How to Prioritize Wellness as a new Mom

For many new moms, the end of pregnancy brings a welcome respite from the strange cravings and odd aches of the last 9 months.

With all of the responsibilities that come with the sudden appearance of your new little one, however, it can be hard to take the time to focus on your own wellness.

Once you’ve made the time to follow through with the routines that once kept your body at its peak, however, you may come to realize that they no longer meet your health needs.

After a pregnancy, your body will need to recover.

When it comes to making your wellness a priority, picking up a few new habits now can dramatically help your body and mind return to the best version of you later.

How to Prioritize Wellness as a New Mom

Speed Limits – Tempting though it may be a jump right back into your old routines, and pick up the same healthy habits you had before you have a baby, you may need to slow it down and take this transition a little more carefully.

Both your body and your mind have just been through an extraordinary, life-changing event, and even if you’re mentally feeling up to the task, your body is going to take some time to get back to 100%.

For the first few months after you give birth, take it slow, start off with easy exercise, and don’t fret if your baby weight isn’t coming off quite as quickly as you’d hoped.

Instead, focus on getting overall healthier with every passing day and eventually, the results will come.

Little Tip: When it comes to getting in exercise after your baby arrives, make sure that you’re keeping in close contact with your doctor, and ask before making any drastic changes to your wellness routine.

Keep It Focused – Wellness is so much more than just getting in a few minutes on the treadmill, or doing a couple sets of crunches every day.

Don’t find yourself stuck in the pitfall of focusing too much on working out while leaving the other parts of your well being to fall by the wayside.

Most importantly, even if your end goal is to get back to your pre-pregnancy weight, don’t keep your focus on the scale.

See a therapist, start journaling, and get in touch with who you are and how you’re feeling.

Start to set up a healthy, self-care oriented lifestyle, and the results you’re looking for will come alongside so many unexpected benefits.

Little Tip: While your physical health is important after a delivery, don’t drop the ball when it comes to your mental health. It’s important to take a little time to yourself to make sure that you’re in a healthy headspace, and remember that a healthy mind will make it that much easier to have a healthy body.

Craving Nutrition – While it may seem like a quick way to jumpstart your path back to complete wellness after you give birth, don’t break out the dieting books and inspirational pins just yet.

After a pregnancy, the body is missing a lot of vital nutrients and energy, especially in the weeks directly following the delivery, so cutting out more of the vitamins and minerals that your body is craving won’t do your health any favors.

Don’t focus on dieting just yet, instead, take the time to focus on nutrition, and make sure that your body is getting exactly what it needs to keep you happy and healthy.

Little Tip: Fruits and vegetables are both extremely important after having a child, particularly citrus fruits and leafy greens, thanks to high concentrations of vitamins that can help your body repair, rebuild, and fight off any infections while your immune system is recovering.

Keep It Simple – Once your body has recovered, and you’re feeling ready to start working out again, don’t jump straight back into stretching your way through your entire repertoire of yoga poses before jumping on the treadmill for a 10-mile jog.

Even after you’ve recovered, your body more than likely won’t be in any condition to follow the routine that you’re used to.

Start off slowly, with simple stretches and plenty of aerobic exercises that don’t put too much strain on the body, like elliptical work, or briskly walking on the treadmill.

Little Tip: If you’re looking to get in some extra exercise, but want to keep things low impact, swimming can be a great way to combine stretching, aerobic exercise, and relaxing all in one activity. Before hopping in the water, just check with your doctor to get the go ahead to add swimming to your newly prescribed routine.

Limber Up – One of the most important ways to get back into the wellness game after pregnancy is to make sure that you’re stretching those muscles to give them a chance to unwind and repair themselves.

Yoga can be a helpful way to start getting back into a wellness-based mindset and offers you a chance to stretch a number of different muscles to bring back tone, and ease pain.

If you’re planning on doing a full workout, lead with a few simple stretches to warm up, then a few more complex stretches before you start working to burn those calories.

Even just a few minutes of stretching each day can help you see dramatic results in a surprisingly short timeframe.

Little Tip: Before settling in for any routine with stretches, make sure that you talk to your doctor about which ones you can safely do without putting too much strain on your body. While it’s important to make sure that you’re focusing on your wellness right now, pushing your body too far can cause far more damage than the benefits are worth.