The Genesis
Postpartum belly fat develops after pregnancy due to the impact of your pregnancy on the muscles and fascia of the anterior abdominal wall. As your uterus enlarges with the gradual increase in the size of your baby to accommodate the pregnancy, your pregnancy starts exerting pressure and tension on your abdominal muscles with resultant diasthasis recti of your abdominal musculature.
Factors that affect your development of postpartum belly fat include the following:
Weight gain in pregnancy
Prepregnancy weight
The hormone elastin of pregnancy
Genetic makeup
It took your belly 9 months to grow and accommodate your baby so losing and trimming your tummy following delivery is a process that will take measured effort and dedication to achieve.
The measures and processes you can undertake to handle postpartum belly depends on the stage of pregnancy you are at as you read this. If you are planning on getting pregnant this is the perfect time to know what to expect with postpartum belly and take preventive measures before becoming pregnant to avoid or limit it, if you are already pregnant I will also show you what measures to undertake to prevent the development of postpartum belly following delivery. If you are a new mom seeking ways to return to your prepregnancy shape, relax and read on.
Before Pregnancy- Prevention is Better than Cure
If your abdominal muscle tone is very poor before conception you have a higher tendency of developing postpartum belly so before commencing on pregnancy, you can take the following measures to tone up the muscles of the abdominal wall like engaging in exercises that impact on your core muscles and tone up your pelvic floor muscles. Another important thing to do is for you to eat healthy by decreasing your consumption of processed foods, sugars and processed carbohydrates. Consume more veggies, nuts, fruits, lean proteins and healthy fats like fish oil. Increase your intake of avocados. By generally decreasing your overall body fat you stand a higher chance of toning your abdominal muscles. Exercises that help strengthen your core also aids in preventing postpartum belly and crunches are a fine example of an abdominal wall exercise that improves your chances with a postpartum belly that is great.
During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, as your uterus and the baby within it expands, it stretches your abdominal wall and you start to deposit fat in between the muscles to allow the abdomen to be able to accommodate the pregnancy. This normal pregnancy response is aided by the hormone elastin which causes softening of the connective tissues. As your body deposits fat in between the muscles, you start to gradually develop diasthesis recti leading to the postpartum belly fat that results with your pregnancy.
The water retention that accompanies your pregnancy also contributes to the excess and flabby abdominal wall as fluid is pulled in the abdominal wall by the reduction of venous return caused by the pressure of your baby’s head in the pelvis.
Tips During Pregnancy
Liberal intake of water helps to keep the skin hydrated and by staying hydrated you help to limit the likelihood of your skin getting loose.
Immerse yourself in healthy foods to improve your skin elasticity and help reduce your development of stretchmarks and excessive fat deposits.
Avoid sitting up straight from a lying down position and instead roll out of bed by lying on your side as this puts less tension on the abdominal musculature.
Avoid lifting heavy loads.
Roll back your navel towards your spine.
Avoid constipation, cough or anything that will lead to an increase in your intra-abdominal pressure,
When you are in labour avoid pushing your baby before you have gotten to a fully dilated cervix and secondly you should avoid a labour that is prolonged.
During pregnancy, you can engage in exercises that help you to burn fat and reduce weight gain in pregnancy but you should avoid exercises that put undue tension and pressure on the abdominal wall especially after the 5th month of pregnancy when most diasthesis recti start developing. Exercises like belly breathing is very effective during pregnancy in reducing the incidence of the development of diasthesis recti.
Postpartum Strategies
The uterus is at the level of the navel following delivery and it takes your uterus at least 6 weeks to return to its normal size and shape within the pelvis and this initial position of the uterus contributes to your tummy shape following delivery which decreases as it goes back to its prepregnant pelvic location.
There are some natural or home made remedies you can employ to remove postpartum belly fat. They are an additional layer of strategies you can implement to aid in the postpartum belly fat loss.
Abdominal binding:
You can bind your tummy for several hours per day as you can tolerate and this helps to reduce postpartum belly fat.
Creams and Lotions:
If you apply creams and lotions especially those containing collagen, vitamins A, C and E they accelerate the process of losing belly fat fast.
Massage:
Massaging the abdominal wall after delivery is very effective as a means of removing abdominal fat and returning your abdomen to shape.
Green tea:
The intake of green tea has been found very effective in burning fat. Avoid adding sweeteners and refined sugars.
Apples and Fruits:
When you consume apples and other fruits containing pectin, it helps you to burn excess abdominal fat.
You can also use belly binders, girdles, belts and wraps to enable you lose belly fat postpartum.
Postpartum Exercises
For you to engage in an exercise routine to treat your belly postpartum to remove the excess fat due to the diasthasis recti of pregnancy, you have to engage in exercises that impact on your core muscles even though you should ensure that you do not over concentrate on you abdomen alone as this could be counterproductive by leading to a cone shaped abdominal wall. Three exercises that has shown excellent results and are the most effective in delivering to you the perfect result you need to lose belly fat are:
The Plank
For the basic plank exercise you need to get into the push up position using your elbows. You then rest all of your weight on your forearms with your arms in front of you and your body maintaining a straight line from ankle to your shoulders. Hold this position for the duration you have chosen to do the exercise, ranging from 10 seconds if you are a beginner to 60 seconds if you have gained more experience and strength. Take deep breaths throughout the duration of this exercise. For best results do a 60 seconds lap up to a maximum of 3 times. There are several variations of the plank exercise all of which help to improve your core muscles.
The Basic Situps
Get a mat and sit on it. Keeping your feet flat on the floor and your legs slightly wide apart (hip-width), keep your hands on the sides of your thighs and your spine straight. Slowly lie back down on the mat till you upper back touches the mat with your knees facing the ceiling. Maintain your neck in the same line with your spine, look up at the ceiling and take a deep breath while engaging your core muscles. Breathe out and use your core muscles to sit up. Then breathe in again and slowly roll back down to the starting position and repeat the cycle.
Crunches
There are many types of crunch exercise you can do to lose belly fat but the bicycle crunch is a perfect example of a simple crunch exercise that delivers amazing results for you in a very short duration.
For the bicycle crunch exercise lie on your back and place both palms under your head while lifting your legs to a 90 degree position relative to the body. With your hands still on your head twist your body bringing the right elbow towards the left knee. Alternate with the left elbow towards the right knee. For maximum effect you should execute the exercise slowly.
The Final Truth
Your ability to handle your postpartum belly fat depends on the measures you take right from the time you start considering pregnancy. Your have already seen that you can gauge your chances of developing belly fat even before you become pregnant so you can take measure even before pregnancy to have a perfect shape post delivery. These measures require dedication on your part to be able to achieve that waoh and awewsome shape post delivery.
Dr mawa
mypostnatalmanagement.com
