New Mom Chronicles: Losing Weight After Baby

(*Photo credit: Courtney A Olson Photography)

Congratulations! Your beautiful new baby is here! You’re in love! You survived pregnancy! And now, you feel ready to work on losing the baby weight.

Even as a fitness professional, losing the baby weight is not easy! My son is 9 months as I write this, and while I’ve definitely lost weight, I’m still not at my pre-pregnancy weight. (In fact, I *might* still be wearing maternity pants, not because I need to, but out of stubbornness from not quite fitting in my regular pants yet…) Plus I’m breastfeeding, and I had always heard that breastfeeding helps you to lose the weight faster–but since I gave birth, now I’m hearing that your body will hang onto fat since it’s also trying to sustain another little life…and I’m tending to believe that one more, especially since you do need about 300 extra calories per day when you’re breastfeeding.

But while breastfeeding might make it a little tougher to lose weight, it’s still possible! Here are a few tips to help you:

• Make the most of your workouts.

I’m a firm believer that there’s no such thing as the “perfect” workout. Everybody is different, and every BODY is different. The right workout for you is the one you’ll actually do, so it should be something you enjoy doing. BUT–I strongly encourage you to push yourself. I can’t tell you individually how much weight you should be lifting in your strength workouts or how hard you should be pushing yourself or how high you should jump in your cardio workouts because I don’t know your body or what you’re capable of. But your body will talk to you and tell you how it’s doing, and you should listen! (And I’m willing to bet that you’re capable of far more than you think you are!)

But as a general rule, you should make sure to do a mix of strength training, cardio, and flexibility training (stretching). Whether you do a class or you hit the machines or the weight floor, or you do a video program at home, is up to you. But consider your personality–do you prefer to be by yourself? (Try the elliptical or hit the weight floor.) Do you work harder if you’re taking an energy-filled class? Do you like to dance or work out to the beat? (Try Zumba or Turbo Kick or BodyPump.) Or are you more traditional and straight-forward? (Look for a class that uses common exercises rather than one that focuses on trying new, “crazy” ones!) Would you get the most out of a sports-inspired workout? (Try a boot camp.) Do you have some pent-up stress you’d like to release? (Try a kickboxing class, whether an on-the-bag class or cardio kickboxing that uses no equipment but all the same moves.)

I encourage you to simply give something a try, and I always encourage people to try it at least 2-3 times before making a final judgment call. Especially if you choose something that’s particularly challenging or even choreographed, it can take a couple classes to really get the hang of it. But if you still don’t like it, don’t give up–try something else, whether it’s a completely different workout, or the same class but a different instructor (it’s important to find someone whose style you enjoy!).

Most importantly, give it your all. And don’t worry about what someone else’s “all” looks like. I know it’s sometimes easier said than done, but just focus on you. In reality, that’s all everyone else is doing! But remember that you’re a busy mom–give it your best effort, all your energy, and make the most of this time when you get it!

• Commit to healthy eating.

No matter what stage of life you’re in, post-pregnancy or otherwise, your diet is truly the biggest component of your physical fitness. You can push yourself as hard as you like in your workouts, but if you’re eating mostly junk food, drinking soda, eating too much or not enough, you’ll be hard-pressed to see any changes to your body!

There are so many different types of diets out there, but let me encourage you not to feel like you need to go ON a diet. Your diet is simply “what you eat.” When we try to follow a plan that may be restrictive or cuts out certain food groups, that’s when we feel deprived, hangry, irritable, and eventually defeated. Set up your nutrition so you can maintain it for life. Stick to fresh fruits and veggies (lots of veggies!), whole grains, lean meats/proteins, healthy fats, and avoid sugar. Avoid fast foods and processed foods full of sodium.

Of course, there are days when time runs out, you didn’t have time to meal prep or go food shopping yet, so don’t beat yourself up if you have to give into the easy route occasionally, but get a plan in place–do your best to keep your kitchen stocked with pre-prepped food, easy quick snacks (ready-to-go fruits, veggies, etc.), or quick-cook foods like chicken and frozen veggies. (Have you picked up on the importance of vegetables?)

• Drink more water!

This is where so many of us fall short, but this is one of the best and easiest ways to keep your energy up and keep your body running at peak performance. We NEED water, and lots of it. There are a lot of different theories out there on how much to drink, but a good starting point is to aim for drinking half your body weight in ounces. Adjust from there if needed based on your personal needs.

That can seem daunting, especially when we’ve got that extra baby weight hanging on, but the more water you can drink, the better your body can do at flushing out toxins, keeping your organs working effectively, and even shedding water weight. (Yes, you need to drink more water to get rid of water weight!)

Start slow if you need to, but every day, work on drinking a little more, whether that’s just an extra half-refill of your water bottle or even a full one. I personally like to carry a bigger 32oz water bottle. That way I don’t have to refill it as often, and it’s easier to keep track of how many full bottles I’ve had!

If you don’t enjoy the taste of plain water, go ahead and add some lemon, lime, cucumber, etc. Just avoid adding sugar or any of those flavor packets–those are never a good idea! Keep it natural!

