Herbal Remedies Center

Weight loss after pregnancy

When my middle daughter was born, I actually weighed 10 pounds less than I had when I'd conceived her. That's not something you can count on, though, and I can tell you that from other birthing experiences as well. Most women start their lives as post delivery with an extra 8 to 15 pounds that they didn't have pre-baby.

There's a good reason for that. Our bodies are designed with nurture in mind. Part of that weight you put on during pregnancy was meant to nurture your baby after birth. While your body requires an extra 300 calories a day to keep up with the nutritional demands of the baby during pregnancy, a breastfeeding mother requires at least 500 extra calories a day to produce enough milk for the infant and remain healthy herself. Your body stores up a little extra nutrition for after the birth just in case there isn't enough food for its needs when it's time to feed the new family member.

Breastfeeding is part of the good news :-

You'll automatically be burning an extra five hundred calories a day -- which will make it considerably easier for you to lose the hanging on weight. In fact, you may not need do anything special to lose weight. Just concentrate on eating a normal, healthy, well-balanced diet. If you're not breastfeeding, you won't find it quite as easy. Your focus should still be on healthy eating, with moderate exercise to burn unneeded calories.

Exercising :-

Here's more good news for new mothers... Exercising is easier. Actually, not quite: burning more calories is easier. Walking alone for an hour burns 200 calories. Walking while pushing a stroller increases that figure considerably. Push a stroller uphill, and it's even higher. You'll get extra calorie burning duty out of things you never thought of like lifting the stroller and car seat in and out of the car, carrying the baby up and down stairs, and just plain carrying the baby.

However, if you find yourself with stubborn pounds that simply won't come off, exercise and a moderate reduction in calories is the way to go. Just like pregnancy isn't the time for weight loss, post pregnancy isn't the time to stress your body further with severe dietary restrictions. Aim for losing approximately a pound a week, though chances are you'll find it coming off faster. If you didn't know when you signed up, being a mom is a high-energy proposition.