Fitness with Families
So you had your baby and now you want to get rid of that baby weight. It’s not as difficult as you may think. First and foremost, make sure you’ve allowed yourself time to heal. If you had a normal delivery, you may need a couple of weeks before you start working out. If you had a c-section, your recovery time is about six weeks or so and you really need to take it easy.
It may seem a little overwhelming at first, but please get back into a work out routine as soon as you can do so safely. You may feel like you don’t have time but I assure you that if you set aside just one hour per day for working out, you’ll look and feel so much better. Having a new baby can be very intimidating and stressful, however, if you’re working out, you have an outlet and you’ll be feeling better in a decent amount of time.
Make sure you’re still taking your prenatal vitamins if you’re breastfeeding. You’ll need the extra nutrients to continue making milk for your baby.
Walking
Walking is probably the first thing you’ll be able to get back to quickly. Walk at your own pace.
When your baby gets to be about six months old (good head control is key) you can bring him/her out with you in a jog stroller. The one that I’ve researched and found to be the best is the Bob Revolution. It’s front wheel can be locked or unlocked depending on if you’re walking or running. It’s extremely sturdy and moves like a dream.
Another item that will come in handy is the pacifeeder. It’s a bottle with a pacifier connected so as the baby sucks the pacifier, he/she will be drinking milk!
Weight Training
As soon as your doctor gives you the go ahead to begin working out again, join a gym. Make sure the gym has a decent day care with trained workers. Normally a gym will give you a trial membership for free to see if they have what you’re looking for. Do your research and don’t make a hasty decision.
In the beginning, you’ll want to focus on cardio exercise and very light weights until you get that baby weight off. A good rule of thumb is to do three sets per exercise with 15 reps per set. Do that for the first month or two after you get back to the gym. Once you’re happy with your weight loss, you can concentrate more on weights if you so choose. If you’re like me, you might notice that certain body parts have gone South! So weight training for me right now is very important.
Unless you’re one of the lucky ones, your post-pregnancy body will be different than before the baby. For me, I noticed my hips spread and my muscles are a little less firm. Now that it’s seven months since I had my daughter, things are finally starting to come together. One plan that I used to get back in shape was Body for Life. I actually lost 25 pounds with that program.
If you’re looking for a workout that’s a little more hardcore, you might want to go for P90X. That’s the one I’m using right now just because I needed to change things up a little.