Monday, April 25, 2011

Losing weight or gaining muscles?

A normal pregnant woman gain around 30-40 pounds by the time she delivers the baby.
Of course, many of those pounds are shed when the baby leaves mom's womb for a hospital room. Breastfeeding mothers burn more calories but not necessarily. It all depends on your diet as well.
But generally, for new, breastfeeding mothers the key isn't so much losing weight as it is regaining muscle tone. Of course, if you've been exercising throughout your pregnancy – and you should – you'll be better able to jump back on the workout wagon. With all huge life changes, you need to regain your strength, establish a routine with the new kid, and then start thinking about working out.

To state the obvious, pregnancy plays havoc with your body. Not only have you gained two dozen or more pounds, your muscles have been stretched like a bloated hot water bottle and your energy reserve severely sapped. In other words, please don't expect to bounce right back and start scaling mountains. The first few months of tending to a baby is mountain enough. It will take some time for your hormones to get back under control and your muscles to regain strength. Start slowly and with consistency you can restart your pre-pregnancy exercise routine with the little one in tow.

Most moms have already passed the "baby stage".  The excuse of "well, I just had a baby.." is no longer valid when you're baby is crawling or walking. What I want you to do is, get undressed, take a look in the mirror and without any judging eyes (cause you did have a baby!), picture yourself how you want to look like. Most women don't want to look like super models, so don't overdo your imagination. First rule is to stand with good posture. Most moms carry their babies only on one side (that's why you're one bicep is really strong :-), most moms also have one shoulder higher up than the other because of the carrying. Just take a look at yourself and be proud of what your body have been through. Then, stand up tall, chest up high and correct your head posture so that your cheek bone is aligned with your collar bone. The first step to getting your body back, is as simple as that. A correct posture. But simple, doesn't necessarily means easy. Your muscles have been working differently (and are most often over worked) during your pregnancy and to hold a correct posture for a long time is getting really tiring. During the BeachFit Moms program we will work on many corrective postural exercises that will make you look instantly fitter.    

Whether you want to loose weight or gain muscles -- or in many cases both -- BeachFit Moms 6-week program will you give you all the tools needed for your "Big Comeback".
Since your baby requires a lot of attention and takes precedence over all else, you may have to be creative about how and where you sneak in your workouts. If you have child care, this is fairly easy; if you don't, you need to be more motivated. By taking the BeachFit Moms classes, you have no excuse. You'll have a great time with your baby and other moms & pregnant women, while getting in the shape you always wanted. By losing weight or gaining muscles, not only will it make you look better, but you will have tons more energy to live your life to the fullest!

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