Preparing For A Little One: Losing The Baby Weight {Link Up}

My friend Jennifer and I came up with a great idea that I absolutely love. As you know, I am expecting my first child. This can be so overwhelming and I know that other first time moms probably feel the same. I have so many questions and would love to hear the opinions of moms who have already been through this a time or two before.

Because of this, we are hosting a weekly series for a few weeks to try and get some answers to some of the most common questions.

We divided the series into two mini 4 week series grouped into questions Pre-Baby & Post Baby.

The first mini series will be:

Friday, April 5: Registering (Everything you need to know, Must Haves, Don't Bothers, etc...)Friday, April 12: Nursery Organization & IdeasFriday, April 19: Packing For The Hospital: For you & the babyFriday, April 26: Birth Stories (The good, bad, and ugly) / Birth Plans (yes? no?)

The second mini series will be:

Friday, May 3: Bringing Baby Home / Surviving The First Few WeeksFriday, May 10: Breast Feeding vs. FormulaFriday, May 17: Calming Your Baby & Sleep MethodsFriday, May 24: Losing The Baby Weight

So without further ado, let's get on with Week 8: Losing The Baby Weight! Since I do not have any children of my own yet, I will be featuring a blogger each week and their expert advice on the topic at hand (:

Losing The Baby Weight:

Pregnancy can be amazing, exciting, and at times overwhelming and scary as you journey into a new adventure. Hopefully I can alleviate a few of your worries by sharing with you how I lost my baby weight.
A little about me, my name is Tamara and I am a personal trainer and yoga instructor and became a mom for the first time last June. My blog, The Workout Mama, focuses on living and raising a healthy family, fitness and workouts, sprinkled with a few recipes here and there, and of course sharing little updates on my baby, Caden.
I was very active before I became pregnant and exercised my entire pregnancy. I understand every woman's pregnancy is different and depending on your health if you have been cleared by your doctor to exercise while pregnant, go for it. If you are medically unable to exercise when you are pregnant please rest and listen to your doctor. Whatever your situation is during pregnancy I am here to tell you that you can and will loose the baby weight if that is your goal. Here is a picture of my tummy before and after baby.

I am proof that it is possible to be in even better shape after you have a baby. Carrying around my 20 pound little man is the best exercise there is. Twelve weeks after delivery I was 1 pound below my pre pregnancy weight. And 9 months later I looked like this.
I am always happy to share advice with other soon to be mama's. The majority of this information can be applied to anyone looking to shed a few inches.
Drink Water: Staying hydrated is super important not just for you but also for your baby. After delivery your body is going to have a surge of hormones released along with a large amount of fluid and blood loss. By drinking water you are encouraging your body to flush out toxins and also boost your metabolism.
Avoid Sugar: Being a new mom is tiring. Sugar is a known energy zapper will also increase body fat. Avoiding juice, soda, artificial sweeteners, and white flour will be better off for you and also for the baby if you are breast feeding.
Eat Healthy & Often: Stock your kitchen with choices that are going to nourish you. A new baby is often up around the clock and so are you. Try to eat smaller nutrient rich meals every 3 hours during the day. Quick and easy to eat meals and snacks are perfect for the first few weeks after the baby is born. My kitchen is loaded with fruits, veggies, KindBars, almond milk, eggs, beans, quinoa, and oatmeal.

Walk: As soon as you can move, do it. Two days after Caden was born we went on our first family walk. I didn't move very fast or walk very far but each day I gradually increased my speed and distance. By the time he was 2 weeks old we were averaging 2 miles a day walking around our neighborhood.
Build Your At Home Gym: Weights, DVD's, a mat, jump rope, and water bottle are awesome items that can be added to your baby registry. The key to success is to plan ahead.

Lift Weights: Don't be afraid of strength training. Resistance training speeds up your metabolism. If you want to loose weight lift weights. Use dumbbells or hold on to your baby while you do a few rounds of squats and lunges. Target big muscles groups because they will burn more calories. Or better yet do compound exercises like squats with an overhead press and lunges with biceps curls for an even greater calorie burn.
I hope this information encourages you. No matter what place you are starting from it is totally possible to reclaim your waistline and become a fit mama. If you are looking for some health and fitness motivation follow The Workout Mama on bloglovin, tweet with me on twitter @theworkoutmama, and like my page on Facebook.
xoxo, Tamara
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