WedFit Mum’s Top Tips. Thank You and Good Night!

My sister is wed and we were fit – double whoop! It was an amazing day and a real honour to be part of it. I’d like to publicly thank my sister for choosing me to be her bridesmaid and for allowing me to document the last six months on the world wide web. This quite often meant posting sweaty photos of the new Mrs N in training and inadvertently giving her weight away – sorry! The photos of her looking gorgeous on the day will hopefully make up for this faux pas.

We’ve reached the end of the road and I won’t be blogging regularly anymore, although I will keep the facebook page open in case the mood takes me to post something from time to time. I have achieved the goal I set out to achieve and there is a danger of becoming boring if I try and keep it up without much to say. I’d like to thank all my readers, family and friends for their support over the last six months. I knew that by being so public about my endeavours, it would spur me on – and it really did. Although it did not escape my notice that I got far more likes and comments on my facebook page when I posted about the epic failures and over indulgences than I did for my quinoa pie and soul-baring piece about my pelvic floor – cheers guys!

What next? In the last six months, I’ve lost 1st 9lb and dropped a dress size (see before and after above) and I’ve been asked several times whether I think I can keep it up.  I aim to maintain where I am at now, which means committing to buying some new clothes that fit me and getting rid of my size 14s (eek).  Food wise, I think I can continue, (she says as she swigs a gin and scoffs onion rings) as I’ve got a new way of eating and enjoy the way I eat now. I won’t beat myself up about treating myself from time to time but will try to keep treats as treats, rather than a daily occurrence. Exercise wise, I definitely need a goal to keep me going so am looking into something that I can do on a regular basis that won’t impact the work I am doing to improve my pelvic floor.

During the process of writing this blog and learning more about exercising during and after pregnancy, I have become acutely aware of the need for more education about how to exercise and get fit safely.  I have also struggled to find a class to attend that suits my needs. In a standard exercise class, the instructors are unlikely to have the in depth knowledge or time to tailor the class to your needs, there are few postnatal classes you can take both children to (they are either for baby or toddler, not both), to do a class with your baby, you need one that is happy to sit still while you squat and lunge (mine won’t!), yoga is too gentle, and boot camp/buggy fit is too weather dependent. I think there is an opportunity to bridge the gap and to help women exercise safely and effectively after having a baby. I’d love to help other women benefit from what I have learnt – and do things right from the outset. I’m currently doing my fitness instructor qualifications so watch this space…

For now, I leave you with my top ten tips.

WedFit Mum’s top 10 postnatal fitness tips

1. Enjoy the newborn baby bubble

Enjoy cuddling your baby, enjoy slobbing around in your pyjamas, enjoy eating cake. It’s the only time in your life when simply getting through the day counts as a success, so make the most of it. Don’t fixate on your post-baby body from day 1. I gave myself three months of slobbing time before I started exercising properly.

2. Get started as soon as you feel ready

You will know when you feel ok and ready to exercise and this will be different for everyone. I felt better far quicker after a natural birth than after a C-section so listen to your body.  I firmly believe that exercise is a natural anti-depressant and taking some time out to get the endorphines flowing from exercise and having some much needed time to yourself can help combat feelings of stress (and let’s face it, motherhood can be stressful!)

3. Check your body is ready for exercise

Sadly you probably won’t be assessed properly at your six week GP so watch this video on how to check your abdominals for diastasis recti (where your abdominal muscles have split) and if you’re having problems with leaking or anything else “down there” I would suggest asking your GP to refer you to a physio.

4. Set yourself realistic goals and share them

Don’t set yourself up for a fall, the last thing you need while your hormones are haywire is to load pressure onto yourself. So work out what you think is realistic and take it from there. Make sure you tell someone about it as they will help keep you in check and motivate you. You don’t need to tell the whole internet like I did but a few carefully chosen friends would be a start! Do track your progress but this does not have to be by scale weight. Try measuring round your chest, hips, waist, bum and thighs and seeing the inches reduce, or just aim to walk further and faster.

5. Start slowly

Rome wasn’t built in a day so listen to your body.  Start with some gentle exercise as soon as you can, even if it’s just a short walk and your pelvic floor exercises. Then build up distance, intensity and speed as you feel able. I started by making sure I walked everywhere I could and walking at a brisk pace. I also undertook a postnatal specific online course to work on my core strength. In hindsight I shouldn’t have been doing all the running that I did because my core and pelvic floor muscles weren’t strong enough so don’t make the same mistakes as me.  You may be itching to get back to the exercise you were doing before but taking your time to mend the foundations before launching into marathon training will be better for you in the long run.

6. Eat a sensible and balanced diet

Your body needs plenty of food but the right food so eat a balanced diet. I ate lots of fruit and veg, protein, seeds, and dairy. Also remember that new mums, especially if you’re breastfeeding, need plenty of nutritious food so don’t starve yourself. You really don’t need to. I’ve seen a few mums sign up to quite intense weight loss programmes just months after giving birth, which personally I don’t think is necessary. Just eating sensible portions, plenty of fruit and veg and limiting fat, sugar and huge piles of starchy food should do the job.

