For many mums out there the pressure to lose that pregnancy weight can affect the enjoyment of those first months with your baby. So unless you are planning on donning the catwalk or appearing in Vogue, take a chill pill, enjoy your first few months, while slowly getting back into a healthy routine. It takes nine months to put the weight on, so expect around nine months to take it off again! After that, it’s more about your lifestyle than your bubba! Watch my segment below for more tips.

I am very fortunate to have been nominated AND voted through to the Finals of the Cosmo Mag, Fun Fearless Female awards. I am nominated in the Entrepreneur category but there are many other categories from Actors to bloggers, authors, rising stars just to name a few.

Check out some of the amazing Australian women and what they’re up to! Voting closes on 15th September so back your favourite chicks and vote for all your favourite fun fearless females!

Watch out for the finalists appearing in October edition of Cosmo Mag out in Early September 2010. Vote Now

Recently I appeared on KAK to talk about a home gym for less than $50. Follow this circuit if you want to beat the bulge without breaking the bank!

Recently Kerri-Anne Kennerly was curious to know how on earth I was going to get Matt Preston in shape. She wanted to know if foodies can actually be fit, and what my top tips are for getting someone like Matt into shape.  Here is our interview:

My Top Tips to Becoming a Fit Foodie

Diet

• Begin with a 2 week Detox to kick start your metabolism
• Learn how long it takes to burn off certain foods
• Don’t get portion distortion
• Get creative with low calorie, high flavour foods
• Eat even sized meals throughout day

Exercise

• Train before breakfast on an empty stomach
• Wear a heart rate monitor and count your calories burnt
• Pick exercises that burn the most calories
• Something is better than nothing!

Are you a foodie? Do you think foodies can be fit too???

Read the Full New Idea Article here.

Recently New Idea Magazine has uncovered Matt Preston’s latest project – weight loss! He has enlisted yours truly to train him both face to face and online as he strips off 25kg and embarks on the quest to go from fat foodie, to fit foodie! New idea (23rd August 2010), and has outlined my training plan, nutrition plan and Detox that Matt has embarked on. Watch this space for more updates as we embark on what will no doubt be a whirlwind adventure between the Fitness Freak and the Foodie.

Recently I appeared on Mornings With Kerri-Anne to discuss how we can burn more fat during our workouts and through our diet. Watch the 3:24min clip below.

My Top 5 Tips for Burning More Fat:

Do you have any fat burning tips that have worked for you in the past?

Ever wondered what the top nutritionists recommend for healthy snacks???  I recently had the pleasure of interviewing my nutrition idol Dr Joanna McMillan Price on her top tips for snacking. Joanna has written many fantastic books on health and nutrition. She comes from a strong research background, yet has a brilliant way of explaining things in practical terms.  She walks her talk and is one of the most highly respected Nutritionists in Australia.

Joanna talks about her favourite snacks for health, weight management and enjoyment!

Two key lessons really stood out for me:

1. Spread out your meals: You will expend more calories (ie speed up your metabolism) if you spread your calories out in the day (rather than eating 2-3 larger meals). That’s why if you skip breakfast then eat more than half your daily calories after 4pm, you will probably struggle to lose weight.
2. Beware Foods that Drive Hunger: The three main drivers for hunger (ie these things make you want to eat more) is Fat, Sugar, Salt. Food manufacturers know this so they load up food with these things. Chips: Fat and Salt. Chocolate bar: Fat and Sugar – ouch!

Joanna’s top Snack Pics:

• Fruit/veggies: Bananas, Oranges, apples, strawberries, carrot sticks, celery sticks.
• Muesli bars (Be Natural are her top pick). Beware of fat and sugar content
• Small portion sizes of nuts and seeds

Thanks SO much Joanna for your informative (and cheeky) interview! I need one of those banana holders!

What are your favourite snacks that follow my guide of  SIMPLE – NUTRITIOUS – DELICIOUS?

Recently on Mornings with Kerri-Anne we discussed exercising throughout your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. What are some of the best exercises for different age groups and what should you be focussing on?

Sydney Marathon

You’ve done the training. You’re feeling fit. It’s time to think about your strategy for the big day. Factors such as the type of training, food, recovery, and race day strategies can be the difference between a PB and a PF (personal flop!) What can you do in the two weeks leading up to a race and on the day that will deliver your best running effort yet?

Taper your training:

Tapering training will enable your body to be fully recovered from all those long runs you’ve subjected it to. It gives you a chance to build up important stores such as your iron levels, zinc and white blood count. Do you need any more reasons to cut your training back? Most people jump at the opportunity!

