Visit any village in Kenya and you will meet mothers with trimmed figures and flat tummies just two months after giving birth. In Nairobi and other towns in Kenya though, the story is very different. Scores of women are still struggling to lose their baby weight 3 years after delivery. So what is it that the urban modern mom is doing wrong? In this post, we look at lessons Nairobi women can learn from their village counterparts when it comes to shedding the baby weight.

Losing the Baby weight in Nairobi

1. Waiting until it is too late

If your  child is older than 6 months and you’re just starting to be concerned about your weight, you are an year too late. The journey to getting your pre-pregnancy body starts the minute you realize that you are pregnant. Maintaining a healthy and active pregnancy makes work so much easier for you later. Most Nairobi however take it really easy during pregnancy and don’t lift a finger for the entire 9 months. The rural women on the other hand work in their farms to the very last month. Moderate exercising is not only good for you and your baby, it is recommended by most health practitioners. It ensures that you have an easy time carrying your bundle of joy, the labor is shorter and easier, and it speeds up your body’s recovery after birth.  Keep it simple though; walk for 30 minutes 5 days a week, take the stairs instead of the lift, walk to your colleague’s desk instead of making a call and do a few crunches everyday. All these are moderate activities whose benefits can go a long way.

It is also important to start exercising moderately six weeks after a normal delivery if all feels well and your doctor gives a go-ahead. Studies have shown that it becomes harder to lose the baby weight after 6 months. Exercising will also help you to calm down as we know that the pressure of caring for an infant can be a little overwhelming. This reduces the risks of developing post natal depression.

2. Eating for 2 while pregnant and breastfeeding

Eating for two while pregnant or breastfeeding has got to be the biggest lie in mommyville. According to the Institute of Medicine, a woman with a healthy weight needs no extra calories in the first trimester. She needs an extra 340 calories a day for the second trimester and a mere 450 extra calories a day for the last and third trimester.

Just to get a picture of how much more food this is, consider that a single banana or an apple contains about 100 calories, a slice of bacon contains more than 100 calories and 2 candy bars will give you 500 calories.

This clearly shows that eating twice as much food as you normally eat adds over 200 calories to your diet each day. This is five times more food than your body needs. All these extra calories have to go somewhere and am afraid to tell you that your thighs and tummy will get the worst of it.

3. Listening to Your mother

In Kenya, new mums are normally put in what I like to call fattening camps. Your mother in law storms into your house like a hurricane and her sole responsibility is to ensure that you always have a cup of uji in your hands. Her efficiency in nursing you after delivery is measured by how round and plump you look by your baby’s first appointment.

While breastfeeding, you only need 500 extra calories. Do not believe it when older women tell you that you need to eat like a handyman to produce enough milk for your baby.

4. Not Listening to Your Mother

No, I am not contradicting myself. If there is one thing African women have done for years, it was compressing their tummies after delivery until they were as flat as before pregnancy. Our moms used lessos to hold the flabby tummy in place. Rural women still do this religiously. As a modern mom, you have access to more comfortable tummy girders and corsets.

Sauna Adjustable Waits Slimming Belt

You can even get more advanced ones with heat systems to burn fat and eliminate toxins in problematic areas like love handles and muffin top areas. The Sauna Belt is one girder that boosts such features. It trims your waist, shapes abs and supports the back.

The belts work best for the first two months after delivery. Wear one day and night immediately after birth and you will have your flat tummy back in no time. After the first few months, it becomes harder to lose the tummy fat by belts alone. You will need rigorous tummy toning exercises to realize good results. For this consider using a tummy trimmer.

You can see how you can lose the tummy fat using a tummy trimmer by following the link.

5. Nursing for Less than One Year

The easiest and most effective method of getting rid of the baby weight is by breastfeeding for more than an year. Most Nairobi women however would rather use formula than nurse their babies for longer than one year.In the rural areas however, babies are nursed for an average of the 2 years recommended by the pediatric association.

One of the reasons for not breastfeeding for long sited by many is sagging breasts. Contrary to popular belief, breastfeeding does not cause your breasts to sag. As a matter of fact, it actually helps. You see, during pregnancy, breasts gradually increase in size. This increase more than triples just after delivery. If the size of the breasts suddenly reduces without warning, the body is left with excess skin and this could cause sagging boobs. This is worse when you stop breastfeeding at around the 6th month when your milk supply is at it’s peak.

To understand what I am talking about, think about two people who lose weight at different rates; one through gastricc by-pass surgery and another one through exercise. The individual who uses the surgery loses weight quickly and is left with sagging skin. On the other hand, the one who uses exercise loses weight slowly allowing the skin to stretch back and at the end of the day the skin is tight and well toned.

Nursing for at least 2 years helps your breast to reduce at a normal rate and this gives your skin time to stretch back.  Though when nursing you should be thinking about the health benefits and immunity of your baby, the benefits to your weight are just the cherries on the cake.  

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