Life as a care-free woman is now just a distant memory where you could eat what you want, do what you want and go to sleep when you want.
Now this bundle of joy has come along and you have now taken a back seat to the needs of this little sprog.
As much as you love your little one no end you wish you could get the body you had before pregnancy back. Not only that but you’re tired all the time, busy rushing around for other people and don’t have time to cook health and tasty meals any more because everyone else takes priority over you.
To make things worse, no one else seems to get how much you have to do all day and how hard it can be to look after yourself by eating health or exercising.
Luckily for you, we do understand and hopefully the few tips in this article may help you to achieve what you thought wasn’t possible.
1. Plan, Plan, Plan.
You’re super busy all the time, so the last thing you need is to start having to think about what to eat each day. If this is what you do now then you’re probably turning to the easy, quick and fattening foods like pasta, or microwave meals.
So, plan some easy meals that you can cook throughout the week or snacks that you can take with you wherever you go. If you’re the sort of person who doesn’t get bored too easily then this is perfect because you can literally have the same meals and snacks every day, changing what you eat on a weekly basis.
If you get bored very easily then maybe you’ll want to think how you can create variety without having to cook different meals each time.
A simple example would be to cook some chicken thighs and drumsticks for the week. Either keep them plain to cook and then add a different flavoring each meal such as sauces or spices, or just cook them with various different spices so you can have variety when you come to eat them.
If you spend a lot of time at home then what can you do to make something quickly that is still quite healthy? What about using a Nutribullet to shove some ingredients in, blend and drink? It literally takes only a few minutes and you can carry it around with you.
2. Prepare For The Hard Times
There will ALWAYS be a day when you simply can’t be bothered, you’ve run out of food or something unexpected has come your way and thrown your plan completely out the window.
It’s times like these that you need a back up plan.
Have your kitchen cupboards/ car/ handbag stocked up with snacks that will keep you going for a while longer rather than you stopping off somewhere for a “quick bite” of chips covered in ice cream.
Some good back ups are;
- Packets of nuts
- Bags of popcorn
- Protein bars or balls
- Cans of fish (mackerel or tuna)
- Peanut butter
3. Ask For Help
Who do you have around you that can watch the little one(s) for an hour or two? If there is someone who you can get involved then that’s fantastic. However many mums are on their own all day, or even all the time so it becomes a full time job. In cases like this, is there a way to get the kids involved?
If your little ones are old enough to help you prepare some ingredients then get them involved. Making food in the kitchen is a good bonding experience and it makes food more enjoyable for them to eat too because they get to taste and see it. It is also statistically more likely that they will grow up enjoying eating their greens and not be hard to feed.
On the other hand if the sprogs are still too young then are there times of the day when you know they are going to be quieter than others?… Like when they are asleep for the seemingly only 10 minutes of the day. During these times maybe you could do something that you can’t when they are awake? Things such as; 5 minutes of exercise, prepping some meals for the week, doing an online food order?
4. Exercise Doesn’t Have To Last Hours
Most people think that to get results you have to exercise for hours. You don’t.
What is more important is consistency over time.
So rather than trying to find time to do an hour’s workout somewhere in your busy day, forget that and aim for 5 minutes instead.
Simple things done regularly will add up over time and get your much better results than large efforts done once in a while.
There are times of the day when you could quite easily fit in 5 minutes of something. For example, when you are brushing your teeth at night or in the morning you could aim to do a set number of squats. Then over time aim to increase the number of squats you can achieve physically or in the time you have. For example, you might be so unfit that just doing 10 a day is a good place to start and then at the end of the month do 20.
You could do some pushups while you’re waiting for the microwave to “Ding”, walk up and down the stairs several times to take laundry up and down, or you could try fast walking/running with the pram when you’re out and about with the little one(s).
How Long Will It Take To Get Your Pre-Baby Body Back?
This is like asking “how long is a piece of string?”. This really depends on where you are at now and where you were before pregnancy.
If you gained a lot of weight during and after pregnancy then it will take longer than if you’ve only gained a few pounds. One thing to remember though is that pregnancy is a traumatic time for your body and it will take a while for it to fully recover and tighten up again naturally.
The more you are able to exercise your muscles and eat nutritious food, the quicker you will get back to looking sexy and toned again. This can take around 4 to 6 months for you to notice some good changes visually, but you will start to feel much more energetic within only a couple of weeks of eating better (notice I didn’t say “perfectly”).
How can you speed up the results?
I say this to all of my clients;
The better the results you want, the better you are going to have to eat and train.
Once you have the basics sorted; being able to plan your week and prepare some healthier options and find some time for yourself, the next step worth considering is to work with an expert who can get you results faster like our trainers here at Precision Wellbeing in North Finchley.
This would massively help you because they can help you with the planning, nutrition and guide you through the hard times.
Either way, remember that consistency is key. Small changes daily are better than a big change once a month.
If you would like to work with us then take a look at our Personal Training For Weight Loss Page and fill out the form at the bottom.
Good luck!
Ashley