It is impossible to avoid weight gaining during pregnancy. The one question is which of them can be harmful to your health in the future.
Someone get twelve pounds in nine months, and someone – 25. No need to be scared – you can get rid of any number of extra pounds. You can speak to your doctors, pediatricians and ask them how to do it quickly, and after that read our pieces of advice.
The problem of extra weight can be prevented during pregnancy if you eat enough not to feel hunger and adhere to your norm. Americans consider the individual norm of the energy capacity of a pregnant woman’s daily diet in this way: Ideally, in 9 months a woman of normal physique should recover by 25 pounds, a thin girl with a weight deficit can gain up to 30 pounds, a full lady should be limited to 22 pounds, and an obese woman should try to maintain her original weight.
How to lose weight after pregnancy
Let’s count:
– amniotic fluid – 800-1500 grams,
– placenta – 400-600 grams,
– Energy consumption during childbirth – 600 grams,
– newborn – 8 pounds.
Total about 12 pounds. Perhaps, you will be disappointed with the result on the scales, but do not get upset. In the 3-4 weeks, you will become even slimmer. About 7 pounds will disappear due to a reduction in the volume of circulating blood, tissue and intercellular fluid. Another kilogram will go away due to the return of the uterus to its previous size.
It turns out that the excess “fat” if you have recovered within the framework of your norm, there will be very little left – about 7 pounds. You need them for physical recovery after childbirth and successful breastfeeding, so you should not go on a diet. At least two months (this is how much the postpartum period lasts) you need a varied and nutritious diet. Even if you do not breast-feed, it is too early to cut calories. But when these two months pass, you can review your diet.
Rules for losing weight if you are not breastfeeding
Try to avoid the most common mistakes that are often made in the pursuit of a slender waist.
– Do not try to lose weight as soon as possible. It is unhealthy. Extra pounds should go away slowly. The limit is – 3 pounds per week.
– Do not starve. If you do not receive the calories needed to ensure the vital functions of the body, it begins to store them. As a result, metabolism will slow down. However, the danger of a low-calorie diet is not only about this. By severely restricting yourself in food, you run the risk of depression, gastrointestinal upsets, joint disease, osteoporosis, and heart problems.
– Eat as much as you want. Your diet should include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
– Avoid extremes. So, for example, the exclusion of carbohydrates from the daily menu (bread, cereals, potatoes, sweets) can lead to metabolic disorders, increasing cholesterol and uric acid levels. You will lose weight due to the loss of water and glycogen (a reserve source of glucose in the body), but your weight will stay the same. After you turn on carbohydrates in your diet, the lost weight (due to replenishment of glycogen and water) will return to you.
– Reduce the number of animal fats in the diet (sausages, butter, cheeses) and exclude “fast” carbohydrates (remove cakes, sweets, ice cream from the menu). Cereals and vegetables are needed on the menu.
– Watch for adequate intake of vitamins and minerals. During pregnancy, you lost a lot of iron and calcium, so your food must contain these elements. If a nursing woman needs to restore iron stores for six months, then a mother who does not breast-feed her is about 3 months.
– Refuse alcoholic beverages. They are not only very high in calories, but also prevent the oxidation of fat in the body.
– Follow the model. Do not skip meals, eat on the clock.
– Eat the most high-calorie dishes in the morning and the afternoon, for the evening leave less nutritious food. Plan dinner 3 hours before bedtime.
Specialists’ recommendations
If you have gained 20-25 pounds, you have nothing to worry about. You feed the baby, which means that extra pounds will quickly burn during the time of lactation. Ask your friends – many women lose weight very quickly, and their weight is lower than the “pre-pregnant”. However, this does not mean that you can relax ahead of time. Some mothers continue to round off after childbirth. Often this is due to poor nutrition.
I remember my friend gained weight VERY quickly and asked me: how could it be because she eats nothing, only cookies. The fact that his calorie content was about 600 units per hundred grams, she did not even suspect.
So, the energy value of the diet is the main thing that you need to pay attention to. A few years ago it was believed that the needs of a nursing woman are greater than that of a pregnant woman – on average, by 350 kilocalories. It took some 20 years, and experts revised their recommendations.
Now doctors believe that you don’t have to eat so much to feed a child. Europe experts say those 2 months after birth, calorie intake should be reduced by 200-500 calories. Other believe that the energy intensity of nutrition should remain the same. You will need to think about reducing the calorie content of the daily menu only when the baby is given complementary foods (this is six months). Moreover, if the mother continues to feed the baby, she should not greatly limit herself – the diet should become 50 calories less.
