Interested in losing weight after pregnancy? Try any combination of these 17 easy tips to help you get started.
Are you ready to start losing weight after pregnancy and finally feel a little more like yourself again?
Growing and nurturing a tiny human being inside your body can come with plenty of changes, including gaining some extra weight along the way.
And if you’re anything like me, you may have gained quite a bit more weight during pregnancy than you originally expected.
After giving birth to your beautiful baby and settling into life as a new mom, you may eventually reach a point where you’re ready to start focusing on yourself and shedding some of that extra weight.
If that’s where you are right now, here are 17 easy ways to start losing weight after pregnancy.
I personally used a combination of these methods to lose more than 40 pounds after giving birth to my third child.
This post is all about losing weight after pregnancy.
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Easy Ways to Start Losing Weight After Pregnancy
1. Give Yourself Time to Recover and Consider a Compression Wrap
First and foremost, before you worry too much about postpartum weight loss, give yourself some time to rest, recover, and bond with your new baby.
You don’t have to jump straight into a strict diet or intense exercise routine.
You can start by making small changes, like adding more nutritious foods to your meals, drinking plenty of water, and slowly getting back into a routine that feels manageable for you.
If you’re breastfeeding, it’s especially important to make sure you’re eating enough to support both you and your baby.
Your calorie and nutritional needs are actually higher while breastfeeding, so this isn’t the time to drastically cut your food intake per the CDC.
One thing I personally liked using during the early postpartum period was a compression wrap.
It gave my abdomen some extra support while my body was recovering and made me feel a little more comfortable and secure.
A compression wrap isn’t going to make you lose belly fat or magically flatten your stomach, but if you enjoy the extra support, it can be a nice postpartum recovery item to have.
(And you can absolutely continue using one beyond the early postpartum weeks if it’s comfortable for you. Just make sure you’re following your doctor’s recommendations for your individual recovery.)
2. Count Calories
I have found that one of the easiest ways to start losing weight after pregnancy is calorie counting.
It’s insanely easy to underestimate just how many calories are in the foods you’re eating, especially when you aren’t paying much attention to serving sizes.
Start by checking the serving sizes and calories listed on your food packages, and keep track of roughly how many calories you’re eating throughout the day.
How many calories you need will depend on things like your body, activity level, and whether you’re breastfeeding, so there isn’t one calorie goal that will work for everyone.
Personally, I aimed for around 1,500 calories a day when I was actively trying to lose weight.
I also found that eating foods with more protein and fat helped me feel fuller and made it much easier to stick to my calorie goal without constantly thinking about my next meal.
For instance, I might have two pieces of Babybel cheese with coffee and whipping cream for breakfast, then a ribeye steak with broccoli cooked in butter with salt and pepper for dinner, followed by one of my favorite sugar-free snacks.
Meals like these helped me feel full and satisfied while still staying within my calorie goal.
3. Measure Everything
If you’re counting calories, measuring your food, drinks, and condiments can make it much easier to accurately track how much you’re actually consuming.
It’s so easy to underestimate portion sizes when you’re just eyeballing everything.
Pay attention to the serving size listed on the package and measure your portion accordingly.
A digital kitchen scale is especially helpful because you can measure foods in grams or ounces instead of trying to guess how much you’re eating.
For example, I had a package of Brussels sprouts that listed one serving as 85 grams for 25 calories.
Instead of guessing what 85 grams looked like, I could simply put them on the scale and measure the exact amount.
I also used my scale for drinks. If I wanted a glass of ginger ale while staying within my personal calorie goal, I could measure out 12 ounces for about 140 calories.
If I only wanted to use around 70 calories on my drink, I could pour 6 ounces instead.
A digital kitchen scale can be incredibly useful when you’re counting calories, but measuring cups and measuring spoons are great to have around too.
Depending on what you’re measuring, sometimes they’re simply more convenient.
4. Keep a Record of Your Food Intake
When you’re keeping track of your daily calories, it helps to write down what you’re eating, how much you ate, and the corresponding number of calories.
For example, if you have a serving of yogurt, you might record: Yogurt – 6 oz. – 100 calories.
You can use an app or a good old-fashioned pen and paper to keep track of what you’re eating. Just remember to include the little things too, like drinks, condiments, cooking oils, and anything else that adds calories.
I’ve personally done both, but the MyFitnessPal app makes the process SO much easier and is my absolute favorite!
Get the MyFitnessPal App.
5. Intermittent Fast
Intermittent fasting is when you limit your eating to a certain window of time throughout the day and fast during the remaining hours.
For example, you might choose to eat between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. Then, you wouldn’t eat again until 12 p.m. the following day.
