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Be  optimistic, it does half the trick
 
Take a good look at your changed reflection in the mirror for a couple of minutes every day after shower, do you feel disappointed?  Never reply a Yes to this question, say this " Thank God! I have achieved my goal successfully, it was a major life cycle. Now, I will help my body get back to where I started from".  Yes you guessed it right we start this weight loss with a little mind game. Mind Games are very powerful as I have mentioned in my article  ' How to avoid the urge to eat?’, it will lead to fantastic results.
 
Understand that it took you 9 months to gain all the extra fat so you must allow atleast equal amount of time to get rid of it.  I can very safely confirm that 8 months into a strict routine you will be back to your original weight.

Organize your calendar:
 
Sit down with a calendar with the current month open. Identify the weeks with 5 working days and 2 weekends. Once done, name 3 out of the 5 working days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in your calendar as 'Cardio' . Next, mark remaining 2 days, Thursday and Friday as 'Weight' finally, mark Sat and Sun as 'Heal & Relax'. Complete crossing the dates for the next 3 (three) months. That’s around 13/15 hours of Cardio, 9/10 hours of Weight training and 8 hours of 'Healing & Relaxation'.
 
You can revise this calender every 3 months as your core strength will have Improvised.

Time is precious, even more precious is the timing:
 
Now, pick a time that is most suitable to you, if you are a stay at home mum than the time whenever the baby is asleep for an hour or so is ideal. And if you are a working mum commit to you lunch hour, yes, I am sure you can do it simply make up your mind.
 
Find a Gym, where you intend to exercise, mum-at-home it is time, you put on your best smile and find someone to baby sit, trust me if you are thinking of loosing all that weight indoors you must be really serious and have proper equipments. Mum-at-work all you have to do is add an event in your calendar blocking your lunch hour as 'away from office' and carry a pair of black t-shirt and a tight pant , a water bottle, 1 hand towel (keep it by your side to wipe the sweat) , 1 large towel (in case you feel like a shower) , a pair of sneakers , 2 pairs of socks. You can bring this in a separate back pack and throw it under your desk on the first day of the week . I usually have two pairs at work, so, I don't carry this bag everyday. I carry my gym clothes and socks alone, wrapped in a plastic bag back home on Fridays to wash over the weekend and bring them back
 
 
I will post a few tips on a simple exercise routine that you can get started with, skipping it here to keep the article as small as possible.

You must Eat high- nutritious food everyday
 
You are a new mother, and you can not compromise on the quality of food in your case. Post pregnancy is equally important and you will have to provide yourself with highly nutritious food on a daily basis. You must include egg, fish, greens, full cream milk, meat, chicken alongside your normal food that includes rice and wheat.
This means, you can not cut a lot of calories, this will have direct effect to your health. Simply, stay away from anything greasy that turns solid in room temperature ( eg: ghees, animal fat..) these are very rich in saturated fat and will take longer to digest and get easily stored as fat and eat less but iodized salt.
 
Don’t worry about burning all this calories; with the above calendar and the tips from my next article you will have your calories in control. What matters most for you at this phase is to be the best nurse you can and provide your baby with enough proteins, vitamins and essential nutrients. Mums that don’t breast feed also need to take care of their food; you can not neglect your food.
I will post a few tips on a simple Food routine that you can get started with, but first get your self mentally prepared to what is coming up.

Set definite patterns
 
I highly recommend to start practising strict patterns, for food, play, sleep etc.. with your bub.
 
Start with sleep pattern . Try not to encourage the little one to breast feed or bottle feed in the night hours, doctors here say they don't need it . Make sure the baby has had sufficient milk before it goes to bed, and whenever she wakes up in the night give her a gentle pat in her bed and try not to pick her up (unless it is inevitable). It sounds rude, but trust me these little things will matter, the sooner they learn these things the better it is for them and you. She only needs that assurance, that she is safe , you must restrict yourself to just that . Don't feel guilty for something she doesn't care.
Set a certain time as an alarm in your mind and it doesn't matter if your husband has had dinner, or your in-laws not finished with the T.V. or you not done with your work, simply drop/stop everything and go straight to bed. It is a good time to get adapted to a new lifestyle, go early to bed and rise up early. The child will follow you he/she will feel secure in her bed next to you and adapt quickly to the independence.
 

Intimacy matters – Love is a magic potion.
 
With the new arrival, the whole focus goes on his/her welfare. The child becomes the centrifugal point of attention to you both. There will be a phase where you almost forget you are a partner and get busy being a mother or father. It is important you allow yourself that comfortable space, where you show enough love and care between just you two. It will remind you both that you still are your own selves and will have to help one another cruise the ship together.
There is a saying ‘ You can say a husband is very dearly attached to his wife if, he looks pregnant when you are one too’ … oops, I made that up .

I hope you find this article useful. I will be glad if any one of finds it as an inspiration to start a healthy life . It is such a complicated subject and simplifying is no easy.
 
I feel encouraged when I read your comments so thank you all for that , please leave your comments and suggestions here and I will design my next article accordingly.
 
My next article date  is 31/03/09.
untill then , take care