Your Maternity Support Girdle Wants To Help You: How To Get Back In Shape After Pregnancy

There comes a point in your third trimester where all you dream of are waistlines and wedge heels. Imagine wearing jeans with actual snaps that close! And then you have your baby, who is healthy as can be, thank heavens, and such a little darling, and you've still got plenty of tummy where the little dove used to roll around and kick you if you ate spicy food for dinner or snuck a sip of wine. Well, you knew it would be like this, but of course you're anxious to get fit just as soon as you can.

The question at hand is how to get fit safely, at the pace right for your body and your baby. Here are some tips that address your whole person, not just flattening those abs.

1. Wear a maternity support girdle. It's good for your back, it lends support to the elasticity of your stomach, poor stretched out thing, and it gives you a slightly svelter shape while it protects you. Don't leave home without your maternity support girdle--and wear it at home, too, if you're going to be standing for a long period of time for any reason (risotto, anyone?).

2. Quit indulging the cravings. Pickles aren't too bad, but that was a lot of ice cream you were eating in the latter days. It was fun, but now that you've delivered, it's time to return your focus to health conscious eating. This does not mean skipping meals or taking in too few calories, though. Make sure you are getting enough calories for breastfeeding, young lady! Your priority is passing nutrition along to the little one, and that means 1,800 calories a day, from a mix of healthy foods.

3. Walk. During the first six weeks, you must take it easy and let your body heal. You have enough on your plate feeding the newborn and recovering from this extraordinary nine months of adventure, growth and change. But before you start with any more intense exercise, bring walking back into your life on a daily basis. Walk with baby, of course, showing him off to the world, who wants to see this new little life, trust us,  and don't forget to wear your maternity support girdle.

4. Simple yoga stretches. Another thing you can do as soon as your body feels able is stretch. Take a cue from your prenatal yoga classes, and either return to a postnatal class, if this is available to you, or do some gentle stretching at home each day. Kegels are a good stretch to restore the vaginal floor and walls. A little at a time, and gently.

4. DVD. Gwyneth Paltrow is releasing a post-pregnancy workout DVD at the end of this month, based on the work she did with her trainer to lose baby weight after her pregnancies. She said it was "by far the hardest thing I've ever done," so we don't expect it to be easy, but she is gorgeous, and we're happy to take some tips from her!