Breakfast: is by far the most important meal of the day.

Breakfast: helps you and your baby need to kick start your day and keep you energetic enough to do all the running around.

Breakfast: also helps to avoid overeating in the latter half of the day.

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• Proteins are extremely important for the wear and tear and recovery from the delivery process.
Choose clean protein options like sprouts, chia seeds, pulses, tofu etc to stock on proteins without the unwanted fat.

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• All fats are not bad, opt for MUFA and PUFA rich oils like olive oil, rice bran oil or blend oils like rice bran and sunflower/ safflower mixed oils. Avoid saturated fats like butter, ghee and margarine. Try as much as you can to avoid baked and fried foods as they contain trans fat which can increase your cholesterol levels. Omega 3 fatty acids especially DHA is extremely important for the development of your child’s brains and for your overall health as well. Consuming fish 2-3 times/week or 2-3 tsp of powdered flax seeds/day can help you meet your omega 3 requirement.

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• Omit processed, sugary and salty foods, artificial sweeteners and any other food with harmful chemicals which increase water retention and can
enter your baby’s body through your milk.

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• Include a good amount of fibrous foods like whole grains like oats, brown rice, quinoa, jowar, ragi, bajra etc, fruits and raw vegetables to prevent constipation and give you fullness. Eat the fruit and vegetables, not its juice.

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• Galatogauges like methi seeds, fennel (saunf), alfalfa seeds etc help in increasing milk production thereby indirectly aids in weight loss.

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• Early days of motherhood can be quite taxing causing a lot of water loss due to perspiration. Drink 100-150 ml water every half an hour to keep yourself hydrated. You can opt for lemonade, buttermilk, jaljeera, green tea etc. Avoid tea, coffee, alcohol as they are dehydrating to the body leaving you famished and sluggish.

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• Embrace exercise: Exercise along with a balanced diet is the ideal way to shed the pounds. Six weeks after normal delivery and 8 weeks after C-section is when you can start an activity like walking, jogging, swimming, body conditioning and strengthening for 10-20minutes/day and slowly increase your exercise time to 30-45 minutes/day. An active lifestyle also helps to reduce depression and improve blood circulation.

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• It is understood that motherhood takes a toll on the women. Also the new routine of bringing up the baby takes away all her time. That is when she has to take extra efforts to take care of her food and lifestyle. It is best to make a daily time table, keeping alarms in your smart phones and planning your day in the morning so that you don’t miss out on the important things for your baby and yourself. Be gentle with yourself and take pride in your healthy lifestyle, because only healthy mothers can raise healthy children

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