The arrival of your bundle of joy means saying goodbye to the giant orb your midsection grew to the last nine months. You also no longer have to worry about random people touching that giant orb as if it wasn't actually part of your body.
Despite the incredible joys you might experience having your child, you might have some weight-related worries lingering around. Perhaps it is not surprising that studies show most women gain an average of about 30 pounds during pregnancy. Many of us end up gaining way more than that!
There is good news! Within a month after giving birth, most women lose approximately 18-to-20 pounds. But what do we do when the body takes a "pregnant pause" shedding those extra ten pounds? Your body might be different after your pregnancy, but that doesn't mean it's incapable of losing that weight. You just need a little patience and consistent exercise, not to mention a healthy, clean diet to get back into shape.
I get it though, trust me. Working out is the LAST thing you want to do when you're only getting a few hours of sleep and you feel exhausted. But even short, easy workouts can help you sustain energy through the day, restore your abdominal muscle tone, improve your mood, relieve stress and permit you to sleep better at night.
Exercise is also helpful to control postpartum depression. According to a 2009 study, "Home-based exercise is an effective and feasible intervention for alleviating symptoms of depressed mood in the postpartum."
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) suggests you can begin exercising when you feel ready, but you need to talk with your doctor before you begin a program. The ACOG also explains that if you've had a cesarean or difficult birth, it may take a bit longer to feel ready for exercise.