Tapering is dependent on the distance of your race. For a marathon I would suggest halving your total distance/time run for the last two weeks. Doing shorter easy runs, mixed with a few sprints will help with speed, but really it’s just about maintaining what you’ve already got.

For a half marathon, the more prepared you are, the more time you have for tapering. Your last long run should be 8 days before, but if you only decided only three weeks before the race to do it, you may very well need that extra bit of time! You won’t make a huge difference to your fitness in the 8 days leading up to the race, but you run the risk of being tired/injured if you smash yourself so close to it.

For any distances less than a half marathon, give yourself four days off running before the race and you should fresh a daisy on the day.

Get stretching:

Admit it, you don’t stretch enough. What is it with most runners and stretching? It’s about as popular as a cold shower in winter (maybe because it can feel just as painful!). Hamstrings, calves (stretch with both a straight leg and bent), glutes, hip flexors, and lower back are the essentials. Click here for a video on some popular runners stretches. You may prefer to join a yoga or body balance class as this will stretch not only your running muscles but others you never even knew you had.

What to eat and drink before the race:

The ‘last supper’ is an important one. Actually what you eat that entire day could make a difference. Eat sensibly all day, rather than stuffing your face at night. Eat the same amount as you normally would, or slightly more, but don’t be a pig. What goes in must come out, and you don’t need that half way around the course! Don’t try a new meal or something you’ve never eaten. Spicy, rich foods are a no-no, so is salt and high salt meals.

You definitely want carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, cous cous etc) to make up about 80% of your evening meal. If you suspect you might be intolerant of wheat, best to stick with brown rice or potatoes the night before, rather than bread or pasta.

I would suggest adding some iron rich food and protein your evening meal as well. It could be spinach and white meat, but I prefer a small piece of red meat. The protein from the meat will also help in your recovery, but save the big, heavy protein meal for the days after the race.

Some people are camels and can run on a completely empty stomach (like me). I would suggest sticking with what you know on race day, but you may want to have a sugary drink prior if you haven’t eaten since dinner.

Those who need to eat before a run, make sure you leave three hours between your meal and the run and keep it light like a banana, porridge, or toast with jam.

Hydration before the race

Pre-hydration the day before, not just re-hydration after the race is a crucial factor. Each day you need 30ml of water for every kilo you weigh. Then between 500ml- 1litre (depending on body size and race intensity ) for every hour you exercise. If you feel you might be dehydrated, you may want to increase that amount the day before. They say that a normally hydrated person will often need to get up once during the night.  So it’s a good sign if you need to get up the night before your race.

If you are well hydrated before the race, you will need less drink stops, which can help with your race time. You also don’t want to be having big gulps while you run as it can lead to stomach cramps. Besides, they say that once you feel thirsty you are already dehydrated so best to tackle that the day before and just sip at your drink stations.

Sleep

Try to get 7-8 hours each night in the week leading up to the race. Have an early night the night before and do what you can to reduce your jitters so you sleep well. If, however you have a restless night, don’t despair. One night out of seven won’t make that much difference, and I can assure you, I’ve done many a fast run on little sleep!

Race day strategy

Everyone has their own little systems that work, but here are some tips for race day that you might want to consider;

• Don’t change anything! No new shoes, outfits, food, drinks, gadgets, that have not been tried and tested in training. Not even your underpants!
• Get there early – however don’t freeze your butts off: There can be a lot of standing around, so bring an old jumper you don’t mind throwing away, or have your pit crew nearby to toss it to right before the gun. By getting there early, you can relax, enjoy the atmosphere, use the bathroom, and most importantly have a proper warm up and stretch.
• Go to the bathroom before the race: But remember the queues can last up to 45 mins in some of the bigger races.
• Know your race plan: Position yourself in the correct start place so you aren’t elbowing the slow pokes to get past, or getting trampled by the keen beans. Have your watch or heart rate monitor set up to all the correct laps and settings so you can pace yourself. Some races have pacers wearing shirts with their estimated pace time. They can be a really good helping hand but pull away if the pace is different to your norm.
• Enjoy the race! You have trained hard for this, and you are quite possibly the fittest you have ever been. Be in the moment throughout your race, and blow away any negative self talk. Yes you will be hurting, but remain positive in your attitude and watch how much more fun you will have. If you can’t enjoy the race, I promise you will enjoy the feeling of accomplishment afterwards.

Good luck and keep me posted on your results!

Recently I appeared on mornings with Kerri-Anne  to discuss whether it is necessary to weigh yourself for weight loss. It’s an interesting debate and one that I have very strong views about. Watch the discussion below…

What has your experience with the scales been? How frequently do you weigh yourself?