Often, you can find the statement on the mothers’ forums that doing fitness after childbirth is necessary in order to make your body like “pre-pregnant” indicators. Therefore, women who are losing weight at a rapid pace while breastfeeding believe that they should not make any workouts for fit mama. However, this is a big misconception: realfit is important for all mothers, and not just for those who cannot lose weight.
Real fit life as depression prevention
It has long been proven that physical activity helps to cope with depression, apathy, return a desire to live a full life and an optimistic attitude. This is due to the fact that during physical activity (fitmama), the body secretes the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is responsible for the motor activity of the limbs, intestinal motility, increases secretion in the gastrointestinal tract and promotes the production of prolactin, which is important for women who feed twins or triplets. In addition, serotonin is responsible for a good, cheerful mood. With a lack of serotonin, a person experiences a depressed emotional state, and his/her thinking processes decrease. Thus, healthy fit mama is especially indicated for those women who tend to be pessimistic.
Postpartum depression can be diagnosed in any mother, but there are several factors that put women at risk. As a rule, this is early motherhood, when the mother is under 22 years old; this is a conflict situation in the family, for example, when young people live with the parents; a severe disease of the child, diagnosed in the first months of life, a dysfunction of the mother’s thyroid gland, which was present before pregnancy.
As strange as it may sound, soft fitmama workouts help relieve fatigue. This happens due to an improvement in the blood supply to the body and oxygen saturation of the blood, which accompany all physical activities. In addition, fitness helps to increase metabolism, which means it is a good prevention of weight gain in women who are prone to overweight.
True, there is one factor, which complicates the solution of the problem. Due to hormonal changes, many mamas become more emotional and experience seemingly simple things stronger than usual. Therefore, sometimes they do not want to get up and do something again, they feel too tired, irritated, and lonely. However, you can cope with this state through real fitness.
The main thing is to start workouts
Previously, doctors believed that a woman could exercise after childbirth no earlier than 6 weeks after the child birth. Now gynecologists are more liberal in this matter.
If the birth flows without complications and the mother feels well, then she can start classes in the postpartum ward already. This can be breathing exercises or movements that help relax the muscles. However, if the birth flows with some complications, if after them bleeding persists for several days, or if the child was born through a caesarean section, then it is better to start classes after consulting a doctor.
By the way, breathing exercises and light gymnastics can be performed not only by those women who were engaged in fitness during pregnancy or kept an active lifestyle. Even those mothers for whom fitness is a new activity can do them already in the hospital.
Still, most women prefer to start fitness for mamas at home, giving themselves a few weeks to get used to their new role. Doctors advise starting with easy exercises and short sessions.
It is best to do excersises 2 or 3 times a day for 5 to 7 minutes, than once for 15 minutes. At first, these can be the most elementary exercises: warm-up of the shoulder girdle, warm-up of the neck, legs, light bends and walking at a fast pace.
If funds allow, it is better to go to a fitness club or pool, where classes will be held under the guidance of an instructor who can individually select the load and will make sure that mothers do not harm themselves. If this is not possible, then you can choose gymnastics surfing the Internet – YouTube. The main thing is to do the exercises without excessive overloading.
If during exercise there are pains in the back or in the abdomen, then the training should be stopped. You should also see a doctor immediately if you experience more ample vaginal bleeding than usual during your periods.
Fitness is a benefit
Many moms give up (or don’t start) fitness classes because of their babies. The baby grows, his regime changes, in particular, the duration of daytime sleep is reduced, and the mother does not have time to do all the household duties during this period. In addition, many children are tactile or need a visual contact, they start shouting.
However, practice shows that if a woman wants to take care of her health, then the child will not be a hindrance to her. Psychologists advise to involve the child in the classroom. For example, you can put him on the floor next to you when doing exercises lying down, you can sit him in your legs and, lifting your upper body.
Today, on the Internet, you can find many methods of how to do fitness with children. There are exercises for mothers, whose children are very small and can only sit. There are fitmama complexes made with children from a year to 2 years old. There is nothing complicated about them, they do not require special equipment, but they help to instill in the child a love for physical exercises.
Experts also advise to involve not only children, but other family members or other mothers as well. This increases motivation and reduces the likelihood of depression. It is easier to attract people to help if you draw up at least an approximate schedule of classes. It is also also easier to find time for training if you make a list of exercises and calculate how much time it takes for each. Thus, it is possible to adapt to all forced or natural changes in the child’s regime.
At the same time, the doctors remind: in the first year of the baby’s life and mother in a new role, not everything goes smoothly, so you should not despair if you cannot enter the training regime right away. Even 5-10 minutes of exercise a day can energize the body. And although doctors advise to exercise for at least 150 minutes a week, well-being and good mood are more important than records and abs.
Rules for fitness after birth
- A warm-up is required before any training, and a cooldown after classes;
- Overloading should be avoided: if after the real fit mama class, there is no vigor, but fatigue or even exhaustion appears, then the intensity of the exercises and the load should be reduced;
- Physical exercises are best combined with walking and swimming, and if this is impossible for some reason, then use breathing exercises;
- During the day you need to drink a lot of pure water;
- For classes, it is significant to wear a supportive bra and jersey that tightens the belly for the first time;
- Add more fiber in the diet, and try to minimize “fast” carbohydrates (pasta and flour products, chocolate and sweets).
Nutrition for fitness moms
First, you need to know the limit. You cannot severely limit calories. While you are breastfeeding, both you and your baby need them. According to studies, a woman spends 150 to 450 kcal daily on breastfeeding, so your diet during this period should not be limited or poor. But it is not necessary to eat too much.
Here’s a simple averaged formula:
- in the first month of breastfeeding: your daily diet + 200-300 kcal per day;
- from the second to the fourth breastfeeding month: normal diet + 100 kcal;
- then you can already return to your normal diet.
Do not try to make the diet fat-free. The baby should get everything he needs with breast milk. On the contrary, eat enough protein every day, do not forget about fish, oils, nuts, avocados. Additionally, a woman may take “Omega 3”. Among other things, such nutrition has a positive effect on the elasticity of the skin and on hormones.
What foods to exclude?
It is better to completely exclude from the diet: sweeteners, unnatural dairy products (yoghurts, cottage cheese, processed cheese, etc.), sweets, seeds, milk chocolate. Also avoid packaged fruit juices and sodas, fast food and convenience foods, almost any sauces and topings, especially those containing sugar and salt, cakes, pastries and ice cream, alcohol.
Avoid foods that contain gluten. Women may be allergic to gluten after childbirth. The symptoms of gluten intolerance are:
- abdominal pain (including in combination with a burning sensation in the upper abdomen), nausea and vomiting, bloating, a feeling of fullness in the stomach, constipation and diarrhea;
- fatigue, numbness in arms and legs, muscle cramps and joint pain;
- headache, malaise, fatigue, confusion, dizziness;
- eczema, redness or swelling of the tongue.