7. If you fall off the wagon, get back on again

There will be days, maybe weeks when everything goes to shit.  You’ll be sleep deprived, your baby/children will be driving you up the wall, and you’ll have holidays and celebrations to attend. It’s ok to indulge in wine, chocolate or whatever your vice is. Just don’t let days turn into weeks and turn into months. Start afresh, reset and go again.

8. Choose your exercise carefully

You are likely to be time-poor so you need to find something that fits in with your day, whether this is when baby is napping or when you can arrange childcare. You might need to find something that you can fit in as and when you can so things like running, walking or home based work outs might suit you better. Also the type of exercise that suits you might be different from before. I used to love classes like Body Combat and Step but they were too intense when I first returned to exercise and they still make me wee.  It might be time to try something new and, if you can afford it, a personal trainer is a great investment as they can tailor a programme to suit you and having one-to-one attention means you’ll be doing the exercises properly and safely for maximum benefit.

9. Don’t expect to look the same as before

Even if you get back to your pre-baby weight, your body may not be the same – skin may be looser, boobs may be saggier, you may have stretch marks or thread veins or a plethora of other delights that people don’t tell you about. The key here is in learning to go with it, which might mean wearing different clothes to make the most of your best features and cover your worst and it will definitely mean getting some supportive underwear!

10. Have fun

Enjoy trying new recipes and finding exercises that you like doing (or is at least better than doing bath time at home!), involve your kids in cooking and working out, document your progress and you can even make yourself a reward chart if you like! I never actually made one but I would usually reward a good week with cake after swimming on a Monday. Eating well and exercising should be making you feel better about yourself so enjoy how you do it and you’re more likely to succeed.

That’s it. Thank you for coming on this journey with me and for all your support and encouragement. I couldn’t have done it without you.

WedFit Mum xxx

 

 

 

Time to talk about my dysfunctional pelvic floor

Just over three weeks to go until the wedding! My final dress fitting is on Saturday and I’m where I wanted to be weight wise, which is a good job because my exercise programme needs to change in light of a recent physio appointment about my pelvic floor…

While I have been writing this blog there has been an underlying issue with my pelvic floor. I had intended to talk about it much sooner but it’s proving tough to talk about – partly because it’s quite embarrassing and deeply personal, and partly because I don’t want to get my facts wrong on such an important topic. I need to be very honest – when I say that I pee myself when I do high impact exercise, I literally mean that. Not a trickle, a whole wee. After my first baby, this was enough to stop me doing that kind of exercise, but this time I was on a mission and didn’t care if it meant using tena ladies to catch the drips.  I’m talking about it now because this is a common issue and is an important consideration when taking up exercise after having children – and in hindsight, I haven’t done things the right way round.

I have decided to talk about this because I want people to know that they can ask for help. I only knew to ask to see a physio because I was open about my problem and had a friend who told where to get help. I’ve done quite a bit of reading on this topic, which I wish I’d done months ago,  and I’m saddened and amazed at how common pelvic floor problems are – and how little women are being told about how to improve it. This article and this website took words out of my mouth – there needs to be greater awareness and more access to appropriate after care.

Apparently around 1 in 4 of women suffer from pelvic floor dysfunction after having children. However, from my own experience and sadly that of many others, it seems that the neither the possible extent of the problem or the help available is largely not being highlighted by midwives, doctors, health visitors or fitness professionals. Not having the appropriate after care when you have a baby must be leading to thousands of women putting up with ‘leaking’, (which appears be the polite and standard way of referring to wetting ones knickers), and making it worse by leaving it untreated or doing the wrong type of exercise.

Why am I talking about this now? I have finally had my first gynaecological physiotherapy session, which I requested at my 6 week postnatal check with the GP. I didn’t even know this was a service you could access after my first baby but after talking to a friend about my problems, she advised that I asked for a referral. There was no way the GP would have mentioned this if I had not asked. Private clinics are also available and I was just days away from my first appointment, which was going to cost me £80, when my NHS appointment thankfully came through.

The appointment has taken over 6 months to get but was really useful and has forced me to have a word with myself about my short term v long term fitness goals. I have been booked in for some further checks (I won’t go into detail but use your imagination) to see what exactly is going on, but the upshot – for now – is that I need to stop running and doing any high impact exercise until my pelvic floor muscles are strong enough to handle it. Therefore working on these muscles is a priority.

A few months ago, I was doing the standard pelvic floor exercises (10 x 10 second squeezes, 3 times a day), alongside regular exercise. At first I was really good at doing them then it waned  as I felt I wasn’t progressing. Deep down I knew that some of the exercise I have been doing was probably not a good idea but I was so focused on slimming down that I wanted to do the exercises that would make that happen as quickly as possible and that I enjoyed.  I also felt ready to run and progress the abdominal work I was doing. It’s never felt difficult or painful but it’s obvious really – if you keep putting pressure on something that is already weak it will get worse, like jumping on a bed with loose springs.

