During pregnancy, women gain around 10 to 14 kgs of weight in the 9 month gestation period. This consists of the weight of the baby, placenta, amniotic fluid, developed breast tissues, increased blood volume, enlarged uterus and extra fat that are stored as a reserve for the child and for breastfeeding. Excess weight gain, beyond the 14 kgs, can result in an increased fat deposition that is commonly addressed as ‘Baby Weight’.
This weight needs to be controlled because the excess fat gain may lead to risk of diabetes, hypertension, obesity and/or complications in later pregnancies. Most women lose around 4 to 5 kg of weight within 1 to 2 years after childbirth.
Few tips to reduce the baby weight:
1. Be Realistic and Take it Slow: Childbirth is stressful on the mother’s body. It requires time to recover from this stress and return to normalcy. Moreover, substantial weight loss in a short span after childbirth can slow down the recovery process. Hence, it is not recommended to jump into a diet immediately after child birth. It is highly important to wait till the end of breastfeeding before cutting down on the calories drastically as breastfeeding warrants extra calories to support the growth and development of the child.
2. Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding has numerous benefits for both the child and the mother. It provides the infants with all the essential nutrients and helps them maintain good immunity. In mothers, breastfeeding reduces the risk of diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and postnatal depression. Breastfeeding also has been seen to burn some amount of calories, which helps to reduce the weight gained during pregnancy.
3. Eat a healthy and well-balanced diet: Many may be of the opinion that cutting down on the amount of food and calories consumed might help them lose weight but that is not true. Instead, this practice might cause additional complications given the stress that a new mother’s body is going through already.
Have small and frequent meals
Go for healthy snacking options and avoid junk food
Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables as they are high in fiber and are rich sources of vitamins and minerals
Avoid eating sugar and refined carbs
Limit consumption of soda, juices, alcohol, etc, as all of this will add on to the sugar in the diet
4. Do not go on Crash Diets: It is often observed that new mothers directly go on diets by eliminating certain food groups completely or by replacing some of their meals with supplements. This will not help lose weight. It will lead to lower energy and nutrient supply to the mothers leading to lower breast milk production. Even if these diets help in losing weight, the loss will mainly be water and muscle but not fat. Thus, this lost weight can come back and lead to a yoyo effect.
5. Exercise: Exercise along with a well-balanced diet will help lose weight in a healthy way. Consult the doctor and understand whether you are ready to start exercising. Ensure that it is not overdone as this can lead to a rapid weight loss which is not recommended. Start with easy and basic exercises like yoga, walking or swimming so you are not tired out.
6. Drink enough water: Drinking water will help keep the mother hydrated and reduce the caloric intake. For breastfeeding mothers, it is important to drink water to replenish the water stores lost while feeding.
7. Sleep well: It has been seen that women who do not get sufficient sleep have been seen to retain higher weight after pregnancy. This is because the lack of sleep slows down the body’s metabolism and slows down weight loss. As a new mother, it will be difficult to get 8 hours of sleep at a stretch but coordinating the sleep schedule with that of the baby’s and sleeping whenever possible, should be practiced.
All the above mentioned points are essential to lose baby weight in a healthy and easy manner. Being healthy is essential and a priority for a new mother as taking care of a newborn requires a lot of energy. This will only be possible if the mother eats well and adopts healthy habits. So, new mothers have to be careful before choosing a weight loss regime. In case of doubts regarding the same, you can always connect with a dietician or nutritionist for a proper, well balanced diet that will help reduce the excess weight gained without affecting the wellbeing of the mother and the child.