If you just had a baby, obviously there is A LOT going on right now. So I’ll preface this post by requesting that you give yourself a little bit (or a lot) of grace when it comes to your postpartum weight loss plan.
I generally have a huge issue with the “bounce back” culture we live in, especially in the United States. This post is not to shame you into losing weight, but rather just me sharing some methods I used to start feeling my best again. I worked out throughout my entire pregnancy (to the best of my abilities) and still felt really disheartened by how much fitness I lost by my 6 week postpartum appointment. I was sick of feeling like the thing I used to love so much (working out and moving my body) now felt like a chore, and I was too exhausted to figure out how to get back into it …. until I started following an actual plan with a calendar.
Without further adieu, here are the top 5 apps I’ve used to develop a postpartum weight loss plan and get me back to feeling like myself again.
As always, before doing any of these, consult with your doctor and make sure you are cleared. Your body’s recovery after a c-section vs a vaginal birth, or a complicated or uncomplicated birth might look very different. Everyone’s postpartum weight loss plan will be different, so always consult with a professional and get cleared!
SWEAT
Why I love it
This one is hands down my favorite app for many reasons. I have been following Kayla Itsines – a popular personal trainer based in Australia – since she came out with her Bikini Body Guides (aka BBG) in PDF format years and years ago. Since then, she has created an app that houses TONS of programs by a wide variety of trainers, including but not limited to:
- Pilates
- 3-Week Core & Body Connection Challenge – trainer Sara Colquhoun
- Pilates with Sara – trainer Sara Colquhoun
- Yoga
- Body and Mind – trainer Sjana Elise
- Yoga with Ania – trainer Ania Tippkemper
- Yoga with Phyllicia – trainer Phyllicia Bonanno
- Barre
- Barre with Britany – trainer Britany Williams
- High Intenstiy Barre with Britany – trainer Britany Williams
- Cardio
- High Intensity Zero Equipment – trainer Kayla Itsines (*this is my absolute favorite and the one I’m currently on at 5 months postpartum. I already feel SO much stronger and like I have a core again!)
- High Intensity – trainer Kayla Itsines (*this one is your “classic” BBG)
- 2-Week Energy Boost Challenge – trainer Kayla Itsines
- FIERCE Zero Equipment – trainer Chantel Duncan (*this one kicked my a** and burned so good! would highly recommend)
- Low Impact HIIT – trainer Samantha Ortiz-Young
- Strength & Cardio – trainer Marilyn Rodriguez
- HIIT with Monica – trainer Monica Jones
- HIIT with Samantha – trainer Samantha Ortiz-Young
- HIIT Cardio & Abs with Kayla – trainer Kayla Itsines
- High Intensity Barre with Britany – trainer Britany Williams
- Full Body HIIT with Chontel – trainer Chontel Duncan
- Strength
- PWR Fusion – trainer Kelsey Wells
- Ignite Strength – trainer Britany Williams
- Strength & Sculpt – trainer Katie Martin
- PWR – trainer Kelsey Wells
- PWR at home – trainer Kelsey Wells
- 4-Week Strong Glutes Challenge – trainer Kelsey Wells
- BUILD
- FIERCE at Home – trainer Chontel Duncan
- LIFTING at Home
- High Intensity Strength at Home – trainer Cass Olholm
- PWR Zero Equipment – trainer Kelsey Wells
- Low Impact – trainer Kayla Itsines
- Low Impact Strength – trainer Kelsey Wells
- Bodyweight Strength – trainer Anissia Hughes
- Strength & Cardio – trainer Marilyn Rodriguez
- High Intensity Strength – trainer Kayla Itsines
- High Intensity Strength – trainer Cass Olholm
- Strength & Resistance
- Strength & Mindfulness – trainer Kelsey Wells
- Low Impact Strength – trainer Chontel Duncan
- Elite Conditioning – trainer Cass Olholm
- Post-Pregnancy
- 2 programs offered by trainers Kayla Itsines or Kelsey Wells that place an emphasis on core strength and building back a basic level of fitness. This is a great place to start if you’re feeling overwhelmed postpartum!
