Clean out the Cupboard

• Undoubtedly, pregnancy meant that the freezer was stocked with your favorite ice cream or your pantry always had a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips. Hopefully, though, you were already eating mostly healthy during pregnancy. But if you were packing away junk food, now is the time to stop. Commit to a healthy, thinner version of your pregnant self.
  
  Start by re-evaluating what offenders are lurking in your cupboards and refrigerator, and send them packing. To minimize temptation, you'll need to get rid of anything that has more than 10 grams of sugar per serving or includes hydrogenated oil. Additionally, anything fried, full of salt or sugar must also go.
  
  

Sensible Approach to Healthy Eating

• The best diet after pregnancy is a sensible approach to healthy eating. Immediately following the birth of your baby, allow time for your body to heal from childbirth. Wait to plunge into losing weight until your doctor gives you the green light. Plus, while most new mothers aim to lose baby weight right away, it may not be possible. Your body is recovering, and if you are nursing, you need to consume just as many calories as you did when you were pregnant.
  
  However, you can start eating healthy, even while you are in the hospital. Nursing or not, your main source of nutrition should come from foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, low-fat dairy and lean meats. Avoid processed and sugary foods. When you get back to the grocery store, spend the majority of your time shopping the outer aisles where the produce, dairy and lean meat is kept.
  
  Restock your shelves with healthy foods, and you'll begin to see a positive change in your appearance, attitude and fatigue level. For nursing moms eating fresh, healthy food is just as important as when you were pregnant; what you put into your body goes directly to your infant during her meals.
  
  

Calories and Food Ideas

• To determine the number of calories you need per day, subtract the extra 300 calories you were eating while pregnant. For example, to maintain a healthy weight it takes approximately 1,800 calories per day. During pregnancy you bumped up that amount to 2,100 calories per day. For healthy weight loss after pregnancy and to help your body heal and strengthen, aim for 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day unless you are nursing. Nursing moms, for the first few months, should actually add 400 calories to their pre-pregnancy caloric intake.
  
  An example of a typical day would be:
  Breakfast---1 c. oatmeal with raisins, two pieces of bacon, a glass of milk and decaf coffee or tea
  Mid-morning snack---a small apple with 1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
  Lunch---a chef salad and low-calorie salad dressing along with a glass of water.
  Afternoon snack---carrots and low-fat ranch dressing
  Dinner---3 to 4 oz. lean meat or fish, two servings of vegetables, a small baked potato or brown rice, and water, with a piece of fruit after dinner if you need a snack
  
  Making common-sense decisions throughout your day will get you back on track and losing weight. Plus you'll have more energy to handle the joys of motherhood.