Weight loss can be tricky at the best of times, without the additional challenges of postpartum life — looking at you, sleepless nights! But while it’s healthy to gain weight during pregnancy (sometimes pretty rapidly, like at the end of the third trimester), slow postpartum weight loss is advised.
Reach for nutritious foods, sloowwwly add more movement when it’s safe to do so, drink plenty of water and get enough sleep — ha, we know, but one can dream.
Below, we’ll dive into how long it takes to lose “baby weight,” when it’s safe to start losing weight after baby and lots of postpartum weight loss advice to help along the way.
How Long Does It Take to Lose Baby Weight?
The time it takes to lose baby weight (the weight you put on while pregnant) is different for everyone. We know that’s not really a solid answer, but it’s true.
It depends on factors like:
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How much weight you gained during pregnancy
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The type of birth you had (C-section or vaginal delivery, for example, as this determines when you can safely start physical activity again)
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Whether you can or decide to breastfeed
You don’t need to lose any extra weight you gained during pregnancy right away. In fact, rapid weight loss is never advised.
Postpartum Weight Loss Timeline
There’s no set postpartum weight loss timeline to follow. But in general, women tend to lose baby weight gradually in the months after childbirth. Research shows that 42 percent of women return to their pre-pregnancy weight one year after giving birth.
Women who had a healthy body weight pre-pregnancy and put on more than 10 pounds (which is recommended and healthy, BTW) might work toward their pre-pregnancy weight over a 12-month period after birth.
That’s right, a year! It’s also totally fine if it takes longer. Don’t worry about rushing the process.
When Is It Safe to Consider Postpartum Weight Loss?
There’s no set number of days after childbirth when it’s safe to consider postpartum weight loss. Your healthcare provider can tell you when it’s safe for you. It’ll depend on how your recovery from birth is going and other factors, such as whether you’re breastfeeding.
You can start eating nutritious foods right away, but adding more movement into your day should happen slowly.
Generally, women who had uncomplicated deliveries may be able to start physical activity four to six weeks after birth — or when they feel comfortable. However, if you had a complicated delivery or C-section, wait until your postpartum check-up around the six-to-eight-week mark. Your provider can let you know if it’s safe to start adding more movement into your routine.
Should You Lose Weight After Giving Birth?
We hate to add to your to-do list, but in most cases, it’s advisable to lose the weight you’ve gained during pregnancy after giving birth. Postpartum weight retention (when you don’t lose the weight you gained while pregnant) ups your odds of:
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Diabetes
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Osteoarthritis
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Some cancers
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Cardiovascular disease
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Problems in future pregnancies (such as preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, C-section delivery and stillbirth)
Weight loss can be tricky, especially after childbirth. A 2021 study found that metabolic rate — how much energy our body uses — is lower during postpartum than pregnancy. This study was small, though, with only 25 participants, so more research is needed. Still, there are steps you can take to make it happen in a healthy and sustainable way. Keep reading for the know-how.
How to Lose Weight After Pregnancy: 8 Tips
No one said losing weight after having a baby was easy, but it’s doable. And you just grew a brand-new human — you’ve got this! Here’s how to lose baby weight in a slow, steady and healthy way.
1. Eat Nutritious Foods
A healthy eating plan is the cornerstone of any weight loss journey. Opt for whole foods full of fiber and protein like:
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Fruits
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Veggies
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Legumes
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Whole grains
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Lean protein
Upping your protein intake in particular can help with weight loss. Find out how much protein to eat to lose weight in our guide. Outside of your main meals, reach for healthy snacks like:
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Nuts
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Seeds
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Hard-boiled eggs
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Dried fruit
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Oatmeal
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Yogurt
Make sure you’re eating enough. If you’re breastfeeding, you generally need 330 to 400 more calories a day compared to pre-pregnancy. We’re not saying you should count calories, though. It’s all about eating nutritious foods that make you feel full, satisfied and energized.
2. Slowly and Carefully Get More Movement
Be sure to ease back into physical movement — there’s no need for HIIT (high-intensity interval training) classes or 20-mile runs here. Try low-impact exercises like walking and start gradually introducing core, glute and pelvic floor exercises.
