Looking for ways to lose weight after pregnancy? The weight you gained as a pregnant woman was necessary to give your baby a safe environment for nine months. Now that your baby has arrived, you can begin to focus on your own goals for your body.
After giving birth many women are looking to return to their pre-pregnancy bodies or a healthier weight. If your pre-pregnancy weight was in a healthy range, medical guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates you should gain between 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy.
Recommendations vary for women who are underweight, overweight or carrying multiples. Your physician may have a different recommendation based on your health history.
Your pregnancy weight gain is due to the weight of the baby, placenta, breast tissue, excess fat stores around your body, amniotic fluid, uterus enlargement, and blood. However, after childbirth, many women retain a few pounds. The average is 2.5 to 5 pounds. A year out from giving birth, around 25% are hanging on to more than 11 pounds of extra weight from pregnancy.
If you are planning to have more than 1 baby, this weight can add up. In addition to raising your risk for health issues like diabetes and heart disease, it can raise the health risks for your next pregnancy. Carrying additional weight may cause medical conditions for your developing baby like hypertension.
We have you covered with tips on how to lose weight so that you can get your weight loss regimen settled and get back to focusing on your new baby.
Postpartum Weight Loss
Postpartum weight loss is tricky despite weight loss efforts. We have compiled some research-based tips to help you get rid of those lingering pounds.
Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss Tips
Nursing
You have probably heard about the benefits of nursing or breastfeeding for your baby. You may not know that it can help you lose weight. Research indicates that women who breastfed for at least 3 months or more lost more than 3 pounds compared to women who did not breastfeed.
In addition to helping you lose weight, breastfeeding helps the uterus contract and lowers your risk of developing some types of breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and ovarian cancer.
The decision to breastfeed is a personal one, and it may not be possible for every mother. Do what works for you.
Avoid Highly Processed Foods
While the right diet can vary from one individual to another, most of the leading diets are centered around avoiding highly processed foods. Highly processed foods include many ready-made cakes, cookies, or other baked goods as well as soda, pre-made meals, and fast food.
Highly processed foods are high in sodium or added sugars and are not nutrient-dense, often lacking protein and fiber. The lack of protein and fiber is why you feel hungry again shortly after eating them. If you eat a lot of highly processed foods, maintaining a calorie deficit can be difficult. We recommend healthy foods that are rich in fiber!
Eating nutrient-dense meals high in protein and fiber is a better option. In addition to the many health benefits of fiber, it can prevent you from absorbing some of the calories in your food, which helps you create a calorie deficit. For example, a 2019 study of 345 people found that an increase of 4 grams of fiber over what participants had eaten before the study led to an average additional weight loss of 3 1/4 pounds over 6 months. (academic.oup.com)
Exercise
What you eat is the most important factor in determining whether you lose weight, but exercise can help. Any kind of aerobic exercise or strength training can help you lose weight. Be careful to pick an activity with a low risk of injury. Sticking to a routine and getting regular exercise can help speed up the process.
Whether you choose to join an exercise program or come up with your own schedule to increase your physical activity, your body will surely thank you. Many women often notice higher energy levels after a brief period of physical activity.
Check with your doctor to make sure it is safe for you to exercise, especially if you have had a cesarean section.
Avoid Crash Diets
If an eating plan is not sustainable for you, it will not work. Extreme crash diets may result in quick weight loss, but when you inevitably return to your normal eating habits, the excess weight often comes back along with a few additional pounds. The desperation can lead you back to another crash diet, and the cycle repeats itself. Yo-yo dieting causes extreme fluctuations in your weight called “weight cycling,” which research has linked with an increased risk of death.
After delivering a baby, your body needs good nutrition to heal and recover. In addition, if you are breastfeeding, you require more calories than normal, according to the CDC Trusted Source, a low-calorie diet is likely to be lacking in important nutrients and will probably leave you feeling tired. This is the opposite of what you need when taking care of a newborn, and when you’re likely sleep-deprived. (cdc.gov)
Instead of a low-calorie diet or crash diet, go with a healthy diet that you can continue for the rest of your life. If you need help choosing a reasonable diet plan for you, seek out a registered dietician. Registered dieticians, unlike nutritionists, have a 4-year degree in dietetics and meet additional requirements.
Get Back to Your Pre-Pregnancy Habits
You may not need to learn new behaviors to lose weight. If you were living a healthy lifestyle before the baby came along, the simplest answer is to find ways to get back to those habits. Pregnancy followed by taking care of a baby can be incredibly disruptive to the routines you have been practicing for years, but you can strategize ways to make time for them again.
Help from family members or a nanny with caring for your baby can help you get back to the fitness activities you love. A meal delivery system may make healthy eating easier now that you have less time to cook.
Making time for your health can help you feel better and more refreshed so that you can be more present for your baby.
Laser Lipo and You
Emerald Laser™ is a great weight-loss tool for new moms who want to lose inches. Whether you have a small pocket of excess fat or have a 30+ BMI, the Emerald Laser™ is the only device proven to work for both. You can finally get rid of the extra weight after delivery!
New moms often want to treat their abdominal area, hips, and thighs, and in addition to those areas, our FDA-cleared Erchonia lasers can treat any body part, including the neck, upper back, arms, and more.
A non-invasive alternative to traditional liposuction, this procedure means no downtime, so you can get back to caring for your baby right after treatment.
Speak with your provider to determine what kind of results you can expect.
When Should I Get Laser Lipo After Pregnancy?
If you plan to have other children, you may wish to hold off until after your pregnancies. If you get pregnant after getting laser liposuction, the results you achieved will likely be erased by pregnancy-related weight gain.
To get the best results, hold off on laser lipo until your weight seems to settle. Preferably, attempt to lose weight through diet, exercise, and breastfeeding first. That way the laser targets those last pockets of stubborn fat that do not respond to lifestyle changes or your body’s natural recovery from pregnancy.
Contact your Emerald Laser™ provider if you have additional questions about the best timing for your laser lipo.
The Experts at Emerald Laser™ Can Help You Lose Pregnancy Weight with Popular and Non-Invasive Fat Laser Treatment Today.
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