The good news is that when you’ve given birth all bets are off. You can exercise to your heart’s content! The bad news is that during the first six weeks to three months of your recovery period (longer if you’ve had a caesarean) your body is still going to be healing itself. Overdoing it at this stage will only drag this process out further.

Attempt to keep to the same low-impact exercise program you participated in during your pregnancy until you’re feeling completely back to normal. If anything feels uncomfortable or you find yourself getting tired stop and rest. “No pain no gain” doesn’t apply when you’ve just had a baby! You have the rest of your life to work off those pregnancy pounds, so taking a couple of months to just enjoy being a Mom and let yourself heal is perfectly acceptable.

Remember that if you are nursing you have to make sure you’re consuming enough calories to provide for your baby while you’re working out. The last thing you want is for your baby to start becoming malnourished, and breastfeeding burns an incredible amount of calories all on its own. You’ve already got a built in, low-impact, highly effective weight loss system. Enjoy it!