Exercise After Having a Baby – The Struggle

Exercise after having a baby

We as women often gain a lot of weight during pregnancy. Of course much of this is due to natural hormones and body changes we can’t control. Some of the weight may also come from excessive indulging.

Sideline Enablers

Have an extra piece, you are eating for two!” “Of course the pregnant girl is hungry, she has one in the oven!” So why not? I’ve had my fair share of cookies and ice-cream. I ate more cheeseburgers than could have possibly been acceptable while I was pregnant. Pregnant women have cravings, so what!

That’s all fine and good until after the baby is born and we are stuck with the baggage. Those pesky excess pounds that seem to linger. Not all excess weight gain is from overeating. Some women experience complications or other things that factor into this problem. Exercise after having a baby is crucial if you want to shed those pounds. The point is, you are definitely not alone.

I too am a busy mom.

Again, I wouldn’t sit here and try to push impossible expectations on people who have enough going on in their life. I too am busy, I work full-time, I have a 1 and 7 year-old. I understand the struggle. Again, I am not really into doing things the hard way.

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How to exercise after having a baby.

1. Don’t stress over it!

Reading how to become a supermodel overnight, studying the best workout of 2021, reading about super diets and all of that jazz isn’t what is important. It may help down the road but your first goal is to just get started.

Do what you can do. Taking even a couple of minutes from your busy schedule, after work, before bed, early in the morning WHENEVER you have time to just do something out of the ordinary. Something as simple as doing 10 Jumping Jacks is enough to start a healthy pattern.

If you have to wait until the little one goes to bed to get a moment then use that as your time to reclaim your active self. I’m sure there are readings that claim you should not to workout before bed but you have to start somewhere!

2. Find Support

Get together with a friend, coworker, family member, or significant other to get out of your slump. They are going to totally understand your need to exercise after having a baby. You might be surprised to find that someone would be willing to get fit with you.

Having someone along for the ride to encourage and boost your self-confidence is priceless! For me I began jogging (slowly) with the help of my boyfriend, who is not some kind of athlete by any means. We barely made it down the driveway from our apartment on our first jog.

Now after only a couple of weeks we were able to run from our apartment complex to the middle of town and back without stopping. Believe me this is something I never thought possible.

3. Nothing beats a healthy diet

Do your best to avoid unhealthy sugars and sweets. Start attempting to focus on fresh fruits and veggies. Try meal prepping.

If you aren’t willing to cut calories you can at least replace unhealthy processed foods with more natural choices.

All of your efforts combined will begin to help you regain control of your body.

4. Don’t stop just because you don’t see results right away

I find this to be one of the biggest mistakes women make. We start exercising for a few days like crazy and look in the mirror only to see that not much has changed. This is almost always going to be the case! The point is, you have begun activity. Your body recognizes internally that you are being active, it is already starting to work more efficiently for you.

In my few short weeks of jogging and nothing else for 20 minutes or less a day I felt my breathing was improved, I didn’t get fatigued as quickly, and I overall had  much more energy.

Just because we still have a little muffintop going on doesn’t mean progress isn’t happening.

In short, don’t let your scales fool you. It may take a little while to see pounds shedding off, feeling better is priority, the rest will follow after. Take it easy and give it your best effort. Exercise after having a baby is doable. Life is challenging, but never give up! Just remember to keep it simple and don’t stress yourself about it. Our bodies are beautiful no matter what.


If you enjoyed this post, perhaps you would like other mom advice posts I’ve written.

5 tips to make a mom’s life easier

Feel free to follow me for more posts on Pinterest!

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