So running and anything that makes me wee is off the table until I have strengthened by pelvic floor and core enough to be able to do them without weeing.  Most of the stuff I do in the gym seems to be ok and pilates/yoga is great so I need to adjust my regime. I also have the pleasure of my new friend, the ‘educator,’ which helps  make sure you’re doing pelvic floor exercises correctly – I must admit the first few times I used it, I lay there thinking “fuck my life” but I got used to it. Unfortunately it’s not something you can use while driving (my preferred place to do pelvic floor exercises) or getting on with your household chores!

Somehow setting aside 10 minutes a day to do my pelvic floor exercises seems more difficult than finding 30 minutes or an hour to go for run or to the gym, which is ridiculous and I need to change my mindset to give it the same priority level as ‘normal’ exercise. The reason I’ve found it so difficult to prioritise and stick to the pelvic floor programme is that I can’t see or feel any improvements.  It’s also been quite nice having people notice how I look and complimenting me on my weight loss. I can’t imagine anyone is going to notice or admire my improving pelvic floor muscles! Whereas with running you can quickly see improvements in your speed and distance, helping to keep you motivated.

So anyway, I’ve not helped myself up until now but, as my future brother-in-law would say, “it is what it is” so let’s start with a clean slate – better late than never. I’m prepared for the long haul. I’m not planning on having any more children and I can’t spend my life worrying about where the nearest toilet is or whether I’ll pee myself if I chase the kids around the park. The results won’t be visible to the outside world but will mean the world to me. In a way, I’m glad I’ve only been officially told to lay off the high impact stuff now as I am at a weight I am happy with so maintaining that should be achievable as long as I don’t over indulge.

For now I’ll be continuing with exercise that does not cause me to wee and will keep up the ten repetitions of the pelvic floor exercises three times per day. I’m also going to try and pick up a yoga/pilates class to help with core strength (and relaxation!)

Before I sign off… if this all sounds familiar to you, please don’t suffer in silence. There are programmes available online (although I can’t personally vouch for them) and the first thing you should do is speak to your GP and asked to be referred to the gynaecological physio for a full check-up and advice.

Some useful resources for more info on this topic

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/your-body-after-childbirth.aspx

http://www.squeezyapp.co.uk/

https://www.pregnancyexercise.co.nz/your-pelvic-floor-muscles-what-you-need-to-know-part-one/

https://health.nataliehodson.com/abs11790639

http://holisticcorerestore.com/holistic-core-restore-explained/holistic-core-restore-4th-trimester/

 

 

 

 

 

Time to ditch the scales

I’ve known for a long time that weight on the scales is not the best measure of whether exercise is having the desired effects but without the right kind of tape measure I stuck with it as an indicator of my success or failure, quite often allowing them to dictate my behaviour and mood. I recently started having a personal training session once a week, part of which was to get myself measured. Having seen the results and the difference made in just 5 weeks, I can safely say I am 100% behind using measurements as a marker for success so it’s time to ditch the scales and invest in a tape measure! And, some people might not even need or want to do that as how your clothes fit and how you feel is probably the best indication you need.

In the last 5 weeks I have lost:

• 2.5cm from my chest
• 2.5cm from my waist
• 0.5cm from my hips (this must be where I am storing all the ice cream. A moment on the lips and all that!)
• 5.5cm from my bum (no wonder my shorts are all too big!)
• 1cm on one thigh and 0.5cm on the other (bit gutted I no longer have even thighs though!)
• 3lb in weight

And since I began my weight loss mission back in February, almost 5 months ago, I have:

• Dropped from a dress size 14 to 12
• Lost 1st 10lb (this is more than my 7 month old currently weighs!)
• Progressed from walking 1-2 miles at a time to running 6 miles
• Progressed from lifting no weights to being able to do full push ups and lift 15kg (just about – it was a struggle to get to 10 reps!)
• Learnt to enjoy the gym (and even tolerate a lunge), as well as classes

Now I’d say that’s pretty impressive results. And in all honestly, I’ve done this with very little spare time and while still affording myself some of the food I love.

Unfortunately chances are all this will go out of the window this weekend as it is the HEN DO this weekend! Without giving too much away to the bride-to-be I can confirm there are a lot of naughty treats on the menu and I fully intend to get involved! The good news is that I currently a little slimmer than I was expecting to be by this point so I’ve got some buffer room to go wild!

A little while back I set some goals for myself to achieve by the end of June. I’m a firm believer in having goals and / or a target to work towards. Most people now have to set SMART objectives as part of their job (in a former job, I was also responsible for getting people motivated about doing them) and in a personal setting the sames rules apply -ensuring your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound as follows:

1. To reach 10 stone 7lb by end June and maintain this weight – am now 10 st 3lb
2. To go for a run at least twice a week, building up to 5 miles by end June – did 6 miles
3. Start ‘no more mummy tummy’ exercises again and complete them 6 times per week – haven’t been keeping up

Looking back on the goals I set above, I have  over achieved two out of three – well, two out of three ain’t bad! I haven’t been doing my daily core exercises, which I know I should because it will help tone my middle, as well as improve my pelvic floor. My only excuse is that organising this hen do is like having a full time job so I should make the time now.

