Trim your Tummy - Boost Your Metabolism

By Teresa Brown in Pregnancy on July 15th, 2008

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by Teresa Brown

If you can eat right when you were pregnant, then you can certainly continue to do so postpartum but in this case you are only eating for one. To lose weight after giving birth the healthy way for the long haul also requires knowing what foods to eat, exercises or training to do and how to live a healthy lifestyle.

In our haste to lose pregnancy weight fast, we often forget that short-term gain doesn’t necessarily lead to long-term gain. And this is especially true with regards to the quick fix diet or diet pill method because the weight lost is always short lived. Your goal should be about achieving wellness and from that being able to manage your weight from month to month, year to year. In order to do this, you need to focus on fine tuning your metabolism.

You are what you Eat

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.

It’s time to start eating foods high in fiber and high in protein to get you en route to getting your metabolism up and the fat down. Because how you fuel your body can make or break your workout efforts and results. Thus, it is of great importance to execute an effective fat burning meal plan into your weekly menu.

Interval Training at maximum Effort

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.

Strengthen your muscles

Most women tend to shy away from the very thing that can give them that lean, toned look that they want, and that is strength training. We forget that the toned bodies we see passing us by on beach are lean muscles. Thus, losing pregnancy weight requires adding some resistance interval training to your workout, which will strengthen your muscles to become lean.

The strength training that can accommodate your needs is called resistance training. Resistance training is a form of training that strengthens your muscle groups by applying an external force of resistance to work against them such as dumbbells, water in a pool, an elastic exercise band, or your own body weight. You can workout at home and lose the pregnancy weight with a 15 minute interval training workout.

Keep on Moving

An active Mom, who is determined to lose the pregnancy weight for the long-term, will have to keep the momentum going by staying physically active. When the weight has come off, your new goal will be weight management. This can be done if you recruit your family into participating in physical activities such as a hiking, biking, swimming, skiing, rollerblading, etc. Not only will you be living a healthier lifestyle and keeping the weight off but you will have quality time with your loved ones.

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 dedicated advocate 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.