Trim your Tummy by Improving your Metabolism

By Teresa Brown in Pregnancy on July 14th, 2008

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by Teresa Brown

If only we could all be blessed with perfect metabolisms, the diet and fitness industries would be small fish in the big sea of commerce. But life is not that way and Moms have to see to it that they burn the baby fat because it is the first important step towards a healthy lifestyle for them and their family. Moms can get their pre-pregnancy bodies back by focusing on increasing their metabolism with a few “natural” tricks to the trade.

The biological “trump card” to lose weight after giving birth for the long-term is being able to boost your resting metabolism. To do so requires some committed input and effort on your part. This effort and input can be boiled down to simply living a healthy lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle will gradually be less of an effort and more of a natural part of your existence for you and your family.

Fuel your Body with Fat Burning Foods

We all know that we have to eat right and the “spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. You try to instill healthy eating habits in your family but alas, you are a busy Mom and it’s so easy to cave into the conveniences of frozen dinners, fast food take-outs and deliveries. But this time it’s about you and you need to lose your tummy and recover your pre-pregnancy body.

Foods high in protein such as lean meats, fish, poultry; low-fat dairy products, beans and legumes should be a stable part of your diet. Foods high in fiber constitute generally most fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods such as bran, bulgur, and oats. They are to be purchased and prepared in the most natural way possible so that you will receive the most nutritional and fat burning benefits.

Maximize your Effort will maximize your Fat Loss

Be thankful for interval training. It is the answer to how you can trim your tummy with a 15-minute workout. In order to harvest the fat burning benefits of this type of training, you must be able to give each exercise your maximum effort. Essentially, your workouts should begin with a brief warm up followed by a series of short burst of exercise at high intensity followed by short interval of rest. This “fast-slow-fast-slow” method keeps your heart rate elevated and your metabolism humming to increase and sustain your metabolism above its resting rate.

Train to strengthen your muscles

Losing pregnancy weight to get a lean and toned body includes more than just cardiovascular workouts. You need to include some strength training into your workout routine so that you can start to re-build your muscle mass to become toned and lean. The more muscle you have, the more fat you will lose.

You can trim your tummy and the rest of your body so that you look toned in a bikini with a few free weights and an exercise ball. The advantage of resistance training is that you can complete a workout within 30 minutes at home. Also because muscle burns fat and you are building back your lost muscle tissue, you will be able to increase your resting metabolic rate and burn more calories to lose the fat.

Participate in Physical Activities

Busy Moms are certainly moving around a lot but it is not enough to get in shape. Doing fat-burning exercises to lose pregnancy weight is a good thing but you should gradually transition these “workout” activities into becoming a normal part of your lifestyle. Get your family involved to participate in more physical activities as a family. There are tons of fun activities that you and yours can enjoy to maintain a good metabolism and physical fitness.

A healthy lifestyle will keep the weight off but it will take time to break the unhealthy habits to make the transition to healthy ones. Helping your metabolism in its efficiency to burn calories by eating and exercising right will help you to lose the pregnancy weight and gain the accompanying health benefits for your body. You will evolve into a natural beauty instead of a talk show makeover.

About the Author:

Teresa Brown is a steadfast supporter for women’s health and wellness. For more information about losing the baby fat and on losing pregnancy weight the right way for the long run, visit Teresa’s blog.