how to lose belly fat | amotherworld

by Julie Watson

After having your first baby, it sometimes takes a while to actually grasp the concept that you will eventually lose the “baby belly”. You will. After having your second, and not having already lost that baby belly…well, it’s an even further reach. Know this..it IS possible.

Once you put it in perspective (see my previous article “The Baby Belly“) your next step should be to actually implement some concrete strategies that will get you on the road to a successful de-throning of the “Muffin-Top”. Make no mistake though, it’s hard work.

Here are some key tips to get you started on your journey. Following this check list regularly will help you put the tips into motion, and give you motivation to keep up the hard work!

1. Water: Water is key to any weight loss, but particularly after having a baby, water helps reduce inflammation and flushes out toxins. Drink 8 glasses of water a day, and more if you are breastfeeding or beginning an exercise program. Tip: add a squeeze of lemon for flavor and as a digestion aid.

2. Restore your Core: Don’t go crunching your way to a hernia here! You need to begin an ab routine safely and effectively to restore the stretching and strain that your abdominal muscles have endured. Tip: Begin with Kegels, add in small crunches simply tilting your head, and work your way up. It’s not a race to the crunch line!

3. Lunge baby, lunge! Building those larger muscle groups will help you burn fat faster. Lunges, and squats, done a with perfect form at a higher level of intensity (faster) will have you burning it in no time! Tip: Get your form down first, with your front knee behind your front toe, then move into harder pace and intensity.

4. Meditation: Stress is a walking fat storage unit. The more stress you have, the harder it is to reduce fat, particularly around the mid-section (hello, baby-belly). Tip: Meditation, even for 5 minutes a day will help reduce stress, by exchanging the oxygen in the brain with fresh, clean, white energy. Think Yoga!

5. Nutrition: You’ve heard it before, but you still don’t believe it…Your food intake is 80-90% of your success. If you eat properly, (not frozen low fat dinners!!) choosing whole foods, in their most natural state, and managing your portion intake, you will be 80% of the way there. Seriously! Tip: Enlist a nutritionist to help get you started, and learn what is really “healthy” vs. just “low fat” junk. It will pay off in spades, when that “frozen yogurt” spare tire disappears.

You can get there. You can do it. With a dash of perspective, and toolkit in hand, you will find your way back to health & fitness. You may even find yourself in better shape than you ever have been! Stick with it, and get out your check-list! Your energy, strength, and self-esteem are all worth it.

Julie Watson is the owner of AfterGlow Health & Fitness in Toronto, for prenatal, postnatal and beyond. When not training, speaking, or writing about Moms & Babes, she apparently spends too much time on her computer, and does her best to listen to her 3 kids. Not necessarily in that order.

By Julie Watson

In just about every class and every one on one session I do with a postpartum Mom, I get asked how to get rid of the baby belly. Sometimes moms will grab their little “C-section sack” and show me what needs to be trimmed and toned, other times moms will ask about the “inner tube” they feel they have acquired since pregnancy. And then there are the moms, who have a fairly flat stomach, but still feel their mid-section needs work.

The point is that as a woman, I think we are all very conscious of our bellies, and what shape they have taken on since giving birth, regardless of how big or small. I have many tips to help flatten your tummy (see afterglowtoronto.com/blog for 7 tips to flatten your tummy), but I also have some advice that has nothing to do with a crunch, yoga, or holding it in.

Perspective.

Here are a few things to consider before judging yourself, and your baby belly that the magazine’s, moviestars, and modern society don’t talk about:

1. How old is your baby? Are you two months postpartum? Three, four, five or six? Did you know that it takes up to a YEAR for all your bits to return to their natural habitat? That’s right! Hips, organs and the like have all been displaced in order to carry your bundle. So give it time before you get that tummy tuck because your body needs to re-jig itself, and what it needs most is TIME.

2. Are you breastfeeding? This can go one of two ways. Most women tend to hang on to extra fat during breastfeeding for how long? Wait for it…until they stop breastfeeding! For some that could be over a year. So pull out the perspective and give yourself a break. You will only feed your baby from your breast for this amount of time ONCE in his lifetime. Stop and smell the roses, it will be over before you know it. The other side of the coin is that you lose weight while you breastfeed. It’s not as common but congratulations if this is you… you may find that at some point you plateau, so know that this is totally normal.

3. Another bit of perspective right here is exactly that… it is totally NORMAL. Think about it. You have just carried around a big ole baby in your belly for 10 months. Imagine what that does to your body parts? Perhaps before having that baby you should come to the understanding that your skin will stretch, your muscles will change, and your six-pack may never be the same. That said, it is totally possible to regain all of your belly strength. Just give it time. Did I say 10 months?

4. Are you sleeping? Lack of sleep and stress hold onto belly fat. You may not be able to do anything about this until your baby gets older, so once again take it in stride. It won’t last forever.

5. Expectations can drive a person mad. Seriously mad. It is unrealistic to expect that after pumping out a baby (or two or three) that your body will just sink back to your 20-year-old self, no issues. Now if you happen to be one of those women who’s bodies do the miraculous transformation to “skinny bitch”, then consider yourself lucky but one of the very few. It is not as common to see that, and do you know why? Because it’s not a part of the process. You may always have that womanly curve – which by the way, used to be the sexiest part of a woman. Where did we go wrong? Or slightly wider hips. The sooner you accept it, the sooner it will disappear.

Heidi Klum Shows Off A Short & Shaggy Do — Credit: INFphoto.com

6. You are not a movie star.

Maybe you are, so scratch this one from your list. But for the rest of us…we don’t have a personal trainer at our beckon call 24/7, nor a personal chef to cook us raw vegan meals. Nor do we have the time or money for surgical procedures that can zip-zap us into red-carpet ready the day after baby comes. Put down the magazines and pick up a mirror. You are beautiful. You are not Madonna, Gwyneth or Heidi…who has time for two hour workouts anyway?

Embrace this process and this part of your life. Your body has provided your babies a safe and healthy place to start, your body did the unthinkable, and pushed, shoved, or c-sectioned your baby to life. Your body fed your baby, carried your baby and probably rocked, played with and slept with your baby.

Be proud of what you are capable of, and the uber-power you have performed. But most of all, have some perspective on this completely natural and transitional time in your life. And give yourself a break. You look great, and so does your tummy!