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How to Lose Belly Fat for Women after Pregnancy
- Thread starter romehyper
- Start date
Prevention is the best cure. A woman only needs to gain about 15kg during pregnancy (even this is generous for a normal pregnancy without and twinning). About 3-4kg is the baby, and another 3-4kg is all the fun stuff that comes out with the baby. So that's half the weight loss dealt with just by screaming, pushing and cursing at your husband because he did this to you for somewhere between 2 and 40 hours.
Another couple kilos will be water retention, and a truly beautiful amount of weight will accumulate in the boobs. Going by the way that milking a cow twice daily keeps her producing milk long after she's stopped feeding her calf, I hypothesise that if mums kept milking themselves after weening the kids, a certain brand of cosmetic surgery would become near obsolete.
After all this has been taken into account, we're only talking about 5ish kg fat loss. This hinges on my starting claim that prevention is the best cure. If you've gone ahead and gained 25kg during your pregnancy, or already had a lot of excess fat to lose, then this 5kg prediction obviously becomes much higher.
5kg of fat loss is about a 12 week goal, once you get into a calorie deficit of about 500kcal/day below maintenance and factor in times where you lapse or briefly plateau. You don't even need to exercise for it (although exercise increases your metabolic output, meaning you can eat more and still be in the 500kcal deficit). This is just as well, because exercise is generally not recommended for the first 6-12 weeks after giving birth on account of needing to physically recover from squeezing a watermelon through an aerosol can (or, you know, doing it the much less hardcore way of merely slicing through multiple layers of abdominal muscle).
When a woman does return to exercise after giving birth, first priority is abdominal and pelvic floor musculoskeletal rehab. This will consist almost exclusively of stuff that the pseudo-intellectual thugs who make up much of the internet strength community call "useless fluff." It won't make you toned all over. It won't shed fat off your frame. It won't cover you in muscles. It won't improve your cardiovascular fitness. And it'll increase your metabolic rate only slightly above the level of sleeping. But it needs to be done.
As she progresses and her core regains function, she'll then graduate to basic movements at a low level, and over a few months will return to normal levels of performance. By this stage there's no reason why she can't have lost all the baby weight -- assuming that she took care of herself during pregnancy and so didn't gain excessive weight throughout pregnancy, and assuming she didn't have a lot of extra weight to get rid of before discovering what girl bits and boy bits do when one of them comes to visit the other.
Another couple kilos will be water retention, and a truly beautiful amount of weight will accumulate in the boobs. Going by the way that milking a cow twice daily keeps her producing milk long after she's stopped feeding her calf, I hypothesise that if mums kept milking themselves after weening the kids, a certain brand of cosmetic surgery would become near obsolete.
After all this has been taken into account, we're only talking about 5ish kg fat loss. This hinges on my starting claim that prevention is the best cure. If you've gone ahead and gained 25kg during your pregnancy, or already had a lot of excess fat to lose, then this 5kg prediction obviously becomes much higher.
5kg of fat loss is about a 12 week goal, once you get into a calorie deficit of about 500kcal/day below maintenance and factor in times where you lapse or briefly plateau. You don't even need to exercise for it (although exercise increases your metabolic output, meaning you can eat more and still be in the 500kcal deficit). This is just as well, because exercise is generally not recommended for the first 6-12 weeks after giving birth on account of needing to physically recover from squeezing a watermelon through an aerosol can (or, you know, doing it the much less hardcore way of merely slicing through multiple layers of abdominal muscle).
When a woman does return to exercise after giving birth, first priority is abdominal and pelvic floor musculoskeletal rehab. This will consist almost exclusively of stuff that the pseudo-intellectual thugs who make up much of the internet strength community call "useless fluff." It won't make you toned all over. It won't shed fat off your frame. It won't cover you in muscles. It won't improve your cardiovascular fitness. And it'll increase your metabolic rate only slightly above the level of sleeping. But it needs to be done.
As she progresses and her core regains function, she'll then graduate to basic movements at a low level, and over a few months will return to normal levels of performance. By this stage there's no reason why she can't have lost all the baby weight -- assuming that she took care of herself during pregnancy and so didn't gain excessive weight throughout pregnancy, and assuming she didn't have a lot of extra weight to get rid of before discovering what girl bits and boy bits do when one of them comes to visit the other.
