Losing The Baby Fat - Getting Lean Without A Machine

Hollywood Moms make losing the pregnancy weight easy and the media makes this seem like the norm. Like it or leave it, the pressure to follow this "norm" is unavoidable. However most busy Moms neither have the benefits of the rich and famous nor a perfect metabolism and hence have to struggle for several months or years to get back to a healthy body. Fear not, there is a silver lining for the busy Mom who wants to lose the pregnancy weight.

Despite the progress women have made thanks to the Women's Movement, women still buy into the illusion that the media spins about the factors that make a woman the "fairest in the land". Celebrity Moms such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Heidi Klum and Angelina Jolie, who bounce back into their thin pre-pregnancy body within a few months, are portrayed as the "norm" for all Moms. The reality is that the average busy Mom doesn't have the financial means to hire a full-time personal trainer, dietician, personal assistant or nanny to get fit or even thin for that matter. Needless to say that most Moms don't have the time to burn the baby fat plus deal with the demands of a typical day. So what's a Mom to do? You have to find a realistic way to get healthy and lose your tummy.

Moms want to look good and feel great. At least you don't have the pressure to burn the baby fat within a few months just to look skinny in order to avoid ending up on the front cover of the tabloids looking "fat". That's what the Celebes have to worry about and that's their incentive. What's your incentive? You have the advantage of losing the baby fat in a healthy way and keep the weight off for good with a lifestyle program. And that's an excellent incentive.

1. Knowing That You're In Good Hands

A busy Mom is always pressed for time and finding time to complete 50 minutes on the treadmill at the gym can be a difficult to squeeze into the weekly schedule. Thus, a good lifestyle program should have an exercise program that can require little space and therefore can be done any place. The workouts should be designed to maximize losing the baby fat within a short time frame. There should be easy access to contact the fitness professional or staff for assistance, extra support and advice. Useful resources should be available to supplement the program and keep your momentum of change moving forward.

2. Exercise That Burns The Fat

If your goal is to lose the pregnancy weight fast, then you are going to need make sure your lifestyle program has the right exercises to do the job. The two main components to burn fat are by increasing your metabolism and muscle strength (not size). There are two types of exercises you can do: cardio or weight training. Cardio is good to build muscle endurance and it does boost your metabolism temporarily. Weight training, on the other hand, builds muscle strength and boosts your metabolism for the long term.

Muscles are fat-burning factories and therefore, the more muscles you have the more calories you will burn. Also building more muscles also increases your resting metabolic rate. The weight training that builds lean muscle is resistance interval training. Resistance training increases the strength and not the size of your muscles. It is the strength training of choice especially when you want to lose your tummy and get a toned, lean body. Your lifestyle program should incorporate both exercises in order to utilize the benefits of both. Remember it is about losing pregnancy weight. Thus, you need to build muscle and hence burn more fat for the long term.

3. The Bonuses

It's all well and good if a lifestyle program includes Bonuses but they need to be of some relevance. Resources such as free daily reports or newsletters that can keep you up to date with current information on fitness, health and nutrition is always useful. Other supplements such as a workout journal, goal setting sheets, pre-done menus and grocery lists, nutrition guides for you and your family can make the difference to keep you on track. But most importantly, a good lifestyle program should have a "real" support system and hence a means of contacting them in the way of a forum, e-mail or blog to share your progress, set-backs or ideas with a community of other busy Moms.

You can have the fairytale ending of a fit, lean body and a healthier life style for you and your family. The key is to find a lifestyle program that is affordable and uses a holistic way of dealing with weight management. It should have a workout program designed for both weight loss and body tone. Lastly, it should be geared for the user, which means it should be able to accommodate the needs of the busy Mom.

Teresa Brown is an enthusiastic advocate for women's health and wellness. Check out Teresa's blog for more information on how you can lose weight after giving birth and trim your tummy for the long term.