Wow! I can finally say that I’ve made it! 9 months in and 9 months out! What a long, drawn out process of getting back into shape! OMG 🙁 I’m not there yet, but I’m a hell of a lot smaller than I was at 6 weeks post-partum, and not to mention bowling ball preggo! Check out that belly! Whoah BABY! As of this month, I’m starting to fit back into “normal” clothes and am proud to report I am only about 1kg off my pre-baby weight, and 4kg off my wedding weight. I reckon after 12months out (and by that I mean Charlie out), I’ll finally be able to say I’m back to my old self 🙂

I’m not going to sugar coat it and say the weight has dropped off easily – it hasn’t. It’s been a slow, consistent, focused approach. I’ve made a conscious decision to do it that way for the following reasons:

• Avoid injury – after pregnancy, joints, muscles & tendons are lax; flexibility is crap – going in full pelt would equal injury and delay results further
• Avoid stretch marks – we can all go and eat 500 calories, drink green juice and magically drop 10kg in 2 weeks, but once you get loose skin and stretch marks there isn’t much you can do about it – so I chose to shrink steadily.
• Balance! I’ve got 2 businesses to run, first aid to lecture and a baby to cuddle – life is hectic, I’m not a Kardahsian, I can’t train 3X per day and I don’t have a live in chef.
• Fitness and health outweighs aesthetics – now I’m massively focused on looking better and feeling better and fitting into my wardrobe BUT the feeling of getting back in and doing chins up, heavy deadlifts and just being fit is important to me. I still haven’t been able to start running or do much impact cardio as I’m all out of whack in the left hip (from carrying a buddha 12kg baby around) and this is a goal for the next 3 months

I’m part of several mums groups on FB and one of the most common things I see posted is about losing the baby weight, regaining fitness and feeling better. Because of this, I’ve listed my 10 top tips for shifting it quick and getting back on your feet:

1. Be consistent – you need to train 3-6 times per week, some weeks will be more because of #life but on weeks when you can bang out more sessions – DO IT!
2. The sessions don’t need to be long – 20min-45min is ample – it’s about quality and consistency NOT time quantity
3. Have an aim for each session – will you sweat for the whole time? Are you going to go slower and work on strength?
4. Lift weights – they will change your shape and make you feel so much leaner
5. Don’t do stuff if your body isn’t ready for – as I mentioned before, I can’t run at the moment. It pulls through left hip and doesn’t feel right, especially as I’m still heavy (for me)
6. DIET is key – you need to be eating clean for 5 days out of 7. If you’re stuffing your face with cupcakes you will not get results
7. Focus on fitness and the rest will come – you will get fit before you get fantastic if you’re training properly
8. BE PATIENT – all of a sudden you’ll just turn a corner, if you train 5X per week, eat clean 5 days per week – it will happen, have faith.
9. Give yourself realistic deadlines – I’m giving myself another 3 months to lose 3-4kg. This is achievable and will ensure that it stay off
10. Make it a lifestyle change and lead by example – bubs will see you exercising, involve them, they love it!