In this case, you would have an 8-hour eating window and a 16-hour fasting period.
I personally found intermittent fasting helpful because having a set eating window made it easier for me to consume fewer calories throughout the day.
Instead of eating from the time I woke up until I went to bed, I had a specific timeframe for my meals and snacks.
I also found that eating my daily calories within a shorter window helped me feel more satisfied and made it easier to stick to my calorie goal.
Another thing I noticed was that once I started eating for the day, I tended to want food more often.
Sometimes I wasn’t even hungry. I was eating because I was bored or simply because food sounded good.
Waiting until later in the day to start eating helped me cut down on some of that mindless snacking and made staying within my calorie goal much easier.
If you’re breastfeeding or still in the early stages of postpartum recovery, talk with your doctor before trying intermittent fasting to make sure you’re getting enough calories and nutrients for your individual needs.
6. Include Protein and Healthy Fats in Your Meals
When you’re trying to lose weight, eating meals that actually leave you feeling satisfied can make it much easier to stick to your calorie goals.
These days, I personally focus more on making sure I’m getting plenty of protein throughout the day.
Foods like eggs, chicken, fish, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and lean meats can help make meals more filling and satisfying.
I still don’t think you need to be afraid of adding some fat to your meals either.
You can enjoy things like avocado, olive oil, nuts, cheese, or even a little butter while keeping your overall calorie intake in mind.
For example, you might cook your chicken or vegetables in a little olive oil, add avocado to a meal, or have some cheese alongside a higher-protein snack.
The important thing is finding meals that leave you feeling satisfied instead of trying to eat as little as possible and spending the rest of the day thinking about food.
7. Reach for Zero-Calorie Drinks
If you’re feeling hungry outside of your eating window or find yourself wanting to snack just because, try reaching for a drink first.
Sometimes you may simply be thirsty, and other times having something flavorful to sip on can help when you’re tempted to snack out of boredom.
Water is always an easy option, but it definitely doesn’t have to be your only one.
Try water with fresh lemon, unsweetened hot or iced tea, or hot or iced black coffee.
I used to love drinking cans of Arizona tea, but many of them contain quite a bit of sugar and calories.
Switching to unsweetened tea gave me a way to still enjoy flavored tea without adding a bunch of extra calories to my day.
One of my favorites is Teavana Strawberry Apple Green Tea!
It has plenty of flavor without needing to add sugar.
8. Give Yourself a Flexible Meal Each Week
Trying to eat perfectly all the time can make losing weight feel unnecessarily restrictive. I found it much easier to stay consistent when I gave myself some flexibility to enjoy the foods I really wanted.
For me, Saturday became the day when I would loosen up a little after spending the rest of the week focused on counting calories and exercising.
Maybe you want a cocktail, an appetizer, a dessert, or a rich pasta from Olive Garden. You don’t necessarily have to avoid those foods completely just because you’re trying to lose weight.
You can enjoy something you’ve been craving and then get right back to your normal routine afterward. If the portion is huge, you can also eat part of it and save the rest for later.
I personally loved having Saturday to look forward to. It was already my favorite day of the week because I could sleep in and stay up late after a long work week, and enjoying a more flexible meal made it feel like a little reward after staying focused throughout the week.
For me, allowing some flexibility made losing weight feel much more realistic and sustainable than trying to eat perfectly every single day.
9. Plan Ahead
It’s much easier to stick to your calorie goal when you have at least a general idea of what you’re going to eat ahead of time.
Think about the meals and snacks you want to have the following day and roughly how many calories they’ll add up to.
Planning ahead gives you a chance to adjust your portions or meals before you’re hungry and trying to figure out what the heck to eat at the last minute.
You definitely don’t have to plan every bite of food days in advance either. Even planning one day ahead can make staying within your calorie goal much easier.
If you like having everything written out, a simple meal planner can also make it easier to plan your meals and grocery list for the week.
10. Be Flexible
Consistency is important when you’re trying to lose weight, but that doesn’t mean you have to be perfect every single day.
If you normally follow an eating window but need to eat an hour or two outside of it one day, allow yourself some flexibility.
Or, if you happen to go a few hundred calories over your goal, don’t stress about it.
Just get back to your normal routine the next day.
Don’t beat yourself up, drastically restrict your food to make up for it, or give up altogether just because you didn’t perfectly stick to your plan.
One imperfect day isn’t going to undo all of your progress.
11. Find a Workout Schedule You Can Stick To
When you’re getting back into exercise, find a workout schedule that feels realistic enough for you to actually stick with.
You might start with three days per week and add another day once you feel ready.
I personally found that four days per week was my sweet spot.