Once we’re back from the hen do, we have one month to go until the wedding. The time has flown by! I’ve been fitted for my dress so the key right now is maintenance so it’s not too big or small. The bride is also looking super trim after (literally) working her butt off on a daily basis – and steering clear of the booze. This might not be a good thing when she hits the prosecco this weekend! I will, of course, report back….

A week in the life of WedFit Mum

If a balanced diet meant eating really well for half the week then eating what you like for the other half, I’d be nailing it. I kept a food and exercise diary over the last week to show you the difference between what I did when I first started out, compared to now.  The exercise has stepped up a gear with running instead (or as well as) walking and some more vigorous workouts in the gym with our personal trainer. Food wise, I’ve become much more relaxed but still try not to overdo the carbs.

You’ll quickly see my downfall, especially as it’s been so hot!  Luckily my friend who I run with has found a great alternative to ice cream and suggested freezing yogurts. Muller Light do an after eight flavour, which doesn’t quite cut the mustard as a Vienetta alternative but it’s better than necking Mr Whippy’s like they’re going out of fashion. Said friend also very kindly quoted me as her “inspiration” as she is following some of my advice in a post-wedding and hen do frenzy weight loss mission.

So here goes…

NB this is by no means a recommended programme. It’s an honest account of the last week. I need to omit a few ice creams and cakes before I can write a diet book! But it does go to show that you don’t have to eat only salad leaves!

Monday – my weigh in day and new start day (usually from the afternoon as I have a cake in the morning after swimming)

• Granola and blueberries
• Carrot cake and milkshake (treat after swimming but ended up being my lunch)
• 2 eggs on 1 toast (light dinner before gym)
• Yogurt, seeds and honey
• 2 plums and a handful of shreddies (post gym hunger!)
• Personal training session in gym

Tuesday – generally a good day with it being the start of the week and no temptations

• 2 eggs on 1 toast
• Kiwi fruit and strawberries
• Prawn salad and half a pitta bread
• 2 pieces of malt loaf
• Salmon with homemade pesto and green veg
• Yogurt and raspberries
• 5k run

Wednesday – still doing ok and even managed to squeeze in another gym session

• Shreddies and strawberries
• Breadsticks
• Pitta, ham and tomatoes
• Satsuma
• Chilli and salad
• Yogurt and granola
• 45 minute gym session

Thursday – things start to go awry when I visit my Gran. Who knew a 94 year old could lead me astray

• Shreddies and mixed berries
• Banana
• Salmon, mussels, samphire and potatoes with white wine sauce (I was proud of myself for choosing this instead of a burger in the restaurant)
• Pint of cider (bit of cheeky lunchtime drinking!)
• 3/4 bottle of red wine and two pieces of toast (not recommended as an evening meal but not as bad as Gran’s choice of red wine and a shed load of tablets!)

Friday – tried to get back on the straight and narrow then found chocolate in the fridge

• Egg on toast
• Prawn salad
• Mr Whippy and a piece of chocolate (ok quite a few pieces of chocolate)
• Fish finger pitta bread and salad (this an ‘I can’t be arsed to cook’ meal as I’d just got back from Gran’s and my husband was away so I just bunged a couple more fish fingers in for me)
• Yogurt with seeds and honey

Saturday – started off well but went out of the window when the BBQ began

• Overnight oats with banana
• Plum
• Crumpet
• BBQ – I lost count but something like 4 pieces of meat (burger, sausage, minty lamb stick, ribs), salad, bread roll, coleslaw, crisps, washed down by half a bottle of prosecco and a couple of ciders, oh and an ice cream (or two)
• 5 k run (I’d done this first thing in the morning, not after the BBQ blow out)

Sunday – Father’s day so another meal out

• Shreddies and banana
• Out to a burger restaurant so I had a bunless burger with avocado, coleslaw and salad – there was A LOT of it though! I also had a cheeky milkshake
• Toast with pate in the evening as I was so full from lunch
• Ice cream (yes, another)

It was our 5th personal training session on Monday and we’ve planned in a measurements check and weigh in next week. This is not ideal because I am going away on Thursday for a long weekend and it’s going to be difficult to exercise and eat well – I’m pretty sure Peppa Pig world won’t offer a nice fresh salad and the friends and family we’re staying with are all big fans of a take away! But I have not written myself off just yet – I spent this afternoon prepping some healthy snacks to take with me to at least see me through day one (although the quinoa went sticky and my homemade falafel tastes like shit!), I’m going for a run before we set off tomorrow and I will just need to choose my food choices wisely. I’m practising my mantra already…

NO CATH I DO NOT WANT THAT DELICIOUS KEBAB (repeat as required)

Any tips for eating healthily while not in the comfort of your own home, please send them my way via facebook! Thank you…

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 months to go! Featuring a short tale about a vagina (not mine)

Time is flying by and I’m now two thirds of the way through my fitness journey and only 2 months away from the big day.  Wedding and, more importantly, hen do plans are shaping up nicely and it’s all becoming a reality – eek!

