When you are trying to lose baby weight healthy eating and exercising regularly are key.
In order to have enough energy for exercise, and so that you don’t feel sluggish or sick during or after exercise, follow our advice here on the best foods to eat (and which to avoid).
Not sure if you are ready to begin exercising after having a baby? Click here to read our article on the subject.
Foods to choose:
- A Healthy Mummy Smoothie – our smoothies are a great way to kick off your day. Not only are they a time saver in the morning they also offer a good hit of protein to give you the slow release energy you need. You can buy the smoothies from our shop here.
- A sliced banana on wholegrain toast – a great combination with the natural sugars from the banana and the low GI bread. This breakfast or snack will keep you full without leaving you sluggish.
- A small bowl of porridge oats with berries – yet another slow release energy food (notice a trend here?), oats are a great way to fill up with few calories. Add some berries for an antioxidant hit and you’ll sail through your workout without the dreaded hunger pains interrupting you.
- Apple slices with nut butter – a great post-workout snack, choose natural nut butters (meaning it is made from only nuts, no added sugars, salts etc). The protein will work to repair any muscle damage from your training, and the apple will help with hydration.
- Greek yoghurt with nuts, seeds and berries – instead of reaching for a muffin from the café, choose a bowl of yoghurt and top with things like oats, LSA, crushed walnuts, fresh berries or fresh banana. This will take the ed
ge off your hunger without adding any excess calories that you’ve just been busy burning off. - Chicken salad – after a workout it’s important to nourish your body with healthy choices. A grilled chicken breast and a salad of leafy greens, and loads of vegetables is a great option. It’s not going to spike your blood sugar levels, and will keep your mood stable as you come down from your post-workout high.
Foods to avoid:
In general, if you’re exercising (and even if you aren’t!) it’s best to avoid:
- Sports drinks – they are packed with sugar which is not ideal when trying to lose pregnancy weight. Despite the marketing of these products telling you that you need to replace the fluids you lost during exercise you will find that water and healthy food will do the job much better.
- Excessive caffeine – too much coffee can make you feel nauseous at the best of times, let alone after a jog. Stick to one in the morning if possible and then try to incorporate green or herbal teas at other times.
- Salty foods like potato chips – if you are starving after exercise it’s best to avoid keeping things like chips in the house as they are hard to resist. These salty foods will dehydrate you which is already an issue after training.
- Greasy foods like burgers or chips – often we are tempted to think we can treat ourselves to some fast food as we have done some exercise. But in fact you are treating yourself badly if you give in to such cravings on a regular basis! Greasy foods can cause digestive issues, especially after training, so are best avoided if possible.
- Creamy or rich foods – if you are heading out for breakfast after exercising, it’s best to steer clear of things like Eggs Benedict which are covered in a rich creamy dressing that can upset your stomach. Instead, choose something like a poached egg on wholegrain toast with some fresh avocado.
Maree’s results after just 28 days on our weight loss challenge.
Maree says: “My results from the May Challenge. Threw my scales out the beginning of May but guessing I’ve dropped a couple kilo’s.. Feeling great, bring on June.”
You won’t regret it!
Join the challenge here
