Ok, yesterday I said that mothers should be more focused on rehabilitating there postpartum stomachs than on losing pregnancy weight. I still mean that, of course! But I also know that it is very common that women who just had a baby are very eager to lose the pregnancy weight. I was too. So I thought I should write a post about it. First, there is no secret to a successful weight loss. It's all quite easy, if you ask me. The answer is not pills, shakes or weird diets where you should only eat one certain thing or drink fruit juices...Nowadays most people know that you need to burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight. But counting calories is only a part of losing weight successfully and being able to maintain the new weight.
For example, if you don't do any exercise and you live a rather passive life you will need less energy (calories) to be able to get by, while another person, exercising several times a week and is walking/standing a lot in her life, for example, needs more calories. Also, the bigger you are, the more calories you need. That's why men need more calories than women. So if your goal is to build muscles you will become bigger and your new stronger body will require more calories. You can actually eat more and at the same time be able to maintain your weight when you have been building muscles for a while. Isn't that great!! The thinner person you are, the less calories you need to live your everyday life.
Also, one super important thing to remember when trying to lose weight - and when your goal is to live a healthy life - is to choose your calorie source carefully. What does that mean? Well, if you are losing weight and you are keeping a rather low calorie intake in order to do that, you want to make sure that those calories you actually take in will do you good. You want the calories to also be nutritious. That's why you should eat calories from typical protein sources (protein will also make you feel full for a longer period of time) like fish, egg, chicken, beans, cottage cheese (protein is not only meat!!), calories from nutritious carbs sources like wholegrain pasta, bread, couscous and quinoa, and vegetables and fruit.
And most important advice: Avoid the empty calories! I'll say it again: Avoid the empty calories! The first word that needs to be said is SUGAR. Sugar will add absolutely nothing nutritious to your body. It will give you satisfaction that will last for a few minutes and then it's gone, without having done anything good for you besides filling you up with empty calories. Be aware of light products with zero fat. These products are often filled with sugar instead to make them taste good. Rather eat fat! The other thing you should remember to stay away from is processed food. Don't take your calories from processed food like french fries, chips, white bread, fast food, cereals, semifinished products etc, the list can go on and on. Processed foods often have a high level of empty calories and trans fat, while the good stuff in the food is often lost in the process. This type of food is often "designed" to make us want to eat more and more. It's filling us up without adding to our health. So try to avoid taking your calories from processed food.
Good luck!
//Nicole Hellgren
