The first weeks and months after having a baby are quite possibly the time when (if you’re even a little obsessive like I am) you’ll feel the worst you’ve ever felt about your body. Aside from those early months of pregnancy when you started wondering if it wouldn’t be entirely inappropriate to get a t-shirt printed with the statement “I’m not getting fat, I’m pregnant – what’s your excuse?” At least that time comes with the knowledge that we will soon look pregnant and all accusing stares can be apologetically returned to whence they came.

But after you give birth, and first allowing a little time for the initial glow of the joy of your baby to find it’s place, you start to dwell on a new hope. The hope of breastfeeding. After all, haven’t we all been taught that breastfeeding coupled with a moderately healthy diet and some moderate exercise will have you slim and svelte in no time? Possibly even more so than before you were pregnant? Exciting, isn’t it?! I know I started daydreaming about how good I was going to look within just a few days of giving birth. The fact that I lost 11kg in the first 5 days was – I’ve now decided – a cruel trick to make me think the rest would simply slip away. By the end of week one I’d decided I’d be fully firm and back in my bikini by 6 weeks max.

Well Alyssa is now 16 weeks and whilst I’m ok with wearing a bikini and acknowledge that I look pretty good for someone who recently had a baby, I still long for the day when I can just think “I look pretty good”. Full stop. And for me, that still means being pretty damn obsessive and it still means returning to something very close to my previous physique. If not better. In fact definitely better, considering that I (stupidly or courageously?) took on a bet with Charles Poliquin to get my body fat to a set point by early December this year. Nothing like being accountable to the world’s leading strength and conditioning coach and just the smartest man I’ve ever met to keep you motivated ….

So when you find yourself in such a situation (I’m assuming CP bet aside, except perhaps for L if you’re reading this?) what do you do? You’ve probably already realised that the whole breastfeeding weight-loss thing was kind of a crock (at least for the first few months) and that eating ‘healthy’, maybe even eating paleo just ain’t cutting it. At least not in the way you’d hoped. And it SUCKS, doesn’t it? I mean, even I can see that some value has been gained by being forced to realise just how much of a control-freak I’ve been about my body, and sure, I never thought I’d be comfortable wearing a bikini at anything over my previous body weight, so the whole thing’s definitely been a good lesson. If for nothing else than for being able to truly understand how tough people can sometimes find it to shed weight, even when they’re doing ‘all the right things’. But enough already! Lesson over!

So if you can relate to any of that even just a little bit then I’d like to give you a glimmer of hope. The whole p/p weight loss if it’s not working for you is not necessarily your fault. Well – we could go back and analyse your eating habits etc leading up to and throughout pregnancy, but I’m talking more about what’s happened since. Maybe you have eaten well, maybe you’ve done some great workouts, and maybe you’re even getting a decent amount of rest. But the truth is that none of that is gonna do you as much good as you’d think when your metabolism has ground pretty much to a halt over the past year or more and is now stubbornly refusing to move, much like an obstinate dog sitting in a puddle .

So here’s the scoop. Amongst the roughly 10,000+ units of information I’ve learned through my studies with the Poliquin Institute I recently gleaned a little nugget of information that I think you’ll find particularly interesting. I know I sure did.

Selenium is a mineral and a potent antioxidant, is very effective for detoxification, and according to leading hormonal experts such as Charles Poliquin a lack of it can be a leading cause of stubborn post-partum weight – and may even be a reason for post-partum depression. Jump on google and search ‘benefits of selenium’ and you’ll see that it’s oft-touted as an ideal supplement for anyone with an underactive thyroid. Your thyroid is the gland whose function (or lack thereof) basically controls your metabolism, and thus your weight. So it stands to reason that a poorly working thyroid would make it pretty damn tough to drop fat, even when you are eating well and working out. The good news is that many organic foods should naturally contain selenium – brazil nuts are known to be very high in it, and decent amount can also be found in butter, meat, fish, eggs, dairy and shellfish. The problem? The quality of organic food always depends on the quality of the soil (except for fish ), and Australian and US soils are known to be fairly deficient in selenium, even if organic. So I’ve been using a supplement these past few weeks, and I’m using the form of selenium known as ’selenomethionine’ – it’s the most potent. I’ve bought it in capsules and liquid (very bitter though) from my local health food store and am taking 600 micrograms per day, which I plan to do until 6 months post-partum. But if I hadn’t come across it until after that time had passed I would still put myself on it for a good 6 months in order to restore adequate levels.

