When you are pregnant, your body changes to make more room for the growing fetus inside of you. The abdominal muscles stretch and your tummy inflates when you’re pregnant. Giving birth does not pop that balloon, and decreasing the size of your baby bump takes time, exercise and a diet.
Once your baby is born, hormonal changes would make the tummy decrease to its pre-pregnancy state. However, having an exercise routine (with approval from your doctor) speeds up the process. While resuming certain exercises would need the permission of your doctor especially if you had some complications during delivery, simple abdominal exercises can be started as early as two days after giving birth.
Losing Weight Safely To Make Belly Look Better
Breastfeeding helps. When you start breastfeeding, you are burning calories, and you tend to lose weight faster than mothers who bottle feed their babies. The process also triggers contractions, making you burn fat faster. However, remember to maintain a balanced diet when breastfeeding, because if you eat more and breastfeed, you might end up adding few more pounds than losing it.
It’s fine to lose weight once you are breastfeeding because your body is equipped to do it. Losing a kg of weight per week especially during your breastfeeding months has no effect on the milk you make. Eating healthy and combining it with exercises will help you get back in shape faster. Just follow the tips mentioned below:
- Eat your breakfast regularly
- Include a minimum of five portions of fruits and vegetables in a day
- Include fiber rich foods
- Include a starchy food, preferable whole-grain varieties or even potatoes in each meal
- Go easy on high-fat and high-sugar
- Watch your portion sizes and the type of snacks you are eating.
Your diet and exercise would greatly depend on how much you weigh now and how active you have always been (especially during pregnancy).
Things That You Can Do To Regain Your Pre-Pregnancy Body
Exercise helps in toning muscles and burn excess calories. You can always continue exercising even when pregnant (after discussing it with your doctor), however, post-delivery, you can begin with a lighter schedule. If you are newbie to exercise, take it real slow.
All moms can do pelvic exercises and work on gently toning of your belly muscles. You can even take your baby for walks in a pushchair. There are also some pushchair workouts that new mommy-to-be’s can do.
Here’s a video that shows some exercises for women that have had C-section and want to get back their flat tummy.
Bonus Workouts: For Both Baby And Mom
During the early months, you might find it difficult to find time to exercise. So, here’s some that you can do with your bundle of joy:[ref] 8 Get-Your-Body-Back Moves for New Moms/ref
- Baby glider: Hold the baby close to your chest. Do a forward lunge with your left leg. Don’t let your toes cross your knees. Return to the starting position and lunge the opposite leg. This strengthens your legs, knees and core.
- Baby bouncer: This is like baby glider, but instead of a forward lunge, do a side lunge. Follow that up with a squat. Reach back if you are sitting on a chair, and make sure that your knees are over your ankles.
- Rock a baby squats: Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart. Hold the baby close to your chest. Squat down till your baby’s feet touches the floor. As you come back to normal position, bring your baby closer to your chest. Repeat. Note: This exercise can be done only when your baby is 10-12 weeks old.
Getting your pre-pregnancy body back after pregnancy is not as hard as you think. However, before you start head on, talk to your doctor about the exercises and the diet plan that you want to follow.
