Dump the Bump

Motherhood includes unique responsibilities that can make it difficult to prioritize weight loss. However, it is just as important to take care of your own health as well as your babies. In an effort to make this app as helpful as possible, we asked YOU what would help you the most in your weight loss efforts after giving birth. The features in this app are the result of a collaborative approach between nutrition and public health researchers, WIC staff, and WIC participants. Think of this app as your one-stop-shop for everything you may need to help you return to your prepregnancy weight. The app includes:

1. Weight tracking- Upon registering with the app, you will be prompted to enter your current weight and prepregnancy weight, and the app will use your information to create a unique weight tracker just for you! We have accounted for physiological factors and cultural practices that affect weight loss after giving birth, then we have calculated for a healthy weight loss of one pound per week. You can track your weight daily and see your weights plotted on a graph to compare the rate at which you are losing and know if you are on track.

2. Nutrition and recipes- In this feature, you will enter personal information about your measurements, breastfeeding practices, and activity levels, and the app will calculate your recommended daily calorie intake and suggested food group servings based on MyPlate. You can also track when you consume a serving of the food group in the goal-setting tab. If you need ideas for serving sizes or how to consume enough throughout the day, you will also find a sample two-day meal plan. We also know it can be difficult to find doable, healthy, and delicious recipes, so we have included recipe demonstration videos from Texas WIC using WIC foods.

3. Emotional wellness- While weight loss depends mainly on calories in and calories out, your emotional wellness greatly impacts those behaviors and decisions in those areas. We have included a mood tracker, so you can keep track of your mood and be aware of any patterns of poor mood. Additionally, we have included a resource (NAMI Warmline) for you to reach out to should you wish to talk with someone about how you are feeling. Your emotional wellness is also affected by your stress levels, which can be lowered by practicing mindfulness or meditation. You can try one of the videos we have included if you need to take a break.

4. Physical activity- Step counting is a great way to track your activity levels because it gives you an idea of how much time you spent moving and walking. You can sync your fitness tracker or your phone’s health app to the step tracker. You can also set goals for how many steps you would like to reach in a day for as many days as you choose. We have included some Orange County exercise resources as well as postpartum exercise videos that you can do with your newborn!

5. Community- A key to successful weight loss is accountability and peer support. Since time can be a barrier to creating an in-person community, we have created a discussion board for you to use to ask questions to fellow users. Since this app is designed specifically for women after giving birth, everyone is in the position and can likely relate to your journey. You can use this to ask fellow mothers about their favorite recipes or tips on how to exercise with a newborn.

6. Breastfeeding- WIC supports mothers in their clinics with breastfeeding, so we wanted to include their online resources and videos in case you want to access the information from home.

We hope you find this app to be helpful in your weight loss efforts and promoting your health!