By Vicky Warr, pregnancy and postnatal fitness specialist
Making good food choices for breakfast can really improve your postpartum diet and will really speed up your efforts to lose the post pregnancy weight. However – it’s easier said than done. Those mornings when you’ve been up half the night with your baby, feeding or where your toddler has kept you up means you feel seriously sleep deprived and want to ‘grab it or dash it’ with breakfast. A coffee and muffin or a quick bowl of starchy cereals may be your choice. But those choices are bad news for not only how you’ll feel for the rest of the day but your healthy weight loss efforts. The consequences of sugary, starchy breakfasts start you off on the wrong foot as mid morning your energy will levels drop, you’ll need another starchy, sugary snack so you’ll reach unconsciously for the nearest biscuit or salty food to give you a short term boost. That ‘snack’ may not be the best choice for your postpartum nutrition needs which require real food rich in vitamins and nutrients to help nourish and repair your body and ensure you lose weight as fat rather than muscle. Plus you need a good steady source of energy to keep you going throughout the day and mental clarity to cope especially if you are going back to work or juggling family with a career.
The right breakfast seriously makes you feel good and supports any mission you have to lose the baby weight and it doesn’t mean spending precious time in the kitchen in the morning. Time you just don’t have when you’re getting the kids to school, the baby fed and yourself off to work..
Your breakfast should be around 400 calories of protein, high fibre carbohydrates with some good fats to stop the cravings for coffee and croissant! So what can you eat that won’t involve hours in the kitchen but will set you off on the right track and mindset to make further good food choices throughout the day….
Top Five Easy Healthy Breakfasts For The Best Postpartum Diet, to flatten your tummy and get your body back
TheBeezKneez Green Smoothie – perfect postpartum diet food to help shift those baby pounds
- The Mummy Tummy flattening breakfast
2 tbsps of cottage cheese (protein) spread on 1 slice of wholegrain, pumpernickel bread or rye bread, plus handful of berries such as strawberries, blueberries, blackberries on the side.
The cottage cheese is a low calorie high protein food, perfect for helping improve muscle tone and repairing your abdominals. The berries are rich in vitamin C to ward off colds and flu. - Two boiled/poached or scrambled eggs with half slice of smoked salmon (palm size portion) with large handful of rocket on 1 slice of rye, wholegrain or pumpernickel toast.
Improve your energy and get leaner with eggs, the rocket is rich in iron and vitamin C and this kind of bread is rich in fibre to ward off hungry pans (common if you are breastfeeding). - Grilled Kipper with 1 slice of wholegrain toast, pumpernickel bread or rye bread and 1 whole orange.
Protein, good fats for glowing skin and brain power, fibre and immune boosting vitamin C - Super Muesli
3 tbsps of sugar-free muesli topped with;
3 tbsps of berries,
3 dried Apricots (iron for energy),
dessertspoon of seeds
2 tbsps of natural yoghurt (protein)
Low in sugar, high in fibre, a great post baby weight loss food. - The Super Green Smoothie
Make your own in a blender and you can double the quantities to make another serving for your partner or child. Use berries, fruit, kale and water and 2tbsps of natural yoghurt.
You can pour it into a flask add 2 tbsps of oats and 1 tbsp of ground almonds and go to work with it.
Pure energy in one glass, without the sugar but with the taste, the super of smoothies to shift the post baby pounds.