All this excitement has made me reflect on my own wedding, just over 4 years ago, and how I got WedFit for my own special day.

We had about 18 months between getting engaged and getting married primarily to give us enough time to save up and pay for it. We were living in central London at the time and my lifestyle and social life was very much centred around eating and drinking out. As the pre-wedding austerity drive began, I found myself desperately trying to cut back on eating and drinking in restaurants (even a few drinks after work would end up costing £30) and with more time on my hands. This was when I decided to kill two birds with one stone – save money and get fit – so I started training to do a half marathon. I’d always dipped in and out of running but never really enjoyed it and I’d certainly never run this far. But ,with a training partner to spur me on, we pounded the streets of London three times a week, culminating in our first (and to date, last) half marathon.

I’ve said it before but running does seems to change your body shape like nothing else because it works everything. At the same time, I was a member of the gym so I did a couple of classes each week – sometimes a double at the weekend. Ah those were they days when I had time to spend all morning running or at the gym! I know it sounds like I must have been a bit of an exercise buff, but I can assure you I wasn’t. There were times when my friend and I would walk to the gym and end up drinking a bottle of wine (or two…or three) and putting the world to rights instead. However, there does seems to be a crazy amount of motivation that comes out of nowhere when your wedding day is looming. I was definitely at my fittest during this time!

From about 4 months before our wedding day, my husband and I also cut back on all the carbs we were eating and made a pact not to eat bags of twirl bites every single night. I was probably around the same weight – maybe a few pounds less – when I got married as I am today. My tummy was much tighter though! Apparently the saggy skin may never go so I guess I need to embrace my post baby mummy tummy, whether there is a toned pair of abs under the saggy skin or not. And while I’m on holiday I just need to stand upright and not lean over too much – I’m sure that will be easy with two small children running/crawling around while I try and apply sun cream!

I have reached the point where I am happy with the number on the scales and have reached my goal. Now I am trying to maintain it and tone up. This has meant that I have managed to sneak in some chocolate and ice cream from time to time without it having detrimental results (perhaps it has on the toning and it does go against the official advice from my PT!) but I mustn’t get complacent, especially with the indulgence of the hen do coming up!

So I guess the point of this story is that I had a different and more time-intensive exercise regime then, but actually it’s achieved similar results. Exercising has changed too and there is much more focus on HITT (short bursts of high intensity exercises) style workouts. This is great as a time saver but they’re not particularly enjoyable – I’m learning to love them! And finally, it would be ridiculous to be more WedFit for my sister’s wedding than I was for my own so perhaps it is time I calmed down!

Random insert: The vagina story

My friend desperately wants me to mention the experience I had in a soft play this week. It doesn’t fit naturally in with this blog because I’m not strictly a ‘mummy blogger’ but here you go (just for L!)…

Here is how my Thursday went:

• Got up at 5.30am thanks to a wide awake baby
• Everyone was fed, dressed etc in plenty of time to go and vote before our play date – the polling station was in a pub. As it was 9.30am, I resisted the urge to ponder my choice over a wine (apparently they don’t serve wine in this pub anyway – that’s an indication of the standard of public house we were in
• Got to soft play – no parking
• Drive around and find over flow parking, which requires me to either leave my children in the car or carry them both for 5 minutes and up some stairs to pay car parking fee (would have been free if I’d got a spot in the actual soft play grrr)
• Carry children back to car (exercise, exercise), get buggy and go to soft play
• Take umbridge at being asked to pay for the baby so endeavour to put her on all of the toys to get our money’s worth (I don’t really begrudge her £3 fee but I was in an irreversible bad mood by this point…or so I thought
• Banged my head and hurt my neck on the not-so-soft play
• Enter ‘Vagina Mum’… A lady and her semi naked child arrive at the soft play and she is dressed in a mini skirt (and I mean MINI) and white cropped top. I could see the full exit route that baby had taken just 10 months ago. Seriously, why would you wear that to a soft play?! I know it’s very tiring wearing the Mum uniform of jeans, T shirt and converse trainers (I might also need to add helmet to mine) but it’s there for a reason, one of these being to avoid showing your vagina, boobs or butt crack to the other mums. Anyway at least the exchange of wide eyes between my friends and I, silently acknowledging the outright inappropriateness of Vagina Mum’s outfit, cheered me up a treat!

The End

 

 

 

Cooking from scratch with my new best friend, the Ninja

When I started this blog, it was partly to talk about my personal progress (or lack of!) and to provide some support and advice to people who are in a similar situation to me, be that trying to lose some weight or having just had a baby, or both. I’ve tried to write a mixture of diary entry style pieces and some more informative pieces, including food and exercise plans or my thoughts on particular issues. Then I found myself buried under the reality of actually having two small children, trying to keep some form of tidy home, meeting friends, going to activities with the girls,  and getting a bit of exercise done in between, which meant my writing took a bit of a backseat. So with a bit of time on my hands today, I want to talk about cooking from scratch, which I believe makes a huge difference to your ability to eat well.

