Foods That Will Help You Get Rid of Postpartum Water Weight

If you are a first-time mom, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the changes that your body goes through during and after your pregnancy. You may notice some parts that are expanding differently, some areas with never-seen-before marks, and some other parts that basically ache every now and then. 

Regardless, getting your pre-pregnancy appearance immediately after giving birth should not be your main goal. Even if you do not wish to get your pre-pregnancy figure, it is totally fine as well. Your main priority should be your health and recovery. 

New mothers especially feel the pressure to be ‘up and running’ right after they have given birth. We want to assure you that under no circumstances should you feel the pressure to recover quickly. If you need more time to rest from the load of the labour, do rest longer.

However, if you think your mental and physical states are up for it and you want to take up water weight loss as your new goal, do go for it. And of course, we’d be glad to help! Before we get into how exactly we can be of help, let’s learn a bit about your water weight.

What causes excess water weight after pregnancy?

While this information is probably not that significant when it comes to treating your postpartum body, it is still worth unravelling so you would know better how to deal with it and prevent it from worsening. The main cause of postnatal weight gain is – none other than – water retention after giving birth. 

This dreaded water retention is extremely common when you are pregnant and after you have given birth. It happens due to the fluids retained by your body cells. Put simply, your body tends to hold on tight to the fluids when there is an imbalance in its hydration level.    

Apart from that, those extra pounds may also be a result of insufficient sleep (from taking care of a new baby), irregular meals, and imbalanced nutrition. Some mothers also tend to binge on certain unhealthy food to satisfy their cravings which they could not do during the pregnancy. If you can relate to that, that could be one of the factors of your excess water weight as well. So, how to get rid of fluid retention after pregnancy?

How can food help in losing postpartum water weight?

Confinement food, especially, is formulated to be high in essential nutrients that can improve your bodily functions, like digestion. If you go through our nutritionist-approved menu that is indeed planned by a nutritionist, you can see that each meal set is healthy and well-balanced. One meal set has the carbs, the protein, and most importantly, the greens that will supply you with iron, calcium, and potassium. 

Consuming nutritious and nourishing confinement food helps replenish essential vitamins and minerals back to your body and thus improving blood circulation and tackling water retention. This will greatly help your body burn calories and lose weight.

On that note, here are foods that get rid of water weight!

1. Water

“Water??” Yes, we know, we know. It sounds counterintuitive, but drinking more water will not worsen your water weight. In fact, it will do quite the opposite. As mentioned before, your body may hold on to fluids (causing water retention) BECAUSE there is an imbalance in your hydration level. 

So, instead of having too much water, you are actually lacking it. There you have it! The first and main food you need is water. Do drink more of it as you can lose weight by keeping yourself hydrated at all times. 

If you are breastfeeding, that is all the more reason to keep on drinking more water. You can get dehydrated easily and experience constant thirst or fatigue. Hence, we provide 1 litre of red dates tea with each meal set to ensure you are getting the nourishment and also keeping yourself hydrated!

2. Potassium-rich foods

Water retention is mainly caused by imbalance, so your body’s solution to it is to create a balance. Sodium and potassium work together for that. By consuming more potassium-rich food, you can lower the sodium level in your body and thus reducing the fluid retained in your body.

Some of the best foods that have potassium are:

3. Vitamin C

One of the less-talked-about benefits of foods that are high in vitamin C is that they act as natural diuretics. To put it simply, diuretics basically increase the amount of salt and water expelled from your body as urine (thus getting rid of the fluid retention).

Lemon is one of the most preferred vitamin C sources of many people, but if you are scared that citrus fruits can irritate your stomach, it is best to stay away from it until you are certain you can take it. Otherwise, feel free to add it to your drinks and meals.

On the other hand, you can also try other foods that are not as citric, but just as rich in vitamin C! They are:

• Broccoli
• Kale
• Sweet potatoes
• Tomatoes 

Above everything else, it is crucial to note that confinement food does not hinder your weight loss plan. In fact, you could eat as per usual and your body would still be burning more calories than it normally does before your pregnancy. For instance, breastfeeding alone burns approximately 400 calories. To produce approximately 30ml of breast milk, your body uses up about 20 calories by itself. 

See, you will not have to cut down any food – except perhaps the really unhealthy ones – in order to lose your postpartum weight. After all, your postpartum body is already in the mode to lose the excess weight from your pregnancy! You just have to eat the right confinement food. As always, if you need help with that, we are just a phone call away!

When treating your water retention, try to analyse the factors of your water retention and what could make it worse. The food post pregnancy can play a huge role in reducing your water weight, but do consider other factors as well so you can treat yourself accordingly and not be too focused on just one aspect. All the best! You may talk to us at Tian Wei Signature to know more!