Week 4: Lose the Baby Weight

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Welcome to week 4 of BabyZone's Lose the Baby Weight Challenge.

They say charity begins at home. So does fitness or weight loss success! Starting at your innermost home, inside your mind. We've got tips to help you stay positive. We've got workouts you can do in your living room, basement, porch, bedroom ... anywhere you can lie down on the floor, basically. And we've got your at-home strategy for shopping smart to keep your diet healthy. Read on!

Exercise: No Equipment? No Excuses!

Strength training at home means you never have to say, "Can't do it today because I can't get to the gym." It doesn't even take a vast amount of time. And strength training will power your weight loss. Read Why You Need Strength Training to find out more.

A great workout would be doing two sets of six exercises (one for each body part). Each exercise entails 10 repetitions of a motion. You could try these:

• Incline push-ups off the washing machine, wall, a sturdy bench, or the floor for chest muscles.
• Triceps dips for the backs of your arms.
• Double knee tucks for your abs.
• Bridges for the glutes (your butt).
• Leg circles.
• Open books.

We've illustrated these and other exercises in a slideshow called Strength Training Exercises.

Continue to do one hour of cardio three days a week, and add two strength workouts such as the one above. You should start to see some great results!

Diet: Know the Five P's

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Ever heard that one? It's a military saying that applies just as well to the battle of the bulge. Shop with a list and purchase only the items on the list. Avoid the cookie, soda, and chip aisles. Avoid items in crinkly packages. If you can't pronounce it, it's probably not healthy.

Read Your Grocery Store Strategy for Losing Weight more food shopping strategies.

Attitude: Exorcise Inner Demons

We have internal dialogue going on all day, whether we realize it or not. This dialogue can be self-destructive (e.g., I'm wasting my time, I'll never lose weight, I just had a baby and can't lose baby weight) … but only if you let it.

Every time you find yourself having this destructive type of dialogue either with yourself or someone else, stop dead in your tracks and change your words! Instead of "I can't lose weight," say, "I am losing weight and I feel great." Instead of "I feel fat," say, "I'm looking better every day!"

Try wearing a rubber band around your wrist, and every time you find yourself saying something negative about yourself ("Oh my God—look at my thighs!"), snap it and correct yourself with a positive affirmation.

Get more details on attitude adjustment. And remember, as Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or can not, you are correct."

Extra Credit

Purchase an exercise band. Cost: $7 to $10. Choose a light to medium resistance. Color is irrelevant. These are available at stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and sports stores.