My wife is genetically predisposed to gain weight easily, her weight after my sons birth was less than around 2 pounds more than before the pregnancy. There were a lot of risks so she took it incredibly seriously and the midwives were incredibly impressed when the bang on date baby at 8 pounds 5 was followed by a placenta that was at least this weight. The healthier and fitter the mother the more her body will devote to the placenta to give the baby a the best chance possible, if you have this be very proud of yourself, you deserve it.
The birth was a bad one and there was a risk that I was going to be a single parent. This was due to juvenile abuse she had which had meant her pelvis hadn't developed properly and she shouldn't have been able to give birth to a baby at full term. On reflection she is glad we didn't know and she carried him all the way but I am the person who nearly lost my wife so I have a conflicted view, it was best for my son and that counts for a lot, there's a big but.
The birth involved her losing a lot of blood, not the birth causing this remember it was prior abuse, something the staff weren't totally honest about, but the anaemic look to my wife the following morning was enough for me to see she needed iron and a general vitamin and mineral top up. I checked with the staff ad was allowed to bring food. The NHS doesn't have a lot of budget for food so meat and quality is minimal. It was amusing that other beds with flowers and balloons were occupied by women jealous of the woman with none because new dad was bringing her fresh steak meals etc. to get her strength back. Note for the dads out there, romantic is nice, but the better half will thank you for a good meal.
Activity started the day after my son was born, on reflection if I'd known how bad things were it would have been less but not none. The regime was gruelling, walking down the ward and back 3 or 4 times a day with me as support, total distance must have been almost half a mile, and it was a pace any snail would be ashamed of. she did the pelvic floor etc. consistently and used the walking as an opportunity to straighten herself back up while her abdominal muscles shrunk back to normal size.
A week later out of hospital it got serious. Accompanying me to walk the dogs for toilet trips, gradually progressing to nearly a mile one way with a rest, while I threw things for the dogs to pursue, then getting back. Occasional shopping trips when we knew what we needed and where to get it. Progressing to carrying the baby around the house even when this meant dealing with stairs.
I know this was all pretty pathetic looking stuff especially the last but she was so weakened that she was scared that carrying our son up stairs was literally putting his life at risk, something that tore her apart. Basically there is no-one who should ever tell you that you aren't doing enough and if they do a swift bat to the head should knock some sense into them.
The net result for my wife was she gained more weight in the month following the birth than the 9 months before, and roughly the same in the next few, I was feeding her more than she needed because I was scared and wanted her to live. Sum total was 7 or 8 pounds gain within that year, and she was able to get out with my son in a pushchair to generate a calorie deficit after the first few months and this weight gradually started slipping off, not fast the deficit was minimal.
There are exceptions to this but most babies are born within relationships, if the man prioritises the woman's return to tight belly over her health, I'll leave you to figure out what I think. Take it steady, do what you can but remember your body will have released hormones loosening literally every joint in your body, so load bearing activities are a good way to mess up your recovery and give you a lifetime of pain if done within the first few weeks and after that it will still be a few months before the joints are back to normal. Most people know the abdominal wall stuff and a few other obvious things but there are reasons that post-natal fitness is a speciality and I am not even close to an expert so if you want to do anything more intense than basic walking and swimming check that it is safe for you first.
Baby swim classes are great, my son loved them, I was only able to be there for one due to work, but all the children enjoyed it especially those with mothers walking or swimming with them in the water. Keep it simple and keep to a simple rule 'if in doubt, don't.'
The birth was a bad one and there was a risk that I was going to be a single parent. This was due to juvenile abuse she had which had meant her pelvis hadn't developed properly and she shouldn't have been able to give birth to a baby at full term. On reflection she is glad we didn't know and she carried him all the way but I am the person who nearly lost my wife so I have a conflicted view, it was best for my son and that counts for a lot, there's a big but.
The birth involved her losing a lot of blood, not the birth causing this remember it was prior abuse, something the staff weren't totally honest about, but the anaemic look to my wife the following morning was enough for me to see she needed iron and a general vitamin and mineral top up. I checked with the staff ad was allowed to bring food. The NHS doesn't have a lot of budget for food so meat and quality is minimal. It was amusing that other beds with flowers and balloons were occupied by women jealous of the woman with none because new dad was bringing her fresh steak meals etc. to get her strength back. Note for the dads out there, romantic is nice, but the better half will thank you for a good meal.