I’m also doing a few sneaky things with fibre and probiotics but I might save that for another post – this one’s already well on the lengthy side!

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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I’ve always been pretty selfish about the way I live my life. And once something is important to me I’ll move heaven and earth to make it happen. Over the past decade or so, exercise has increasingly become the prime example. I hate missing a planned session and would far rather miss (or at least arrive late to) pretty much any sort of gathering or event if the alternative is skipping out on a workout. Before you roll your eyes at the idea of someone loving exercise so much, know this -

Okay, yes, I do really enjoy working out. Most of the time. I feel clean once I’ve done my workout for the day. Purified by the sweat. I know this might sound really strange, but when I don’t have a good sweat session I just feel gross and grubby all day long and a shower’n’soap can’t fix it. But there’s more to it than that. It’s about control. I have a deep-set (and I know, ridiculous) fear that if I miss a session I’ll suddenly lose control of my body. I feel fat and disgusting. I’ve heard it said that everything we do is motivated by either pain or pleasure and try as I might I just can’t work out which one drives me more when it comes to clocking off another sweaty hour or so. Either way, I’m generally pretty happy with the situation, happy to be that person. As far as obsessive habits go, it’s a healthy one and I’m careful to balance recovery exercise with the full-on stuff.

Obviously I had to loosen up the reigns a little during pregnancy, but the only thing that got me through was the knowledge that I’d be able to re-gain control the week, no the day, no the very minute after having the baby. I simply had to. Of course if you’ve stopped by over the past few weeks you’ll know that, for me at least, the post-partum weight loss game is not an easy one. I have nothing like the level of control I used to have over my body, although I am still determined as hell to get there. Inch by inch. And in the first few months of Alyssa’s life I followed my old pattern to achieve this – I really did whatever it took to get my workout’s in. Every day. Starting from the day I left hospital. A little excessive, sure, but it felt right for me. So I went to the gym at 6am while she was sleeping even though I’d been up most of the night. And if the early morning sessions didn’t happen then I took whatever opportunity I could to leave her with E or occasionally my Mum or her godmother for an hour or so while I took time for myself.

Which was all well and good while I wasn’t working, but I’m now back part-time and really noticing it. I never thought that one full day and two half days would feel like so much time away from my baby. I can’t stand leaving her in the mornings if she’s unhappy and needs soothing and it’s even worse if she is happy and wants to play. I feel like I’m missing out, and I hate it, I hate not being the one there for her even though she’s either at home with E or my Mum and I know she couldn’t be better looked after.

An unexpected outcome of this has been a shift in my approach to exercise. I’m still averaging a good 5+ sessions p/week, but there’ve been several recent occasions where I’ve skipped a workout (gasp!). Right now I could be training at the local gym with morning childcare – I’m not going to work until 2pm so there was plenty of time to make the 9 am-10.30 session. But 9-10 am is the most bubbly and energetic part of Alyssa’s day. I wanted to be part of it. And I wanted to be there for her, be the one to play with her and engage her, and then be able to get her to bed at 10 when she needs it rather than dragging it out until 11 or later after hitting the gym. And exercise isn’t the only thing I’ve been compromising in this way – there was a time when I’d never say no to squeezing an extra client into an already full day but this week I’ve gone the opposite extreme and cut out half of my big day. That sort of thing would have freaked me out well and truly in the past, but these days I seem to be calmer. Certainly not willing to relinquish control completely, but happy to change the definition a little.

And I wouldn’t say I’m anywhere near sacrificing my own wants and needs (and nor would that be a good thing obviously), but for a selfish gal like me this baby love thing is a bit of a necessary wake-up call I think. And what better reason to break some old patterns then the fierce and increasing love of your child?

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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So I popped into work with Alyssa on Monday morning on my way to doing a bit of pre-Gold-Coast wardrobe sprucing-up. I was feeling pretty good actually. Despite the fact that the scales are still sitting firm at around 7kg over my pre-preggie weight, I’m happy with how my body is looking. I’m tightening up more each week, my body fat is holding firm between 14 and 16%, and I’m truly into my training at the moment in a way that I haven’t been for years. Matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that my fitness is at an all-time high. It could be just because I’m able to really push myself again and am loving that high after 9 months of taking it pretty easy, but I have a bit of a sneaking suspicion it’s also due to me finally having the courage to drop the cardio after realizing just how stressful and therefore fattening it can be post-pregnancy.

Anyway, long story short it was a good day. I had my beautiful girl with me, I’d done a killer circuit earlier that day, and I was feeling energized. So you can imagine my reaction when my offhand comment about heading into the center to buy a new bikini was met with the following -

“You’re a Mum – you can’t wear a bikini anymore!”

