How To Get Rid of Postpartum Belly Fat?

How to Get Rid of Postpartum Belly Fat?

Did you know that the average newborn weighs about 3.2 kilograms (7pounds) Your abdominal muscles (abs) and the connective tissue had to stretch apart to make room for that. At this point your tummy shifted over to give even baby more room.

Over this period you would have gained (depending on your BMI) between (10 and 40 pounds) 5 to 18 kilograms during pregnancy.The great news is that you will lose some of that weight right away.
So, the baby’s weight comes off first and then you will drop a bit more weight when you lose blood, fluids and amniotic fluid.

How Do You Lose The Rest?

So you will have to target the abdominal muscles, BUT at all costs AVOID CRUNCHES!!!
Remember the connective tissue between the bands of your abs that stretched out?

A small amount of stretching happens in all pregnancies and that is quite normal.
Research has shown that tummy crunches done too early actually stretch the connective tissue even more and make it thinner and weaker, not what you want for a strong, supportive CORE.
Therefore you will want to target the DEEP abdominal muscles by strengthening them, being your “transverse abdominis”

Pelvic tilts are a great start. (perform 4 to 5 sets of 20 repetitions)

Within 8 to 12 weeks, you should be ready to move on to deeper abdominal exercises.
Wondering how often? 2-4 times a week will suffice.

Here below are my personal favourite exercises from years of experience with clients that produce great results! and consistency is key:

+Reverse crunch

+Scissor kicks

+Forearm plank

+Single toe taps

+Double toe taps

+Single leg stretch

Something to be aware of!. If your abs have separated more than 2 to 2,5 cm (condition known as diastase recti) and you don’t see any closing of the gap with time and exercise, you may require surgery to rectify this.

Nutritional Advice

• Always opt for high fibre
• Eat protein at every meal
• Cut up vegetables and fruit
• Eat yoghurt with granola or dried fruit
• Jungle oats or oatmeal
• Drink 8 glasses of water a day OR 250ml of water for every 10kg of body weight will do.