Once you are over the baby blues, you might be ready to get back into your skinny jeans. Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t get them past your hips! It can take a lot longer to take weight off than it can to put it on! Start slow and follow some common sense rules to help your body get back in shape slowly. Here are some facts and tips to help:

-Many moms hold onto a few pounds for six months or so to ensure they have fuel to make milk. A lot of women report weight loss out of nowhere as soon as their baby hits the six month mark.

-Breastfeeding burns about 500 calories a day. Breastfeed past the six month mark and you might see a tremendous weight loss. Do you know how much exercise you’d have to do to burn 500 calories a day? Another reason to breastfeed!

-Use a calorie counter and try to reduce your overall calories, your fat and your carbs. Try to get the protein numbers up! 1500 calories a day is a good goal to aim for. Try something to jump start you like the special K diet or the sacred heart that can help you accelerate weight loss (these are quick fix diets though and shouldn’t be used long term!)

-Pilates and Yoga are low impact sculpting exercises. They can really help you tighten your abs again and get rid of the junk in your trunk. They can also be a great reason to get out of the house and get some me-time.

-Baby exercise classes. Many gyms are now doing strollercize and exercises where you use your baby’s weight for resistance training. it’s bonding, it’s an outing and can help you get tone and trim again.

-drink water! Stay away from the soda pop, switch to skim milk or 1% and drink lots of water. You might be surprised at how many empty calories come from what you are drinking!

Most of all, persevere. Little changes like reducing your meat and potatoes and increasing your vegetables on the plate will give the illusion of loads of food but cut your caloric intake while increasing your nutrient intake. Many vegetables and fruits are actually negative calorie foods that can help you lose weight. Taking off the baby weight can be a lengthy process but you can do it for your health and your body image.