#slayfitmama
Good Morning lovelies!

I have been reading a lot of posts on belly reduction and weight loss after pregnancy.

So I thought why not dish out a few tips which worked like a charm for me in reducing my weight post delivery.

I was 73 on the day I delivered and I came back to 58 by the 7 month. Seems unachievable? Trust me it's not.

Here a are some important points to follow:

1) Breastfeed from the day one. Unless there is some issue which is preventing you from doing so, bf exclusively works like a charm to reduce weight. It burns calories like a machine. Hence the more you bf the better it is for you. But don't forget to keep yourself well hydrated because there are chances of dehydration.

2) Get ample rest in the first 40 days or so. And by that I don't mean keep lying down on the bed and not move a muscle. Walk around a bit in the house to keep the blood circulation going. But please don't think about your bulging out of shape belly just yet. Be kind to yourself. 9 months is a lot of effort on the body.

3) Do deep breathing, kegels, heel slides, wrist rotations, feet rotations, neck rotations and shoulder rotations everyday as much as you feel comfortable. This will keep the niggling aches and pains at bay that come with constant sitting due to BF.

4) Once you complete 3 months start walking. Begin with 15 minutes and depending on your comfort increase it to 30 minutes twice a day. But don't keep it high intensity to start with. Your joints are just recovering from a hormonal party inside your body so you might experience more pain with all that jerkiness.

5) Complement your walking with calf raises and leg raises everyday. Do 3 sets of 10 each 2 to 3 days a day or as you feel comfortable. This will help in making your quads, knees, ankles stronger which will in turn prevent knee pains while you walk.

6) After about 30 days of walking or later depending on how comfortable you feel introduce 1 kg weights or 1 ltr water bottles in your walk. Do a combination of lateral arm raises, arm circles, front arm raises and controlled boxing move with your walk. Don't forget to keep breathing throughout.

7) Here is THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT. Look at what you are eating. We mostly eat more than what we need. Even when you are bf your body needs only 500 calories per baby to create enough nutrition. So that makes it 2500 calorie diet as compared to the regular 1800 to 2000 calories your body needs generally if you are a female with  medium activity. What are calories? They are nothing but energy. Anything you eat is eventually broken down into energy and calorie is just a unit to measure that. Like kg or litre. So don't think that avoiding calories will reduce weight. You will have to avoid food altogether for that!

So how do you count every calorie you eat? You can't. So here is a trick that works for me. Have something small every 2 to 3 hours. This would amount 6 to 7 meals in the day. And reduce the portion of every meal by a third. Include everything in your diet. Milk, eggs, green leafy veggies, cereals, pulses, fruits, dry fruits, veggies of all colours and plenty of water.  

6 small meals mean- 3 meals plus 3 snacks.

Snacks include dry fruits, sprouts, ragi buttermilk, any fruits, half a glass of milk .

Here is how my daily meal would look like:
8 am glass of milk with 2 spoons proteinex. 10 am any breakfast like a double egg omelette or a bowl of poha, or 2 idlis with sambhar, 2 dosas with chutney for eg. 12 pm any fruit, ragi porridge, cup of sprouts, few dry fruits, 3 to 4 threptin biscuits. 2 pm lunch- dal, rice, curry, curd (have one third of what you usually have if you want to reduce weight ) 5pm any snack. Between 7 to 8 have dinner same as lunch. Before sleeping a glass of milk. Vary the timings as per your convenience. The key is not be empty stomach for more than 2 to 3 hours.

8) NO ab workouts till 6 months if you are a c section Mom. Otherwise you can start slowly by the 4 month. Swimming is also beneficial.

9) Maintain a regular weight log. Buy a weighing machine and measure yourself every 2 to 3 days. Why ? To obsess over your weight? No. This will help in creating a healthy habit for you that will remain for a lifetime. And it works as a great motivation.

10) Be patient. Be kind to yourself. And don't give up. Weight loss requires effort just like any other task you want to accomplish in your life. But weight loss more so because you need to love your body to be able to go through with it. Respect what your body has achieved in 9 months. Give yourself as much time it takes to get fit and lean again. You will be able to see miracles only if you believe that you can make those happen.

CAUTION: Verify these points with your doctor before you attempt any thing.

Reference- My own experience :)

Stay healthy. Stay happy.
Take Care!