WTF?!

Ok, so 19-year old whippersnapper boys (in the form of my cheeky apprentice L) in general do not deserve to have much of what they say given serious value but this really took the cake. I mean, c’mon. If that’s the way the world thinks then no wonder most Mums out there give up before they’ve even started trying to shape up. Heck, I knew it was accepted that motherhood throws your body into at least a short-term turmoil, but nobody warned me it resulted in a new set of rules about what you can and can’t wear. Apparently regardless of the fact that you may still be a good couple sizes less than the average Aussie woman who didn’t even have a kid!

I think you’ll agree when I say that boy needs a slap. (Okay, now I really am acting like a Mum). Fortunately, my feel-good hormones held strong and I didn’t let it get to me. I left the shops with 2 beautiful new Tigerlily bikinis (and if I do say so myself my boobs look amazing in them) in what obviously had to be a larger size than previous Summer fare but – and here’s something I’d never have expected – probably feeling better about bikini shopping than I ever have before.

Gold Coast eat your heart out, cause this Mum ain’t going into hiding.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

What’s the cheekiest thing somebody’s ever said to you as a Mum? Comment below!

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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Yesterday was Alyssa’s first trip up the 1000 stairs in Ferntree Gully National Park (she did want to go alone with all the other kids from my family reunion, but I had to insist on accompanying her). Anyway – and apologies for the joke attempt, it’s early early early – doing that beautiful outdoor trek for perhaps what was my slowest time ever, brought home an important point for me -

Exercise doesn’t always have to be about smashing yourself. About going hard or going home. And as tough as it is to admit this, it really was very enjoyable just fast walking up the stairs rather than being the crazy person trying to elbow all the Sunday tourists out of the way as they try to better their sprint time. Not that I’ve ever done that, you understand (ok, 7:19 in case you’re wondering, although that was many moons ago!)

The funny thing was, as much as I feel generally awesome when I do punish myself with any sort of extreme workout, yesterday I noticed that I felt pretty damn fantastic as well. At first I couldn’t figure it out. And then I realised – I felt relaxed. As though my soul had been rejuvenated. And I had to wonder why I don’t make more of an effort to enjoy outdoor activity in this beautiful city. It’s probably something I’ll naturally do more of as she gets older, but in the meantime it wouldn’t hurt to remember that being in great shape does not have to begin and end at the gym with an 85% max HR.

And it’s occurred to me that the same lesson could be applied to life. I mean how often do you rush through the days, weeks, months, eyes not really on the prize, but instead focused on getting to the next thing on your list, or on feeling some sense of success based around accomplishment, or – worse – around busyness and not even necessarily productivity? I recently wrote a post about this over at Dumb Little Man, and the focus was on letting go of the rush and the must-do’s and finding ways to introduce joy into your life again. And when exercise is routinely more of a must-do (even if it is a want-to as well), and less about spontaneity and maybe even FUN then maybe it’s time to make a change. Don’t you think?

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

These are just my thoughts and musings, and they sure as heck make sense to me. I’ll be doing my best to find some research to back up or disprove what I’ve put forth here (and can most likely find both if I look hard enough and for long enough) but feel free to chime in if you know of any relevant science-based studies I’ve missed.

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends and tweet it. Thank-you!

If there’s one thing that keeps us all going throughout the frankly terrifying body changes that accompany most pregnancies, it’s the knowledge that as soon as we give birth the weight will simply vanish. Melt away. And why is that ladies? Breastfeeding, of course! Everyone knows it causes weight loss. I mean, you can read about it all over the internet. Not that you’d bother, because it is, after all, common knowledge. But if you did choose to bother (and yes, I did), this is where you might go for a few handy examples -

• Average weight loss from breastfeeding
• Breastfeeding helps with weight loss
• Weight loss while breastfeeding
• Does breastfeeding cause faster weight loss post-partum

Pretty impressive huh? Except – what’s that now? Oh, yeah. Sorry. Probably should have mentioned. The first two are actually the same study, the third is more about how to reduce calories in order to lose weight while breastfeeding (pah!), and the last one slipped in by accident and is actually all about how breastfeeding mother’s actually hold onto weight for longer. AND THAT’S ALL I COULD FIND! Oh – and don’t get too excited about that first study either, as it shows the average weight loss from breastfeeding to be a miserly 4.4 pounds.

