Rebuilding your body after giving birth is no easy feat. Viewer Trenia recently had triplets and wants to know what she should do to target her stomach area.
We called in co-hosts of the podcast "Mom Brain," Daphne Oz and Hilaria Baldwin — who have seven kids between the both of them! — to spill their secrets.
Q: How do you rebuild your body after having a baby… literally where do you start? I had triplets 9 months ago and want to know if there are specific moves I should be doing to target my stomach?
- Trenia, viewer
A: Hilaria Baldwin, author, mother of four and co-host of the “Mom Brain” podcast says her number-one tip for a healthy post-baby body is to constantly engage your core.
“A lot of it is understanding that your core is not necessarily what you see from the outside, but actually what’s going on in the inside,” Hilaria says. “The most important thing is constantly engaging.”
Hilaria also advises new mothers to be careful with sit-ups. “To be quite honest, there’s a lot of abdominal separation after having babies,” she explains.
One move — which Hilaria notes you can do while cooking — is to bring your navel towards your spine and rock from side-to-side. Be sure to really engage through your center, pulling from the inside.
Nutrition expert Daphne Oz, who co-hosts “Mom Brain” along with Hilaria, says her trick is to ensure that most of her meals are high in protein, and have healthy fat, fiber, and hydration.
“Hydration is the thing I think people miss all the time. Oftentimes you think you’re hungry, but your body is actually thirsty.” Make sure you have vegetables in your post-pregnancy diet, like cucumbers.
Daphne’s detox no-mayo chicken salad consists of cucumbers, parsley, scallions, rotisserie chicken and a little olive oil, salt and pepper. If you’re trying to stay away from grains, replace crackers with lettuce cups. The hydrating component will keep you full and the protein will give you energy, while the healthy fat gives this dish tons of flavor and leaves you feeling satisfied.
