Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My wife and I had a baby son in late 2011. We both gained weight during the pregnancy. I continued gaining weight after our son was born because I didn’t go to the gym for more than a month. Moreover, we ate more takeout than ever before. Yeah, it was a hectic time, but that’s usually the case for new parents (he’s our first child).
Now that our son is 7 months old, we’re both well on our way to losing the weight we gained. It didn’t happen overnight. Moreover, we, especially my wife, had to tweak our fitness regimen to accommodate caring for our son.
The following are 5 things we did that helped us lose weight after having a baby.
1. Walk every day
We invested in an excellent stroller and hit the walking paths within 2 weeks after our son was born. We continue going for a one hour walk each night. My wife also goes for a walk during the day.
We’ve always been avid walkers, but due to the fact our son loves being outside, we’re more consistent with longer walks. Moreover, walking is terrific because we don’t have to deal with childcare.
2. Weaned ourselves off takeout food
We ate a lot of takeout out of necessity during the weeks after our son was born. I was working more than I wanted to and my wife had her hands full with our son. However, after a few months things settled down to where we could cook regularly again eating more vegetables and whole foods. We both cooked as much as we could incorporating salads and vegetables into every dish.
A bad eating habit I had developed before and after our son was born was eating sugery cereals. I deluded myself that it wasn’t too bad. However, the weight gain was evident that the cereal was contributing to the problem. Therefore, we created our own muesli recipe which is oats, 7-grain mix and chopped (food-processed) dried fruit mix. It’s inexpensive, easy to make and tastes good (not quite as good as Harvest Crunch cereal, but it contains no sugar other than the sugar in the dried fruit).
3. Yoga at home
Before our son was born, my wife and I went to yoga class once a week. It was an activity we enjoyed doing together. However, yoga class didn’t happen after our son was born. But, since we both know yoga fairly well, it wasn’t difficult establishing home yoga routines. We don’t do it at the same time anymore, but because we can easily do yoga at home, we both get in a few yoga routines each week.
4. Got a treadmill
We ended up getting a treadmill, largely due to the fact my wife is into long distance running. When she got pregnant she was training for her first marathon. The marathon didn’t happen, but she developed a love for running. For anyone who needs to lose weight and wants to get fit at home, having a treadmill in the home is ideal. Although our son is demanding, my wife can easily get in 15 to 30 minute runs most days.
5. Purchased a jogging stroller
In addition to our walking stroller, we splurged on a jogging stroller in anticipation of my wife resuming your running. Running on the treadmill is great, but when the weather is nice, she prefers running outside. Although she’s still building up her endurance, being able to get in short jogs outside using the jogging stroller is ideal. Again, because our son is with her while she jogs.
My one other fitness activity is going to the gym, which I resumed about 4 months after our son was born. This was the icing on the cake for my weight loss because I was able to lift weights again.
We had one weight gain strike against us when our son was born and that was the fact he was born shortly before Christmas. As most people do, we gained some weight feasting and enjoying foods we don’t eat throughout the year. Once the holiday season ended and we could incorporate the 5 weight loss methods above, we both started shedding weight quickly.
Aside from a treadmill and jogging stroller, all the methods that helped us lose weight after having a baby is available to everyone and works if persistent and consistent.
Jon DeWit is a contributing author to Baby Baron.com, which is a blog all about the experiences, joys and difficulties of first-time parents.