When we say gradually, we mean graaaaaadually. For instance, you might increase how much movement you get by five minutes a session each week and slowly upping the intensity.
Your end goal? Aim for 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise — up to 30 minutes a day, five days a week — and three sets of muscle-strengthening exercises twice a week. But be sure to slowly build up to these numbers.
We know this is a lot. Don’t push yourself too hard and start where you’re at.
If you did high-intensity aerobic workouts like running before pregnancy, you can slowly get back to this activity level too. But again, slow and steady should be your mantra. See our blog on walking for weight loss for more tips.
3. Drink More Water
Yup, that’s right. The humble glass of water can help with losing weight after pregnancy. Water can reduce your appetite and help you feel fuller. A 2022 review of studies found that drinking about 17 ounces of water before meals can increase weight loss by two to five pounds over three months.
Staying hydrated is especially important if you’re breastfeeding, as your body’s using water for breast milk production. Aim for roughly eight glasses of water a day. Need a reminder? Try to drink a glass of water every time you settle in to breastfeed your new baby.
4. Get Enough Sleep (or as Much as You Can)
Try to get plenty of sleep. We know — practically impossible with a newborn, right? But hear us out. Sleep and weight are tightly linked, so it’s worth getting some extra shut-eye whenever possible. A lack of sleep can increase ghrelin (the hunger hormone) and decrease leptin, the hormone responsible for satiety (a feeling of fullness).
Sleeping for short periods (like one or two hours at a time rather than through the night) is linked to more postpartum weight retention. And women who get less than five hours of sleep at six months postpartum have up to three times the risk of retaining more than 11 pounds of weight. If a full night’s rest isn’t currently in the cards, try trading off childcare duties with a partner or family member during the day so you can take a power nap.
5. Set Realistic Weight Loss Goals
Be extra kind to yourself during this time. You don’t need to “snap back” to your pre-pregnancy weight right away. And since healthy body weight is a range, you don’t need to hit the exact number you used to weigh.
Talk to your medical provider about a healthy weight loss goal, including how much weight you should aim to lose each week.
If you’re wondering how to lose weight fast after pregnancy, you won’t find those tips here. As mentioned, slow and steady is the safest and most sustainable approach.
6. Get Support
Reaching out for support can help you feel less alone and be more successful on your postpartum weight loss journey.
Support can be from a partner, a family member, friends, a mental health professional or in the form of a structured weight loss program.
Research shows that people are more likely to stick to programs with social support, those that take attendance and those that focus on changing your eating habits. And programs combining nutritious eating with more movement can lead to greater weight loss after 12 months than those that focused on just one element alone. Just something to look out for if you’re considering one.
7. Breastfeed If You Can and Want to
If you can and want to, breastfeed your baby. Not only can this be good for the baby, but it may also promote weight loss after pregnancy. A 2019 study looked at 370 mothers who breastfed their babies for at least a month. Moms who fully breastfed for at least three months had lower postpartum weight retention — they lost more weight — compared to those who breastfed for one to three months.
Not everyone can or wants to breastfeed, though. If that’s you, no sweat. You can focus on other weight loss interventions, like eating nutritious foods and slowly adding more movement.
8. Speak to a Healthcare Provider
A healthcare provider can share personalized advice on how to lose weight postpartum. They’ll take into account any health conditions you might have and circumstances around your birth and breastfeeding journey. If you’re not breastfeeding, weight loss medications may be suitable, depending on your weight and overall health. A medical professional can determine if these are safe for you.
How to Lose Weight After C-Section
How you lose weight after a cesarean section may look a little different from other types of birth, but the key ideas are the same. It may take longer to recover — a C-section is major surgery, after all — which might affect when you can start reintroducing physical activity back into your schedule.
Make sure to get the all-clear from your provider and follow these pointers:
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Opt for nutritious whole foods
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Slowly add more movement when it’s safe to do so
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Get plenty of sleep (or as much as you can with a newborn)
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Drink more water
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Get support from loved ones and guidance from healthcare professionals
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Breastfeed if you can and want to
Again, if you’re ever unsure about what to do or not to do after a C-section, get in touch with your provider.
