Well, firstly, congratulations on losing 33 lbs. of baby weight in 4 weeks! First thing you want to do is calculate your BMR. That is how many calories you burn everyday if you just stayed in bed all day--in other words how many calories your body needs just to function. Once you discover this, you will be able to determine how many calories you will need to burn each day through exercise in order to lose your desired amount of weight. You can do that by going here: http://www.internetfitness.com/calculators/bmr.htm I would highly recommend getting a heart rate monitor--I use the polar F4 made specifically for women. It tracks your cardio workout and tells you how many calories you burn during your workout. I would also consider taking a Pilates or yoga class-- they are great workouts for core strength. You definitely do not want to skip out on your strength training because muscle burns way more calories than fat. As far as your diet is concerned, I would try to consume between 1200-1500 calories per day. Anything less would cause your body to go into starvation mode and could lower your BMR by as much as 20%. I recommend cutting out all refined sugars and carbohydrates; basically anything white: sugar, white bread, white rice, etc. If it doesn t say 100% whole grain, don t eat it. Also, try to get healthy fats into your diet--raw nuts, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed, etc. And, cut out all of the unhealthy fats--such as saturated fats (from animals) and trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils). As far as stretch mark creams, there are few cream products that are going to help much, however, I have heard good things about something called TrilastinSR. I have no personal experience with it, but it has a 60 day money back guarantee, so you can always return it if it doesn t work. Also, there have been quite a few advancements in laser treatments recently. I hope this is helpful to you--and remember to congratulate yourself on the progress you have made and give yourself a break. You just had a baby! Your body has been through a lot, so don t push yourself too hard. Good luck!
The belly flab will go away in time, and not that much time -trust me, I know. If you want to lose the weight just eat half of what you are eating now and exercise like crazy. I can t help you with the stretch marks. I never had them because I manually stretched the skin and used lotion every day when I became pregnant. Doctors don t tell you these things, the idiots!!!
