How does one lose all the postpartum weight immediately?
Unfortunately, you don't!
Aside from a few magical unicorns who do, most women take much longer to lose the weight.
So why are we both obsessing over an extra 30 pounds?
Well, for one thing, it is a big change. We have new bodies after giving birth and that takes some adjustment.
I think another reason why I felt the need to loose all the weight immediately is that I believed a lot of weird lies around postpartum weight.
I thought it was realistic for a mom to lose all the extra weight in a few months. I thought that if I just exercised every day, I would lose all the weight before going back to work.
And now I'm looking at returning to work in a few weeks and I am still very far away from being back to my normal!
I hate that the moms who did loose all the weight are posting about how all they had to do was wake up two hours before their child and exercise every morning. For me that would have been 3am all of last week. That is really not a realistic goal, and I feel like that was a very not helpful idea in my head this last year.
While I shouldn't promise you that you will lose all your postpartum weight after reading this article, I want to share with you all the things I've tried, and heard have helped other people, and how those experiences effected me. Who knows, maybe something will work for you!
I want to start with this one because this is the biggest lie that I believed. I'm ashamed to admit that before having a child, I thought that moms who looked a little overweight were just lazy (I'm so sorry! I'm learning my lesson now!). I just thought that they were not making time for exercise and that they were eating too much. I believed that if I exercised every day, I would lose all my weight quickly and immediately.
One thing I hadn't really considered was why I had all of this extra weight in the first place.
I did not get it from eating way too much at McDonalds every day. Yes, I ate more while pregnant. But my body was growing a human being. And sure, I like to have some chips in the evening, but for the most part, I am a pretty healthy person. The point is that my extra weight was not from over-eating and not exercising- it was because my body was pregnant for nine months and was holding onto extra fluids, blood, and water. On top of that, I'm pretty sure that hormones are a really big factor for having some extra weight for a year or two after giving birth.
All that to say, you are not going to solve a hormonal pregnancy thing with a dieting and exercise solution. If you are eating too much unhealthy food and lazing around all day- then you might want to look in to that. But for new mamas, dieting and exercise should not be the first priority in being healthy.
I found that when I did exercise, even up to a year postpartum, I physically would not be able to function the next day. My body would be in so much pain and I would get really grumpy and easily frustrated. I would constantly need a break from being a mom. Looking back, I think my motivation was more about pride than health.
Rest should be your biggest health priority in your postpartum journey. I really hated when people told me to sleep while the baby is sleeping- but I think the message really just is to give your body rest. You are not sleeping. Your body pretty much just ran a marathon. The only way your muscles can heal and repair themselves is through sleep.
Exercising on top of that will just give your body more of a need to rest and sleep in order to repair itself. So, yes, sleep as much as you can. Ask someone to help you get the sleep that you need. Don't push yourself on the days when you got even less sleep than usual.
If you're like me, then taking a nap in the day is probably not going to happen super often. However, I will often make myself lay down on my bed after my son goes down for his nap. I like to just let my body and mind be still. I try to do a little check in and see if I need anything like food or water or to make plans with a friend.
I tried this one too. I tried to just eat one meal a day. This was also not a good idea, especially when being paired with rigorous exercise. For the record, I lost all of one pound that week and I decided it was not worth the torture that I was inflicting on myself.
Think about it, if your hormones and your physical recovery is what's giving you that extra weight, then your body is going to need that nourishment. Protein, iron, yes even healthy carbs and fats. Your body can't repair it's muscles if you are not eating properly. In dieting, you might be causing more harm to your body than good.
Now especially if you are still breastfeeding or have recently quit breastfeeding, you should not be thinking about depriving yourself of food. There is maybe a time and a place for that, but it is not in the first two years after having a child.
After letting go of dieting and exercise, I started looking more into what kind of nourishment my body needed. I figured that if I was not able to exercise or diet, I should at least focus on giving my body the things it needs. In my limited internet research, I kept hearing about the importance of electrolytes and eating fruit.
I think the body is just really deprived of everything that it needs after giving birth. It is like running a marathon.
So I bought some electrolyte packs and I started drinking them every day. I also started eating a bowl of fruit in the morning and evening. I think it really helped me to fill up on healthy food and not just snack on chips and cookies in the evening. While I did not really lose any weight, I noticed that I had a LOT more energy when I started doing that. It really helped me get past the fatigue I was feeling at 9 months and 10 months postpartum.
So, this is all hearsay at this point, but I had a friend who was bloated really bad. She got pregnant with her third child while still recovering from her second. I noticed one day that she seemed like she was skinny again. She told me that she had started putting a little bit of Celtic salt in her water bottle every morning. Two weeks later, she was able to put her wedding ring on. She said that from what she understood, the salt helped clear some of the water retention in her body.
Unfortunately, I have been trying this but it hasn't really seemed to work that well for me. However, I just mention it because it really doesn't hurt to try and maybe it will help you!
So, the next thing I looked in to was lymphatic massage. I realized that most of my extra weight was probably just water, so I googled ways to help with water loss. Lymphatic massages kept coming up. I had a massage scheduled with my masseuse later that month and I was wondering if she would recommend it to me. I didn't even tell her that I was hoping to lose weight, I just told her that recently my knuckles and ankles had really been aching. She actually recommended lymphatic massage to me. She thought that the extra water under my skin was probably what was causing the aching in my body.
I was disappointed that I didn't loose all the weight immediately after that, however I have noticed that my weight has SOWLY started to go down after that. I'm talking like a pound every 2-3 weeks. So not the crazy magic result we are all hoping for, but maybe it did help me and maybe it could help you!
She just told me that sometimes the lymphatic system gets clogged or slows down because of proteins that may be attracting lots of water (something like that). Lymphatic massage can help get the fluids moving again.
If you get a lymphatic massage, they are going to tell you to drink lots of water. I have no idea the science behind all of this, but pretty much every single article you read is going to tell you to drink lots of water. I guess it's just something to do postpartum!
While I do not want to advocate for exercise, I will say that movement is important. Going for walks, stretching, just moving your body in a way that is not high impact or stressing it out. This is just helpful in so many ways. It helps your mind feel better. It can help your muscles to be warmed and stretched. As well, walking is particularly recommended for getting rid of extra fluids, and for losing weight.
A walk around the block will probably usually be more beneficial then not (I know there are some crazy days as a mom when that feels like a lot!).
And that is probably the best one of all. Your body just needs time. It is completely normal to not lose all of the weight right away. Try not to worry or get obsessed with it like I did. It will sort itself out eventually. I think my problem was just that I thought I would lose it so much quicker than was realistic.
Be happy for your friend who does lose all of their weight immediately. Who knows, maybe that will be you with your second child. Your time will come. If you are a healthy person, and you are making healthy choices regularly, you will be a healthy weight. And in the first year postpartum, it is not unhealthy to have some extra fat and fluids in your body. Your body is doing what it is supposed to do.
In conclusion, you are doing amazing.
You just gave birth to a child.
You are figuring out parenthood.
The best part of this whole situation is that your weight will probably figure itself out on its own.
You don't need to stress about it. You don't need to starve yourself.
It's okay to have a cookie or some chips, just make sure that you are eating healthy meals regularly and getting lots of water (and electrolytes).
One day you'll wake up and your rings will go on your finger again.
Dread and anxiety won't speed the process up. Comparing yourself to another lady will only make you miserable.
This is the time to love yourself and be proud of yourself for all that you and your body have accomplished.
You are such a beautiful mother!
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