Motherhood is such a rewarding experience, but, for some of us, the effects that pregnancy and raising a child has on the body take a little extra effort to recover from.
Your body changes so much during pregnancy. You change shape, put on weight and you grow a little human! Your body goes through so much, but you know what? You can get your body back - even if it’s a few years down the track. You just have to put in the effort.
There are no quick fixes, no magic pill and no magic tummy flattening machines…… sorry.
But… With a little planning, and following a few simple pledges, you can be zipping up that favourite dress or pair of jeans again!
These are my 7 top ways to get rid of the Mum Tum
1. Get Moving
Let’s face it, if you are not moving the body, then you are not moving the excess of your body either. There are so many different ways to get moving. Cardio, pilates, dancing with the kids to their favourite Wiggles tunes. Find something that suits your age, stage and capabilities and commit to moving every day. Even if it is just a 10 minute brisk walk around the block, that is more than a majority of the population do.
2. Drink More Water
How much water do you drink every day?
You may think you are drinking enough (or maybe you know that you don’t and you should!), but many of us are unknowingly dehydrated.
You should be aiming for 43mL of water for every kilo of body weight for your body to function at it’s best! Or as a general rule….
You should Aim to drink at least 2 litres of water per day
Did you know your body is made up of about 70% water, so it is one of the most important nutrients your body needs? When you are dehydrated, your blood can become thicker, which makes oxygen and nutrients harder to get to your muscles. When you haven’t had enough water, your brain has trouble distinguishing whether you are hungry or thirsty, so being dehydrated can lead to over eating! So get drinking!
If you are hydrated, you will have improved energy levels and concentration. If you aren’t drinking enough, you might suffer from headaches, feel ‘flat’ and are constantly tired.
3. Get Adequate Sleep
This is seriously important. You won’t lose weight if you don’t get enough sleep. A hormone called leptin is responsible for telling your brain when your stomach is full and it also helps to control appetite and metabolism.
“Leptin is the chemical that tells your brain when you're full, when it should start burning up calories and, by extension, when it should create energy for your body to use. It triggers a series of messages and responses that starts in the hypothalamus and ends in the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland controls the way your body stores and uses energy.
During sleep, leptin levels increase, telling your brain you have plenty of energy for the time being and there's no need to trigger the feeling of hunger or the burning of calories. When you don't get enough sleep, you end up with too little leptin in your body, which, through a series of steps, makes your brain think you don't have enough energy for your needs. So your brain tells you you're hungry, even though you don't actually need food at that time, and it takes steps to store the calories you eat as fat so you'll have enough energy the next time you need it. The decrease in leptin brought on by sleep deprivation can result in a constant feeling of hunger and a general slow-down of your metabolism.”
Not sleeping properly disrupts this hormone, which is why you find yourself eating more when you’re sleep deprived.
Which I know can be really tough for a mum especially if your kids aren’t great sleepers.
4. Make Conscious Food Choices
Knowing what to eat and how much to eat can sometimes be really confusing.
Many ‘diets’ use restrictive eating plans that are unrealistic and cannot be maintained long term.
Or they offer a ‘1 size fits all’ plan, which let’s face it, if we were all the same, life would not be quite as interesting.
When it comes to commencing a health and weightloss journey it’s an option to consider first preparing your body and ridding it of toxins that have built up over time and essentially giving the body a clean slate to work with. Kick Starting your journey and targeting the Gut first by eliminating gluten, dairy, refined sugars and processed foods first before moving on to a longer term weightloss plan.
From there, the choice of food plan should incorporate a balance and variety of foods – remember the pyramid we all learnt in school?
Balance and moderation is key.
Don’t skip meals...... I know as a mum and working/running a business, every day is busy and it can be easy to forget to eat sometimes, but skipping meals just makes your body think that you are starving it, so it starts to store fat as a reserve.
If your body is constantly nourished, it won’t think you are starving it, so will focus its energy on digesting your food and functioning properly, therefore not reserving extra fat, giving you a flatter tummy!
Talk to your health coach or mentor about finding a plan that suits your individual needs. If you haven’t yet found a program, please get in touch and I can recommend my favourites for you and help you on your journey.
5. Consider the products you are using on yourself and around your home.
What? How does that help with a flatter tummy?
Your environment could be contributing to your inability to achieve your weightloss goals
Body Burden is the build up of a whole lot of nasties that we are exposed to everyday. This build up totally messes with the health of our bodies… including its ability to lose weight and keep it off!
How does it stop our weightloss efforts?
All those ‘nasties’ are mainly stored in fat cells! ‘Dieting’ just makes it worse. When you only lose weight without cleansing the body, it actually increases the amount of fat laden toxins in our body.
There is no use cleansing our body from the toxins if we are not getting rid of the source….
Or as much as we can anyway! It would be like putting duct tape over a leaky pipe, it might help for a little while but very soon you are going to get flooded.
We need a lifestyle that encourages cleansing all these cells!
6. Reduce your stress
I know it is hard to escape our busy lifestyles, especially with families and work and everything else that comes with being a mum.
But stress doesn’t help the fat around the middle.
The stress hormone Cortisol causes our bodies to dump fatty deposits all over our tummies.
So it’s time to relax – take at least 5 minutes to yourself each day and do something for you. Do some exercise, focus on some relaxation breathing, go and have a massage, have a bath with some Epsom salts, read a book.
It really is important to take some time out for yourself. Happy Mum, happy family!
7. Add a daily Supplement
Unfortunately, many of the foods we eat nowadays are being grown in soils that have been well depleted of nutrients that are essential to our well-being. Adding a supplement to your day can not only replenish and support your body through a weightloss journey but can also have amazing health benefits as well.
A few supplements to consider….
Taking a probiotic is great for putting good bacteria back into your gut and your digestive system.
Vitamins and minerals play a vital role in maintaining health and wellbeing. A good multivitamin should give you the best possible balance of nutrients and be absorbed easily.
Aloe vera is a natural digestive tonic to soothe the stomach support smooth digestion and gut wellbeing.
A Plant sourced protein is great to use as part of a healthy, balanced diet, Chocolate Pea Protein Shake will assist in preserving lean muscle mass while supporting your diet or exercise program.
“Healthy is an outfit that looks different on everybody”
Bonus Tip
Whether you are just starting out or you are a seasoned weight management program follower, one of the best things to do is to find a friend to travel the journey with you. If you haven’t yet found your accountability partner or are looking for a tribe to help keep you motivated, please reach put and I can help point you in a direction to start looking and I'd be more than happy to mentor you on your journey.
Hopefully the above tips will help you to get your tummy back!
I would love to hear the way you got your mum tum back, please share with us in the comments below!
💕 Rosanne
(p.s. There are affiliate links included within this blog post. This means, for any purchase made through one of these affiliate links, a small commission is paid to me. Thank you for your support.
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