- Pregnancy
- 3 different programs offered by trainers Kayla Itsines, Kelsey Wells, and Britany Williams that cover most if not all of your pregnancy by week
- High Intensity
- Many of these are covered in the sections above, but this is my favorite section
There are great explanations on the app as to what each of the programs above is designed to do, if equipment is required, how many weeks the program takes to complete in its entirety, and how long each workout in the program takes to complete.
The best part? Some programs require equipment and some don’t. You can tell the app what equipment you have available to you and it will adjust the programs accordingly. There are also some programs that don’t require any equipment. You can also choose from workouts that are anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minutes, which is a huge deal when you have a little baby to care for. I truly love this app and have used it during the seasons of my life when I have been most in shape to now when I am at my least in shape.
Cost
This app offers a FREE 7-day trial so you can get a feel for the workouts, after which there are several subscription options to choose from. You can get charged monthly ($19.99), every 3 months ($54.99), or yearly (119.99).
It also comes with a great fitness community, recipes and nutrition guides, and several great articles on their website. If you’re ready to get started, you can sign up through the That Hungry Nurse referral link . I promise you will not regret this one, folks!
Peloton
Why I love it
I’m sure you’ve heard of the expensive exercise bikes and even more expensive treadmills, and while I LOVE my Peloton Bike, you actually don’t need to have any Peloton equipment to benefit from the Peloton app. You can find more information on the Peloton App on their website.
You can choose from all sorts of workout types, including:
- Strength
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Stretching
- Cardio
- Cycling
- Running
- Walking
- Rowing
- Outdoor (walks & runs)
I love that there is so much variety in Peloton classes, the instructions are easily some of the best I’ve found on an online / on-demand workout platform, the music is always on point, and I can do them from anywhere. The Peloton community is also like no other.
Just some of the options included? Choosing the length of the workout, the music type, the instructor, and sorting by how easy or difficult the class is.
Cost
After a 30-day trial, you can choose from 3 different options when downloading the Peloton App (and don’t have/ want any of the equipment.) There is a great breakdown as to what each membership includes here.
- Peloton App Free ($0) but has very limited features
- Peloton App One ($12.99/month)
- Peloton App+ ($24/month)
If you’re more interested in purchasing a piece of Peloton equipment, there are other membership options. If you don’t want to drop $1000+ on a piece of gym equipment, I bought my bike through Affirm and put $0 down and pay about $50/month to pay off the bike. Like I said, I love my bike and would love to buy a tread (if it wasn’t so pricey), however I do love my all-access membership that is $44/month. That price sure beats most expensive gyms!
Tone It Up
Why I love it
Tone It Up or “TIU” was started by two friends (one of whom has had several children) and they are hilarious. One of my favorite parts of Tone It Up is their Nutrition Plans. You pay a one-time fee forever and get access to every Nutrition Plan they create. While the recipes can be time-consuming to meal prep, they come in a variety of options (regular, vegan, gluten-free) and have helped me tone up and lose a significant amount of weight in the past. I feel so much better when following their nutrition plans, and the food is honestly quite tasty and always allows for modifications to keep grocery costs down. They also make their own line of protein powder (some of the best tasting protein powder I’ve tried, especially the Vanilla flavor), granola bars, and other healthy snacks. You can purchase these online or in Target! I have combined the nutrition plan with other workouts (instead of the TIU app) many times in my life and have had so much success with this.
They also have a Fitness App that has so many programs and trainers, and usually requires minimal equipment. I will say that some of their programs and workouts don’t seem that hard when you’re doing them, but holy moly are you sore the next day.
There is a huge TIU community in a lot of cities (if you don’t believe me, just do a quick Instagram search,) and so many success stories of TIU grads that are really motivating. Given my own results, I can confirm that these stories are real!
