Just had a baby and wondering how to lose the belly fat? Stomach fat is difficult to handle and shift because once it has accumulated, shedding it can take a lot of effort. New mums can suffer from increased stomach fat following pregnancy. Lots of excess weight on the tummy can form for many reasons. Weight can be gained around the tummy while one is pregnant.
Baby Belly Facts
Table of Contents
Two different types of stomach fat are there– visceral and subcutaneous. Visceral fat is around the internal organs and not immediately visible. It can be pretty hazardous to your health.
Subcutaneous fat lies just underneath the skin’s surface. This is the fat that can be seen. Visceral fat can cause the stomach to look more enlarged and push subcutaneous fat still further, making the stomach look bigger.
How to Get Rid of the Baby Belly
Photo by: Richard Foster/CC BYIt takes time for the body, specifically the tummy to make a complete recovery. This includes shedding the fat. Slowly inflating as the baby grows, giving birth is not like a balloon erupting, but a slow leak. Decrease in the tummy size is slow and steady. So, have patience because the fat loss is very gradual.
From the time the birth takes place, hormonal changes contract the tummy to decrease in size. All the cells in the human body have swelled during pregnancy release fluids. Extra fat that is nourishing the baby will burn off, more so with breastfeeding and exercising.
The shape and size of your stomach prior to the conception also plays a role as well as the amount of weight gained during pregnancy. The degree of activity and genetic factors also influence whether you develop a baby belly.
Diet
Photo By: Jeremy Keith/CC BYMake sure you eat a healthy breakfast. Eat close to 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day. Choose fiber-rich foods such as beans, lentils, grains and seeds within the diet.
Choose starchy foods like rice, pasta, and potatoes as well.
Choose to avoid high fat and high sugar foods such as biscuits and cakes.
Watch the portions during meal times. Regulate the amount of food you eat and whether you snack between meals.
The amount you consume needs to depend on the weight and the level of activity. Healthy breastfeeding mums should not compromise on nutrition for staving off a baby belly as exercise can also help.
Exercise
Exercise can help in toning down fat and burning calories. If exercise is still tough, start with some light workout and some simple stretching exercises. In case you stop exercising during pregnancy or are a newcomer to fitness, exercising slowly is better.
Begin pelvic floor exercises and work on toning lower tummy muscles as soon as you are able to. This will help you to return to your pre-pregnancy shape and flatten the stomach.
Take your baby for walks in the pushchair. A long stroll in fresh air will benefit the both of you.
Start Slowly
Getting eager to fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes? It takes up to a year to lose the weight and tone the stomach muscles. This happens because the reproductive organs stretched and the abdominal muscles expanded during the pregnancy.
Following the pregnancy, a woman’s body is starved of nutrients so mums need to eat right to ensure that they can rebuild their energy stores.
Breastfeed
Breastfeeding is an effective way to tighten the belly. This leads to contraction of the uterus and shrinks it to the pre-pregnancy size. Women lose weight faster if they breastfeed. In fact, they lose more than 300 calories in day and this can go up to 400 calories if breastfeeding is carried out for more than 6 months.
Cardio Exercises
Photo By: Fit Approach/ CC BYA cardio workout can ensure that calories are burnt and baby belly can lower. Jumping jacks or a workout app can make a difference to your home exercise routine. Add resistance training and complete body exercises for the perfect mix to make workouts more effective, using dumbbells and barbells. Use a workout to boost heart rate and challenge the muscles.
Perform Stomach Squeezes
Abdominal muscles can tear to accommodate the baby. Exercises that force you to draw the navel into the spine or ensures that the deep muscles under the rectus abdominus develop can strengthen the whole core. Try everything from pelvic tilts to reverse crunches, plank exercises or pilates program.
Drink Less Alchohol
Drinking too much alcohol or sugar rich, fizzy drinks that are carbonated can add to your baby belly. It also disrupts the capacity for the body to build muscle mass. Artificial sweeteners can also have a negative impact on weight, because they have side effects and increase sugar cravings. So the best way out is to limit your intake or cut down on it.
Stay High on Motivation
Go low on fats and high on motivation. This can ensure that you have the persistence to shift stubborn stomach fat and stay motivated. Strengthening the core will help in performing intensive exercises. Muscles will be balanced ensuring the risk of injury lessens. Moreover, weight loss will increase.
Burn Fat, Exercise Larger Muscle Groups
Large muscle groups contain more muscles. Therefore, if you exercise these, more muscles are worked simultaneously, enhancing the efficiency of the workout. Opt for exercises which are efficient in burning fat. Burn off a lot of calories when you perform the exercise, Working the larger muscle groups ensures rapid weight loss. Specific exercises for the core can make a massive impact on the loss of belly fat.
Conclusion
Photo By: Earl McGehee/ CC BYRemember that you are the beautiful person you always wanted to be and that inner beauty defines who you are. While losing the baby belly is important, don’t develop anorexia or sacrifice your nutrition for losing weight. Hold that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and you have to have the self-confidence to hold your own. Baby bellies will come and go. Have the confidence to eat right and exercise well and you will be able to return to your slim, trim self in next to no time at all.