The Mommy Diet by Alison J. Sweeney

Author:Alison J. Sweeney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books
Published: 2011-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Walk with the baby. This is pretty much always an option, and it’s a good one. As you get stronger and healthier, get out there and go! Go for long walks, hilly walks, power walks. Both you and the baby will benefit from the fresh air, and you can burn some serious calories if you really work it. Stick to walks with the stroller for now—jogging strollers aren’t recommended till your baby is at least six to eight months old, with very good head and neck control.

Try exercise videos. You can use these at home, while the baby is sleeping. No babysitter needed, and no commute to the gym. And there are tons of options, many with ten-, twenty-, or thirty-minute workouts that you can do when you’re really time crunched. There are yoga DVDs (I turn off the sound and listen to my own music), cardio DVDs, stretching DVDs, and more. If you’re the type who loves fitness classes and working out with an instructor, this is an easy way to do that at home. You can order them online—no need to go to the store—or get them from Netflix or On Demand or even your local library.

It’s a bigger investment than DVDs, but another stay-at-home option (that I loved when Megan was very young) is the Nintendo Wii Fit. I did the EA Sports Active 30-Day challenge, and it helped a lot in those early weeks. You can use the preplanned workouts or customize one for what you want to do that day. It’s also interactive, so it busts you when you’re not squatting low enough or working hard enough. That helps when you’re tempted to slack off.

Explore mom-and-baby fitness classes. Many yoga studios offer mom-and-baby yoga—you can bring your baby to the class and even learn how to do a few “yoga” moves with her. There are also group workouts like Stroller Strides and Baby Bootcamp. Also have your husband or a friend or a trusted babysitter commit to one or two regular times during the week when you can work out. If possible, avoid doing this at 6 a.m. or 8 p.m. or any time when you’re likely to be exhausted. Figure out when you have the most energy, and plan it then. Check out alisonsweeney.com for more resources.

3. Say hello to your core! Ah, the core muscles. From abs to lower back, they are so important for just about everything you do. They support you while you’re sitting, standing, walking, carrying your baby, playing sports, you name it. And wow, does pregnancy do a number on them, especially those abs.

If you had a normal vaginal delivery, you should hold off on ab work for at least two or three weeks postbirth. If you had a C-section, you need to wait at least six weeks. And Elise Gulan reminds all women that you need to see your doc before you start a real fitness plan of any kind, and one of the things she should check for is diastasis recti (stretching of the midline of the ab muscles).

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