Cost
I paid $150 for full meal plan access and a few pieces of equipment to get me started. However, you can purchase each nutrition plan separately for anywhere from $20.00 – $75.00 here. The nutrition plans are e-mailed to you immediately and are also available in the app (if you have it) or online. In my humble opinion, the nutrition plans are the most valuable part of Tone It Up.
After a 7-day free trial, the app membership costs include a few options, including yearly ($99.99), quarterly ($37.99), or monthly ($14.99).
Beachbody Programs (now called “BODi”)
Why I love it
I have done the Insanity and Insanity Max 30 programs on and off throughout my adult life, and they are easily two of the hardest workout programs I have ever done. I wouldn’t recommend these immediately after being cleared to work out at your 6 or 8 week appointment (trust me, you might feel like your uterus is about to fall out with all the jumping, even with modifications) but there are some other great options through the Beachbody on Demand programs.
While there are too many programs available to list here, you can sort through the programs by popularity, length of the workouts, equipment vs. no equipment, your goals (strength building, weight loss, etc,) the instructor, or type of workout (kickboxing, barre, yoga, pilates, HIIT, Meditation, Mobility or recovery.) They also have dance programs, which are an absolute blast (no, I am not a dancer by any means) as well as pre and post natal programs! The abundance of programs offered on this platform is honestly insane, and variety has helped me a TON in getting excited about creating a postpartum weight loss plan for myself.
They also offer Nutrition Programs, many of which emphasize portion control and eating healthy foods as opposed to doing a complete overhaul of your diet. You can focus on different nutrition plans depending on what your goals are, such as pregnancy, portion control, or gut health.
Cost
When purchasing BODi, you have two options: You can either choose to purchase a subscription to just the programs, or you can bundle the subscription with nutrition plans. I personally only have the subscription to the workout plans, which is $179/year. You can also pay monthly ($20/month) or every 3 months ($89/3 months). You do still get 2 nutrition plans with any of the “subscription only” options!
Hal Higdon training plans
Why I love it
Hal Higdon is a runner, author, and running coach, dubbed by The New York Times as the “King of running plans.” I don’t know the man and don’t know if he’s really that big of a deal, but man are his programs amazing and TOTALLY FREE.
Hal’s training plans are absolutely life-changing for those who love running and are interested in getting back into the sport. You can choose from training plans for different distances including 5k, 8k, 10k, 15k & 10 mile, base training, half marathon, or a full marathon. He also has some programs designed to help you develop a basic level of fitness, like fitness walking, and includes a beginning runner’s plan,) or training programs for special races (triathlons or ultramarathons.)
I have used several of these guides and have managed to get back into running injury-free every single time. These guides have been instrumental to my own postpartum weight loss plan thus far.
Cost
FREE!
You can get the training plans online for free or you can download the app (also free with the option to upgrade for more features) for a customized plan depending on what days you are available to train. Since everything is on Hal’s website, I’ve never really seen the purpose of the app and have personally never used it. As a nurse, the days I am available to train vary every week, and I am not very interested in having a program “customized” for me when I can just customize it myself. However, the app itself is very user friendly.
Honorable Mentions
AllTrails is a great, free app if you are looking for new routes for walking, running, or hiking. Routes are submitted by other users in your area.
My favorite (also free) app for tracking outside walks or runs is Strava, which I can best describe as social media for runners. It’s basically just GPS tracking to see how long of a workout you are doing, but you can share your workout distances and times with friends, who can then cheer you on. It’s also a great app for safety purposes if you’re a female who runs alone, because your friends can see where you went / usually go to run. This is my go-to for outside runs and makes sharing your workouts fun and motivating!
I hope this list of my top 5 workout apps helps you develop a postpartum weight loss plan. Please remember to be kind to yourself as you embark on your journey to re-claim your body. Remember that you just grew a literal human being, and you’re doing amazing!
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