Postpartum Weight Loss: Wrapping It Up
Postpartum weight loss can feel like yet another thing on a new mom’s to-do list. Self-care is crucial, and for some, this means making time to focus on your well-being. But for optimum health, you’ll want to slowly lose the weight you gained while pregnant.
Here’s the TL;DR on the best way to lose weight after baby:
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Slow and steady wins the race. It’s a well-worn saying for a reason. Post-pregnancy weight loss doesn’t — and shouldn’t — happen overnight. There’s no set time frame, though. Work with your provider to set a realistic weight loss goal.
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Focus on self-care basics. Choose healthy foods, drink plenty of water, get more movement and try to rest when you can.
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Slowly reintroduce movement when you’re ready. If you had an uncomplicated birth, you might be able to start doing light exercise four to six weeks after birth. If you had a C-section or complications, wait until your postpartum check-up at six to eight weeks to get the doc’s go-ahead.
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Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You’re not alone in this — even if you’re reading this during a solitary 3 a.m. feed. Don’t be afraid to get support from loved ones, healthcare professionals and weight loss programs.
Weight loss journeys are a lot like pregnancy — slow and steady but oh-so rewarding. If you’re starting to look into your options, know there are plenty of weight loss treatments available.
This article originally appeared on ForHers.com and was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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7 TikTok Weight Loss Trends Ranked By an Expert
Spend a while scrolling through social media, especially TikTok, and odds are you’ll encounter someone enthusiastically sharing their experience with a new fitness or weight loss program. These days, it can feel like health and wellness challenges are proliferating so quickly it’s hard to keep up. By the time you’ve got your fitness equipment ready to jump onto one, there’s a new one taking the internet by storm.
But how effective are the hashtag-friendly regimens we’ve been seeing more of lately, and what makes them so alluring anyway? Well, like most things, the answers depend on a lot of complicated factors. But there are some important throughlines.
In general, we tend to be drawn to challenges like the “30-30-30 approach,” which has recently gone viral on TikTok, when they speak to a need we’ve already identified for ourselves. If you know that you’ve been wanting to lose weight, the simple structure of 30-30-30 (eating 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up followed by 30 minutes of exercise) just might help you harness some motivation to get started on that journey. And if you experience some initial success within the framework of a specific, focused challenge—as opposed to a more nebulous resolution to lose weight—you may also notice an uptick in inspiration to keep going.
Another important factor helps explain why joining these programs can sometimes lead to a boost in willpower: Many popular challenges are social undertakings, explains Jessica Yu, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and Sr. Director of Patient Experience at Hims & Hers. “There’s that sense of being part of a bigger movement,” she says. “Human beings, by nature, are social creatures, so we love the idea of being part of something that’s bigger than ourselves.”
So does that mean anyone interested in weight loss should rush to pick from the expanding menu of social media-friendly fitness regimens? Are we all doomed to repeat the chaotic, even dangerous missteps of the TidePod challenge era? Not quite.
We asked Craig Primack, MD, FACP, FAAP, FOMA, a physician specializing in obesity medicine and Senior Vice President of Weight Loss at Hims & Hers, to share his thoughts on some of the most viral weight loss challenges and trends circulating online. Here’s his take on seven popular methods, ranked from best to worst according to what’s most effective and sustainable.
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Cutting out alcohol for an entire month
“This one’s a bit of a no-brainer for anyone who’s normally a social drinker. Its positive effects extend to many different parts of the body, and it’s hard to argue with as a boost to weight loss: At the most basic level, cutting back on alcohol means cutting out unnecessary calories. That may be especially effective among young people, who are most likely to see their drinking habits contribute to obesity risk. Ditching the booze also means you’re likely to sleep better and have more energy overall, which makes it a lot easier to get consistent exercise. And, best of all, cutting alcohol for a full month might make it easier to realize that you don’t always need it in social situations. Some people who go back to consuming alcohol after an initial Dry January challenge say that they find themselves drinking less or reconsidering their relationship to alcohol.”
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Concentrating your eating in specific hours of the day
“Intermittent fasting has been obviously huge for about five to eight years now. It’s been shown to work just as well as standard, caloric-restriction dieting. It may even be a little bit better in people with insulin resistance or diabetes. It’s sustainable for some people, but not everyone. Time-restricted eating, the most common kind, is best when it makes sense for people’s lifestyles. For example, you probably aren’t going to succeed if you try to stop eating for the entire day at 2 pm. But it’s often possible—and effective—to structure your day so that you’re not doing much eating after, say, 7 p.m.”
