Healthy Hacks for New Moms, Without the Pressure to Bounce Back

Healthy Hacks for New Moms, Without the Pressure to Bounce Back

It’s the new year, and like most years I always want to start it off right with healthy eating and working out. But this year feels different. I am 10 months postpartum; I weigh a little bit more than I did before giving birth, but my body feels totally different.

When I first gave birth, it was exciting to see my body return to some sort of normalcy. I was on maternity leave, going for lots of walks, getting a bronzy glow and overall, I felt confident and proud of my body. 

But as I returned to work and got into my new routine, I got kind of stagnant and maybe gained a few pounds back again. My focus had to be split in more directions, and I found that I wasn’t bucketing out much time for self-care. And truly, the thought of adding a workout class to my daily routine seemed too overwhelming. 

So, this new year, I changed my mindset from being about the scale to being about how I feel. I wanted to find ways to spark happiness throughout the day with easy tasks that can make me feel accomplished, healthy and fulfilled without the pressure. 

Here are five tips that helped me:

1. Get Up Before the Baby
   This one has been tricky for me because I am not a morning person. But I found that my mornings are way less hectic when I buffer in time to have my coffee, change out of my pajamas, get ready and make the bed before my daughter wakes up. Not only does this give me some time to myself, but it allows me to be fully present with my daughter once I wake her up to feed her and get her ready for daycare. I have found that sticking with this has made me much more productive throughout the day.
2. Find Quick and Easy Self-Care Routines
   Time is of the essence with a little one, so finding quicker routines to do throughout the day can be helpful to ensure your self-care doesn’t seem too overwhelming. For example, I love using my ice roller in the morning. It depuffs my face and makes me feel more awake. Plus, it’s an easy task to cross of my list!
3. Change Your Workout Mindset
   I grew up as an athlete, so to me workouts were always supposed to be long and intense. But after giving birth my body craved a different type of workout. I shifted my mindset from focusing on the intensity to the amount of activity. I found simple ways to get more steps in throughout the day or if I have a busy workday, I’ll schedule a yoga class for the evening. Truthfully, this is an area I still need to work on. Life seems to get in the way a lot, but I always feel better when I prioritize it.
4. Schedule Blocks of Time for Self-Care
   I find that when I schedule my day out into time chunks, I’m able to be more productive with my time. For example, I give myself 45 minutes to drink my coffee and get ready for the day before my daughter wakes up. It’s typically go-go-go until she’s out the door for daycare, then I get a bunch of work done in the morning. I block off an hour during lunch to walk, eat and tidy up the house. Then I get back to work for a few hours before picking up my daughter from daycare. Again, it’s go-go-go until bedtime, but then I take advantage of another larger block of time before bed. This is when all of the relaxing self-care happens, or maybe I have the ambition for a yoga class.
5. Create Mini-Goals
   Bouncing back to pre-pregnancy body is a hard goal, and for some it can take months and months to achieve. And when it doesn’t happen, it can feel really defeating. Creating mini goals to achieve along the way can make your goal feel more attainable. I like to look at my goals in terms of days, weeks and months. So, some of my daily goals may be to drink 80 ounces of water, walk for 20 minutes and prepare and eat three healthy meals. My weekly goal may be to be workout 4 times and my monthly goal may be to look a bit more fit when I look into the mirror. 

Being a mom is so hard, and the pressure to get back into shape is the last thing we need. But prioritizing yourself is important and will make you a better mom. It’s not easy to do, and it can be a constant cycle of feeling great and then falling off the wagon. You are not alone in feeling this way. There are so many things happening inside of your body, so give yourself some grace. Be patient and kind to your beautiful body that made your wonderful child.