Ultimate Nutrition Guide For Moms To Lose Weight In 2021
Women are more prone to gaining weight, especially before and after pregnancy. While it may be easy for some women to lose fat fast, some struggle, especially if they have the body type that easily gains weight and takes a lot of effort to lose.
Gaining too much weight can have some health complications like obesity, diabetes and may cause some cardiovascular diseases like stroke and heart attack.
Good nutrition guide for moms is one way to help with weight loss. If doing it at home is hard, you can consider looking for a nutrition coach or weight loss coach to help you with your journey.
It is also important to incorporate some exercises and get enough sleep for better results. With this step-by-step nutrition guide for moms, you will be able to lose the extra pounds and also have the necessary nutrients for your baby if you are breastfeeding.
1. Drink a lot of water
Water is one of the most important things you should include in your diet if you are looking towards losing weight. It is recommended that you drink at least six glasses of water daily because studies have shown that water increases the number of calories you burn.
Drinking water 30 minutes before you eat has shown to increase weight loss by reducing the number of calories taken by almost 13%. It also makes you feel fuller for longer and reduces overeating.
To keep up the amount of water you drink, start with two glasses before having breakfast, drink two more glasses around lunchtime, and two around dinner. You can also add a glass between those meals.
If you find it hard, consider using an infusion bottle so that you can add fruits for more flavor. You can also have an alarm or an application that will remind you when you should take water.
2. Reduce your refined carbs intake
The quickest way to lose weight is to reduce your carbohydrate intake in the form of starch and sugars and replace that with whole-grain meals. Eating fewer carbohydrates will encourage your body to burn the stored fat in your body for energy, encouraging weight loss.
Whole grain meals are high in fiber, and they leave you feeling fuller for longer because they are digested slowly, which reduces the amount of food you eat throughout the day.
3. Eat small meals throughout the day
Instead of eating huge meals few times a day, consider changing that up with smaller meals throughout the day. That ensures that your body fully digests all the foods and that all the nutrients are maximally absorbed.
It also prevents you from overeating. Consider changing up the meals and including vegetables and fruits in most of those meals.
4. Include Healthy fats
Don't be afraid to eat fats on your weight loss journey, but be careful about what types of fats you eat. Instead of eating saturated and trans-oils, replace them with unsaturated fats.
The saturated fat sources you should keep away from include ghee, butter, coconut oil, suet, sausages, bacon, cheese, cakes, biscuits, and palm oil. The trans-oil sources to avoid include fried foods, pre-packaged snacks, and foods.
Instead, replace them with unsaturated fats sources like avocados, peanuts, olives, canola oil, sesame and pumpkin seeds, and nuts like almonds and walnuts.
There are easy ways to incorporate these healthy fats into your daily diet, for example, by snacking on the nuts, adding some seeds like chia seeds to an avocado smoothie, making toppings and dressings from some foods like olives, or cooking with coconut or olive oil.
5. Add on your fruits and vegetable
Fruits and vegetables are not only healthy because they are packed with a lot of vitamins and minerals for you and your baby, but they are also good because they help healthy moms reduce the number of calories they take.
Ensure that all your meals have a certain amount of fruits and vegetables like apples, spinach, broccoli, lettuce, and berries. You can have them as a snack throughout the day, make smoothies, salads, or just shallow fry the vegetables.
6. Increase proteins intake
Proteins are important in your weight loss journey because they help you feel full throughout the day, cut on your cravings, and boost your metabolism because of their high thermic effect. Include high protein sources like fish, poultry, meat, dairy, eggs, and legumes in your diet.
They will also help you if you are working towards increasing your muscle mass and help you in recovery after a workout.
7. Avoid stress eating
Most of the time, especially after giving birth, there are a lot of emotions that may overwhelm moms, both first-time moms and those who have had other kids. That may lead you to eat a lot to get rid of the stress and anxiety disrupting your daily diet.
However, it is important to substitute that eating with looking for a hobby to keep you busy, like playing an instrument or even painting.
8. Seek help
If you are finding it hard to adjust your diet in such that a way that it will help you lose weight and remain healthy at the same time, seek professional help from a nutritionist or a weight loss coach.
Nutrition guide for moms helps them identify the right meals that will provide the needed nutrients for them and their kids and help them lose with at the same time because they have the required knowledge in the dieting and nutrition fields.
They also help you abandon those unhealthy nutrition practices and replace them with more healthy ones.
If you opt for nutrition coaching, ensure that you explain to your nutritionist where you are currently and what you want to achieve at the end of the sessions. If you are not close to a facility that offers nutrition coaching, consider online nutrition coaching.
Online nutrition coaching will help as much as the physical one will, and it can be more convenient for you, especially if you just had a baby and you don’t want to leave them behind. It also ensures that you do not miss a session because of factors like traffic or the weather.
A weight loss coach is also important because they will help you identify some of the best exercises for you, provided you tell them of your goals.
Why Do Women Need Better Nutrition?
When boys and girls are young, they have almost the same needs nutritionally. However, as they hit puberty and the boys start gaining more muscle, and the girls start menstruating, their nutrition needs grow different.
For boys, they need more calories to maintain their muscle mass, while women need fewer calories because they have more fat percentages than men, and if they take in more fat, they will gain more unhealthy weight.
Another reason that women need a special diet is because of the blood loss every month due to menstruation and during childbirth. Their diet should contain more iron, which is one of the things women need way more than men.
Experts recommend a serving of 18 milligrams of iron daily for women between 19 and 50years. Some of the foods that women can eat to increase their iron levels include spinach, beans, chard, split peas, lentils, broccoli, tomatoes, and liver.
