Are you just starting out on your pregnancy weight loss journey; or have you been trying without much success?
Today we explore 8 things that you can do that could help you start seeing results sooner – all based around healthy eating and exercise.

Switch to wholegrain everything

At first, this might seem difficult and you might meet with some resistance from family members – but you and they will get used to it.
That means no more white flour, white bread, white pasta, white rice – all of these are available in wholemeal or wholegrain options.
You could also try switching out things like pasta and rice for other options like cous cous or quinoa (you can even get wholemeal cous cous).

Reduce your added sugar intake

Added sugar is a sneaky one and you will find that it’s in so many foods. So instead of trying to cut it out completely it’s a good idea just to reduce it as much as possible.
For instance you could switch a low fat strawberry yoghurt for some natural or Greek yoghurt with fresh berries added.
You could try to avoid keeping obvious sugary foods in the house such as ice cream (make this healthy Banana Ice Cream instead), chocolate biscuits (try these Banana and Cocoa Squares), cakes (make our Carrot Cake Muffins) and chocolate bars (see our options here).

Watch out for bad fats

While it’s important to consume good fats from sources such as fish, olive oil, avocado and nuts – it’s also key to reduce or avoid bad fats. Read more on this here
The bad ones are fats found in deep fried foods, commercial cakes, chips, chocolate bars, donuts, pastries etc. These are the fats that can hinder your weight loss, make you feel lethargic, and make it hard to keep your skin looking fresh.

Get moving every day

If you really want to crank up your results, add some exercise to your good nutrition to help see a big difference in your body and fitness levels.
You could try a daily walk, a couple of segments from our Exercise DVD, a regular swimming session or fitness class, cycling, yoga or Pilates. Basically anything that gets your heart pumping and helps you break a sweat is a good thing. We have lots of ideas for exercise here too

Reduce your alcohol consumption

Many of us relax at the end of the day with a glass of wine, but it’s not hard to end up consuming 1-2 drinks each night.
Alcohol gives you additional calories in your day with no nutritional benefit whatsoever, so it’s an easy one to reduce your consumption of to quickly reduce your total calories.
Keep alcohol for the weekends or special occasions, and always remember to stay well hydrated by alternating with sparkling or still water between drinks.

Don’t skip meals and snacks

Your metabolism is responsible for helping you to lose weight, and it’s important that it’s kept busy through the day with healthy meals and snacks at regular intervals.
As part of the Lose Baby Weight 28 Day Plan we recommend 3 main meals and 2-3 healthy snacks per day in order to lose weight. Check out the plan here to see some specific examples.
If you know you are going to be out and about, keep some fruit or nuts in your bag so that you don’t get caught out with only muffins and brownies from a café available – we have lots of snack ideas here too.
Pack yourself a tasty lunch box if you are going to be out at lunchtime so that you don’t need to resort to fast food or less than healthy options.

Cut down on bread

If you find that you are having two slices of toast at breakfast and a sandwich for lunch – it’s not hard to see how you could end up eating almost 30 slices of bread per week.
While we don’t suggest cutting bread out entirely, it’s a good idea to reduce your consumption if you are trying to lose pregnancy weight.
It’s also a good idea to replace traditional white bread with a wholegrain option, as it is a slower release energy food that won’t spike your blood sugar levels.
You can also try Mountain Bread wraps which are a great alternative to traditional white flour wraps.

Keep healthy convenience foods on hand

We are all guilty of feeling tired at the end of the day, but that’s no reason to give up on healthy cooking for you and your family.
Make life easy by keeping healthy convenience foods on hand so that you can easily pull a meal together.
For instance eggs, tinned tomatoes, cous cous, bags of salad leaves, tinned chickpeas or kidney beans, tinned tuna, portions of frozen cooked brown rice that you can defrost in the microwave. See lots of snack ideas here
And to beat the common weight loss problems see our advice here
AND DON’T FORGET to keep checking your BMR and daily energy needs as you lose weight so you are adjusting your calorie intake to account for your leaner body and lower energy needs – you can use our online calculator here

Motivating Mums!

We have thousands of weight loss results published on our website from mums who are on our plans and send in their results to help inspire and motivate you through your own weight loss journey and you can see their stories here.
Plus if you are new to our plans you can see how they work here

 
Need to stock up on Healthy Mummy Smoothies? Then see our shop here
And join our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenges here