The Post-Baby Body: Tips for Making the Best of Your Body After Baby's Born

Sure you're glowing from happiness and the sheer excitement of it all after having your new little bundle of joy, but having the extra baby weight doesn't make anyone happy. I was ready to get my body ( and my clothes), back after having my daughter, so much, so that I could hardly wait to be back to "normal" in just a month or two. Boy, was I dead wrong, because finding me time was next to impossible and so were my aspirations to be back to pre-baby size. Baby and nature are highly in charge of this matter, as I soon learned much to my chagrin. Hardly any sleep whether it was night or day, low food consumption, and breast feeding caused me to drop weight extremely fast. However, when I stopped feeding my daughter breast milk and started her on strictly formula, I was in for a cruel surprise. She started to sleep a bit better and I was able to eat full meals.

That along with the naturally triggered plateau that mother nature schedules to take place between your two to four month post-baby period caused me to not only gain the pounds back, but made it next to impossible to get rid of any of it. Many women are not aware of this and believe that they just aren't doing enough to lose. Honestly though, it is how our bodies are designed to function after giving birth. Your metabolism will help to burn as long as you breast feed, also aiding in getting your body back into shape. Then your metabolism will suddenly slow in a couple of months or more, which will cause extra weight gain or halt weight loss. When your baby is about a year old, then your metabolism will start to go back to normal. Celebrities that show up on red carpets pre-baby size or smaller are having someone else to care for baby while they put in the gym hours to get that size again.

So if you're not filthy rich and don't want to miss out on the bonding time with baby what do you do? Well I use clothing to help me get a better polished look, nothing fancy or expensive. Many times you often already have items in your wardrobe that will help you to look more put together. The key is in the cut of the clothing you choose. Personally, I don't have lots of money to go out and buy things just for this, so I go to thrift stores, check out sales, and even buy clothing for guys. As I said, it's the fit that counts in helping to look better. I'm not big on fashion, nor am I a dressy type person, actually I love my t-shirts and jeans plenty. When choosing clothing go for tops that aren't tight, flow toward the waist, are longer, and loose in fit.

This is one reason I say that men's shirts work great for this, especially thick cotton shirts. There is nothing wrong with wearing some maternity clothes, you don't have to get rid of them just because you aren't pregnant anymore. Wear baby doll tops or anything with an empire waist. In the warm weather sun dresses are a great option if you choose to go a little dressier. Wear loose-fitting jeans and stretch pants that are made of cotton. Many of the cotton pants are made in all types of styles and cuts to fit all figures and be lovely as well. Keep several pairs of black and brown pants and tops, they will minimize your belly and you can dress up or down with them. Try to stay away from stripes, polka dots, or any huge patterns because they will only make you look larger. As far as exercising, it's hard to find the time to do any with an infant who is so clingy. My husband and I put her in the stroller and walk to and in the park when we get time. Walking is a great way to get some exercise and help you to get back into shape without being too hard on yourself.

Remember that you just gave birth to a miracle and that you should not push yourself to look like what people will tell you that you should. My mother so very rudely grabbed my post-baby bump and said "Gawsh, you look like you're still pregnant." about four days after having my daughter and said that I should have lost that by then. You really can't listen to silly people, like her for example, that will tell you that they lost the weight that same month or that they only weighed about a hundred pounds while pregnant. Everyone is different, every pregnancy is different, and no one can tell you how much you should weigh except you and maybe a doctor. My doctor never told me that I should lose any weight within a month after birth, only to take it slow, no exercising for at least six weeks afterward, and to take it easy. Don't fret if you don't lose weight as fast as you think you should, most women take at least a year to lose it because that is the way mother nature designed us. Love and enjoy your baby and realize that we are real women with real bodies and are all beautiful!