When you are trying to lose pregnancy weight, it can be easy to fall into the trap of believing everything that you read or have been told in the past about how weight loss ‘works’.
Every day we are bombarded with marketing messages about restricting certain food groups, diet pills, or extreme weight loss measures that are simply not good for your health or wellbeing.
Here at Lose Baby Weight we believe that weight loss happens as a result of eating healthy, fresh foods and getting in some exercise.
Today we look at 5 common mistakes that people can make when they are trying to lose pregnancy weight so that you can avoid them at all costs.
Not eating enough
This is a really common one – people think that if they skip breakfast, or cut out all snacks, they will naturally lose weight.
And lose weight you might, but it will most likely be water and muscle that you are losing rather than fat. This is because your body will slow down your metabolism in response which slows down your ability to lose fat.
Check out our 28 Day Diet and Exercise Plan and you will see that we in fact recommend 3 meals and 2 healthy snacks per day (more snacks if you are breastfeeding or hungry).
These snacks are healthy and nutritious and will help to keep you going until your next meal.
There is nothing like a starvation diet to leave you feeling cranky, irritable, and of course hungry.
Leave those short term diet fads at the door and say yes to eating real food, and adding in a little exercise when you feel ready. The results will follow.
You can also see LOTS of healthy snack ideas here so you have lots of yummy food to eat in between meals
Not giving yourself a break
We like to focus on the 80/20 rule, meaning that it’s OK to have a cheat meal or a splurge on something that you really love.
The difference is when you are having a treat or cheat every day – that’s when it can really affect your results.
You can also enjoy the foods you love but just watch the portion sizes – so often the portions that you get from a café or restaurant are far bigger than the recommended amounts that we should be eating (read more on portion control here).
And if, on a rainy day when the kids are cranky and the motivation just isn’t there to strap them into the pram for a walk – give yourself a break and do something else.
You could try our Exercise DVD or just have a dance around the lounge room – it all helps to burn calories.
Believing food labels
If you wander around the supermarket you would be forgiven for thinking that all of these low fat, non fat, organic, 99% fat free, no artificial coloured products were good for you.
The advertising that goes with them often tells you that they are. But many of the so called low fat foods are pumped up with sugar in order to make them taste better, which is not ideal when you are trying to lose baby weight.
Instead, try to get most of your shopping done from the fresh produce section (fruit and veg), fresh meat, dairy section and the health food aisle. The less packaging the better, as it means that the food is closer to its natural state.
Take the time to read food labels as it can be a real eye opener to see what ingredients go into everyday products.
Not getting support and help
Trying to lose pregnancy weight on your own can be difficult. If your partner isn’t on board with the changes to your healthy eating it can be even harder (read our tips for getting your partner on side here).
Use Lose Baby Weight as a source of support too – by following our 28 Day Plan or referring to our Calorie Bible you can feel in control of your weight loss as the information is coming from a trusted source.
You can also jump on our Facebook page anytime and get some helpful tips, advice and motivation from other mums on our program.
On Monday nights at 9pm there is a live Q&A session with our Motivating Mums where you can ask questions and get advice from women who have lost their weight or who are still powering through.
And of course you can email us anytime on [email protected], we are here to help.
Another great option is to recruit a weight loss buddy to help you with support. They can be a friend to lean on and a source of motivation and advice. Here are our 5 tips for how to recruit a buddy.
Not being realistic
Deciding that you want to lose 10kg in 2 weeks is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous for your health.
Here at Lose Baby Weight we believe that slow, steady pregnancy weight loss is the key to losing weight and keeping it off.
It’s also important that you don’t start trying to lose pregnancy weight until you are 100% ready (read our tips for knowing when to start here).
Wondering what is a realistic time frame for weight loss? Read our article here which tells you how long it took some of our Motivating Mums to lose their pregnancy weight.
Plus get back to basics
And here are some really useful links and resources to help you refocus and get back to basics
- Work out your BMR so you know how many calories your own individual body needs. As you lose weight your calorie needs decrease so it is important to re-calculate and adjust accordingly. Use our BMR calculator here
- If you haven’t yet joined up to our FREE members area, register here so you have your own private dashboard to log your weight, measurements, exercise and BMI so you can visually see your progress. Join up here
- Snacking is essential for energy levels and for boosting your metabolism – see our healthy snacking category here
- Are the scales not giving you the results you want – see what could be happening here
- Read here about why you shouldn’t always trust the scales
- Get some tips on staying motivated here
- See more common weight loss issues here and how to over come them
GET YOUR 10% DISCOUNT
If you are ready to lose weight then the Lose Baby Weight plans offer a healthy and safe exercise and diet routine and you can get a 10% discount by using code LOYALTY at the checkout
PLUS our BEST SELLING 28 Day Diet & Exercise Plan is available as a 200pg Printed Book and you can get your copy here
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