After nine months of endurance and giving birth to a healthy child is a great experience which gives immense satisfaction to the moms, who had to lead a life maintaining a good and healthy regime. But the task is not over yet! Still a lot of modifications in the life style and health have to be worked out for to take care of the new born as well as to bring back the body in proper shape.
Weight gain is inevitable during pregnancy and after pregnancy mom's can now pay attention to reduce the post partum weight, not drastically but slowly and steadily. One can't achieve a fine carved out figure overnight. Pregnancy and delivery involves lots of strain leaving a mother drained out of all her energy, so one must take time to recover her health and energy for 1-2 months, adjust with the timings of the feeding and sleeping patterns of the baby and then start with a new set of physical regime, without neglecting the diet and rest.
Never follow the publicity campaigns of the celebrities exhibiting the miraculous post partum weight reduction within few days! Exceptional examples can't be the general rule to follow.
Simple steps to reduce postpartum weight
The time taken to regain the original body weight depends directly upon how much weight has been added during pregnancy. Roughly within 6-8 months one can almost come back in the original shape.
1. Even if one is not breast feeding her baby, she should not cut down the calories drastically as it will hamper in recovering from the weakness.
2. First three months after delivery the mother should eat healthy, and slowly develop an exercise plan.
3. One should never push herself to start exercising, but start only when she feels for. It may take time but there will be no gain in hurrying.
4. Absolute breast feeding helps in reducing post partum weight normalizes the shape and functions of uterus.
5. Adopting low calorie diet helps in weight reduction but breast feeding mothers should not reduce the calorie intake less than 1800 calories per day.
6. Diet should be low in fat, not fat free. One serving each of dairy products, grains, leafy vegetables, fruits can add extra 500 calories to the normal diet. So one can easily plan the calorie intake.
7. Total avoidance of junk foods which add unnecessary calories of zero nutritive value.
8. Exercises should be taken stepwise setting realistic goals in weight reduction.
Eating healthy and following some physical exercises results in steady postpartum weight reduction. Advice from dieticians and nutritionists can be an added advantage. Mothers who have undergone caesarean section delivery may need to be extra cautious before setting out for any physical regime.
Read more on Weight Gain during Pregnancy. Know about Pregnancy Week By Week.