Calcium and folate are other nutrients that women need more than men. Calcium is important for women in their mid-20s because that is when they build their bone density.
Also, women who have hit menopause need more calcium because, with a decline in estrogen, calcium might 'leak' from their bones.
While folate or folic acid is important for both men and women, women need it more, especially when they start having children, because it is important to the proper brain development of their children.
Women also need proper nutrition because they need the necessary nutrients for the growth of their babies both in the womb and during breastfeeding.
Can Improved Nutrition Reduce Diabetes Issues?
Dr. Eugene Sangmuah, MD
Internal Medicine Physician & Expert Aesthetic Injector said
Medical Nutrition Therapy is an essential component of management in patients with both Type 1 and Type 2 DM. Nutrition addresses the “ABCs” of diabetes.
A- A1c levels. Goal is tailored to the individual patient but in general an A1c below 7 is desired.
B- Blood pressure. Targeting Blood pressure 130/80 or lower.
C- LDL cholesterol less than 100.
To achieve these goals , nutrition is a major part of treatment in addition to medication and exercise. Behavioral modification is required for most diabetics to achieve these goals.
For overweight (BMI 25 to 29) and obese patients (BMI >30), reducing calories from carbohydrates in order to lose weight is important.
The quality of fat such as fish oil, olive oils , nuts avocado is more important that the quantity.
Engaging a health coach for behavioral modification is instrumental in helping most diabetics achieve and maintain their ABC goals.
If you're looking for a great Internal Medicine doctor, I recommend my friend Dr. Eugene at Matthews Internal Medicine.
Proper nutrition aids in addressing the ABCs of diabetes. The A stands for the A1C levels, where the goal is to achieve an A1C of below 7.
The B stands for blood pressure, where the goal is to attain a blood pressure of 130/80 or less. The C represents cholesterol, and the goal is to take less than 100 calories.
Patients need to make nutritional, behavioral changes by doing away with the unhealthy ones and embracing the healthy ones. Besides a doctor, diabetes patients should consider visiting a nutrition coach.
To maintain healthy nutrition, the first thing diabetes patients need to do is cut their carb and unhealthy fat intake and replace that with healthy fats. Refined carbs and unhealthy fats are the number one contributors to unhealthy weight gain, which may increase the severity of the disease.
Some sources of healthy fats that diabetes patients should include in their diet includes nuts like walnuts and almonds, avocados, and seeds like chia and pumpkin seeds. They should also ensure that they have a lot of fruits and vegetables in the diet.
Adopting a healthy meal plan will help a lot because it will ensure that the patient gets all the needed nutrients in the right portions.
Why Is Exercise Important
As much as a good diet will help you lose the baby weight, adding in some exercises will make the process faster and even more permanent. There are different types of exercises you can do, but they all play a part in increasing the number of calories burnt and increases your metabolism.
You can engage in cardiovascular exercises, which are the ones that increase your heart rate for about 15-20 minutes. They are great for improving your lung and heart health, as well as increase circulation.
You can also engage in weight-bearing exercises, which will help you build your muscle and bone density, and strength.
To see the results from the exercises, they do not always have to be strenuous, but you always have to be consistent. Other exercises like yoga will also help you lose weight by promoting fat burning and reducing anxiety and stress, which can lead to stress eating.
HIIT (High-intensity interval training) is something else you can try. It involves combining high-intensity exercises with periodic recovery breaks to ensure your heart rates remains elevated.
It helps in weight loss by decreasing belly fat, and studies have shown that it burns far more calories than anaerobic exercises like running, walking, and biking.
Why Is The Right Supplementation Important
Proper nutrition involves getting all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals needed by the body. However, sometimes you may not get all those from natural sources, and you must consider taking a supplement.
In minerals like iron and some vitamins that may be helpful for healthy moms and their babies, it may be hard to get the required servings per day from natural sources.
However, it is important to ensure that you get the right supplement with the right ingredient and from the best manufacturer, lest it will not be of any help. If you have started working out or are planning to work out, it is best to consider buying protein and carb supplements.
That is because your body uses up a lot of those nutrients during the workout, and it is important to replenish their levels. While foods may take longer to be absorbed, supplements take a shorter time, which is a good way to keep your muscles strong and your energy levels up. You can also use protein supplements to help in muscle recovery.
Supplements are also good to help in nutrient absorption as it declines with age. As you get older, you may take some medications that deplete essential nutrients, and supplements are the perfect way to keep those nutrients at the required levels.
Other ways supplements help include;
• Build a healthy immune system.
• Protect your body from free radicals.
• Maintain and promote nerve and muscle function.
• Promote cardiovascular health.
• Support teeth, bone, skin, and joints health.
• Boost antioxidants level to protect your whole body.
Maintaining a healthy diet for moms, especially those who have just given birth and are breastfeeding, is important because it helps lose weight and maintain the required nutrients for you and your baby.
Including proteins in your diet is important because not only do they help you feel fuller for longer, they also help increase your metabolism due to their high thermic effect. Avoiding calories, unhealthy fats, and drinking water are also other ways to help in weight loss.
You need to maintain close contact with your doctor during your weight loss journey for additional guidance on any new practices you might want to adopt, like working out. Nutritional coaching is one of the ways to maintain a healthy diet.
For the best nutritional coaching, you need to consult professionals, and that is why we are here. We understand that healthy moms mean healthy babies, which is why we offer the best nutritional coaching for moms.
We will help you get out of your bad nutritional habits and guide you through the journey to adopt healthy ones that will not only benefit you but your baby. If you cannot make it to our offices, we also offer online nutrition coaching that you can access on your phone or computer.
We also have weight loss coaching, which will help you on your weight loss journey, and our coaches will advise you on the best exercises for you and how to do them.