Postpartum Weight-Loss: Increase Your Flexibility

If you have recently brought a new little bundle of joy into the world and in between feeding, burping and changing your sweet little baby you wonder how you’re going to shed those pregnancy pounds, this post is for you!

You can begin to experience postpartum weight-loss RIGHT AWAY, if you start with this – increase your flexibility.

But I’m not talking about your physical or muscular flexibility!  Of course, increasing your body’s flexibility through regular workouts and good stretching while your muscles are warm IS important for many reasons, including transforming your body from frumpy to long and lean.  But before you can include such exercises in your workouts, you must be flexible about how you think about exercise so that you begin to accomplish some kind of daily exercise routine.

First, throw out your idea of an exercise routine.  You’ve probably got kids (or at least a newborn) if you have continued reading this.  As moms, we have to figure out what works for us in light of the time we have and what other plates we’ve got spinning in our lives.

If you have a newborn, you’re already learning to be flexible, that is for sure!  But if you want to find your figure again (or for the first time) hidden inside that postpartum, disheveled, tired body, you need be very flexible (at least at first) with how you approach your daily exercise routine.  This is not the time for an all-or-nothing approach, I don’t care WHAT weight-loss and fitness experts say.  If you approach your postpartum weight-loss with this kind of extremism you will get so discouraged you won’t even accomplish the baby steps toward a better body that ARE possible this soon after having a baby.

My newborn is now 6 weeks old and I am going to share with you how I have become more flexible on my postpartum weight-loss journey!

1.  Your baby needs a routine and so do you.

From the day I got home from the hospital I began E.A.S.Y. with my baby.  E.A.S.Y. stands for Eat, Activity, Sleep, Your time and is the flexible infant routine developed by the late Tracy Hogg, a British-trained nurse, lactation educator, and newborn consultant.  She co-authored the book that I have relied on through four babies. It is called The Baby Whisperer.  The E.A.S.Y. plan has been the key to carving out time for myself so that I can accomplish 50% – 80% more than other frazzled and frustrated parents of newborns.  With the E.A.S.Y. plan I usually know what my newborn needs and I can count on at least SOME time for daily exercise.  (I highly recommend checking out this book! Get it from your local library first, I guarantee you’ll want to buy it, though!)

2.  Start with the most flexible workout of all.

I began getting into my daily exercise habit as soon as I could stand and put one foot in front of the other.  Walking is one of the most effective and flexible physical activities that you can do to accomplish postpartum weight-loss.  AND, you can work up a sweat pushing that stroller around your block, around your neighborhood, or all the way to the grocery store, depending on how your body feels and what your doctor has cleared you to do.

3.  Be flexible and ready to start your workout.

Now that I have been feeling well enough to resume some light weight training and more intense cardiovascular workout sessions, I start each day dressed in my workout clothes (they are nothing special, trust me, just comfy clothing I can move and sweat in) and once my baby goes down for his first nap of the morning – and I KNOW there will be one because of E.A.S.Y. – I am ready to get into my workout groove!  For you, there may be a different time of the day that you can plan on, early morning, late afternoon, evening….whenever you think you have the best chance of accomplishing some kind of exercise, prepare yourself for that time.  It’s important to be ready mentally for the time you have committed to exercise.  This means when that time of day arrives, the dishes, the laundry and the phone calls can wait.  This is your time to take care of yourself and when you’re a new mom you don’t always know how long you’re gonna get!  So you must be flexible enough to get started with your workout, dont let any excuse or seemingly pressing need get in the way.

4.  Include your older children into the workout.

My two year old is a handful – and trust me, he is more of an excuse to not exercise than my 6 week old.  My solution?  I include him in my workout.  When I know my 2 year old will be “working out with me”, I choose exercise videos with fun music and easy steps that he can join me in if he wants to.  I also keep a special bin of toys in my workout space for him to play with to keep him busy for 30 to 45 minutes.  If he interrupts me, no big deal, I just keep my body moving while I take care of his needs and then resume my workout video.  I have to be very flexible in how I think about my workout that day because I know that the workout I am doing, however short, interrupted or half-assed it is, it is still better than nothing.

5.  When you have a baby, take baby steps.

One thing I used to hate: not finishing the workout I set out to do.  I have learned to be more flexible, otherwise, I would be too discouraged to get up the motivation to do any exercise at all.  You see, committing to daily exercise after having a baby is not about losing lots of weight as fast as you can.  Nor is it better to “wait until the baby sleeps more” or “wait until there’s more time to workout” to start a fitness plan.  Your initial postpartum exercise efforts are about getting into the daily habit of strengthening your body and taking good care of yourself. We cannot afford to be extremely results-driven so soon, nor can we afford to make excuses why we shouldn’t at least attempt some kind of daily exercise.  As moms we spend a lot of time caring for everyone else.  It is vital that we take baby steps toward caring for our own bodies, not only to lose weight and have more energy but to also set a positive example of self-care for your children to follow.

Before you know it those baby steps will have turned into powerful daily habits that will add up to equal a slimmer, higher-energy, healthier and happier YOU.  And, you will have trained yourself in the crucial art of flexibility, of finding workout time no matter what kind of chaos or busyness life brings.  You will see and know that every effort, no matter how small or interrupted at times, contrubutes to your health and wellness and is absolutely worth it!

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Tagged as: exercise with baby, flexible workouts for moms, postpartum weight loss