When nine months of eating for two adds up

Celebrities who have babies seem to bounce back to their pre-baby figures in a nanosecond. Unfair, perhaps, but consider: They have unlimited access to the best fitness trainers who can aerobicize them into shape. The non-celeb crowd now has some help too. “Lose That Baby Fat!” (M. Evans and Company Inc., 2006) by LaReine Chabut takes a sensible approach to post-pregnancy exercise.

Jeannine Stein

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“Lose That Baby Fat!”: Chabut, a fitness author, video instructor and model, admits, somewhat sheepishly, that she had never really worried about her figure -- until she had a baby. “Losing my figure for the first time in my life was traumatic,” she says. “Once I had a baby, I had to work my butt off to get back in shape.” The result was this book, which tackles post-baby fitness reasonably. Chabut counters the usual excuses for not working out (time, money, etc.) and peppers the pages with women’s baby weight confessionals that lends a you’re-not-in-this-alone flavor. The workout regimen begins with walking and stretching, then progresses to exercises for abs, arms and chest, glutes, shoulders and upper back, and legs. A few programs are offered, such as circuit training and weight training. Exercises are illustrated with black and white photos, and a stability ball is used for many of the routines. Chabut takes a reassuring tone throughout the book, letting women know that a better body can be achieved over time. “When you’re pregnant,” she says, “so many people tell you, ‘Eat what you want, you’ll lose it....’ You can’t carry a baby for nine months and not have any changes. But women should know that it’s going to change and it will go back eventually and you will see the light of day.”

Price: $17.95, available at bookstores.