How to Safely Lose Belly Fat During Pregnancy
Losing fat during pregnancy may seem like an impossible feat, but it is possible – and it’s important. Carrying too much weight during pregnancy can lead to health complications for both you and your baby. But don’t worry, there are things you can do to safely lose belly fat during pregnancy. By following a healthy diet and exercise routine, and following my other tips, you can reach your goal weight in no time.
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Who Needs to Lose Fat During Pregnancy?
If you were at a healthy weight before becoming pregnant, then you likely don’t need to lose any fat during pregnancy. In fact, it’s important to gain some weight during pregnancy – about 25 to 45 pounds, depending on your starting weight.
However, if you were overweight or obese before becoming pregnant, (which half of women are) then you may need to lose some fat during pregnancy.
RELATED: How to Gain Minimal Weight While Pregnant
What are the Benefits of Losing Belly Fat During Pregnancy?
Losing weight during pregnancy can help reduce your risk of developing many prenatal complications such as:
- gestational diabetes
- preeclampsia
- high blood pressure
- sleep apnea
- more tendency to develop varicose veins
- more possibility of labor and delivery complications
- and more
In addition, losing weight during pregnancy can help make delivery easier and reduce your risk of needing a C-section. Always remember to consult your trusted doctor or midwife before making any diet or exercise changes or attempting to lose fat during pregnancy.
How to Lose Belly Fat Safely During Pregnancy
The best way to lose weight during pregnancy is slowly and steadily. Try to lose around 2 pounds per week. Here are some tips for how to safely lose fat during pregnancy.
The first step to safely losing fat during pregnancy is to follow a healthy diet.
Eating nutritious foods will help you lose weight while also keeping you, and your baby, healthy. Make sure to include plenty of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein in your diet. Focus mostly on these even more than grains as their nutritional density is much higher, thus better for your baby and your waistline.
Also limit your intake of processed foods, sugar, white flour, and unhealthy fats. In fact, processed foods are one of the main reasons people gain weight and have trouble losing it. Prepare your own food often and eat as close to nature as possible.
A prenatal diet plan like that in The Perfect Pregnancy Plan, which is literally designed around the studies of epigenetics during pregnancy and helps to “turn on” good genes in your baby, is also excellent for prenatal fat loss.
Every recipe in that program is nutrient-dense, helps you grow a healthier baby, and is void of added sugars, processed foods, and empty calories.
If you are really serious about growing a healthy baby and losing fat during pregnancy, I’d check out the Perfect Pregnancy Plan.
RELATED: 8 Healthy Foods for Pregnancy That are Actually Delicious
Another important part of safely losing belly fat during pregnancy is to get regular exercise.
Exercise not only helps with weight loss but can also help:
- improve your mood
- reduce stress levels
- give you more energy.
Just be sure to talk to your doctor before starting.
Along with eating right, you’ll also need to get regular exercise to lose fat while pregnant. Exercise is now proven to not only help you gain the right amount of pregnancy weight but also enhances your baby’s genetics for life!
By following a prenatal exercise plan to help you lose fat during pregnancy, you are also reducing your baby’s:
- chance of having a metabolic disorder
- propensity towards diabetes
- chances of having heart problems into adulthood
But knowing how to exercise during pregnancy can be tough. So many women have come to me with so many questions regarding prenatal exercise, how to do it, if it’s safe, etc.
My best advice is to follow a specific prenatal fitness plan like the one in The Perfect Pregnancy Plan. That will guide you week by week through your pregnancy with trimester-specific workouts designed to strengthen your body through the changes of pregnancy so that you will not only lose fat, but also will have a more comfortable pregnancy, and easier labor and delivery as well.
RELATED: First Trimester Cardio Workout
If you are trying to lose fat during pregnancy, drink enough water every day!
Water helps to regulate your metabolism and keep your body functioning properly. It also helps to keep you hydrated, which is important when you are exercising.
Aim for at least 8-12 glasses of water per day, more if you are sweating a lot or it is hot outside. Some people need even more than this (I am one of them) to remain properly hydrated.
If you feel thirsty, you are already beginning to become dehydrated, so sip water regularly before becoming thirsty.
Drink before your snacks and meals, and then if you are still hungry, go ahead and eat. Quite often our brains tell us that we are hungry, but really we are simply thirsty.
There are lots of things that you can drink besides water during pregnancy that have huge health benefits and break up the monotony of drinking around 10 glasses of water every day.
You can also get your water intake from eating foods like watermelon, soup, and smoothies.
If you want to lose belly fat while pregnant you need to get enough sleep.
This might be really easy for you during your pregnancy or might become really hard. Or may switch back and forth throughout your pregnancy as your hormones fluctuate and your body changes.
Getting enough sleep is important for so many reasons, and during pregnancy, it’s even more important. When you are pregnant your body is working hard to grow a baby, and this takes a lot of energy!
Getting enough sleep will help your body to have the energy it needs to do this important job.
If you do not get enough sleep your body becomes stressed and produces hormones that cause you to hang on to excess fat (especially around your midsection.). That’s why this is one of the most important, but often overlooked, tips for losing belly fat during pregnancy.
So try your best to get enough sleep while pregnant so you can lose excess fat especially in your midsection.
Wrapping Up How to Lose Belly Fat During Pregnancy
By following a healthy diet and exercise routine, like The Perfect Pregnancy Plan, you can safely lose fat during pregnancy. Losing weight will benefit both you and your baby if you began your gestation overweight. And eating a nutritious diet while exercising will benefit you both just as much! So start working towards your goal weight today! You – and your little one – will be happy you did.
