The following is a question I received through Facebook recently:

1. Q

   Bro… just wanna check with you what kinda food that are suitable for my wife which contain high calorie yet healthy seems she is breast-feeding our baby. Currently she is 47kg; 11kgs lost after giving birth. Her ideal weight should be around 50-55kgs.
   Need your experts advice bro.
   Thanx!

2. A

   Ok bro (since you call me bro, I shall do the same). First of all congrats on becoming a father…it must be life changing experience. and hey good on you for caring for your wife’s wellbeing. Good man!

   Ok for post labor or baru bersalin fitness, i’ll fokus on three areas: Nutrition, Exercise and Rest!

   Nutrition:

   

   For some, their goal is to get rid of the pregnancy fat to get back in shape. Bagi sesetengah orang seperti your wife, they may want to regain some weight yang hilang…well after the baby dah “keluar”. Following are some general post labor nutrition tips (tips nutrisi selepas bersalin)

   • Before you start anything, check with your doctor. Every women has different needs/shortages etc post labor.
   • Maintain a nutritious diet and have 5-6 balanced meals per day
   • Avoid empty calories like cookies, soft drinks, chips etc
   • if your wife is breastfeeding, you need to be sensitive to the kinds of foods she eats. Makanan yang pedas, “berbau” etc boleh menjejaskan your babies mood to breastfeed.
   • Pastikan your wife doesn’t skip meals, especially when breastfeeding…shes still eating for 2 🙂
   • Bro, in terms of caloric value you need it would be helpful for you to calculate your wife’s BMR and DCR. From you need to add lebih kurang 300-500 calories to 1. feed your baby and 2. hopefully have some left supaya your wife can tambahkan berat badan.
   • Supplements?Basic labor/post labor protein supplements are ok. Especially coz quality protein is hard to come by consistently but bro, make sure you run the supplements by your doctor firstl.
   • Kalau boleh, avoid: processed foods (go for whole foods), fried foods, fast foods

   Exercise:

   Obviously exercise is great to help your wife get back in shape and also to help her regain some weight untuk jangka masa panjang. Ok lets break it down

   

   • The kind of exercise your wife can or cannot do tentunya bergantung on her condition. Best person to advice on this again is your doctor. General rule of thumb: is to wait 4-6 weeks during the postpartum checkup (I researched this! hahaha).
   • Once you have been given the green light, cara yang paling baik untuk senaman post natal is to start small…like walking or brisk walking or maybe just taking your stroller out. In Malaysia you obviously need to be aware of the heat. My advice, talking the stroller in a shopping mall ok jugak.
   • Practicality. Post natal exercise in the form of weight training if obviously great to rebuild your wife’s strength and endurange….a fun and practical exercise is to bermain, lifting, dukung and incorporate your baby in the exercises. Also cara yang baik for your wife to bond with the baby.
   • Try to exercise after breastfeeding, rather than before when your breasts are full and heavy.
   • Aim to exercise three or four days per week.
   • If you feel breathless or light-headed while exercising, slow down or stop.
   • Wear an appropriate bra that offers good support.
   • Elakkan senaman yang memberi tekanan kepada your wife’s pelvis or hip joints….that until your doctor has given you the ok (once your pelvic muscles have recovered)
   • Cuba senaman zero/low-impact seperti walking, swimming, yoga, cycling, light weight training (i.e with weights or your baby) etc etc

   Rest:

   Can’t tell you how important this one is bro. Lagi2 when you have a new born baby in your life. Pastikan your wife gets enough rest in between exercise, breastfeeding etc to allow her to recuperate and rebuild. Not getting enough rest will effect not only her mood and health, but also her ability to breast feed.

I think thats pretty much it. Even I learned a bit today..in any case, do check with your doctor. Your wife inysallah has a lot of years to get her weight and fitness back in check. At the very early stages of post-pregnancy….making sure that your wife and baby are healthy is more important.
All the best!