How To Successfully Lose Postpartum Weight Without Making These Mistakes
If you’ve recently had a baby, especially if it’s not your first, then you know that losing postpartum weight takes time and a little effort.
Or sometimes, a lot of effort.
This is true because motherhood can be stressful and exhausting; two major components of a slow metabolism.
Have you recently had your second or third baby?
Do you feel that you are following the same diet pre-pregnancy but this time, you’re gaining weight?
Are there any reasons why postpartum weight loss isn’t happening?
The good news is that there is no biological reason why mums can’t lose the baby weight and get into even better shape than they were pre-pregnancy.
In this article, we are going to look at some major mistakes that can impair weight loss.
7 reasons why you’re not losing postpartum weight
1. You’re eating “low fat” pre-packaged foods
Packaged food marketed as “low fat” is one of the most deceiving foods you could eat if you’re trying to lose weight. The reason is that these foods are usually laden with additives, preservatives, and most of all sugar.
Low-fat foods also contain inflammatory vegetable oils. These oils damage our DNA, cells and cause chronic inflammation. When a food contains “bad” fats, the body cannot use it to satiate hunger.
Fats do not determine how fat you are.
Fat is a macronutrient that actually satiates hunger. It makes you feel full. But not every type of fat.
Most fats used in pre-packaged foods are vegetable oils. These oils are unnatural and harmful to the body. They are one of the reasons why we have most, if not all, chronic health problems today.
Healthy fats satiate hunger and help you lose weight.
Here’s how to make a delicious cooking fat at home.
2. You’re eating “sugar-free” pre-packaged foods
Ah, sugar. It’s highly addictive and found in almost every packaged food on supermarket shelves.
Of course, not until you get to the “sugar-free” section. Sometimes even health food aisles and stores stock these foods marketed as healthy, when in fact they are even worse than foods that do contain sugar.
Here’s the thing, marketing can be deceiving sometimes and a food item that seems like a healthy option is actually worse than what it’s made out to be.
Artificial sweeteners like aspartame, the most used sweetener in the world, have been linked to cardiovascular problems, mood disorders, migraines, and more.
The other problem is that artificial sweeteners trick the brain into consuming something sweet without the calories. A person might be more prone to over-eating if they think they are cutting down on sugar elsewhere. This off-sets any kind of weight loss attempt.
3. You are not exercising enough
If you kept every part of your life the same, such as diet, and increased your exercise time you would see results. Exercise is important for maintaining health but even more so for weight loss.
How many calories should you burn during a workout to lose weight?
It takes 3500 calories burned to lose 1 pound. A typical workout burns 200-300 calories. So you would need to do 11-17.5 workouts per week to lose 1 pound or 1.5-2.5 per day to lose 1 pound in 1 week.
A simple way to burn more calories is to walk more. Make conscious decisions to walk more and drive less. Or do activities with your kids where you know you’ll be active.
Write out a weekly exercise goal and stick to it. You’ll be sure to see results in no time.
4. Going on fad diets
Diets come and go. Most of the time they aren’t sustainable because they are just unrealistic.
You’ve just found out about a new diet that promises extremely fast weight loss. You realize that in order to follow the meal plan you have to make significant changes to your lifestyle like adding money to your food budget, shopping at different stores than you normally do, or even feeling hungrier so that you can’t do your daily tasks.
Diets are like fashion trends. They always change.
The question to ask yourself is this: can I sustain this diet for 6-12 months?
If the answer is yes, keep going. If not, it’s time to find a more sustainable one like a Traditional diet.
4. Not getting enough sleep
Sleep is one of the most important factors for weight loss. Sleep is crucial when it comes to weight loss. On the one hand, lack of sleep means more time awake, burning energy. On the other hand, lack of sleep causes stress on the body and raises the hormone ghrelin.
Ghrelin is responsible for regulated the brain’s response to hunger. It is known to control where fat is stored, how much food is eaten and the release of growth hormone.
Studies have found that lack of sleep stimulates increased levels of ghrelin and even influences unhealthy food cravings. Lack of sleep can also affect metabolism and cause it to be sluggish.
5. Not drinking enough water
Water is another important part of weight loss. Water can suppress appetite. So for example, if you have food cravings in between meals simply drinking more water can be an effective way to stop eating when your body doesn’t need it.
Water also boosts metabolism. Studies have shown that just drinking half a liter (17 ounces) of water before mealtimes increase the resting metabolism by up to 30%. Simply put, your body will burn more calories from the meal you eat if you drink a good amount of water around half an hour beforehand.
Drinking cold water also stimulates weight loss as the body has to use energy to heat it up on the inside.
Conclusion
Postpartum weight loss can be a challenge but it is not impossible. Many women report that it is harder to lose postpartum weight after a second or third child. This is not due to the fact they metabolism slows with age or somehow the body cannot lose weight, it is most often because of diet and lifestyle factors.
Many mums today live busy and sometimes stressful lives with very little sleep. These factors alone are major reasons why weight loss is more difficult when there are many little ones to care for.
With a little effort, a plan, and consistency, those added pounds should be gone in time.
