A woman's body certainly goes through many changes while she's pregnant. Unfortunately, the added weight is one of those changes and many new moms just want that weight gone-zo after their baby is born! Weight loss after birth can be challenging. Do you find that you are having problems with losing your baby weight? You are definitely not alone, many women have a hard time with it. Here are some reasons why you may not be losing it:

1. What and How Much Are You Eating? Do you ever look at the ingredient labels on the foods that you buy? Do you pay attention to portion sizes? Many foods that you eat may seem to be healthy but may not actually be healthy. It is a good idea to pay attention to labels on foods and look at things like sugar content, sodium content, trans and saturated fats, etc. Also try to find foods that include the good things like fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. Some good choices are whole grain foods, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins (fish, chicken, legumes, etc.).

Also, are you paying attention to how much are you eating? Weight loss after birth can largely depend on the amount of food you are consuming. It will be very difficult to lose weight if you are eating too much food, but it can also be difficult to lose weight if you are eating too little. Portion size is very important. A rule of thumb when eating a meal is to have half your plate filled with vegetables/salad, a protein on a quarter of the plate, and a starch on a quarter. Only eat until you are just full, not until you are stuffed.

Now, if you are not eating enough food, your body will go into "starvation mode" and store fat, so of course, that's no good either! You have to find a happy medium. Try to shoot for 3 meals a day, with 2 healthy snacks in between. When choosing your snacks, it is best to pair a protein (hard boiled egg, 15 almonds, Greek yogurt, etc.) and a complex carbohydrate (a fruit or a vegetable). These healthy choices will keep you feeling full longer, keep your energy levels up and help you shed weight!

2. Too Many "Cheat" Days? Consistency with your diet and exercise is very important when it comes to weight loss after birth. Of course, it's totally fine to treat yourself now and then but not too much. Many times, when people mess up and have an unhealthy eating day, they end up feeling guilty and many may give up at that point, but it's completely okay to mess up every now and then as long as you get back on track again and don't give up on yourself or beat yourself up about it.

Don't forget to keep consistent with your exercise routine as well. Treat it like part of your daily routine (you know, like brushing your teeth, showering, etc.) and to keep consistent with it, do something you enjoy such as going for a nice scenic walk with baby or playing your favorite sport, taking a dance class, bike-riding, roller-blading...the list goes on and on. If you are not doing something you enjoy, you won't be motivated to exercise and may end up giving up on it altogether.

3. Plateau? It happens to the best of us. Weight loss after birth may come to a halt after a while. There could be several reasons for a plateau. You may need to really look at what you are eating and how much of it (as mentioned above). It may be a good idea to start a food journal, writing everything down that you are eating, for about a week or two. In the journal, you will want to include things like sugar and sodium content, fat (the bad kinds like saturated and trans fats) and calories. If you find that you are getting too much of any of these things, you will need to make some adjustments. Or, you may just be eating too much or too little food so that may need to be adjusted as well.

Another reason for a plateau could be that you may need to challenge yourself more with your workouts. You may also just need to switch up your workouts. If you are doing the same kind of workout(s) all the time, you may be getting bored with it, therefore not really working as hard as you could be, or the workout(s) may have just gotten too easy for you. So, always try to vary your workouts to keep them from getting dull.

As we talked about in this article, weight loss after birth can be achieved just by paying attention to things like food portions, what you are eating, ingredients in foods, exercise, etc...and then sticking with it. No more saying "The diet starts on Monday!" because you decide you want to binge all weekend (wink, wink). We've all been there, right?