How can I lose weight after my pregnancy?

It's no secret that women gain a few pounds during pregnancy. Shortly after giving birth, you'll lose about six kilos as your baby, amniotic fluid, and waste leave your body. After that, you might notice you still have a few extra kilos compared to before your pregnancy. This isn't a problem at all, but you might want to get rid of them. This article contains some handy tips you can use to achieve the best results!

Don't want too much too soon

It is important not to want too much in a short time, your body needs to recover for at least six weeks after pregnancy. When losing weight, you should expect to lose about 0.5 kg per week. If you are still breastfeeding, you should not go into too much of a calorie deficit. You should expect to consume about 500 calories more per day. So, you shouldn't go into a calorie deficit where you consume 1500 kcal per day, eat at least 2000 kcal so you can lose weight but also provide healthy breast milk.

Losing weight by eating healthy

After pregnancy, you shouldn't start dieting right away, as your body still needs to recover. Six weeks after giving birth, you'll have a check-up with the midwife, during which you can discuss whether you're ready to start losing weight.

After pregnancy, you often have little time to cook. You're busy with your baby all day, and when you have time for yourself, you usually don't feel like cooking. This often leads to unhealthy eating. You can avoid this by making sure you always have meals ready. Ask your partner if they might want to cook. Freeze these meals, and this way, you'll always have something healthy at home.

Exercising after giving birth

Just like with dieting, you should wait with exercising until your body has fully recovered. Once you start exercising, you need to build it up slowly. Do you notice something is taking too much energy? Then stop the exercise and rest, as your body may still not be fully recovered. Exercising is one of the most important things when you want to lose weight, but you shouldn't rush into it. This can lead to injuries, and then you're even further from home.