Weight Loss for Moms

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Weight Loss for Moms

Weight loss seems to become more important as women experience, or want to experience, the joys of motherhood. Perhaps this is because you yearn to get back down to your pre-baby weight. Maybe it’s because you see how movie stars manage to look better after having children. Some women can’t even get pregnant safely until they lose weight. Regardless of the reasons why, understanding the connection between pregnancy, hormones and weight loss is important.

Losing Weight to Get Pregnant

For many women, weight loss becomes a necessity when trying to get pregnant. Studies have now shown that fertility problems can often be cured by losing weight. Conditions like PCOS, also known as polycystic ovary syndrome, create an imbalance in a woman’s reproductive hormones. These hormones can be modified with a low carbohydrate diet and prescription drugs that are often used to treat diabetics.

Weigh Loss During Pregnancy

According to Rueters, only extremely obese women should lose weight, with their doctor’s approval, during pregnancy. For the rest of us, pregnancy is not a healthy time to pursue weight loss.

However, you can still watch what you eat. Being pregnant is not an excuse to eat unhealthy or fattening foods. Most importantly, you want to watch your sugar and carbohydrate intake to avoid gestational diabetes or high blood pressure which is often associated with preeclampsia.

Another factor during pregnancy is the pregnancy hormones. These are the hormones that allow the body to become pregnant and maintain the pregnancy.

However, hormones are also one of the major causes of weight gain during pregnancy, and the hardest weight to lose.

Post Partum Weight Loss

Losing baby weight after pregnancy can be a challenge. If you decide to breastfeed after having your baby, you should not diet. This is not the time to concentrate on getting back to pre-baby weight. However, you should still eat healthy and maintain a well-balanced diet.

A benefit to breastfeeding is that the nursing mother burns over 600 calories a day. To put it into perspective, burning 600 calories a day is similar to exercising for two hours! Studies have also shown that nursing mothers lose inches around their hips and return to their pre-baby weight faster than those who formula feed.

Motherhood is a wonderful thing, but it can wreak havoc on our girlish figures. Do not despair! Understand that these mommy hormones might make it harder to lose weight, but you can limit your calorie intake for weight loss. Then, get back to exercising and you can lose weight and get back down to your pre-baby size!

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