(Need an easy alternative to making sure you always have fresh lemons or limes in the house? Essential oils are easy to keep with you!)

• Ask for help.

This one is twofold. First, don’t be afraid to ask for help with child care. Whether you’re going to the gym or even working out at home, it can be helpful to have someone watch your baby for you. Even if you’re at home and sneaking in a workout during a nap, your workout can be more productive if you know that someone else is ready and able to take care of baby if he or she wakes up before you’re done. (Plus, you can feel more free to jump around and make noise, if that’s the kind of workout you’re doing!)

If you like to work out at the gym, find a gym that provides child care, and don’t be afraid to ask questions and even ask other parents for feedback and recommendations on the quality of the child care. Or perhaps ask Grandma and Grandpa to watch the baby while you go to the gym, especially if Mommy and Daddy plan on going to the gym at the same time.

Second, don’t be afraid to ask for help with your workout, whether it’s going full-out and hiring a personal trainer (factor in the value of getting not only a challenging workout, but a personalized workout with a professional who will make sure you’re pushing yourself and doing the right moves for your needs), or simply asking someone to show you how the machines work or asking for ideas for new exercises to try. Take advantage of classes, and take advantage of any free introductory personal training sessions your gym might offer.

Or if you prefer to stay home, invest in a quality DVD workout program, or check out a subscription to an online gym filled with multiple options for all different types of workouts–something that has become more and more popular over recent years!

• Find a buddy.

Get your husband or significant other to go to the gym with you, or find a friend who’s excited to workout too, and keep each other accountable. When one isn’t feeling it, the other one can be the motivator! (So make sure you choose a buddy who won’t just say, “Okay, no problem,” when you say you don’t feel like hitting the gym!)

• Be nice to yourself.

Despite my advice above to make sure you find a buddy who doesn’t let you get away with saying you don’t feel like it, be nice to yourself if you really DON’T feel like it or end up missing a workout. Maybe baby was up more often than usual last night and you’re so exhausted you might fall over if you try getting on the elliptical. Maybe you had to stay late at work and you’d rather spend the time you have left in the day with your family. Maybe you pushed it a little TOO hard the other day in your workout and you need an extra rest day.

It IS okay. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a few more workouts than you’d like to. Just don’t let yourself get in the habit of making excuses every day. If you feel just a little tired, remember that working out actually gives you energy. If you feel like you’re always running out of time, try to create a schedule ahead of time that allows for flexibility but that you can also stick to more often than not.

And treat every workout you get as the success that it is. Work out for how good it makes you feel and how much energy it can give you. Don’t fret if the weight doesn’t seem to be shedding as quickly as you’d like. It took 9 months for you to get to the place you’re starting from–it unfortunately won’t come off overnight or even in a few weeks, despite what celebrities might try to convey. Remember that they have money and time to hire personal trainers to come to their homes, personal chefs to cook for them…and photoshop for pictures!

And those other moms you know in real life who say they’re back to their pre-pregnancy weight or pre-pregnancy bodies in just a couple weeks or months? Don’t let them bug you. Remember everybody is different, and every BODY is different.

• A final concern:

“But what about my milk supply? I heard that working out can adversely affect it.”

I’m not a doctor or a lactation consultant, but I can tell you from my own experience, working out about 3-4x a week on average and even teaching HIIT classes and other high-intensity workouts, my personal supply has been just fine throughout. There have been ups (a stash of over 100oz!) and downs (only having enough for a day or two and being worried I might fall behind), but it seems from my research (and again, just personal experience) that as long as you make extra sure to stay hydrated and you eat a good diet, you should be just fine. But of course, my experience doesn’t mean the same will automatically be true for you. If you have concerns, talk to your doctor.

It’s worth noting, too, that I only started working out again around the 2-month mark, and it was a good couple months where I was only getting 2 workouts a week, which were just the two classes I was teaching a week at the time. Honestly, if I wasn’t teaching classes, who knows when I would’ve started working out again! While I’ve always loved fitness, and I do enjoy working out, I was content to cuddle my baby and not worry about anything else for a long time!

It wasn’t until my baby was about 5 months old that I started adding in 1-2 more workouts of my own per week, and I started slow–just one high-impact/high-intensity workout a week (my GRIT class), one high-intensity/low-impact class (my PiYo class), and the elliptical or a toned-down practice of my GRIT class. So my milk supply was pretty established by time I really jumped in with both feet.

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To sum up, when you boil fitness down, the principles are all really the same whether you’re trying to lose baby weight or just trying to lose weight period. And if you’re breastfeeding, just make sure you stay extra hydrated, and don’t get discouraged if the journey takes longer than you’d like it to!

If you’re still here reading, I thank you for sticking with me! I know this was a long one with a lot of information, so if you’re still here, I’m hoping that means you found it helpful and interesting!

If you’re thinking TL;DR: Go hard in your workouts, eat healthy, drink even more water, ask for help with child care and for guidance in your workouts, get a buddy to do this with you, and overall, be nice to yourself no matter what.

Please feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

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