During your pregnancy, you will likely put on twenty-five pounds... ugh! Some women unfotunately put on a lot more. After the baby is born, you will likely feel like you still look pregnant. It can appear this way for several weeks while your uterus shrinks back down to size.
Months after you have your baby, you might find that you are still carrying extra weight. Weight loss after childbirth can take time to happen unfortunatley. Remember, it took you up to nine months to gain all that weight; don't expect it drop off over night.
You will have lost a fair amount of weight during the labor and delivery, it can still take months before you lose the balance. If you gained excessive weight during your pregnancy, it can take extra time and effort to achieve your targeted weight loss goal after pregnancy.
There are several reasons why it may be taking you time to lose weight.
If you are breastfeeding, weight loss after pregnancy will probably not start to happen until at least your baby is six months old. If you are breastfeeding your baby, your body will attempt to hold onto a certain amount of fat reserves due to the caloric requirements for making milk. It takes approximately five hundred calories per day to produce breast milk.
Your body goes into a mode where it hoards fat stores to ensure you have enough calories to feed your baby. On average once your baby reaches six months old, you suddenly see weight loss begin to occurring.
Why is this time period so magical?
At the six-month mark, many babies are having less feedings, which in-turn triggers your body's reaction to begin shedding it's fat stores.
Weight loss after pregnancy will require some diet and exercise from you. If you find yourself a stay at home mother, you also may be facing the reality of being less active than being a full time worker outside the home. This results in fewer calories being burned on a daily basis along with the added temptation to eat more often then normal in your typical full time job.
As a mother, you need to maintain your strength so starvation diets are not the answer to achieve weight loss after pregnancy. After you have recuperated from your labor and delivery, your body needs ample time to heal.
Some women shed the weight fairly easily while others need to work a bit harder. It's important to not only be healthy for your self, but also for your children. Maintaining an active lifestyle and eating well will go a long way towards your weight loss after pregnancy goals and your overall health and well-being.