The 5 Habits to Ditch to Lose Pregnancy Weight Fast
November 9th, 2008A mother’s life is so focused on her family that she has a tendency to “let herself go” resulting in a mom with a weight problem. The inability to lose pregnancy weight fast is strongly correlated with how you deal with food and the kind of lifestyle you live. The following reasons are some of the most common obstacles that prevent women from losing the excess body fat and keeping it off.
1. Choosing to Eat Bad Foods
Do you eat foods that are bad for you? Whether it’s because of your busy schedule or you just hate cooking, eating unhealthy foods adds excess body fat to your waistline, hips and thighs. Cutting out processed foods such as packaged luncheon meats, canned foods high in salt and sugar, refined breads and pastas, packaged snack foods, frozen dinners or boxed meals will help you lose pregnancy weight fast. Although these foods are convenient and taste good, many are high in saturated and trans fats (bad fats), salt and sugar which increases your chances of developing diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
There are some processed frozen foods that retain their nutrients such as fruits and vegetables. Also pasteurized milk and juices that are fortified with extra omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals are good for you. Fresh foods are better for your health and for managing your calories.
2. Fast Food Nation
Fast food is addictive. The convenience of fast food is an easy meal solution for moms on the go. But due to the high in saturated fat, sugar, salt content, these foods are just empty calories. Eating too much fast food will increase your size and is a definite self-sabotage to losing the pregnancy weight fast.
Pre-planning your weekly meals and grocery lists is one way to get organized to start cooking and eating healthier meals. There are thousands of delicious healthy recipes available that are quick and easy to prepare. So plan ahead and recruit the rest of the family to get on board with eating healthy and make the next meal at McDonald’s a special family treat and not the family meal norm.
3. Bad Eating Habits
It’s very easy for a busy mom to skip a meal or two but doing so will only make it more difficult for her to lose pregnancy weight fast. Your body works more efficiently with a frequent input of nutrients to keep it going. Three big meals are better than one, but this is not what makes your metabolism working at its optimum. Instead this inconsistency slows down your metabolism.
Missing breakfast and not eating until several hours later will hinder your metabolism from doing what it’s supposed to do and that is, burning fat to provide your body with energy. Consuming six small portioned meals during your day will keep your metabolism working as it should to lose pregnancy weight fast and keep your energy levels up.
4. Emotional Eating
Do you eat and drink empty calories while watching your favorite TV show? We all have foods that soothe us when we are depressed, stressed or bored. Unfortunately, these comfort foods and are high in fats, salt, sugar and often times cholesterol.
One surefire way to help lose pregnancy weight fast is to stop buying or replacing these foods with healthier choices. Also finding other non-food outlets to deal with your emotional eating such as joining a yoga or meditation class can help wean you off of eating for comfort.
5. Lack of Exercise
How often do you walk your dog? Our bodies are built for action but thanks to technology our lifestyles are becoming more and more sedentary and we’re getting fatter and fatter. We spend more time in our cars, on our computers and on our couches than walking, running, cycling or hiking.
If you want to lose pregnancy weight fast, you have to do some form of daily exercise that elevates your heart rate for at least 30 minutes. Going for a brisk walk, every day rain or shine, will keep the pounds off and you healthy. Make fitness a family affair and plan a Saturday afternoon to go roller balding or playing Frisbee at the park. The choices are endless when it comes to fitness activities. So have fun and in time exercise will be a normal part of your daily lifestyle.
Everyone on a self-improvement journey will encounter failure from time to time. Nobody’s perfect. Be careful not to let yourself fall back into your old eating patterns once you are committed to living a healthy lifestyle. The moms that succeed to lose pregnancy weight fast for the long term are those that climb right back on the horse when they fall off, before it gets too far ahead of them.