Why is this so important? Quite simply, you know what is going into your food. No added salt, no added sugar, no additives etc. I’ve always been reasonably good at cooking from scratch but I have been known to have a jar or two of curry sauce in the cupboard. But when I began weaning my first baby, I became super aware of what was added to packet food and did not want this going into my child!  It is really important to me to raise children who are happy eating healthily, can cook for themselves and who understand the importance of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Since I weaned baby #1, I have made most of our meals and snacks from scratch. It helps that I don’t work so I have time to do this during the day but I can honestly say it doesn’t take much longer than packet meals.

Now baby #2 is 6 months old and I am beginning the wonderful weaning journey again. She has taken to it like a duck to water and wants to eat everything we are eating, which I have just been able to roll with because everything (well, most things) on our plate is suitable for a baby.  It’s been so easy this time around because I am in the habit of eating and cooking fresh, healthy meals. I’ve barely even thought about what I’ve got in that will be suitable and there’s been no need to spend hours making special baby meals, I just save a bit of ours to use as finger food and purees. I’ve also invested in a new blender, aptly named ‘the Ninja’ which has a small blender attachment for chucking in mini portions and giving them a blitz.

Here are some of my favourite dishes to share with babies and toddlers.  I haven’t linked to a specific recipes for all of them but I’m sure with a bit of googling you’ll find a recipe that suits you.

Soup – soften a few vegetables in a saucepan with a little oil e.g. carrots, leeks, onion, tomatoes, peppers (whatever you have around really), add boiling water and/or a tin of tomatoes once  starting to soften, bring to the boil and then simmer until it’s all nice and soft. Then blitz in the food processor.

Pasta and homemade tomato sauce – I use Jamie’s tomato sauce recipe and was lucky to be given an abundance of tomatoes from my parents allotment when I was weaning baby #1. You can add veg and serve with tiny pasta with a spoon or twists / penne as finger food.

Salmon (or other fish) and pesto veg – I use Jamie’s pesto recipe to make my own pesto (once you’ve made your own, you will never go back to a jar!). Then spread a bit on the salmon and cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile steam or boil a load of veg e.g. broccoli, beans, cauliflower. Once cooked, toss the veg in pesto too and there you have it.

Beans, egg and broccoli – Use any beans you like as the base (I usually use a can of mixed beans), heat them up with a little water so they don’t dry out. You can add a bit of chilli or garlic if you like but not too much for baby! Then poach some eggs and steam some broccoli to go on top. You can puree the beans for baby and leave the egg in for a bit longer so the yolk goes hard and you can slice it up for them.

Chicken crumble – Davina’s chicken crumble is new addition to our family menu but was a total hit all round. For little babies< you can separate off some of the butternut squash and leek once it’s soft to make into a puree and/or offer your baby some pieces of squash.

Chicken and vegetable curry – there are loads of curry recipes out there so find one that you like that isn’t too spicy.  I like Jamie’s pukka curry and Davina’s Smart Carbs chicken curry. Use vegetables like cauliflower and butternut squash that are nice and soft for baby. You can pick out the meat if baby isn’t quite ready for it (they often struggle before they have teeth!)

Steak and sweet potato fries and veg or salad – This one is a bit of a cheat as I’m not suggesting you serve up a medium-rare rib eye steak to baby! With this one, I use the fries and the veg or salad for everyone then do steaks for the grown-ups and use some of my ’emergency’ freezer supplies for the toddler, usually a pizza or a fishcake.

Sweetcorn fritters – a great little snack for you and a handy lunch to take out and about for baby. I’ve used Davina’s ‘Smart Carbs’ recipe but I’m sure there are others that use normal flour!

Omelette – a nice quick and easy one. Just use whatever you have and make it into an omelette offering strips of it to baby.

Sugar free banana bread – I lived off this with baby #1 and we still love it! It’s basically a healthier way of eating cake (NB if you’re not feeling the sugar free,  my friend and I have been known to cover ours in chocolate spread when the toddlers aren’t looking!)

Smoothie / pureed fruit – If you’re pureeing fruit for baby, there are loads of things you can use it for too. I’ve been eating smoothies for breakfast (just put some yogurt and/or normal or coconut milk in with the puree). I’ve also been using it like a fruit compote, pouring it onto my yogurt and granola and using it in overnight oats.

Avocado toast – Good fats! I love avocado with a bit of lemon and chilli with a poached egg on top. For baby, you can just offer strips or puree it and spread it on toast.

Hope that’s helped anyone struggling for inspiration for themselves and baby. Let me know what’s worked for you!

Disclaimer! This is not official weaning advice, just what’s worked for us. I always leave out any sugar or salt in the recipe. I’ve also realised that I refer to Jamie (Oliver) and Davina (McCall) by their first names only, as if they are my mates. They’re not!