The idea of breastfeeding as a myth was first presented to me by my friend L. She’s a gym junkie from way back, and if there’s anyone I trust to be as anally obsessive about their body as what I am, then L’s the one. And she swears she could not lose the last few kilos until she stopped breastfeeding. It was the first I’d heard of the idea. Amazingly (when I now think about it) I’d never actually bothered to research the truth of the statement. The certainty that breastfeeding would melt away all the baby blubber has always been the one beacon of hope for me when I’ve thought about pregnancy and all it entails. I held onto that knowledge throughout my pregnancy, using it to lift my spirits whenever I felt especially awful.

And suddenly it had rudely been snatched away from me.

And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. After all, I’m a big believer in the power of the hormonal system and deep-set survival instincts to control weight, and when you think about it, wouldn’t it stand to reason that a breastfeeding Mum needs extra fat stores in case of a sudden famine? I know from reading Julia Ross’ book The Diet Cure that women are (pregnant or not) more efficient at laying down fat and even creating new fat stores than what men are, and that part of the reason for that is in order to have back-up energy should the woman fall pregnant. So surely once your or my body realises that it is, in fact, relied upon in order to ensure the survival of the species then it would become all the more important to save some energy reserves. Am I crazy with this line of thinking?

I haven’t been able to find any online research to back it up, but I did speak briefly with Charles Poliquin yesterday, arguably the world’s leading hormone expert. And although I didn’t spout forth my entire theory, he did concur that breastfeeding – at least initially – results in weight retention. And with the results I’ve had in my business from using that man’s weight loss system, I’m more than happy to take him at his word.

So I guess the big question is – so what does it change, this idea that breastfeeding may not be the god-send we’ve all counted on it being? And I guess the answer really has to be nothing. We’ll keep training well, continue to eat right, and – when it all comes down to it – do what we should always have been doing, and focus on the delights of that brand new bundle of joy along with the certainty that we will eventually get there. Or at least that’s my plan. Sigh.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

These are just my thoughts and musings, and they sure as heck make sense to me. I’ll be doing my best to find some research to back up or disprove what I’ve put forth here (and can most likely find both if I look hard enough and for long enough) but feel free to chime in if you know of any relevant science-based studies I’ve missed.

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends and tweet it. Thank-you!

This morning I tried on my pre-preggie Diesel skinny jeans (second attempt post baby, first one was on NYE) and guess what? They didn’t fit. So why am I telling you this rather than wait until I can gleefully exclaim over how I’ve managed to wedge myself back into them? Because when I got those jeans up and the button was still a good 2 inches away from success you know what happened? I didn’t freak out. And if you know me even a little bit, you’ll know that’s saying something. I have been known to, ahem, well, obsess. Just a little bit. About getting back in shape.

But something quite amazing has happened this past week. It took place within just a day or so of my deciding that a little self-acceptance was in order. I’m talking about beating myself up to look a certain way within a certain timeframe. I’ve somehow just stopped caring. I don’t mean that I’ve given up – part of me still wants to be back to a size 8 yesterday. But I’m not panicking anymore. A week ago the jean incident would have had me nearly in tears, and this morning I just shrugged it off. Same thing happened an hour ago when I jumped on the scales and they were still much within the same range they’ve been for weeks.

“Oh well”, I thought. “It’ll work out eventually”.

Have you ever noticed how much of a relief it can to be to consciously let go of something you were holding over yourself? I think of it as being like walking around with a 10kg pack on your pack for weeks on end, becoming so used to it that you don’t even realize it’s there anymore – until someone takes it away. And you notice how light you feel. How much happier. And – most importantly, perhaps – how you can suddenly handle or focus on other things, things that should quite probably have been a higher priority in the first place. Like spending extra time with your baby rather than worrying about squeezing in an extra workout. Like being totally present in a conversation and caring about other people’s lives rather than running body fat figures in your mind.

And the skinny jeans? They’ll still be waiting for me when I get there. Which I will, for sure. You can count on it. But when I do I hope to have learnt a whole lot more about self-belief, about putting first things first, and about living in the present. Life is, after all, a journey. We’d be crazy not to enjoy on the ride as well as the end destination.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

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If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends and tweet it. Thank-you!

If you passed through this blog last week you may recall my final thoughts for Monday’s post. Here’s a quick refresher:

“I was supposed to have my measurements and body fat taken this morning for the first time in 2 weeks. Particularly scary given the importance I’ve built up into it these past few weeks which is now magnified by my expectation that the last 2 weeks (paleo eating) better bloody well have done something. Anyway, my trainer canceled on me so I’ve been granted a reprieve of sorts. Am on the way to doing my own workout now and I guess I just have to decide if I can face the fear and hit those scales ….”

