We, women would gain about 25-35 pounds during pregnancy.
Post pregnancy weight loss depends on many factors :-
- How much you weighed prior delivery , your Body Mass Index
Body Mass Index is calculated based on height and weight. The height is measured in squared meter and weight is in kilograms. The formula is shown on the screen.
Let’s say we have 2 persons ; A and B , with similar height of 1.7m but different weights. Person A’s weight is 200 pounds and Person B’s is 150 pounds. If you use the formula, person A is obesed with BMI of 34 , while Person B has a healthy BMI of 24. This indicates that Person A needs to lose about 66 pounds to achieve normal BMI for her height.
2) Your metabolism
Metabolism is the process by which the body converts food into energy.
There are 2 types of metabolism : Anabolism (building up new cells , such as fat to store energy) and Catabolism (breaking down the cells to release energy). Energy is acting as fuel to make sure that each organ inside our body functioning efficiently.
Your metabolic rate ; how fast or slow your metabolism is ; depends on few factors :-
A) Genetic – this is inherited
B) Age – the older you are, the slower is your metabolism
C) Gender – men have faster metabolic rate compared to women ; especially if they are more muscular because muscles break down energy faster than fat
D) Lean body mass – If you have more muscles than fat , your metabolism is higher.
E) Stress level
F) Hormonal imbalance
G) Daily calories intake and meal plan
If your daily calorie needs is 1000, and you take 2000 calories per day, the balance 1000 calories will be stored as fat.
You can use app to do Calories Counting so that your daily calories intake is not excessive.
3) Physical activities
4) Breastfeeding or not
How much would you lose weight just after delivery , without doing anything?
You will lose about 6kg – this includes baby’s weight, amniotic fluid and placenta.
How much would you lose if you count calories and burn them via physical activities .
You will shed around 1 pound or 0.5kg per week.
Let’s dig in which type of exercise , burn how much calories (based on 30 minutes duration of activity).
- Light Weight lifting burns 100 calories
- Swimming burns 250 calories
- Cycling and jogging burns 250 calories
- Running burns 400 calories
** Swimming , cycling, jogging and running are cardio exercises. You can burn more calories with single session.
If you have more muscle mass , you have better metabolism. If you are engaging in weight liftings, though it burns lesser calories compared to single session cardio, but muscles burn more calories compared to fat.
**Do exercises that you like the most
For examples : cycling, dancing, swimming
Weight loss does not necessarily needs weight lifting. You can start slow and gradually build your exercise level.
How much would you burn calories if doing yoga?
You will burn around 70 calories.
How much would you lose if breastfeeding?
You will burn about 500 calories while breastfeeding.
With that said , if you’re breastfeeding exclusively , you should not reduce daily calories
below 1700. Shedding weight more than 1.5 pounds per week will cause decrease in milk supply.
How long should you breastfeed?
American Academy of Paediatrics recommends Exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months. If you are already started breastfeeding journey, please continue to breastfeed your child until 6 months of age.
I would like to emphasize benefits of breastfeeding to mothers and babies.
What are benefits of breastfeeding to mother ?
– Decrease fat deposits (visceral fat) over liver and heart
– Increase metabolism
Both decrease weight. Decreasing weight will definitely decrease cholesterol level, blood sugar and blood pressure.
Hormone oxytocin released during breastfeeding – have the following effects :
–> decrease cortisol
Thus, decrease anxiety and blood pressure.
What are benefits of breastfeeding to babies ?
Reduce risk of child obesity
Reduce risk of asthma , eczema
Reduce gut problems – Irritable Bowel Syndrome
**If you face some obstacles to not being able to breastfeed your baby , do not feel despair and think that you’re a failure. It’s okay. Every mother has her own motherhood journey. You’re special the moment you’re called mother.
And don’t worry, you can lose weight by other methods – combining meal plans and physical activities.
How weight loss works?
There are 2 ways on how weight loss works.
Firstly, reduce your daily calories intake. Eating fewer calories while having similar physical activities ; will not cause extra calories to be stored as fat. The residual calories are adequate for cells function.
Secondly , you can increase physical activities while having similar calories intake. This will cause more calories are burnt during exercises.
For example ; doing house cleaning will burn only 250-300 calories per hour, while jogging will burn 600-750 calories per day.
Is it good to drink like 3L water a day? Will it cause harm?
Drinking as much as 3 litre within 24 hours will not cause harm.
It is harmful if you drink excessive water over short time.
For example ; 5 litre of water within 2 hours. This can lead to hyponatraemia (a condition when your sodium level in blood is low). It can cause symptoms like headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and muscle weakness.
Drinking too much water can also cause water intoxication. This condition is caused by drinking so much water that the electrolytes in your blood become diluted. Electrolytes are minerals that help to control the amount of water in your body. When they are diluted, they can’t do their job properly, which can cause a number of problems, including coma and death.
So, how much water should you drink each day?
The general rule is to drink eight 8-ounce glasses, but you may need more or less depending on your activity level and climate. If you are active or live in a hot climate, you will need to drink more water than if you are sedentary or live in a cooler climate.
Is Cheat Meal good? How frequent should you do Cheat Meal?
Having Cheat Meal once a week is enough. You can have favourite meal during lunch or dinner, but balanced diet.
For example, if you like steak, you can have tenderloin or rib eye steak , rather than New York Strip.
How bad is your option of Cheat Meals – for example : drinking soda everyday , even though just once
ANSWER: It’s not about rewarding yourself. It’s about how you care about yourself. If you are drinking Soda everyday, you increase the risk of having Diabetes Mellitus in the future and there are other complications that may arise.