PS anyone waiting for the weekly weigh in will have to wait another 3 weeks as I have decided to only weigh myself monthly in an attempt to become less of a slave to the scales, while focusing on general fitness.

The strange effects of being ill

The number on the scales definitely doesn’t count this week. I’d like to claim that all I needed to do was look at my Personal Trainer and I immediately dropped a few pounds, but sadly this is not true. I’ve spent the last few days being ill. Being a real foodie, it’s extremely unnerving to suddenly not be constantly thinking about food. Imagine how easy, but ever so boring, life would be if you fell into the ‘eat to live’ category of people. I am firmly a ‘live to eat’ kind of girl!

To be fair I slept through most of it so I didn’t spend countless hours wondering how to fill my mind now I wasn’t planning my next meal, wondering whether I’d been good enough to deserve and ice cream,  or researching what I could try for new dinners next week.  The very small silver lining of this bug / food poisoning or whatever it was, is that the last things I’d eaten were mussels for lunch, KFC for tea and an aperol spritz. Let me tell you, this is far from a winning combination when it’s on the way out – hot wings and aperol (which tastes like alcoholic cough medicine) is the worst thing ever to throw up. So the good news is that I’ve probably been put off KFC for life! Being our nearest take away and one of my guilty pleasures, this should be of great help.

I’m still not 100% so eating very plain foods and I had to cancel our second PT session yesterday. Even though the first one didn’t kill me as expected, I suspect she eased us in gently and is planning a full on assassination this week so I thought it was best to be on top form before being put through my paces. The last one was good fun though. There is a definite benefit in having a training partner as the bride and I were measured and weighed at the start and also had to complete a 1km cycle and 500m run and row as fast as we could. I’m sure we both pushed ourselves harder knowing we were racing. It will be interesting to see how we get on as we quite different body shapes but weigh exactly the same!

We’ve signed up for 10 sessions, which comes with a plan to follow outside of our PT sessions. I have decided that I am going to stop weighing myself weekly and only do it monthly so I can focus on the exercise and getting fit, not on the number. Now I have had my measurements done and done the speed tests, I will also be able to compare how my body changes and my fitness levels – a much healthier way of tracking progress I believe.

I’ll still keep you updated with my progress and am planning to keep a food diary once I am better so will try and share some insights from this too.

 

A lifestyle I can live with

I think I might just have achieved an eating lifestyle that I can live with. When I first started this journey, I went for it big time and ate super sensibly all the time – the result was quick weight loss. Then as I’ve gone on, I’ve given into my desire for a treat now and then and am now living a more realistic and long term lifestyle. I’m still losing weight slowly but surely (1lb off this week), and some weeks I stay the same, but I am happy with this. I’ve come to realise that there is no point beating yourself up about devouring a dessert as long as it’s not every day.  So now I eat well most of the time and have a treat when I feel like it, making sure there is some exercise thrown in to ensure it is all balanced out.

I’ve got a good repertoire of healthy meals to call upon and am always on the look out for more. I’ve just bought Davina McCall’s Smart Carbs,  which has some fab recipes and her chicken crumble (made with quinoa and cauliflower) was a hit with all the family. I would add a link to the recipe but the one that comes up on a search is in the Daily Mail and I refuse to send more traffic to their website – but feel free to google it yourself. The great thing about cooking from scratch and eating lots of healthy recipes is that it is really easy to also cater for the needs of a 6 month old tasting food for the first time, making weaning feel much less of a chore.

I’m struggling with exercise because my regular step class has been cancelled, which means I don’t have a set time in the diary for at least one form of exercise. I am also being really rubbish at home as the baby has turned into the clingiest creature I’ve ever known. I probably just need to start squatting or weight lifting while I hold her.  The panic is on with less than 3 months until the wedding so the Bride and I have signed up for a personal trainer once a week. I am hoping this will reignite my motivation and really whip me into shape. I feel like I’ve moved into a new phase with exercise – I’m not quite as delicate as I was 3 months after giving birth so I’m ready to step it up a gear, while still being mindful that my body is still in recovery mode. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes but I suspect I might not be able to walk on Thursday!

 

This is my 27th blog entry. To follow my journey from the beginning, please click here. You can also follow and like my facebook page for all the latest updates.

 

 

 

Muddy hell, what a week!

Hello there and apologies for my absence. I’ve literally had no time to sit down and tap away on my keyboard and, if I’m honest, I’ve been boring myself with the same old news regarding my lack of motivation and inability to lay off the chocolate. However after a Saturday blow out in London, I ate and drank so much that I was happily back on on the healthy wagon this week.

In the final few days before Tough Mudder, I needed to do as much as I could to feel ready to tackle the 5 mile run and 13 obstacles. I went for a 3 mile run, resumed my 10 minute core workouts and did a few push ups whenever I could grab a spare moment – not quite enough to make me feel ready but better than nothing I guess.

