Post-partum exercise

JesseM28

Hi everyone- I am 27 weeks pregnant and looking forward to having my first baby. I am trying to think about exercise after the baby comes and was curious what the daily workout routine of other (fairly recent) PP moms looks like. Is it working for you? How many calories are you also eating? (I will be breastfeeding). Thank you!

kegger1997

i know first hand that breassstfeeding will be a huge help. i nursed all my first two kids (baby 3 was too sick) and i lost all of it within weeks. can't help with exercise, last baby (now 5) was c-section. no exercise for months after due to difficut pg. good luck and enjoy every minute of your soon to be new baby.

JessiAnn88

My first piece of advice is to wait the 6-8 weeks your doct. gives you to actually rest and let your body recoup, It may feel like you're ready to get into it sooner but it's important. In the beginning I added an extra 500 calories for breatfeeding as my little one was feeding on demand and I was starving all the time. Now that she's 4 months I only add 250 calories as she feeds a lot less frequently, it's recommended bf moms shouldn't eat less then 1800 calories a day. As for exercise, ease into it and see what you can do, if you have a natural delivery it may be easier to get into physically demanding exercise but you may have a lot more fatigue than you think (those babies really only sleep when they want to) and if you have a c-section it's even more important that you ease into it as you can reopen stiches and what not. For myself, after the first 6 weeks I set MFP to lose 1lb a week since I had at total of 60-70lbs I needed to lose so that put me at 1500calories plus 500 for breast fedding so 2,000 calories a day at first and i still lost about a pound a week. Now i'm on 1400 calories a day + 250 for breast feeding+exercise calories and still losing. Mainly find a number that keeps you fueled for all the things you have to do as a new mom, if you feel hungry you NEED to eat, especially when nourising a newborn. And at least when you're breastfeeding eat back your exercise calories as your body needs the replenishment to keep your supply up.

I guess my main point is to make sure you get the rest you need and to ease into things, don't even think about restricting calories or heavy exercise for the first 6-8 weeks. Remember it took you 9 months to put on the weight, you're not going to lose it overnight. And to make sure you fuel your body as you're not the only one counting on it.


eta: My personal workout routine was at 8weeks PP I did Jillian Michaels 30DS which is 20min of circuit training and that was it, after those first 30 days I did 3 days a week 20-40 minute cardio and 2 days a week strength training with 2 days off, which is where i pretty much am as of right now, it's clearly working alright for me i've lost 36lbs. since I had my daughter 1/15/13

kegger1997

yes all that JessiAnn88 said

UrnAsh

I walked until my 6 week pp check up