milk production requires energy in form of calories. Body utilizes the calories stores in fat tissue for this purpose. So breast feeding mom's will gradually lose fat from body as they continue to feed. Second most important method is Diet.

 Almost all mothers will be having a confusion, "To eat more for the sake of baby? or to be in diet to make body fit and preserve shape?" If you follow my advice, you can achieve both of these.. Most of you will have heard that lactating mom's need extra calories (450-500 Cal) So many mom's eat more for this reason thinking that its needed for milk secretion Basically, body prepares for the lactation phase by accumulation fat during pregnancy. 

So body utilizes this stored fat during breastfeeding(lactation), so its not always necessary for you to take excess calories if your body has adequate energy stores. These added calories are mandatory for those moms who didn't get sufficient calories for this fat storage to happen during pregnancy. So if you want to decrease weight then it means that you already have this excess calorie stored which means you need not take a lot of food. 

That was for moms who spend lot of time for baby and fail to eat properly or drink water even. Along with stress, this can result in poor milk secretion. So these moms if they eat happily, their stress will decrease and milk secretion can improve. Also initial few weeks after delivery, your body will be in repair phase so may need excess calories.

 But it doesn't mean that you need to eat excessively. Regarding diet two things How much to eat? and What to eat? First we will see how much. After delivery, mom will be made to eat a lot by care takers. Especially with excess of fatty diet thinking that its necessary for milk secretion. But like I said, for moms wanting to reduce weight, this excess calories is not needed. And rather than telling exact number/amount of each food items, which may not fit for all, I will give general idea.

 Eat only when you feel hungry. Stop if you feel that you are no longer hungry. You may feel hungry again soon which is normal. You can increase the frequency rather than dumping all at one time (which will favor fat deposition) So can we start this pattern immediately after delivery? According to me be relaxed about the diet for few weeks, enjoy and eat what you like After that you can start this pattern (Both normal and cesarean moms) Importantly don't do extreme dieting like fasting or not eating even while hungry. this can reduce milk output.

3. what kind of food/diet must be taken? I will give general idea. You can follow as per your comfort. Decrease fatty and carbs foods. Increase proteins and fibers (the most important). Oil, butter, ghee, cheese all are fatty foods and you MUST decrease these. Carbohydrates (Carbs) like rice, potato, wheat etc. are difficult to avoid but can be decreased as much as possible You can try to substitute millet in place of these cereals.

 4. Next is proteins. You must try to increase proteins in your diet. Pulses, groundnuts, meat, egg white, legumes, grams all are rich in proteins. Finally the most important one Fibers. If you try to take as much fiber in your main meal as possible. Vegetables (Especially green leafy vegetables) and fruits are rich in fibers. Fibers will prevent excess calorie absorption fromm diet. Also many moms will have problems in passing motion and few may have piles (Hemorrhoids) green leafy vegetables will be very helpful for this. 

If you are wondering whether this diet pattern can decrease milk output, these non veg items, vegetables, groundnuts, etc will increase milk output for moms, and our diet plan also includes these mainly. So milk output will not decrease because these are nutritious foods. Importantly avoid foods bought from outside, it will increase fat deposition. If you want to take snacks, then take fruits or vegetables as snack meal. Tubers like potato contains more carbs and less fibers than normal vegetables, so must decrease these type of food items. 

So this is a gross idea about diet. You can use this to make your own diet plan. If you don't like planning and want a fixed diet plan from me then, For breakfast, idly, dosa, roti made of millets. And sabji/chutni of your choice Lunch, less of rice and more of vegetables and grams for adding with rice. For dinner again using millets to make a dish like idly, dosa, chappati, roti etc. In between snacks can be fruits, vegs, pulses, nuts etc. 

Those who like tea, coffee, can take occasionally. Many recommend to add very less sugar for these, according to me, the taste will not be satisfactory so what you can do is decrease the frequency (eg: Twice instead of 3 times)of tea/coffee and take it with sugar as you like Next coming to exercise. During pregnancy, abdomen will be enlarged, and muscles and skin over this region will be stretched out. After delivery, these muscles and skin will be loose and hence the big tummy. Adding to this is the enlarged uterus. So due to all these reasons, even after delivery, your abdomen may seem like 5 to 6 months pregnant like. also there will be lots of fat accumulation in and around tummy. 

These are the main reason for big tummy and weight gain. Before going to the types of exercises, I will say few important things First, fat accumulates in our body initially in tummy then in other areas like arms & legs. Similarly, when we decrease fat from our body, tummy fast is last to go. It is impossible to selectively reduce belly fat alone in natural way. Only was is to decrease body fat overall which will ultimately decrease belly fat. 

Before pregnancy, belly muscles will be tight but after delivery, it will be loose like an old rubber-band. So due to this, abdomen organs will push this muscle easily resulting in a big tummy. So the aim of abdomen exercise is to tighten these muscles. it will not decrease belly fat selectively. Even if you manage to decrease weight by excessive fasting, over doing exercise, (Which is not advisable),the skin over abdomen will be loosely hanging which will take at-least 6 months to 1 year to become normal. Next is after pregnancy, some mom may have diastasis/divarication of recti problem. 

For those moms, the exercise must be modified accordingly (which we will see soon) Finally these are not the only exercises available, there are many more so no need to ask "Doctor you have missed this one, can I follow this exercise?" I have added those which are easy to follow by moms. You can follow which ever you like. Regarding exercises, 2 types are there (as per me) one is general exercise and the other is specific for tummy muscles. 

Regarding general exercise, If you want to decrease weight, then you must burn the energy stored as fats in your body. To do this we must activate large muscles in our body. The thigh muscles and gluteal muscles (buttock region) are these large group of muscles. If we activate these muscles, fat burning will happen fast. I will limit to 3 exercises. 

