Pregnancy and Weight Loss

A lot of women gain weight during pregnancy because of the changes that occur during this state. Even women who are of a slight build gain an average of six to eleven pounds, though a lot of this may be due to water retention. While it is the general consensus that dieting during pregnancy isn't advisable, nothing is being said about dieting after pregnancy, apart from the usual health precautions one should take before undergoing such a feat.

Dieting has always been the main medium for weight loss, and while it is advisable or even healthy to lose post-partum weight, care should be taken in achieving this. While losing weight at any stage in your life is a hard, losing weight after giving birth is quite an undertaking as well. Some women, after giving birth, can sometimes lose the weight as fast as they gained it. This is sometimes attributed to the rise in metabolic rate that pregnant women experience, which is sometimes carried over a few months after the baby is no longer in their tummies. While this can be a permanent enough loss of weight, if careful attention isn't given to general eating habits, that weight might just come back on after the metabolism has normalized to its pre-pregnancy state.

One reason cited for the weight loss incurred a few months after birth is the nursing of the baby. Yes, you read it correctly; breastfeeding can indeed make a mother lose weight after giving birth. The act of breastfeeding actually burns around 500 calories and helps to strengthen your baby's immune system as well as keep him fed. While this may not work for all new moms, some studies do show that the ratio of weight loss in mothers who breast-fed compared to those who did not is slightly higher.

Although breastfeeding can be a source of some loss in after-birth weight, it is not a significant enough source of such and should be enhanced with other weight loss techniques. It is, however, not advisable to try and lose weight so soon after giving birth since, not only does it affect the quality of your breast milk and its quantity, but it can also have some adverse effects on the mother's general well-being.

Some useful tips when dieting after giving birth include starting to diet eight weeks after the baby has been delivered. While this may be too short a time for your baby to have been weaned from your teat, dieting need not mean completely or drastically changing your nutrient intake so as to stop you from breast-feeding your baby. This may just mean that you will have to slightly change your eating habits a little bit. Slow weight loss, after all, is healthier and more effective in the long run.

Some dietary changes would mean cutting back on unnecessary food intake, like sweets- and sugar-laden processed foods. Eating healthier food substitutes are also advisable, like more healthy greens and fruits. Also, small changes in food choices, like from dark to white meat and from skinned to skinless, can also help in small ways.

Another healthy way to speed up weight loss without sacrificing your child's health is by indulging in light exercise. Some exercise routines even incorporate your child into the movements to further increase your bonding moments with your little one. These small tips can eventually return you to the figure you once had and help you regain the self-esteem you had before gaining the weight pregnancy brought with it.