Post Pregnancy Fitness – Diet

Want to start exercising after baby is born? First, this is not the time to diet. I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but here’s why:

Nursing a baby takes an average of 500 more calories per day than your usual. Compare that to pregnancy, which needs an average of 300 more calories per day than your usual.

– A Yoplait yogurt is about 200 cal –

If you are healing a scar from episiotomy or C-section, add another whopping 1500 calories per day. Yup- that’s 2000 calories ON TOP of your usual … so you would need a grand total of 3700-4000 calories EVERY day if you had a C-section and you’re breast feeding. Yeah, our amazing bodies expend huge amounts of energy to create milk and to heal wounds.

Please nourish your body with whole, organic fresh food. Get the highest quality food that you can afford. Drink lots of fresh, or perhaps filtered water (we love our RO, reverse osmosis, water) and avoid processed food. This is very difficult when you have no sleep, no time between feedings, are exhausted and life is overwhelming. Give yourself permission to accept food from friends, family, and community. Ask your partner to make large batches of food and freeze individual portions (I know, the freezer is full of breast milk!). How well we recover from birthing determines our future health and quality of life when we are seniors, like into our 70’s and beyond.

I was grateful but starving with a C-section and breast-feeding a hungry, healthy baby boy. When he was diagnosed with eczema at 4 months the lactation consultant took me off wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, nuts, citrus, sugar, caffeine, basically everything I was eating. So then I ate chicken, rice and veggies at dinner because my sweet husband would make it, but for all the other meals of the day I was struggling. I went to the beautiful (& expensive) deli case at the natural food store and ordered boxes and boxes of the food I needed. My husband came home from work, silently freaked out, and proceeded to make tons of food within the restrictions from then on. And he still makes food for us today, thanks, Honey. I love you. So, re-building the body with nutrition and sleep are priority before expending more energy with exercise.