Successful weight loss after childbirth! 4 Key points to avoid weight gain

Successfully losing weight after childbirth is the dream of many mothers. Chinese medicine practitioners say that there are four important keys to regaining your figure: adequate sleep, a balanced diet, breastfeeding, and adequate exercise. At the same time, moms who eat out should follow three principles in their diet, including "less fried food, less starch, and drinking more water", so that they can quickly restore their figure and avoid gaining weight again.

Postpartum obesity is a nightmare for most women. Chinese medicine practitioners say that there are four key factors to regaining your figure: adequate sleep, a balanced diet, breastfeeding, and adequate exercise.

Xu Huizhong, a Chinese medicine practitioner at Tainan Municipal Hospital, emphasized that losing weight after childbirth is an issue of concern to many mothers. Losing weight is certainly one of the mothers' wishes, but the body is often weak after childbirth. It is a healthier concept to allow weight to return naturally while taking care of the body. Especially the 6 months after delivery is the golden period for weight loss. As long as you make good use of this period of time, it is not difficult to restore your ideal weight after delivery.

Chinese medicine practitioner Xu Huizhong (center) demonstrates hand stretching exercises, emphasizing that gentle exercise should be based on the principle of "slight sweating and slight breathing". (Photo courtesy of Tainan Municipal Hospital)

【4 Keys to Postpartum Weight Loss】:

1. Sufficient sleep: Sleep at the right time. Those who want to lose weight need to speed up the body's metabolism. It is best to sleep soundly from 11pm to 3am. The gallbladder meridian circulates at midnight (11 to 1am) and the liver meridian circulates at 1:00 am (1 to 3am). The liver and gallbladder meridians are responsible for the discharge of qi. Failure to rest well will lead to lower metabolism, affecting the results of weight loss. It is not only easy to gain weight but also prone to aging.

2. Balanced diet: Introduce a confinement recipe based on the individual's physical condition after childbirth. Use Codonopsis pilosula, Poria cocos, Chinese yam, red dates, and Jiawei Sishen, which are all spleen and stomach-strengthening ingredients, to stew high-protein foods such as fresh fish or chicken as medicinal food. This can replenish the qi and blood consumed after childbirth, resist hunger, and increase milk supply.

Vegetarians can eat more sprouts, various mushrooms, and grains, supplemented with warm ingredients such as ginger, pepper, and curry to get enough protein. The large amount of water discharge and gastrointestinal disorders after childbirth can easily cause constipation, so you should eliminate constipation before losing weight, drink more "beauty and slimming tea" to accelerate the body's metabolic function, or soak red dates, old ginger, black beans or eucommia ulmoides and drink them as water.

3. Breastfeeding: It is best for mothers to breastfeed. Mothers who breastfeed can consume 500 more calories per day, which is one of the best ways to lose weight.

4. Adequate exercise: Women who give birth naturally and who do not bleed too much can get out of bed and walk around 2 to 3 days after delivery, and can do soft stretching exercises 2 weeks after delivery; for women who gave birth by caesarean section, it depends on the healing of the wound. Generally speaking, they can start stretching exercises 1 month after delivery, and it is only suitable to do exercises to train the abdominal muscles 6 to 8 weeks after delivery.

The principle of gentle exercise is "slight sweat and slight panting". The intensity of exercise depends on the mother's delivery method and the healing of the wound. After 6 to 8 weeks, it is recommended to do muscle training exercises, such as aerobic exercise, to train cardiopulmonary function and achieve the effect of whole body weight loss, at least 3 days a week, about 20 to 30 minutes each time.

[Dietary tips for moms who eat out]:

1. Try to eat less fat and fried foods, such as scallion pancakes, braised pork rice, etc.

2. Starch is a source of calories and sugar, so it should be consumed in a balanced manner.

3. Drink at least 8 glasses of water (about 2,000cc), half a pound of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit every day.