First is walking (Which is more effective than you think) normal delivery moms can start to walk even on day 1 or 2 (Just walk around) once you become tired then just stop.For cesarean mothers, better to wait till 1 or 2 weeks till you try this. (But must be moving around till then) if you feel tired or pain then you must stop and rest. Initially if you manage to walk for 5 to 10 min then its an achievement. Normal delivery mom can do only these till 2 months. 3 months for cesarean moms. 

Healing of abdomen wound is the first priority for cesarean moms, which may take up to 2 months. Only after complete healing of the wound must you go to next steps of exercises. next you can climb steps and do squatting. These 2 are simple exercises, which uses both thigh and gluteal muscles. This also doesn't have any time limit. Just do what you can even if it is for 1 or 2 minutes. Make sure that you don't feel pain or discomfort while doing these. 

If it happens then give rest and restart after few days/weeks While doing squatting, if you have back pain, you can do it with a wall support. This can also be effective in burning calories. After few months of these exercises, you can be able to do it for longer duration which will cause increased calorie consumption which in turn will decrease your weight faster. And instead of doing it excessively for short duration and stopping, be persistent and do it daily (even if you can do it only for less duration). This will give the best results. 

This applies for the next upcoming abdomen exercises too. Next coming to exercises for tummy muscles, Normal delivery mom can start it by 2 weeks after delivery. Can start with simple exercises like these. Harder exercises like these can be tried after these. These exercises can strain your back and if so then you can avoid doing it till you are ready. You can try other methods like cycling in lying position. Stop immediately if you get sharp back pain or other discomfort. 

Next you can try plank position like this (It puts lots of stress on your abdomen) If you can do it then its well and good or else you can try alternative positions like these given in the article.These exercises will tighten your abdomen muscles. And doing it consistently will tighten the loose muscles. And your tummy will start to get back its shape. For cesarean moms, avoid these strenuous exercises till 3 months. If you can, you may do light abdomen exercises after 2 months. Only if your abdomen wound has healed completely. 

It will be wise to get an opinion from your Doctor before starting these abdomen exercises. Approximately, you can start these exercises after 3 months. If you ask "What about this exercise? How about '8' exercise? etc" , it is not important how many different types of exercise you know. What matters is what ever you do, do it consistently and daily as much as you can. For instance, if you follow walking, squatting and any 2 abdomen exercise consistently, it can give better result than high profile exercise done inconsistently. 

While doing abdomen exercise,If your abdomen muscles becomes tight, then you are doing it right. Finally for those mothers with divarication of recti problem, where the rectus muscle in abdomen will be weakened at its center. So when they do abdomen exercise, the center of abdomen may give way and bulge. These mom should follow some precautions before doing abs exercises. Or can even avoid heavy exercise that strain rectus muscle excessively. These moms can try activating the inner layer of muscles by pulling your tummy inwards. 

This helps to relieve stress on the Rectus muscle during abdomen exercise. If you do this and then start to follow the light abdomen exercise, the bulge will (should) not bee seen. Which means you are doing it properly. After this divarication improves then you can do other exercises too. So to summarize, general exercise will activate thigh and gluteal muscles. Abdomen exercise will tighten muscles in these area and decrease tummy. 

If you ask "Doctor, I cannot do these abdomen exercise, can you suggest more simple/easy/less time consuming exercise?". I have an easy trick Try to pull your tummy in like this and be like that as long as you can (Continue to breath). This will activate inner layer muscle and can tighten muscles. Though this method may not be as effective as the previous exercises, the greatest advantage is you need not spend separate time for this can do it any time/whole day. And most importantly without others noticing it. And it will sure help at-least somewhat in reducing the tummy. 

Next, "Is using post-partum belts or tying cloth around tummy be of any use?" I am sure that it will be of at least some benefit if not great. Like already mentioned, after delivery, abdomen muscles will be lax. So the abdomen organs will push the muscles and protrude outside further stretching the muscles and weakening it. So these belts/cloth will support the stretched muscle preventing further stretching and weakening. It may help in reducing tummy when combined with other methods said before. 

When to start? For normal delivery, you can start it very early once you are discharged home. For cesarean moms, they can start only if the suture wounds has healed completely. At the beginning, make it bit loose then gradually as per your comfort you can tighten it. The stretching of muscles by organs occurs only while you are standing/sitting so while lying down/sleeping, you can remove the belt/cloth and be relaxed. Next, some of you might have heard that air can enter uterus and make it big. As per evidence it is less likely, but there is a condition called air in the uterus. And it may not even happen post delivery. 

But we can take some precautions like (what elders advice) not spreading legs and keeping legs like this while sitting in chair. They advice not to sit cross leg but to sit like this in floor. Though we don't know whether its true or not but nothing wrong in following these. Next "Does green tea help in decreasing weight?" The people who sell these will say not to use milk with it, to follow few dietary restrictions, to drink this tea instead of breakfast, 

So drinking this doesn't directly lead to weight loss but it's the diet which you follow along with it that works. There are few more tips which you need to follow. All moms must get adequate sleep. Sleep deprivation may even cause weight gain. Drink adequate water, especially warm water. This will help you to clean your gut and also helps in digestion. Take Jeera water (Cummin), its good for health and weight loss. Maintain adequate hydration. Final doubt, 

"Doctor I haven't done these after delivery and now its several months (Or even year) after delivery, can I follow these tips now?" Absolutely it will workout. Even if you start now, you will lose good weight/tummy in 3 to 6 months. You will notice some difference even after 1 month. So what are you waiting for. Start now. So I think I have given all the basic info needed for your tummy reduction journey. You will have lots of doubts which you can ask in comment section.