Five days was only one additional workout, but for some reason, it always felt so much more demanding to me.
I found it easiest to stick with a Tuesday through Friday workout schedule, which gave me a three-day weekend off from structured workouts.
Your ideal schedule may look completely different.
Whether you exercise three, four, or five days per week, finding something you can consistently maintain is more important than forcing yourself into a schedule that feels overwhelming.
12. Find a Reliable Workout Buddy
Having someone to exercise with can make it so much easier to stay motivated and accountable to your workout routine.
A good workout buddy can also push you a little harder than you might push yourself when you’re exercising alone.
For instance, my big brother was my workout partner.
On cardio days, I would sometimes say, “Let’s do this machine for 20 minutes, then move on to the next.”
He might respond, “Let’s go for at least a mile or two.”
Having him there encouraged me to challenge myself a little more instead of simply going through the motions for 20 minutes and calling it a day.
Find someone who is reliable, encouraging, and willing to help keep you accountable.
You can do the same for them, which can make sticking with your workouts a lot more enjoyable.
13. Try HealthyWager
If having a little extra motivation or money on the line helps keep you accountable, you may want to check out HealthyWager.
With HealthyWage, you can set a weight-loss goal, choose how much money you want to wager, and decide how much time you want to give yourself to reach your goal.
HealthyWager will calculate a potential cash prize based on your goal and wager.
If you reach your goal within your selected timeframe and complete the required weight verification, you can win your prize.
If you don’t reach your goal, you lose the money you wagered.
Obviously, putting your own money on the line isn’t going to motivate everyone.
But if you’re competitive and hate the thought of losing money, it could give you a little extra motivation to stick with your weight-loss goals.
You can even use HealthyWager’s Prize Calculator before committing to a challenge to see what your potential prize could be.
See how much you could win with HealthyWager.
14. Don’t Obsess Over the Scale
Try not to get on the scale every day expecting to see the number drop each time.
Losing weight takes time, and your weight can fluctuate from day to day for all kinds of reasons.
I definitely wanted to keep track of my progress, but I personally only weighed myself about once every two weeks, and sometimes I waited an entire month.
I knew that weighing myself too often would make me impatient and potentially discourage me if the number wasn’t changing as quickly as I wanted it to.
Giving myself more time between weigh-ins allowed me to focus on sticking with my habits instead of constantly stalking the number on the scale.
Find a frequency that works for you and helps you track your progress without letting the scale become the entire focus of your weight-loss journey.
15. Be Consistent
Consistency is one of the most important parts of losing weight after pregnancy.
You don’t have to do everything perfectly.
You just have to keep showing up and getting back to your routine, even when you have an off day.
Take it one day at a time instead of thinking about how long it might take to reach your ultimate goal.
If it’s Tuesday, focus on the habits you planned for Tuesday.
Stick to your calorie goal, get your workout in if it’s a workout day, and then move on.
Do the same thing tomorrow.
If it’s a rest day, enjoy your rest day without feeling guilty about it.
Don’t overwhelm yourself by focusing on everything you need to accomplish over the next several weeks or months.
Focus on what you can do today, stay as consistent as you can, and keep going.
16. Don’t Overthink It!
Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect that losing weight starts to consume your thoughts.
You don’t need to obsess over every morsel of food you put in your mouth or convince yourself that you’re doing something wrong because the weight isn’t coming off as quickly as you’d hoped.
Every time I’ve had the most success with weight loss, I’ve taken it one day and one meal at a time instead of constantly stressing about the end result.
If I had a slip-up, I didn’t use it as an excuse to sabotage the rest of the day or give up altogether.
I simply treated my next meal as a fresh start and got right back to my normal routine.
I’ve found that when I approach weight loss this way, it’s much easier for me to be mindful of what I’m eating without feeling guilty every time I’m not perfect.
And when I don’t feel guilty about one imperfect meal, it’s a whole lot easier to move on from it instead of turning one meal into an entire day, weekend, or week of giving up.
You don’t have to be perfect to make progress.
Focus on making good choices most of the time, give yourself some grace when you don’t, and keep going.
17. Be Patient
Losing weight after pregnancy takes time, so be patient with yourself and trust the process.
The days are going to pass either way.
Keep making the choices you can make today, then wake up tomorrow and do it again.
You may not notice a huge difference from one day to the next, but those small, consistent habits can add up over time.
You don’t have to follow every single tip on this list either.
Choose the ones that realistically fit into your lifestyle and focus on being consistent with them.
Most importantly, give yourself time.
You grew an entire human being, and you don’t need to rush your body or expect yourself to lose all of your baby weight overnight.
This post was all about losing weight after pregnancy.
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