As soon as you give birth to your baby, there are lots of things which have to be taken care of. The new baby has to be fed in time, hygiene of baby and yourself has to be maintained, giving a gap between two offspring takes a priority. Along with these, losing the weight which you have gained during Pregnancy also bothers you. Losing weight after pregnancy is a very big task. A delicate balance has to be maintained with diet and exercise since your welfare is directly tied with that of your infant.

If you had a normal weight before pregnancy and gained 10-12 kgs during pregnancy then you can lose these extra fat within few months. But if you are overweight before pregnancy and put on some more weight during pregnancy, then it takes a very long time to get back to a healthy weight.

The weight gained during pregnancy has to be lost quickly or else it becomes very difficult to lose those extra pounds in later stages of life. This weight loss should be slow and progressive. Since it has taken nine months for this fat to get accumulated, you should take at least 10-12 months to lose it.

How to lose post pregnancy weight with ayurvedic methods:

Texts of Ayurveda advice healthy methods to maintain good health and also to lose weight after pregnancy. After delivery, all the three balancing forces of Body (tridoshas) will be vitiated. The first step is to bring back these vitiated doshas to normalcy.

Ayurvedic physicians advice the following routine for the first three months of your post-pregnancy weight-loss spree

1. Always drink 10- 12 glasses of hot jeera (Cumin Seeds) water. This boosts body metabolism and keeps all body activities normal. To prepare this, add two tea spoons of jeera (Read Health Benefits of Cumin or Jeera Seeds) to a litre of water and boil it well.
2. Keep yourself warm. Increased warmth boosts blood circulation and helps in quick metabolism of fat. Elevated temperature speeds up burning of calories.
3. Massage (Read Manifold Wonders of Massage Therapy ) your body for 20 minutes, twice in a week with warm sesame oil . After massage take hot water bath. Instead of soap or body wash, use shikakai powder (soap nut powder) as body scrub. This method of applying powdered scrub is known as udhvartana in Ayurveda . This is specially used in treatment of obesity. In this method massage is done in a ‘down to up’ motion (opposite to the traditional or conventional massage as done in Abhyanga in which strokes are given from upward to downward). Massage is done in a direction opposite to that of the body hair growth (which point downwards).
4. As a conventional post pregnancy therapy, we recommend our patients to use dashamoolarishta in dose of 10 ml twice daily after food. If you are willing to use please consult an ayurvedic physician before consuming it. This preparation helps to normalise vata and normalised vata boosts fat metabolism.
5. Avoid too much of oily or deep fried foods. These type of foods pump calories into body and do more harm than good.
6. Pure Ghee has a special place in Ayurveda and post pregnancy diet. Ghee supplies the needed oil medium to dissolve vitamins during metabolism. Two tea spoons of ghee per day is advisable.
7. Traditionally new mums are offered specific sweet greasy foods during first three months after childbirth. Most of these foods are high in calories because they are made with a lot of ghee and sugar. While you do need extra calories to breastfeed it's important to eat healthily to avoid excess weight gain. So, strictly say no to sweets and processed sugar.
8. Texts of Ayurveda recommend Lasuna ksheera  ( Read Garlic Milk Health Benefits and Recipe ) for new mothers. Lasuna is garlic and ksheera is milk . Thus garlic milk helps in a great way to clear the clogged metabolic paths and reduce body cholesterol. Here is the recipe to prepare garlic milk-

Take 4-5 cloves of garlic and boil them in a glass of milk. Do not add sugar. Consume this milk twice daily after breakfast and dinner.

9. Ayurveda acharyas believe that spices like pepper, jeera (cumin seeds) and ajwain (carom seeds) play a great role in bringing back the balance between vital forces. Dietician opine that these spices greatly help in weight loss. Here is a simple recipe to use these spices in opt proportion-

 Take 3 parts of jeera 1 part of pepper and ½ part of ajwain. Fry these separately with little ghee. Mix all these spices and powder them in a blender. Store this spice mix in an airtight jar. ½ tea spoon of this mix has to be consumed with a serving spoon of hot rice, ½ tea spoon ghee and little salt during lunch and dinner. Avoid using pepper and ajwain if you have haemorrhoids or constipation problem.

10. Include green leafy vegetables specially dill leaves and spinach in your diet. Do not opt for uncooked foods.
11. Always eat well balanced diet. Keep snacks like oat biscuits, wheat rusks, whole wheat biscuits at home. Munch on these when you are hungry. Apple slices ((Read Home Remedies with Apple , vegetable salads and dry fruits can also be eaten when you have hunger pangs.
12. Never try to exercise during first three months.

After three months of recuperation, simple non strenuous exercises like walking (Read Benefits of Daily Brisk Walking  ), yogasanas and light weight lifting can be performed for 45 minutes daily. Other than these daily house hold works or office works can be attended to. Warm water with lemon and honey ( Read Do Lemon And Honey Reduce Body Fat ? ) has to be consumed first thing in morning. This effectively detoxifies body and boosts fat burning. Continue using the jeera, pepper and ajwain mix in salads and smoothies. Watch your calories and consume nutritious food. Make it a habit to eat a fistful of dry fruits like almonds , figs , raisins  and walnuts in mid-morning (at 11 am), which help in supplying vital vitamins and minerals.  Fruits like watermelon, pomegranate  , apple, sweet lime, orange etc are less in calories. These can be easily added to your diet. Cooked pulses, egg white, lean meat and fish also provide good amount of protein. Take your dinner before 8.00PM.

Best diet and good exercises will help in a long way to lose post pregnancy weight. Patience and perseverance is the mantra. Your efforts will definitely yield good results. You’ll be more beautiful, graceful and a glowing mommy. Remember : Happy mommy = Happy baby.

Author: Dr.Savitha Suri , Consultant Ayurvedic Physician