Big Stomach After Miscarriage: How To Shrink Your Tummy After This Trauma

Big Stomach After Miscarriage Losing a baby through miscarriage after several weeks or a few months is deeply traumatizing for women. It leaves emotional scars that may last months or years, and it is an experience from which some women never quite recover. At the very least, miscarriage is an upsetting emotional event that no woman forgets, even once she begins to heal and move on. Depending on when you miscarry – how far along in the pregnancy you were – you may find yourself coping with a big tummy in the months after losing the baby. (Just to be clear: if you’ve lost your baby after 20 weeks, it is a stillbirth.) Here at seizeyourlifetoday.com, we know that women who have endured a miscarriage must deal with an array of emotional and physical hurdles in order to recover. One of those hurdles might be an excess weight around the waistline. Weight gain is, of course, perfectly natural and encouraged during those all-important first months of pregnancy. But after you’ve miscarried, what can you do to shed those extra pounds? In this article, we explore not only why you may be carrying excess weight but how you can lose it in a sensible and healthy way. Sometimes losing a baby triggers emotional eating, which may cause you to gain even more weight in spite of the miscarriage. How do you stop that cycle and get back to your pre-pregnancy health and vitality? For help dealing with a big stomach after a miscarriage, continue reading and learn what the experts say.

- Remember: Be Patient and Be Kind To Yourself

Let’s say you put on seven or eight pounds in the early stages of pregnancy. Losing the baby doesn’t ensure you’ll lose those pounds right away. Your body has gone through a complicated “baby preparation” process, so to speak. Hormones like estrogen fluctuate and increase wildly throughout pregnancy. Losing a baby interrupts that process, but hormone levels won’t settle down immediately. Give your body time to stabilize its hormone levels before tackling your tummy’s extra weight. After all, coping with such a profound loss takes time, and when some time has passed, you’ll be more ready to deal with shrinking your belly and getting back into your previous weight and shape.

- Are You Eating Now For Emotional Consolation?

Weight gain is a normal, healthy part of pregnancy. But losing a baby can trigger emotional eating – indulging in unhealthy foods that give instant gratification but not much in the way of nutrition. Many people (not just women) eat to console themselves during emotionally stressful times. And the pain and guilt that accompanies miscarriage sometimes cause women to take comfort in foods that are pleasurable at the moment but not good for them overall. If you’re doing this, the first step is being aware of it and slowly making positive changes to your diet. If you’ve been buying a favourite snack food or sugary treat, stop. You’ll be less likely to indulge if they aren’t on your pantry shelf, tempting you.

- Begin Exercising As Soon As Your Doctor Gives You The Green Light

Depending on when the miscarriage occurred, you will need plenty of rest before beginning to work out vigorously again. Your doctor is the best person to ask for advice on this. However, a little gentle exercise is valuable right away. Even getting out for a brisk walk in the fresh air will improve your mood and begin burning calories. Once you’ve recovered, you should start doing cardio and resistance training at your prior levels. These aren’t just tools for weight loss; they go a long way toward giving you rushes of all-important endorphins. This help improves mood, promotes good sleep and makes you better able to cope with the heightened emotions that accompany a miscarriage. Once you are into an exercise routine again, give some extra attention to your abdominal muscles. Doing crunches and other moves that target your stomach helps shrink your tummy and strengthens your lower back in the process. Resistance training is a great way to fire up your metabolism, so if you haven’t got any weights at home or aren’t accustomed to using them at the gym, now is the time to incorporate them into your routine.

- Drink Plenty Of Water

As any weight loss expert will tell you, staying hydrated while trying to lose weight is key. Taking in lots of fluids helps your body shed toxins and bloat, and you’ll feel trimmer and look slimmer if you consume six or eight large glasses of water each day. Furthermore, water is great for your complexion! Staying hydrated helps fine lines and wrinkles look less obvious and makes your skin smooth and clear. You can drink other drinks as well, like calorie-free Crystal Light. (Check out our article on the delicious flavours of low-cal Crystal Light that work well on any weight reduction program.)

- Talking To Others Helps Ease Your Pain

Whether you talk online with a group of other women who have lost babies to miscarriage or you visit a therapist in person for weekly sessions, talking about your loss is a healthy coping strategy. As your anxiety and pain begin to subside, you’ll feel more in control of your emotions. That, in turn, will help you take control of your body and get back on the path to mental well-being and physical health. Once you’re in a more stable and positive frame of mind, you’ll be able to commit to a weight reduction and exercise program.

- Take Up Meditation To Promote Calm

Nothing eases tension better than 30 or 40 minutes of mindful meditation. Go off by yourself, away from the family, and sit in a comfortable position in a quiet room. Focus on taking deep breaths. Each time you exhale, imagine you’re letting go of a little bit of physical and psychic pain. Some women find it helpful to quietly say goodbye to their baby during these sessions, grief counsellors suggest. Letting go a little each time helps you achieve closure. And once you do that, you’re better equipped to move forward and reclaim your best physical self.

- Talk To Your Family Members Too

While it’s helpful to share your feelings with, as we noted above, other women who’ve been through a miscarriage, it’s important that you talk to the rest of your family, too. They can’t literally understand how you feel physically, but that doesn’t preclude them from experiencing the loss right along with you. If your spouse was excited about the impending birth, no doubt they will have many feelings to share. The same is true if you have other children who knew you were expecting and who were looking forward to having a new sibling. Although the miscarriage happened only to you in the physical sense, it happened to all of them, too, in an emotional sense. Do your best to include them in the conversation and healing process, so you can unite as a family and move forward in a healthy way. And tell them you’re ready to address any weight gain you’ve experienced. Get back to walking together in the park with the kids or Saturday hikes as a family – activities like these speed up your metabolism and burn calories. Doing things together also fosters closeness and brings you together as a tight family unit. You may find that not only is everyone supportive of your weight loss goals, but they may also be willing to join in and revamp meals so that everyone starts eating better.

In Summary

Losing a baby to a miscarriage is a difficult physical and emotional process that takes time to recover from. Having a big stomach afterwards is bound to impact your self-esteem and self-confidence. That’s why it’s so important that you begin addressing weight gain as soon as you can, both medically and psychologically. Eating nutritious, whole foods, paying attention to portion size and getting fresh air and exercise are all key components of a “getting healthy again” program you should begin as soon as you are able. As long as your doctor approves, you should start a new regimen within several days or a few weeks of losing the baby. This is a traumatic and emotional period in a woman’s life. However, reclaiming your body in a healthy way by losing weight and exercising goes a long way toward helping you heal. Talk to others who have experienced a similar loss; ask your family for support and positive reinforcement of new goals; and seek professional help if you’re struggling to overcome the sadness that accompanies miscarriage. Once you begin coping with the loss, you’ll feel ready to make positive changes to your eating habits and exercise routine. And once you’re on the road to good health again, you can make a choice about when you may want to try again for another baby. But first, pay attention to your physical needs. Having a big stomach after a miscarriage is demoralizing. Follow the guidelines we’ve mentioned here, and you’ll be on your way to good health and vitality again very soon.

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Seize Your Life Today staff

A group of professional writers with more than ten years of experience as freelance writers in five different categories: - Kids & Parenting - Health & Fitness - Beauty & Fashion - Arabian Corner - Solid Tips