Now read that paragraph through again and then answer me this – what’s the one word that stands out that really shouldn’t have a place in any sort of shape up or health regime? If you answered ‘expectation’, you’re on the right track, and if ‘fear’ is the word that got you then you get bonus points.

Well. Expectation is all fine and dandy in some instances, but when it does in fact mean that you surround yourself with fear and negative self-talk then it’s definitely not a good thing. So I think it’s time for me to ‘fess up – I haven’t been any good at all of late at practicing what I preach. I’m an avid believer in the ability of the mind to overcome even the best of exercise and nutrition regimes, and yet I’ve been putting an unbelievable amount of heat on myself to be back in tip-top shape within weeks of popping a human being out of my nether regions. Not so smart, huh? In fact, looking back, I really have to hang my head a little (final moments of negativity toward self!) at just how brutal my thoughts have been.

Telling myself I look fat. That I’m chunky and disgusting. That I should be embarrassed to go back to work or show my face when I do my refresher BioSignature hormone modulation course next month. And I guess the worst part of this is that the mere idea of being positive-minded wasn’t enough to snap me out of this pattern. Instead it took me being reminded of a little science to realize just what I’ve been doing to myself – in re-reading a Poliquin article over the weekend I was reminded that depression and negative thought patterns ramp down the thyroid (reduce your metabolism), and increase cortisol (fat-storing hormone), so I guess the sad truth is that my motivation in being nice to myself is knowing that it will help me burn more fat!

Anyway – however it comes about, I do feel quite a sense of relief just from 24 or so hours of having cut out the trash talk. Of looking in the mirror and telling myself (and nearly believing!) that I look pretty damn good for a woman who had a baby 9 weeks ago. Telling myself I’m getting leaner every day. That it is what it is and that it WILL work out for me. That I’ll get there. And that it’s actually okay if it takes me a little longer than I’d initially hoped. Because at the end of the day, why is it important to me to look a certain way? Sure, it’s about feeling good, about a sense of control and power, but the truth is it’s also about wanting to feel accepted, wanting to be liked. A kick-back to not being one of the cool kids at school and to having learned these past few years to place perhaps too much importance on the way I present myself; the way others perceive me.

So I’m not saying that this is an excuse to cut back on the training or slack off on the nutrition, but to realize that that’s just part of it. And that looking a certain way is not what will cause people to like or respect me (I hope). And – more importantly – to realize that the things I say to myself, the thoughts I dwell on each day, these are perhaps more than anything the things which shape and mold me as a person. And that maybe, just maybe, in learning to accept myself for who I am at the moment, for the me that I’ve created, I can learn to find pleasure or satisfaction in the smaller accomplishments that occur each day on the path to the end goal. Whatever that may be.

What do you think? How do you treat yourself in your own head?

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email at the top right of this page, or by RSS in the URL bar.

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It’s been two weeks since I vowed to go paleo with my diet, following the very upsetting refusal of my body to lose either scale weight or consistent body fat weight. And considering that day one of paleo-me was the Monday prior to Christmas, I’d have to say I’ve done pretty damn well! I allowed myself one meal off for both my family Christmas and my partners, and another meal off for my sister’s birthday, which is on the 27th (poor her). And even at those meals I didn’t go crazy. I’ve even managed to keep a large chunk of my Mum’s devil-food cake (amaaazing) in the freezer for a future treat rather than scoff it down the very day she brought it over.

The best part? Cutting the fat (well, the carbs and sugar) from my diet has been surprisingly easy. Astoundingly so. I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner (straight after birth). And to be honest I don’t think my hesitation was totally about fear of whether I could be that strict again, although that was definitely a huge factor. But a large part of it also had to do with wanting to perceive myself as someone who could ‘get away’ with being only 80 or 90% ‘good’, and still get back into great shape. I guess it’s a pride thing – wanting to feel that my metabolism is working for me (good dog!) rather than against me. And it’s born from the fact that that has been the case for the past 2 or 3 years at least. It’s hard to stop (wanting to) see myself this way. Which is partly why I cracked it yesterday because my waist measurement had only gone down 1.5cm after my 12 almost-sugar-free-days, and proceeded to scoff 3 cinnamon donuts with the excuse that eating well isn’t working anyway! Yep, it’s true. I can’t always follow my own advice, and – despite knowing how illogical it is – I do expect instant results when I do something right. Anyway.

