Don’t hurry to shed that baby weight

Specialists from the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care have noted that the new-moms, who put too much pressure on themselves to lose weight as quickly as possible, do more harm than good to themselves.

The health organization has also noted that many women shed their baby weight automatically within three months due to the breast feeding factor.

Extra weight is good
Professor Peter Sawicki, director of the institute, averred, “Often, the extra effort women have to make to look after a new baby and breastfeed after giving birth means the kilos just melt away without effort."

For close to 50 percent of the women, the weight loss does not happen that quickly. The laborious exercise programs immediately after childbirth do not lead to extra weight loss, cautioned the institute.

The institute said that while it is not a good idea to go in for dieting during pregnancy, over eating is also not recommended.

“Women need to eat well enough for themselves and their baby, but pregnancy is not a time to overeat," Sawicki said.

The director advised, "It is not a good idea to ''eat for two'' in pregnancy and forget about your weight until after the baby is born if you are at all overweight or prone to overweight already.”

However, it is okay, and necessary as well, for the mother-to-be to gain weight. This provides the extra fluid and the all important nourishment for the unborn baby.

The celebrity factor
The slimming down of actresses and models shortly after delivery provides the impetus to the women to toe the line.

To quite an extent, celebrity mothers like Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum, Christina Aguilera are role models for the ordinary women, who then, looking at these icons, hanker after shedding that post partum flab.

"Comparing yourself to the magazine photos of movie stars in bikinis a few weeks after giving birth does not necessarily make real-life motherhood for the average woman any easier either," cautioned the Germany based institute.