Mum Tum: How to Shift Your Post-Pregnancy Weight

You get pregnant, you gain weight. So, by that logic, when you’re no longer pregnant, the weight should slip right off, right? Not necessarily. While giving birth helps you to shed, on average, about five kilograms of pregnancy weight, the baby and the amniotic fluid surrounding it aren’t the only reasons why you gain weight during pregnancy. Having to lose weight may be the last wellness concern on your mind now you have a whole, human life to take care of, but post-pregnancy weight loss can actually be beneficial for your wellbeing.

 

During an average pregnancy, you put on about 11 kilograms, which consists of baby, amniotic fluid, placenta, water, fat, blood, larger breasts and a larger uterus. However, no matter how much you weigh at the end of your pregnancy, weight loss will help you to feel fitter, and the regular exercise and healthy diet will give you the energy you need to keep up with your new bundle of joy. According to Jackie Keller, founder of the NutriFit meal service company and author of Body After Baby: A Simple, Healthy Plan To Lose Your Body Weight Fast, in order to lose that baby weight effectively, you need a combination of pregnancy fitness, post-pregnancy exercise and a healthy diet.

 

Keller comments, ‘The best time to get into exercise is actually before you fall pregnant, and it’s wise to keep it up throughout your pregnancy to prevent excess weight gain and to maintain muscle tone. If you’ve let things slip while growing your bub, don’t despair; it’s never too late to launch a comeback. And what better time than now, when, after nine long months, you have finally got your body back (even if at first it resembles somebody else’s)? For those who do become sedentary during pregnancy, it’s appropriate to start walking immediately after giving birth. Walking is the simplest and easiest form of exercise, and promotes good blood circulation, which speeds up the healing process.’

 

Depending on who you are and the kind of birth you had, you may even be able to begin exercising as early as the day after giving birth, or as late as six weeks after. Keller asserts, ‘There is no reason to wait. The psychological benefits of exercise, and the favourable health results, can begin right away.’ Jo Rushton, a personal trainer with Sydney-based Active Mums, adds that it’s important to get the all-clear from your doctor before you start exercising, especially if you’ve had a caesarean or difficulties in labour. Once you get the go-ahead from your GP, Rushton recommends working out for three weeks, focusing on your glutes, the back and the lower abdominals, and ideally they should aim to work out three times a week. Rushton says work out ‘twice a week and you will start to see changes. [Work out] three times a week and you are creating a commitment.’

 

Kelly points out that post-pregnancy bodies are no different from other bodies when it comes to exercise needs. ‘All of the muscles need to be conditioned,’ she warns. ‘You can’t spot-reduce, or spot tone-up.’ She also notes that you need to ensure you get enough water, sleep, time for yourself and proper, regular meals: ‘Breastfeeding requires an additional 2093 kilojoules (500 calories) a day, but even breastfeeding mums can monitor their kilojoules and portions and successfully lose weight without compromising their health or their baby’s health.’ Rushton adds, ‘A good balanced meal plan includes 60% favourable carbohydrates, such as cruciferous vegetables, legumes and wholegrains, and 15 to 20% healthy fats, which are high in monounsaturated fat, low in saturated fat and free of trans fat. You also need 15 to 20% lean protein.’

Categories: amniotic fluid, Diet and Exercise, gain weight, giving birth, healthy diet, Lose weight, post pregnancy, pregnancy, Pregnancy Weight, weight, Weight Loss

Is Kim Kardashian’s Post Pregnancy Weight-Loss Safe

Kim Kardashian had always been famous for her impressive figure and it has been something she has managed to maintain through her celebrity lifestyle. So when she became a mother there was some talk about whether she would be able to return to her trim body shape of the past or whether she would hold on to the pregnancy weight for a long time. But we didn’t have to wonder long, as it was revealed not long after she had given birth that she had been able to drop 25 pounds thanks to the Atkins Diet.

 

It seems that she has been able to drop the weight by following this high protein diet that puts an emphasis on eating vegetables such as broccoli and spinach, as well as lean meats like chicken and turkey and getting important nutritional fats from sources such as avocado and nuts. The Atkins diet is one of the more famous methods of weight loss and it has been popular for a long time. It emphasises eating virtually no carbohydrates and filling up instead on foodstuffs that are very high in protein. But is this a safe way to lose weight, and has Kim Kardashian done the right thing in her plan for weight loss?

 

There was a certain level of controversy surrounding her use of the Atkins diet because she was sponsored to use the Atkins diet for her weight loss. This might suggest that she had foregone alternative, and perhaps healthier, ways to losing weight in order to receive the money for the sponsorship of Atkins. This seemed like a worrying step for people to be taking as it promotes putting money before the good of your health. However, Kardashian did indeed manage to lose the weight and supposedly was very happy with the results of the Atkins diet, so if it was effective and did the job she wanted, perhaps there does not need to be such criticism.