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“There are lots of reasons to love this one—not even for weight loss, per se. Running, or even just walking, one mile a day is good exercise without being overpowering. Most people can do it, and it’s not timed. Exercise is a keystone habit, so when you’re exercising regularly, you’re also likely to sleep better. When you sleep better, you can diet better—and have energy to exercise. So on and so forth.”
(Related: Ozempic For Weight Loss)
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Setting your treadmill to an incline of 12 and speed of 3 miles per hour, walking for 30 minutes
“I would say this one’s firmly in the middle, neither good nor bad. I only heard about this recently, in part because there’s no medical science behind it. It was done by an influencer, who saw a noticeable change after she tried it. I don’t doubt that she found it helpful, but the average person who has a medium amount of weight to lose may find it very hard to start out at 12% incline for 30 minutes. If it had a ramp-up in the first two weeks—maybe starting at less of an incline or for fewer than 30 minutes—I would think it’s more sustainable. That said, if you are able to do it, I think it’s a solid one, especially if you’re aiming for four to five days a week rather than every single day.”
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A nutritional change program that requires eliminating foods such as dairy, grains and added sugar from your diet
“I think this is going to be one of the challenges that causes people problems because it’s avoidance-based. Avoid, avoid, avoid—and what a long list, too! It seems to encourage all-or-nothing thinking as well, which we know can be very counterproductive. If you take one bite of something with dairy in it, for example, you’d need to start all over again. That feels needlessly punitive to me. Unless you’ve got allergies, one bite of pretty much anything isn’t going to kill you.”
(Related: Weight Loss Medications: Are They Effective?)
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A “mental toughness” program in which you must adhere to a set diet, cut alcohol, drink a gallon of water, work out twice, read 10 pages of a non-fiction book and take a progress photo—every single day for 75 days (or, in the modified version, 30 days)
“Did you get tired just reading that? I did. And I really don’t like this one. First of all, because the diet portion isn’t set by the program, we actually don’t have any proof that someone sticking to whatever diet they pick for 75 or 30 days will have the desired effects. The exercise portion is outlandish for anyone who’s not already in a consistent fitness routine. Going from zero to 100 here would be close to impossible for most people—how many working people have an hour and a half in our days to start exercising twice and reading non-fiction books? The answer drops even lower if you consider people with kids. And if you fail any one day, you have to start all over again. I know two people who’ve done it and were really excited about the accomplishment, but I can tell you for sure that when their 75 days are over, they’re not sticking to the same regimen. It really doesn’t encourage good long-term habits.”
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Eating according to hunger and satiety cues
“I know that this works for many people, and some of my frustration is rooted in my own personal biases on this one. It’s also been around forever. There’s a book called Intuitive Eating that was first published almost 30 years ago. I understand the appeal of the premise—if you’ve been on a ton of diets before, of course it’s refreshing to consider acting like you’re not on one. But the average American who struggles with their weight doesn’t necessarily believe they’re on a strict diet day to day. Without clear guidance for how to shift your relationship to food and really listen to your body’s cues, this strikes me as too wishy-washy to really work. And, crucially, many people with obesity and other diseases don’t have the same food cues that other people do. They either get hungry faster or they stay hungry longer. To me, telling someone with a disease that affects their hunger cues to simply snap out of it feels a little like telling a depressed person to just cheer up.”
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Where does that leave people who are serious about weight loss and looking for the lifestyle-change support that challenges can provide? Well, a number of the challenges above are intriguing, as Dr. Primack notes. But if you want to help setting realistic goals or evaluating new reports about diet trends, try measuring any proposed regimen against the SMART criteria: Is it specific, measurable, achievable, realistic (or relevant) and timely? That can be an incredibly helpful tool.
And of course, don’t be afraid to seek out additional help from physicians and dietitians if you’ve been going it alone for a long time already. Losing weight can be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be lonely.
This article originally appeared on Hers.comand was syndicated by MediaFeed.org.
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Featured Image Credit: AnaSha / iStock.
