I’m a first time mum to a one year old. Before becoming a mum would have trained few times a week at gym classes, done some running it was all part of my routine. After baby I took it easy and soaked it all in for the first few months. Once I got the okay from my female health physio I started back slowly and eventually tried to get back what I had being doing before but I was so tired in the evenings going to gym and I just didn’t enjoy going for a run any more. I found it hard trying to find a balance with returning to work, finishing off my college course and being a mum. I felt a bit stuck.
So in August (9 months post partum) I joined the affiliate as I wanted to do something that was flexible and slot into my routine and train while baby naps rather than waiting to go to a gym class in evenings. For the first month I trained consistently, then the following two months I had deadlines to meet for my college course. So something had to give as I couldn’t do everything, I had to take a step back from training, but instead of giving up completely I priortised family, course work, food 80% of the time, got some sort of daily movement such as a short walk and sleep. Last week I took a photo by chance I couldn’t believe the difference when I compared. I didn’t do any drastic dieting or intense exercising they were simple and realistic steps I took that worked for me. I tracked food at the beginning and I didn’t stress about it too much, it was purely just to see if I was getting enough calories in with breastfeeding and to match the active days, in fact I wasn’t so I upped my meal portions (yes more food!!!) I didn’t need to keep tracking after a few weeks as I could gauge how much food I needed.
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What I love about the affiliate, Larry and Kate are so supportive on whatever is going on in your busy life they help make things work for you that is sustainable in the long term. I don’t feel like they are restrictive plans, it’s a very flexible approach to having a healthy and balanced lifestyle that is sustainable. I think as a mum it’s important to set very realistic and achievable goals; not to compare yourself to others, to feel healthy, strong and have the energy to chase after a toddler!
