Hopefully you have been doing great with your pregnancy nutrition and pregnancy exercise. As it will make a huge difference when it comes time to deliver the baby and also when it comes to losing the "baby weight".
If you need pregnancy workouts, click on the following link, Pregnancy Workouts. These workouts helped me only gain 20lbs during pregnancy and also lose all my weight postpartum and some. Check them out: Pregnancy Workouts.
As you go further in your pregnancy, you start "NESTING", you start cleaning, organizing, and preparing everything for when the baby comes. Its kind of weird, I remember hearing about it all the time and wondering if it was real. Well after 32 weeks it hit me, I even cleaned my base boards and crown moldings around my whole house. Yes, me 32 weeks pregnant on a ladder cleaning the crown moldings.....CRAZY!
If you have done well with your pregnancy fitness and pregnancy nutrition and you want to make sure to lose that "baby weight" FAST and also help you save some time then you want to make sure to save some time to do this..............
Pre-cook healthy meals for about a week. About 7-10 days before your due date take a few hours and cook a ton of healthy meals. When you come home from the hospital, not only will you be exhausted and possibly in a bit of pain, but adapting to your new bundle of joy can be challenging. Add in there family and friends coming to visit you every day and bringing you cakes, cookies, chocolates and grandma's famous lasagna and that's a recipe for disaster! lol
Its also a bit of a challenge to adapt to now being a "mom" and a "wife" and a "homemaker", etc. I remember stressing about my hubby feeling neglected so I also wanted to make sure that he had healthy home cooked meals every night and didn't feel I wasn't taking care of him because of the baby. Oh yeah hunny, here is where it all starts...... the JUGGLING ACT of being a MOM, WIFE, HOME MAKER, EMPLOYEE, CEO, ETC..... and not feeling like you neglect one or another. Don't worry, its not so bad, God equips you with the ability to do it all and you are so happy to do it all because the new LOVE you have for your child is too big to even try to explain.
Also, take into consideration, if you are going to breastfeed, that you want to eat foods that are not heavy, rich, salty, spicy or fibrous as it will make the baby gassy and will make your days and nights veeeerrrryyyyyy loooonnggggg.
Try to make and eat foods that are rather plain and at the beginning not too many veggies as it will make the baby gassy, so will dairy.
I made about 10 meals before my delivery date and I was pretty well equipped with food for about 2 weeks. I made them all and froze them and every day in the mornings I would thaw them out. I'm pretty compulsive so I actually made a menu for 2 weeks. I wanted to make sure that I had healthy options because since I was nursing, I wanted to make sure baby was getting the right nutrients through my milk, I also wanted to make sure I stayed on track with my post-partum weight loss, and I didn't want to make the baby gassy.
And if you leave it to all the wonderful, loving, and supportive people around you, you may be eating some delicious stuff but maybe not so good for baby and your weight loss. And since you are so tired, you will just do it, so take some time now and prepare!
Here are a few examples of meals I pre-cooked for my post-partum weight loss:
- Turkey Spinach Meatballs
- Turkey Meatloaf
- Lentils (I thought these might make baby gassy, but it didn't)
- Paprika Chicken
- Baked Ziti with Brown Rice Pasta and Ground Turkey
- A Shredded Chicken and Rice Dish
- 2 Dozen Protein Muffins
I also made sure to have plenty of fruit and another good tip is to have some easy appetizer stuff at home because you will have a lot of visitors. I had different cheeses, dips, crackers, etc.
This helped me out a ton! Good luck!
Don't forget, if you need awesome pregnancy workouts to keep you in check and fit while pregnant, get them here: Pregnancy Workouts
Check me out on CBS Channel 4 where I talk about Pregnancy Fitness