Sleep That Postpartum Weight Off
Working out…well to put it nicely, we’d rather be writing new baby posts! A new study released by Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California made us happy! The study found that postpartum women who get less than 7 hours of sleep will have a harder time losing that extra baby weight than those who get their zzz’s. The lowdown according to Dr. Sirimon Reutrakul, a clinical associate in medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center, “sleep deprivation can cause changes in the level of hormones which affect appetite regulation.”
Of course, there are a multitude of reasons that postpartum women may sleep less. I mean, hello!, you have a newborn baby not to mention the other rug rats running around the house. Plus, you may experience hormonal changes or postpartum depression. Additionally, going back to work can add stress and give you less time to work out and eat well.
Despite all the potential setbacks, try to get some extra ZZZ’s at night and you may reap the benefits of weight loss. If you are having trouble getting in those well-deserved winks, here are our top 3 tips to help:
- Sleep when your baby sleeps.
You may not be able to sleep from 11-7, but you can take a nap when your baby does and get some extra sleep time in. - Talk to your partner!
Maybe you can alternate the nights to wake up to feed the baby, or maybe he can take care of the dishes while you take a nap. Both stressed and sleep deprived? Ask Grandma to take the baby for a night every so often. - Manage your expectations.
Toys everywhere, dishes in the sink, piles of laundry, and one exhausted Mommy. Yeah, you want your house to look like a Stepford wife lives there, but sometimes that just isn’t possible. If it means sacrificing your health and sanity at the sake of a couple of dishes in the sink, maybe those dishes can wait until tomorrow…
Do you have any suggestions?