I went to a 3 year old’s birthday lunch on Friday and chose a pasta and prawn dish in an attempt to carb load before the race, which was topped off with a huge bit of caterpillar birthday cake (I couldn’t refuse a bit of Colin!) but aside from that I’d had a really good week food-wise and have been back to eating sensibly.

I was so nervous before starting Tough Mudder but not in the same way as when I am doing a straightforward run. I think it’s because I had no expectations on myself other than doing my best. With a run, you know you can do it because you’ve usually done the distance in training and you have a particular time in mind, whereas with this, I didn’t know what to expect. However I was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t be strong enough to get over the obstacles.

I was pleasantly surprised in every way. Being cold, wet and dirty is lots of fun as long as you know it’s coming (it’s a different story to getting caught in the rain without a jacket or stepping in a puddle in your best shoes) and all four of us managed to run the full course, as well as crawling, pulling, jumping, sliding, hurling, grabbing, scraping, wriggling and heaving our way through all the obstacles. On some of the tougher ones we had to get a bit of a leg up or pull up from the stronger and bigger contenders but camaraderie is the name of the game at Tough Mudder. I was thrilled to get round it all and keep running – there were lots of people who walked or skipped the obstacles so I reckon we should be really proud of ourselves. Lessons learnt from Tough Mudder is either that it is easier than we expected or we’re fitter than we though we were. Also it doesn’t matter how much you pee yourself on the way round when you’re already wet and muddy 🙂

It’s the half way point in my WedFit fitness challenge – I began 3 months ago and my sister gets wed 3 months from now. I’ve definitely had some ups and downs – an incredible start with the last month being a bit of a disaster. When I first started out I was going for a few walks and doing some gentle exercises, as well as adapting my eating habits. Now I am running on a regular basis and have just completed a 5 mile obstacle course. It’s not bad going really is it? I’ve also gone from 11st 13lb to 10st 9lb, losing just over a stone altogether.

The number on the scales is becoming less important to me and I can really identify with why Joe Wicks (the body coach), and many others, are so against using this as a marker for success. Joe calls it the ‘sad step’ which is true when they don’t say what you want. I’ve also found that I use them to dictate my behaviour as I will, for example, weigh myself to decide whether I will eat well that day or can treat myself. It’s not a good habit to have and it’s one I want to shake off. I might have to hide them during the week.

So what next? I’m feeling motivated and achieving what I did during Tough Mudder has made me feel good about my overall fitness. So, I want to stick to the goals I set a couple of weeks ago – keep up with the core workouts, keep up with the running and keep eating sensibly.  I also need to get beach body ready for September so there is an extra incentive to stick with it.

 

This is my 26th blog entry. To follow my journey from the beginning, please click here. You can also follow and like my facebook page for all the latest updates.

 

 

 

Confessions of an ice cream addict

I did not get back on it. I have been a fat pig and put on 3lb. There’s not an awful lot left to say but I should probably write a little bit more as you’ve taken the effort to come here!

I’ve hit a wall. As I’ve said before I think this is largely due to reaching the weight goal that I had in mind much sooner than I thought I would so I am not desperately trying to lose a lot of weight anymore. I’ve also been very tired due to some bad nights with the kids and have been using this to justify not doing the short exercise programmes I was doing in the morning. Step got cancelled this week and then I was too hungover to do Bridesmaid Boot Camp.  And let’s not even talk about food, which has included a whole tub of Ben and Jerry’s (Sofa So Good, which should be called Sofa Too Good), a dirty burger with kebab meat on top, copious bottles of wine, and a chocolate cheesecake. It’s all been a bit of a disaster!

My husband gave up smoking shortly after we met but he is one of those ex-smokers who will always want to smoke. At any opportunity, he will have a sneaky cigarette and is on his e-cig all the time.  There are other ex-smokers who can not bear to be around smokers anymore and the very thought makes them feel ill. If I liken this to my eating habits, I definitely fall into the first camp. I will always want to eat a whole tub of ice cream but knowing how bad it is for me stops me from doing it regularly. It is completely down to will power, I don’t know if I will ever achieve a long term change in my mindset.

When I started this blog it was partly to help keep me motivated. Having to admit failure is a horrible thing to do and I dread having to fess up when I fall off the wagon, especially as it seems to be happening so regularly at the moment. But it forces me to be accountable and that really helps. I believe my loss of motivation is down to not having a clear goal now I reached my original weight target, so I have decided to write down some new goals:

1. To reach 10 stone 7lb by end June and maintain this weight
2. To go for a run at least twice a week, building up to 5 miles by end June
3. Start ‘no more mummy tummy’ exercises again and complete them 6 times per week

I have got loads more treats planned this week with our wedding anniversary and a night away with my girlfriends so I think it would be wise to start again in earnest after that!  Of course, Tough Mudder is creeping closer and is only 2 weeks away now. I’m just going to be winging that though as I feel totally unprepared and there is probably not a lot I can do to change that now!

This is my 25th blog entry. To follow my journey from the beginning, please click here. You can also follow and like my facebook page for all the latest updates.