Beating the Postpartum Weight Loss Blues Part 2

When moms were asked what the most frustrating things are about losing weight after baby, they responded:

The lack of time and energy for working out
How long it takes to lose the weight
How much weight is still left after baby is born
The body changes that take place after pregnancy
Do these frustrations sound familiar? Facing reality of body after baby can be flat out depressing. So here are four easy things you can do to beat the postpartum weight loss:

1. Laugh. When was the last time you had a really good belly laugh? Laughter is great medicine. You can’t laugh and feel sad at the same time. Go ahead and try it. It’s impossible! If you have a toddler, tune into their jokes. Laugh when they laugh and you’ll feel better in no time. People don’t laugh because they are happy. They’re happy because they laugh.

2. Sing. There is a very successful businesswoman named Heidi Roizen who had an ah-ha moment about weight loss. When she stepped on the scale and realized she weighed more than her husband, she knew something had to change. She looked for music to help inspire her to lose weight but she couldn’t find any tunes with great lyrics. So she created her own! The CD is titled “Skinny Songs” and includes songs like “Skinny Jeans,” “Thin!” and “The Incredible Shrinking Woman.” Instead of soaking in misery, Heidi decided to sing and she succeeded in the process. When you sing positive songs, your postpartum blues will vanish.

3. Pray. Call on God to help you. When tough days came, I would pray something like this, “Dear God, I feel discouraged. I can’t seem to get everything done that I need to. I feel like a lousy wife and mom. Please help me know what I’m supposed to do next and help me to be more disciplined with my diet and exercise. Give me the solutions I’m looking for.” And do you know what would inevitably happen? My mood would lighten and I would get a better perspective on things.

4. Plan. Have something to look forward to. When you have an event in your calendar that’s fun on the horizon, it gives you hope. On the contrary, if you look at your calendar and all you see is grocery shopping and cleaning house, it can lead to despair! Make sure you carve out time for mini-weekend vacations and longer ones, dinner with friends, birthday parties, manicures, time alone, or movie nights. When you plan time for fun, you’ll be able to fight off those postpartum blahs.

So the next time you feel a case of the blahs coming on, remember to do these four easy things. When you laugh, sing, pray and plan, it gives you the power to overcome your weight loss blues.

Medical Weight Loss Methods

Medical weight loss is an option that many people often turn to when other methods of losing those extra pounds are not effective. For others, it may be the first choice as recommended by their physician after being assess and diagnosed accordingly. There are several methods in going about shedding extra weight and some of these are connected to the field of medicine in the sense that there is a need to rely mostly on it for a person to be lighter. The right diet combined with several exercises is actually one of the more effective ways to shed those few extra pounds. People who are just slightly overweight may not be recommended for many of the medical weight loss procedures.
Bariatric Surgery
This is one of the techniques that physicians may recommend to their patients if there is little that dieting and exercising can do. Many view this as a quick fix that can basically deliver results in as short as just a few weeks. People who are considered obese are often the receiving end of surgeries that can encourage the body reduce. This type of medical weight loss technique involves surgery which is focused on the digestive system of the patient.
Gastric banding entails having a constricting band put somewhere before the esophagus meets the stomach to diminish the amount of food going through, thus making the patient eat slowly and less. Another method is to make the stomach smaller, thus making a person feel full in just a few minutes of eating. These two fall under the restrictive method that prevents the person from eating too much.
Gastric bypass surgery is also another option for bariatric surgery. It entails the rerouting of the intestines in such a way that it connects to a smaller stomach pouch. This basically means that some of the food ingested does not pass through the right channels. This misdirection means that not all the food is digested and processed properly. There is some form of digestion but the absorption of the nutrients and fats is not complete. All ways of slimming down always comes with the warning that there should be a proper diet included in it. Some dieticians may recommend the use of supplementary vitamins and minerals for those who may undergo any of the forms of bariatric surgeries. This step is to ensure that the patient is not malnourished or unhealthy.
The main goal of these medical weight loss techniques is either to restrict the intake of food in order for the individual to actually lose some kilos or to prevent the full absorption of food. The two methods of medical weight loss can be combined, depending on the recommendations of the surgeon. It is usually the more obese people who may need these options. Other individuals who are just slightly overweight can usually lose the extra kilos they have by going on the right diet combined with the proper exercises. Dieting and exercising can prove to be a healthy option that has several benefits for the individual.

Busy Women Can Lose Weight Too

I make no claims about knowing everything there is about losing weight, but one thing I am certain off and that is Metabolism is the key to losing weight and having it stay off. If you can control that, then a really good weight loss program will certainly help you achieve your goal of a fitter and lighter you.

First off all you have to understand just exactly what the word Metabolism means, and how it relates to the human body. In this short article I will endeavour to explain it as simply as I can.

First off Metabolism is mainly divided into two categories.

1. Catabolism which breaks down organic matter, for example to harvest energy in cellular respiration. (Cellular Respiration is the set of the metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms such as humans to convert biochemical energy from nutrients and then release waste products).

And

2. Anabolism which uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids. (Nucleic Acids are some of the most significant molecules found in living organisms. Their role is to store and transmit genetic information to build proteins).

Some experts have classified hormones as anabolic or catabolic, depending on which part of metabolism they stimulate. The classic anabolic hormones are the anabolic steroids, which stimulate protein changes and muscle growth. The balance between anabolism and catabolism is also regulated by circadian rhythms (you can liken these rhythms to your body clock), with processes such as glucose metabolism fluctuating to match your periods of activity throughout the day.

Although fat is a common way of storing energy, in vertebrates such as humans the fatty acids in these stores cannot be converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis as these organisms do not have the necessary machinery to manufacture enzymes. As a result, after long-term starvation, vertebrates need to produce ketone bodies from fatty acids to replace glucose in tissues such as the brain that cannot metabolize fatty acids.

(Ketone bodies are three water-soluble compounds that are produced as by-products when fatty acids are broken down for energy in the liver and kidneys. Two of the three are used as a source of energy in the heart and brain while the third is a waste product excreted from the body).

Well there you have a very basic description of the metabolic processes that are taking place within your body all the time, even when you are sitting down doing nothing or when you are asleep.

Understanding these metabolic processes means you can lose weight without knocking yourself out. You certainly do not need to spend hours in a gym doing all those crazy aerobics and cardios. You can do it quite easily in the comfort of your own home in between TV commercials.

My advice to anyone who wants to lose those extra pounds and keep them off is simply this. All these different metabolic processes are what make your body the size it is. Controlling what you eat and how much will give you the body size you want.

Therefore program your brain to program your body. Get your body to listen to what your brain is telling it, and then find a really good weight loss/fitness program such as the one below. No matter how busy you are it should help you get started and it can’t hurt to try and achieve your goal.