Activity started the day after my son was born, on reflection if I'd known how bad things were it would have been less but not none. The regime was gruelling, walking down the ward and back 3 or 4 times a day with me as support, total distance must have been almost half a mile, and it was a pace any snail would be ashamed of. she did the pelvic floor etc. consistently and used the walking as an opportunity to straighten herself back up while her abdominal muscles shrunk back to normal size.
A week later out of hospital it got serious. Accompanying me to walk the dogs for toilet trips, gradually progressing to nearly a mile one way with a rest, while I threw things for the dogs to pursue, then getting back. Occasional shopping trips when we knew what we needed and where to get it. Progressing to carrying the baby around the house even when this meant dealing with stairs.
I know this was all pretty pathetic looking stuff especially the last but she was so weakened that she was scared that carrying our son up stairs was literally putting his life at risk, something that tore her apart. Basically there is no-one who should ever tell you that you aren't doing enough and if they do a swift bat to the head should knock some sense into them.
The net result for my wife was she gained more weight in the month following the birth than the 9 months before, and roughly the same in the next few, I was feeding her more than she needed because I was scared and wanted her to live. Sum total was 7 or 8 pounds gain within that year, and she was able to get out with my son in a pushchair to generate a calorie deficit after the first few months and this weight gradually started slipping off, not fast the deficit was minimal.
There are exceptions to this but most babies are born within relationships, if the man prioritises the woman's return to tight belly over her health, I'll leave you to figure out what I think. Take it steady, do what you can but remember your body will have released hormones loosening literally every joint in your body, so load bearing activities are a good way to mess up your recovery and give you a lifetime of pain if done within the first few weeks and after that it will still be a few months before the joints are back to normal. Most people know the abdominal wall stuff and a few other obvious things but there are reasons that post-natal fitness is a speciality and I am not even close to an expert so if you want to do anything more intense than basic walking and swimming check that it is safe for you first.
Baby swim classes are great, my son loved them, I was only able to be there for one due to work, but all the children enjoyed it especially those with mothers walking or swimming with them in the water. Keep it simple and keep to a simple rule 'if in doubt, don't.'
saved my life. I was able to shed off fat not just from my waist but from my whole body which resulted in innumerable people telling me each day how I looked 10 years younger and 10 years prettier.
1. Clean up your diet.
Eat foods with plenty of fiber in order to keep the stomach flat and make it easier to stay at a healthy body weight. Make it easier to lose pregnancy fat by cutting back on your sodium intake in order to reduce bloating and swelling of the stomach.
2. Do at least 30 minutes of cardio at least 3 times a week.
Cardio is one of the most effective ways to lose pregnancy fat because of the calories that it burns. You could do 2,000 situps a day and not have a flat stomach if you haven't burned fat tissue that lies on top of the muscle.
3. Start strength training.
For all over body toning, pick up a strength training routine. Building a little muscle will also help your body burn calories at a faster rate.
4. Do pilates.
Pilates is an excellent way to lose belly fat after pregnancy and it provides toning for the entire body. Doing pilates a couple of times a week will help you work towards a long and lean look and it also helps with flexibility.
5. Mind your posture and the way you hold your stomach.
Keeping your stomach pulled in tight throughout the day can help you to firm the belly fat from your pregnancy. Stand up straight and don't let your stomach "hang out". It takes a little while to become conscious of this habit but work at it and it will help you tone your stomach.
Read more:
Eat foods with plenty of fiber in order to keep the stomach flat and make it easier to stay at a healthy body weight. Make it easier to lose pregnancy fat by cutting back on your sodium intake in order to reduce bloating and swelling of the stomach.
2. Do at least 30 minutes of cardio at least 3 times a week.
Cardio is one of the most effective ways to lose pregnancy fat because of the calories that it burns. You could do 2,000 situps a day and not have a flat stomach if you haven't burned fat tissue that lies on top of the muscle.
3. Start strength training.
For all over body toning, pick up a strength training routine. Building a little muscle will also help your body burn calories at a faster rate.
4. Do pilates.
Pilates is an excellent way to lose belly fat after pregnancy and it provides toning for the entire body. Doing pilates a couple of times a week will help you work towards a long and lean look and it also helps with flexibility.
5. Mind your posture and the way you hold your stomach.
Keeping your stomach pulled in tight throughout the day can help you to firm the belly fat from your pregnancy. Stand up straight and don't let your stomach "hang out". It takes a little while to become conscious of this habit but work at it and it will help you tone your stomach.
Read more: