One of the hardest parts of becoming a new mom is the dreaded mom pouch. The hard reality sits in that you may just have to wear those outdated mom pants. Who really wants to wear those? They make your butt look so long and they make you feel so unattractive.
So instead you try to suck in your gut to fit into a pair of nice looking tights. Then the awful muffin tops stick out over top of them. So you try once more with a waist trainer underneath your pants. It helps to make the muffin tops go away, but your left breathless and extremely uncomfortable. No one wants to wear that all day.
You try to tell yourself that you’ll work out tomorrow but when tomorrow comes you have way too much on your plate. You have the baby to watch, lunch to make, laundry to fold, dishes to clean. It seems the list goes on and on.
So what can you do with the little time you do have? You ask yourself, how do I begin to lose weight?
Start Small
Exactly, you start small. Where might that be?
You can start with dinner. Luckily losing weight doesn’t start at the gym, otherwise we’d never get to where we want to be. It starts with making one meal a day, healthy. From there you can turn it into two meals a day, then three, and then include your snacks.
Don’t punish yourself either if you “fall off the wagon,” so to speak. If you have one cheat meal one day out of a week you are still doing really good. Three meals a day for 7 days a week is 21 meals. One cheat meal out of 21 healthy meals is not going to hurt, so cut yourself some slack.
Cut Out That Sugar
Yes, I said it, cut it out. Sugar can cause diabetes and diabetes has become one of the leading causes of death in the world.
But sugar makes everything taste so good. Yes it sure does, and it’s also extremely addictive. It will be one of the hardest foods to cut out, but it’ll also be one of the most rewarding.
If you are planning on baking or you need sugar for something, there are several substitutes you can use besides white sugar. A few of these include:
- Coconut Sugar
- Agave Nectar
- Maple Syrup
- Honey
- Ripend Banana
- Xylitol
- Swerve
- Stevia
All of these substitutes are much more beneficial to the human body. Used in moderation of course, as they are still a type of sugar. It is still best to avoid all types of sugar if possible. You can read all about the effects of sugar on the body here.
Foods to Avoid
There are a lot of foods you want to avoid when trying to lose weight aside from sugar. You want to avoid anything that contains anything fried, processed or refined. Some of these include.
1. French Fries
French fries are extremely heavy in saturated fats. When you consume too much saturated fats it raises your cholesterol levels and can even lead to heart disease.
Try to replace them with homemade sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries are much more nutrient dense than french fries and contain Vitamin A which is good for your vision and immune system.
2. Sugary Drinks
Sugary drinks include pop, fruit juices, sports drinks, sweetened waters, energy drinks, sweetened coffee and teas.
Consuming too much sugar in beverages can increase your risk of heart disease, obesity, and inflammation. It can effect your skin as well as your teeth, and it can also effect your sleep cycle.
Switch it up and try some fresh squeezed lemonade, or if you really like your pop you can substitute it for flavored sparkling water. It will help to hydrate you without the risk of tooth decay.
3. White Bread
White bread is made with extremely processed flour and other additives. Consuming too much white bread on a regular bases can lead to obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Depending on what you’re using the bread for, you can replace things like wraps with lettuce or big leafy greens like collards. For toast, you can use sliced sweet potatoes. You can also use a cauliflower blend for bread or pizza crust. All are much more nutritious and beneficial to the human body.
3. Candy Bars
Candy bars contain a lot of refined sugars which can overload your pancreas. It can also lead to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and also certain types of cancer.
Substitute your candy bars with homemade energy balls, or dried fruit. You can find a lot of good recipes for both with a quick search online.
You might even like to try 70% cacao or darker chocolate. Dark chocolate is known to have tons of antioxidants and fiber. Both good for your gut.
4. Pastries, Cookies & Cakes
Who can resist a good cookie? Truth is they are full of processed flours and sugars. I’m sure you already knew that, but just a reminder to try to stay away from all of these.
Some good replacements would be nutritional bars, or homemade protein bars.
5. Alcohol
Alcohol can lead to liver disease and depression. Long term effects can be high blood pressure, stroke, and digestive problems. Alcohol can contain wheat and sugar which are both harmful on your gut and digestive tract, making it harder for you to drop those pounds.
Instead of beer, wine, coolers, or any other alcoholic drink, try something like a sparkling water, tea or kombucha. All 3 are much easier on your gut and digestive tract.
6. Ice Cream
Ice cream contains a lot of dairy and refined sugars. Dairy can coat the inside of your gut making it hard for the nutrients in good food to get absorbed into your system. They are also high in saturated fats which can lead to obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have also linked dairy to breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
Replace your regular ice cream with some ‘nice cream’. There are many recipes out there made with non-dairy beverages and fruits. You still get the creamy frozen desert without all the negatives of eating dairy loaded with sugars.
Is It All About The Food?
Of course not, you still need to keep active. As a new mom you’re constantly on your feet so you’ve already got your steps in. Try taking your little one on a walk around the block to help break up the day.
If its winter and cold as can be outside like it is where I’m from (Oh, Canada) then I’m sure you will want to find some activities inside.
You can include baby in your activities as well. Do some standing squats while you’re up and about (bonus if you hold baby while you do them for the extra weight).
Make a fun game of lifting baby up over your head for a few reps. If they are too heavy and a bit older have them copy you and make it exciting by throwing one of their stuffed animals in the air to catch.
Exercise doesn’t have to be work, you can take simple tasks you normally do in a day and make them challenging. You just have to be willing to start.
Just Start Small
You don’t have to start with running a marathon, just start with one meal.
If you have any questions about any of the content feel free to reach out in the comments below.