Dear amazing mother, actually no, your body will definitely never be the same again. It’s gone through the most amazing thing it can possibly go through! I gained about a hundred pounds during pregnancy by literally consuming everything in sight, but still lost pregnancy weight without working out. I would like to assure you that most likely you can loose pregnancy weight naturally, but it may take a while, and your body will be permanently changed.
With that said, welcome to the other side!
After a few months post baby, I lost all the weight and still have not worked out…yet.
Here is my how to loose pregnancy weight without working out. This is what I personally did as a 5 foot 10 inch woman that gained almost 100bls.
These tips may not be suitable for everyone. Only you know your body best, consult your medical professional so you can do only what is right for you!
Stretch marks are real.
Flabby skin too.
Even though you naturally can’t do too much about flabby skin.
Here’s the good news. Your body will actually do a great job and tightening things up if you treat yourself well. And YES you CAN loose the pooch without exercising. However, be ready for the “mum tum” to reappear whenever you get, a little too full – stuffed. Which should make sense right?
Let’s go back to even before you had the baby, you probably had to loosen up a button or too after overindulging, didn’t you? It’s just that now that your belly muscles are SO out of commission, it doesn’t take much to puff your belly out.
Now, i’m not advocating for you to starve yourself by any means!
Please don’t starve yourself!
If you want more control over your belly puffing out easily, then you need to work out. So go ahead and work out those muscles. But, if maybe you’re just too busy with life or working out was never really part of your regular schedule, then just do the following…
Stay hydrated, but skip the sugar drinks
Drink water like your life depends on it. This is key to make sure that you’re not mentally overeating. I think it’s a common phenomenon that we hear of now. “When you think you’re hungry, you’re probably just thirsty”.
Consuming lots of water regularly is also a great way to increase your breast milk out put. You will also find that breastfeeding will make you so thirsty.
Listen to your body.
I have found just have a huge jug of water makes it so much easier to drink when I’m thirsty so I don’t get lazy and put it off.
Self control
Now that you’re drinking a lot of water, remind yourself to eat only when you’re hungry. I encourage you to always have something healthy (or sometimes indulgent) ready to eat. I know I grew a sweet tooth right after I had my baby! If that’s also you, take stock of what you’re eating daily so that you can make sure you’re well nourished.
Taking a walk, for instance, can also reset your mind. It will help you focus on other things, clear your head. It will also fill a blank space in your day, perhaps eliminate boredom which may make you want to eat.
focus on nutrient dense foods
Make sure that all your nutrient bases are covered. Eat whole fruit and vegetables. For instance eat a peach instead of peach cobbler. Or eat some sweet peppers instead of jalapeño poppers.
Choosing nutrient dense food, will also give you adequate energy to get through the day while you are sleep deprived.
I personally threw out the breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack timing and just ate when I actually felt hungry. Sometimes it was three times a day. Sometimes it was more.
Here is a nutrition guide that contains great suggestions for eating postpartum.
Eat intuitively
Another thing that helped me loose the weight was not having a set time to eat. That took away the temptation of forcing myself to eat when I was not hungry.
This recommendation may definitely not work for everyone, i.e. for people who forget to eat. Gasp! So, by all means, do what works for you in order to stay healthy.
Avoid a strict eating schedule if you can. If you are usually prone to over eat, this will give you time to listen to what your body wants. Then you can feed it according.
However, I do encourage some healthy meal prep so that you’re never in a lurch for what to eat. You never want to get HANGRY. This will lead to binge eating. You want to avoid unnecessary calories so stay in tune with your body.
In the early days, you’ll be loosing a lot of sleep and your timing will be all over the place, so I personally would advocate for you to listen to your body’s cues and always have food ready to eat.
In order for this to work, you need to be intentional.
If you are hungry, eat. And stop when you feel full. Don’t try to finish the plate just because it’s there! It will still be there later on when you feel hungry again…
breastFeed
Breastfeed. This is self explanatory – if you can do it. I have heard that some people gain weight because of this. However, in my experience it has been very instrumental in fueling any excess calories to the baby.
Breastfeeding kept me so busy – it’s a full time job mama – that I didn’t have extra time to eat idly if I was tempted!
Be more self reliant
Try your best to keep your regular routine, grocery shopping, errands, etc and take your baby with you. Act like you don’t have much help and your activity will increase than if you just sat around waiting to be served. Though I didn’t, I believe some do have that luxury. Y
ou most certainly will be sleep deprived, but, in my opinion, having various tasks to do every day that you can actually look forward to will help to energize you.
One thing I certainly had to learn was – do things tired. This will keep you in a groove as you work on routines which are every changing with a growing baby.
These are my tips on how to loose pregnancy weight without working out. Please decide what will work best for you and your specific situation as you rest, heal and enjoy your baby! I would love to know if there is something else that has helped you loose your baby weight without much effort of your own?