When you become a mum, it might feel like you don’t have time for anything. You take care of your children and get barely any sleep at night. In the end, you might feel exhausted and lack energy. With a baby in your life, you could become extremely busy. So, you might find that you end up hanging onto your baby weight, or just some spare pounds, for longer than you’d like. Even with the best will in the world, dealing with extra weight can be stressful and make you feel self-conscious. Thankfully, there are plenty of simple ways you can reduce your weight, stay healthy and get everything done. You might even save some time!
Don’t Skip Your Meals
It might seem like there aren’t enough hours in a day when you have a baby. Between washing clothes, clearing up after them and generally catering to their every whim, you might struggle to find time for regular meals. Eating less might seem like a good plan for weight loss, but regular meals are actually the key to success when looking to slim down. To start your journey towards a better diet, eat smaller, frequent meals during the day. When you feel like having a snack, give a chance to foods high in protein or fibre. That could help you stay full for longer, and you might be less inclined to reach out for unhealthy snacks. And if you find it difficult to stop during the day, set alarms for your meals and enjoy them in peace.
Avoid Chronic Dieting
If you’ve ever searched for weight loss strategies online, you’ll know that the Internet is full of diets that are supposed to help you to get fast results. However, these diets can often be rather drastic and difficult to follow. In some cases, they might even make things worse. And if you do reach your goal, your weight might return to the original number once you return to your normal eating habits- diets aren’t always long-lasting. To make sure that you’re losing weight in a healthy way, consider getting in touch with a doctor or a dietitian who might be able to help. Or you could turn to providers like Chemist4U and find the right weight loss treatment. Their professionals can help you find a tailored solution to your needs.
Plan Your Meals In Advance
Planning your meals out is helpful, especially when you’re busy with your little ones during the day. Prepping might also help you to ensure that your body gets all the critical nutrients throughout the day without taking up too much time. If your meals are ready in advance, you might be less likely to order takeaway and other processed foods and won’t be as hungry or likely to snack later. You could also feel more relaxed about choosing what to eat daily if you have your meals prepped in advance. When you try this strategy, you might be able to spend as little time as possible time cooking on the day. Try making meals that keep well, such as stews and casseroles, or ingredients like marinated meats or veggies that can be used in various meals like fajitas, pasta dishes and risotto. That way, you can mix it up without being bored.
Drink More Water Throughout The Day
Another habit you should adopt on your weight loss journey is drinking water, and having a glass of water before a meal might help you suppress your appetite and encourage you to eat what you need to stay full. It could also help you burn more calories throughout the day while running after your children, and it might help you to improve your energy levels if you’re active every day. But how much water should you drink? There’s no one-size-fits-all: it depends on your age, body size, or activity levels. Once you give your body enough water, you might be able to control your cravings better and have more energy for your daily activities. Consider speaking to your doctor about how much water you need to drink to stay healthy and improve your general well-being.
Add More Movement Into Your Day
Dedicating specific time to working out might not be possible as a mum, especially with several young kids to tend to. Luckily, you don’t have to be a gym bunny to lose weight. Even non-exercise-related activities could help you to burn more calories and get in shape. Therefore, you should get more steps into your day. If possible, try to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Mums that are back at work could also take a short walk during their lunch break. And if you have a job that requires you to sit by a computer all day, you should replace your current setup with a standing desk. That helps you to improve your posture and burn more calories during the day.
Set Achievable Goals
It might be tempting to set a big target when you decide to lose weight. But having such a broad goal might make it more difficult for you to achieve it. To increase your chances for success, make sure that you set SMART goals. In other words, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. When you break up your big goal into smaller parts and set yourself deadlines, you might be able to feel more motivated throughout your weight loss journey. Adopting healthy habits one step at a time and focusing on smaller milestones could help you to stay focused and reach your goals.
Eat More Whole Foods
Starting your journey towards better health can be as easy as making healthier choices. If you can’t afford a personalised meal plan, you could enrich your everyday diet with more whole foods. These tend to have more vitamins and minerals than refined or processed foods. This way, you might also get more fibre into your diet. Once you start making better dietary choices, you could get closer to optimal health and your dream figure.
Involve Your Children
When you’re at home with your kids, adding a workout to your day might be challenging. To get more activity into your life, try to involve your little ones and make it fun. For instance, there might be dance workouts that you could do together and have a good time. And you could do some squats while they’re in your arms if your baby feels particularly cuddly. Exercising together could help you get closer to your children and create memories that will stay with you for years.
Be Kind To Yourself
You might be disappointed in yourself if you’re not reaching your goals as fast as you thought. However, it would help if you adopted a positive mindset to make your efforts successful. So, be gentle to yourself and find out what kind of movement works for you. Try to stay positive, and don’t let negativity or fear hold you back. You might also want to write down any negative thoughts that come to your mind. That way, you might be able to take the worries off your mind and look at them from a different perspective later.
Stay Consistent And Track Your Progress
To sum up, consistency is vital to a successful weight loss process. Even a short workout, or a minor lifestyle change, could have a significant impact on reaching your goals. So, try not to skip more than two days at once. That might help you to stay consistent and achieve your goals in a timely manner. To stay motivated throughout the process, you should track your progress by taking photos once in a while. That might help you to see how much you’ve already changed and how well you’re doing. You could also track the progress through the changes in your clothes- the baggier the fit, the more you’ve lost. While you might not see any difference in the mirror, you could notice that some articles of clothes are suddenly loser. Good luck on your weight-loss journey!