Here’s the good news (for both of us) -

Every proper workout you commit to and complete, every smart eating choice you make, every time you follow through on all the small and little things that will powerfully transform your body, you’re putting money in the bank of you. You’re slowly but surely changing not only your basal metabolic rate, but the way your body is programmed. As women particularly, it’s in our nature to store fat faster than we shed it. And I don’t need to tell you that skipping meals, following low-fat or low-cal diets or even doing excess amounts of cardio can all speed up that fat-storing process. But it’s just as much of a cert that doing the opposite of all that can and will get your body working for you, which is where I was prior to falling pregnant.

So even though I have to face facts as they are, which is that I’ve lost that edge, I do have the advantage of remembering what it was like, and the belief that I’ll get back there. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s already proving far harder physically, and psychologically more challenging than I thought possible but the battle ain’t over yet.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

**PS – I was supposed to have my measurements and body fat taken this morning for the first time in 2 weeks. Particularly scary given the importance I’ve built up into it these past few weeks which is now magnified by my expectation that the last 2 weeks better bloody well have done something. Anyway, my trainer canceled on me so I’ve been granted a reprieve of sorts. Am on the way to doing my own workout now and I guess I just have to decide if I can face the fear and hit those scales ….

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

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That’s right. My weight has gone UP. Again (last week it was up 0.5kg). However my body fat is still holding steady at significantly lower than what it was post-Alyssa, at which time my weight was 2.5kg lighter than what it is now. Ridiculous, isn’t it? I came in at 16.6% today, with a noticeable jump around the sides of my belly – a sign I’ve been indulging in too many carbs for my needs. I really did think I’ve been pretty darn good with my diet, but clearly not as good as I need to be. I guess those tic-tacs and the occasional M&M really do add up. And, as my trainer TJ commented to me this morning, it’s fine and dandy (my words, not his!) to follow the 80/20 rule when you’re at a point that you’d like to maintain, but if you’re trying to change your body then you just can’t get away with it.

Damn damn double damn.

So it’s time to kick things up another level. I never did end up going 100% starch free as I promised a couple weeks back (hey, what can I say, I’m great at preaching but not always awesome at the practice), although I did make some pretty drastic changes. I’ve well and truly kicked my juice habit, have stopped eating toast with my morning protein, and have even gone so far as to prepare healthy superfood sweet treats rather than rely on my post-dinner chocolate fix. But it’s still not enough. And yes, my body fat has gone down since I began this journey, and yes I know that I’m leaner despite what the scales say (managed to do up the button on my fave denim skirt for the first time yesterday), but it’s just not enough! Those scales have gotta shift and they’ve gotta go DOWN. Even just a little bit! I was annoyed enough when they stayed still, but to increase by now nearly 2kg. Not acceptable.

Which is why today marks the first day of eating paleo style (for real this time). You may have heard people talk about eating caveman style or hunter-gather style – this is what paleo eating is. It’s all about choosing the foods that we were designed to eat. This means nothing processed or tampered with by man, and also requires choosing foods based on their seasonal availability. In other words, the foods you would eat if you were living in the wild and forced to hunt and gather. It’s not an easy eating plan to follow (nothing that eliminates peanut M&Ms is!), but it really does make sense from a health perspective. The truth is that our bodies have not evolved as fast as our civilization has, so much of the stuff we eat not only causes weight problems, but also hormonal and digestive problems, which in turn can disrupt every element of our health and wellbeing.

Essentially I’ll be eating all forms of animal protein, along with nuts and seeds (except for peanuts and cashews), fruit (mainly berries), vegetables (especially root vegies), and – if I can stomach it – some organ meats. I’ll also continue to use my superfoods and my supplements. This is not dissimilar from how I eat at my main meals anyway. The tough part as always will be the in-between times.

Have you ever tried paleo eating or anything similar? Did you find it tough/useful to follow? I’ll keep you posted on how I go this week, but would love to hear your input on the matter!

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email at the top right of this page, or by RSS in the URL bar.

If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends and tweet it. Thank-you!

On The Fence About Having Kids? Some Thoughts From Both Sides Of That Fence.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

Want to leave a comment? If you’re reading from RSS or email you’ll have to enter the blog to do this. You can do that by clicking on the title of this piece. ‘Post a comment’ is at the article end, right under the ’share this’ and ‘related posts’ options.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to this feed, what are you waiting for? Do it now. You can choose either email at the top right of this page, or by RSS in the URL bar.

If you enjoyed this article please forward to your friends and tweet it. Thank-you!