5 Things I Did To Feel Better In My Skin Postpartum
I had no idea what to expect from my body both during and after pregnancy. Which is probably what is to be expected since this was my first pregnancy.
While I was pregnant, a lot of women assumed I was handed a “belly-only pregnancy”. But I truly believe I wasn’t. My lifestyle greatly reflected the progression of my pregnancy.
For the most part, I enjoyed being pregnant - minus the all day morning sickness in the first trimester and the inevitable final month of my third trimester.
Below is a list of things I did in preparation and during my pregnancy to help encourage a “bounce back” postpartum recovery! :)
#1. Daily exercise. Even if it was only 10 minutes. A few of my favorite workout platforms I used (and still do!) was my Peloton bike and app, Les Mills Grit (stopped doing around 25 weeks tho), Alo Yoga and bootcamp workouts that I created for my bootcamp class.
I’ve tried maybe two true prenatal workouts and I just did not enjoy them. I felt like every prenatal workout was too beginner-focused. I enjoyed challenging myself even while pregnant and so I did workouts that my body craved rather than what “they say” you should do as a pregnant lady. I truly listened to my body - if something didn’t feel right, I’d stop and if something felt good, I’d continue.
I personally love working out and I do it because it clears my mind and gives me good energy! If I only worked out to change my body, I’d rarely do it. And when you’re pregnant, you know you’re inevitably going to gain weight and get bigger. And I knew the two things I wanted to avoid since day one was 1) gestational diabetes and 2) preeclampsia. And I knew how much exercise (sweating) can only help prevent both of them. (read my preeclampsia story here).
I also have a theory that exercise is actually the ticket to preventing pregnancy stretch marks and loose skin. I rarely used lotion on my belly (especially since it was summer, I sweat easily!) and when I did use lotion, it was always age-defying hemp lotion from ULTA! LOL! And I truly believe all of those products out there are just a waste of money - just move your body!!
I worked out until the day I went into labor and have been able to get back to exercising at three weeks postpartum. I will be creating a post on how I eased back into exercise and how it’s actually been super beneficial for me despite the long sleepless nights and my weak muscles.
#2. Intuitive eating. Since 2015 when I began my intuitive eating journey, my relationship with food (and exercise) drastically changed for the better. And one of the reasons that I was drawn to it was because I knew I didn’t want to be afraid of food and weight gain when I became pregnant. And it was one of the best things I did in preparation of pregnancy.
Long story short:
When I was in my sophomore year of college, I was at my highest weight ever. And I hated it and hated myself. Eventually, I found a love for nutrition and transferred schools and began studying nutrition. Which actually fueled my shitty relationship with food even more.
In 2015, when I was working as a nutritionist I went to the hospital for bowel pain/discomfort and turns out I was constipated. The doctor was telling me all the things I should be doing to prevent constipation aka eat more fiber, but in my mind, all the fiber-rich foods were carbs and carbs scared the shit out of me. But I was more concerned about my health than I was about gaining weight and so I did a bunch of research on how to stop dieting and I stumbled upon intuitive eating from some girls blog post and I’ve never looked back. It made my pregnancy experience SO much better. I never felt guilty about eating certain foods. I never had any particular cravings. I rarely had heartburn because I knew what foods made me feel like crap. I didn’t get a single stretch mark. I gained about 22-25 lbs in my pregnancy and actually ended up losing seven pounds of that in the last two weeks of my pregnancy (see #5).
#3. Mindset. You are not a victim to your pregnancy. Lot’s of women act like “woe is me” when they’re pregnant and it leads to the pregnancy-mindset-trap that can actually encourage more fatigue, laziness, poor habits and the excuse to reach for foods that make them feel like ass.
I could have easily gone down that path, but I stopped myself (many times!). It’s very easy to give yourself a million excuses as to why you can’t do this or that because you’re pregnant. But it feels so much better to NOT allow those feelings or beliefs to take over.
Some days we need a day or two to just “be”, but it doesn’t have to be unproductive nor destructive to your mental and physical health.
And I definitely noticed when I did workout, I’d naturally crave healthier foods!
#4. Breastfeed. Breastfeeding is no joke. It requires a lot of determination, will-power and sacrifice. When you’re exclusively breastfeeding, you’re the only one that can feed your baby. Unless you choose to pump and have milk to offer in the middle of the night, but to me, you have to get up anyway to pump, so you might as well… breastfeed (if you’re able to).
Your metabolism is working much harder to produce milk for your little one which can help you return to your pre pregnancy weight much quicker. They say you burn an extra 300-500 cals when you’re exclusively breastfeeding. I’m not much of a calorie tracker - I eat foods based off of my own intuition.
Breastfeeding also encourages natural shrinking of your uterus, too, which inevitably can help with postpartum recovery and weight-loss.
#5. 100g of protein. So I wish I would have done this sooner in my pregnancy. But I can’t stress how important protein is while you’re pregnant. Especially eggs! If you can’t eat eggs, there are tons of other protein options out there. I also ate Quest Bars because they are packed with protein, they’re tasty and they’re a quick grab n’ go snack or meal replacement.
During my 38th week of pregnancy, I was told by my doulas to start eating more protein in a day as it can help dilate your blood vessels while you’re pregnant. I was told I had mild preeclampsia and an induction was recommended to me on multiple occasions (read the full story here). Within a few days of increasing my protein intake from 30g/day to 100g/day - I felt 1,000 times better, lost seven pounds of water weight and lowered my blood pressure.