Friday, March 02, 2007

Posted by Susi




As a mother of two small children, I can attest to the fact that the childbearing years are an especially risky time for weight gain. You gain weight when you are prego and have so little free time after the baby is born it is difficult to figure out when to cook, let alone eat healthy, let alone exercise.

Well, a recent study from Harvard has some really easy and doable recommendations for new moms to follow in their quest to return to their pre-pregnancy weight. Which is important to do for a variety of health reasons from taking care of your heart to knee joints.


  • Walk some everyday. Pack that baby up in the stroller, or the Bjorn and take a walk. If you can't walk outside, go to a mall. It is great idea to get out of the house for your emotional health too. If you can manage to walk an hour everyday aim for that. You can always break up your walking time into two 30 minute outings.

  • Watch less than 2 hours of television a day. Don't get sucked into the boob tube while you're feeding your baby. I will admit I made a rule that I couldn't watch ANY TV during the day when my babies were little. If the sun was up the television was off. It might sound extreme but this little rule really helped get me out of my house and active.

  • Limit intake of trans fats. Read those labels - lots of quick easy and child friendly foods, like graham crackers, are still made with trans fats!!!!



The good news is that the combination of these behaviors is additive. Meaning when done all together the new mom has a significantly better chance of losing her "baby weight."

Fit's Tip: If you like to keep track of your walking mileage check out the Strollometer - it is like a pedometer but for your stroller.



Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: blogmeeta@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.

This Post was written by Susi May from FitSugar.com

4 comments:

yes you are right.

HAREKRISHNAJI said...
March 3, 2007 at 3:02:00 PM GMT+1  

These are great tips. After I had Soeren, I started out with short daily walks. Soeren was wrapped tightly in a Bjorn and we would do a nice 30 minute round of the park. After a few months I switched him to a stroller and my walks became more of a power walk and for 1 hour. A few months later I was doing a light jog around the park. I was feeling great about myself as I was loosing my pounds and all the great extra fresh air did Soeren plenty of good. Soon I met a few other young mothers who joined me in my daily runs. Today we are still friends - added bonus ;-)

Susi, thanks for this one.

Meeta K. Wolff said...
March 4, 2007 at 2:06:00 PM GMT+1  

These are indeed terrific tips for new mothers. I lived in Alaska when my children were young, and I took advantage of the snow-covered streets and dragged them in a plastic sled instead of stroller for mid-afternoon walks. Great exercise, especially during the pent-up winter months.

P.S. Susi, FitSugar's in my blogroll now!

Anne said...
March 9, 2007 at 7:46:00 PM GMT+1  

I think those tips are really good. I have three children and never had any problems with my weight.
As soon as I came home, 3 or 4 days after delivery, I went to the city with all the children, (and I have to clean and tidy up the mess my hubby and the "other" childrens made during my stay in the hospital).
I had no chance to watch TV, not only that I really couldn't find time for something like that (I never had any help)- we, until now, don't own a TV set.
I always cooked, and I make everything, I mean everything (my husband studied at that time and I have to), by myself.
Additionally, I think you have to mention breastfeeding. I breastfeeded every child for at least 2 years.
For heavens sake this is all I had to do because I hate sport and never ever did any exersises. And I love to eat - I can't even imagine myself making a diet.

Brigitte said...
March 13, 2007 at 5:14:00 PM GMT+1  

Post a Comment