 

According to the experts at Atkins Nutrionals, Kardashian would have been generally eating a breakfast of either an omelette or Greek yoghurt. This would be followed by a snack of either fresh vegetables and a dip or an ounce or two of nuts. Lunch and dinner would be similar meals – generally full of lean meats, vegetables and a dressing. It was the object of the exercise to pace the weight loss and not to try to lose too much too quickly. She was on a diet of around 1,800 to 2,000 calories per day including a small amount of carbohydrates.

 

Many people criticise the Atkins diet because it places such an emphasis on meat. This means that it is both very high in fat and protein. The problem is that these are known to make you more likely to have problems with your heart or other issues. However, the people at Atkins contend that there are problems with any diet and that if you can ensure that you mainly eat lean meats and healthy proteins this can reduce a lot of the risks.

 

The diet may have helped Kim Kardashian lose the weight, but she had the help of specific doctors and well regarded nutritionists. Most people cannot afford or would not know how to get this kind of help with their weight loss. While the Atkins diet clearly can be a healthy and effective way of losing weight, it should not be relied upon as there are clearly certain risks that come with it. It might be best to stick with more traditional and standard ways of weight loss.

Categories: Atkins, Atkins Diet, diet, kim kardashian, lean meats, long time, Losing Weight, Pregnancy Weight, weight, Weight Loss

How to Lose that Pregnancy Weight, Celebrity Style

There may be a lot of perks to celebrity life, and access to all the top weight loss tools and resources is certainly one of them. After all, with the paparazzi waiting to snap photos of your post-pregnancy tum, the pressure is on to shed that baby weight as fast as possible. Still, even without their resources, and their excuse, for losing your pregnancy weight as quickly as the stars do, you can still benefit from their top tips and diet secrets.

 

1. High protein/low carbohydrate: The basic tenets of Jennifer Garner’s, Kate Hudson’s, Elizabeth Hurley’s and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ post-baby eating plan were low carbohydrate-based foods and a high protein intake. According to David Kirsch, trainer to supermodel Heidi Klum’s trainer, the best way to restore your body to its pre-pregnancy wellness is to cut down on starchy carbs like dairy and fruit for two weeks. Still, that’s not to say that these celebs found it easy to take care of their own wellbeing. Jennifer Garner explained, ‘It took me a long, long time. I just wasn’t that motivated. I wanted to play with her. Then I got on the treadmill, stopped stuffing my face and lost the weight. I cut out croissants, bagels and muffins – all the good stuff – and went back to having a salad once a day and protein.’

 

2. Food delivery services: As Uma Thurman doesn’t trust herself to eat the right foods, she has a food delivery service which tells her what to eat and how much. These food delivery services deliver portion-controlled healthy foods right to your door, and Uma reportedly lost 25 pounds in six weeks using this type of service. However, this may be too expensive as an option for we regular folk, and many people find they put all the weight back on, and then some, once they stop the service and re-enter the ‘real world’ of making their own meals.

 

3. Commercial weight loss programmes: Structured plans provide the tools you need to lose weight without the big price tag of delivery services. Jenny McCarthy, author of Belly Laughs: The Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth, lost her 80 pounds of baby weight through Weight Watchers, and is now a spokesperson for the programme. Such diet plans provide more realistic, albeit slower, weight loss than your usual celebrity regime, which means it may be the best option for you.

 

4. Yoga: This is a favourite amongst celebrity mums such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, the latter of who keeps her 48-year-old body looking decades younger by following Ashtanga Yoga. This is a more aerobic and energetic form of the exercise. However, even regular yoga helped Gwyneth Paltrow to lose the 40 pounds she gained with her pregnancies. She noted, ‘It’s all lovely when you are pregnant; but when you are not pregnant and you haven’t been for a couple of months and you are still carrying tons of extra weight and everything’s all hanging and sagging, you think, How is this ever going to go back? But it does. If you do a lot of working out.’

 

5. Running: Again, this is one of Jennifer Garner’s top tips for losing baby weight, but singer Gwen Stefani also relied on running to burn calories and tone her lower body after giving birth. Still, even for Stefani it wasn’t easy, as she commented, ‘Let’s just talk about how hard it’s been. But it’s almost gone.’ However, it seems that the singer keeps it simple with running and a healthy diet, as she asserted, ‘I’ve just been eating healthy. I cheat every day at least once.’

 

6. Heidi Klum: As she went from having a second child to walking down the runway in a thong in just two months, Heidi Klum gets a special mention. She attributes her success to breast feeding, and her trainer David Kirsch for getting her body in runway shape. His top tip is ‘Get on the rowing machine. Get off the treadmill. It’s a bigger bang for your buck.’

Categories: baby weight, Celebrity Wellness, delivery services, food delivery, Gwyneth Paltrow, heidi klum, high protein, jennifer garner, plans provide, Pregnancy Weight, Weight Loss