During pregnancy, a mom’s body undergoes a lot of changes to make space for the baby. The belly expands so that the young fetus inside can grow into a beautiful, healthy baby. Unfortunately for mom, this might mean sagging skin after the baby is born. A lot of women struggle with their postpartum body both in terms of acceptance and reversing signs of pregnancy. There are, thankfully, some simple tricks and routines you can adopt to getting back into shape.
But first, a disclaimer – Your postpartum belly is beautiful. The stretch marks show the love you have for your child. The wobbly bits are a testament to everything you’ve done to bring life into this world, and you should be proud. There is nothing wrong with carrying a bit of extra fat or weight after you give birth, and you should let your body heal before you try and get back in the gym.
The loose skin on your stomach needs toning, and no amount of dieting is going to help firm it up. Your only option is getting back to exercising regularly. Once your doctor has cleared you to exercise, you should start by targeting your abs. Remember that your goal is toning, and you’ll likely be doing a lot of bodyweight exercises to tuck the loose skin back in.
The upside to this is that you can do the exercises from the comfort of your own home. This is great for women who feel too self-conscious to go to the gym after they’ve given birth. Surprisingly, the simplest one you can start with is walking. Walking is a great whole-body exercise, with a vast number of variations. You can change the speed, add weights, go for longer walks, and more.
Once you are comfortable with being active, you can try some core-strengthening exercises as well. Planks, scissor kicks, crunches, and reverse crunches are some easy exercises you can start doing. Build up repetitions to make these harder and melt away the fat.
Exercising should always be the number one priority when you’re trying to tone your body. There are some extra things you can use that will hasten the weight loss and toning process too. The top two on this list would be massages and belly firming creams. Massages stimulate the lymphatic system in your body and encourage it to detoxify. They also stimulate blood flow, which can help with skin healing and regeneration.
This belly firming guide also recommends firming creams that use scientifically formulated ingredients to increase skin moisture levels and skin elasticity. The loss of skin elasticity from pregnancy can take some time to recover, but using well-reviewed products can help you along your journey to a smooth stomach.
Every weight loss routine is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Without nutritional support, your workout is going to be rendered meaningless. However, postpartum nutrition is tricky. While your baby is out of your body now, they might still be breastfeeding. Your body still needs a lot of food to support your baby, and you need to figure out the right balance that will help you lose weight and keep you and your baby healthy.
Here’s where we let you in on the one singular principle that makes every single diet in the world work – to lose weight, you have to expend more calories than you eat. That’s it! Different diets approach this philosophy in different ways, and that is their USP. Low carb diets keep the calories down by nixing calorie-dense carbs from your plate. Low-calorie diets focus on the bottom line. Primal, keto, and other diets restrict different food groups to keep calorie intake low. Find out a diet that works for you, and always remember to run it by your doctor or nutritionist.
When choosing a diet, keep in mind the practicality of the diet in your lifestyle. Cooking can be a great stress-relief for overwhelmed mommies, so you should choose a diet that has foods closest to what you like to eat, recipes that you have time to prepare, and fits in your budget. Remember that you’ll be exhausted from managing your baby’s crying at night, and you might not want to cook lavish meals after pulling all-nighters with your partner.
Finally, always remember to be kind to yourself. It really doesn’t matter in the long run if you skip a day of exercising to take a nap or have a bit of ice cream every once in a while. You’re balancing work and family. Self-care is extremely important to keep your spirits up. Forgive yourself for small indulgences, but remember to get back on track the next day. Soon you’ll have the toned stomach of your dreams.
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