Getting rid of post-pregnancy weight is difficult. No one would argue that eating is probably everyone’s first resort to comforting themselves (that’s why it’s called “comfort food”). Pregnant women often try their best to resist cravings; since they are well aware how difficult it is to lose all the extra weight after giving birth. Complaining does not help in this scenario; whereas exercise, a proper diet, and discipline are crucial. The following tips, along with regular exercise, are sure to help you re-gain your desired form:

Cleanse and Detox
It is wise to minimize your coffee breaks. Cut down on coffee, black tea, and alcohol. {Green tea} and other herbal teas are proven to be helpful in normalizing bowel movement. Also, cut down on dairy foods, wheat, nuts, as well as processed foods, which are likely to trigger an allergic attack. According to {Food Standards}, “Most food allergies are caused by peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, sesame seeds, fish and shellfish, soy and wheat, and these must be declared on the food label however small the amount added.” Make it a habit to eat at least six mini-meals a day; include protein, carbohydrate, and fats in each meal, to follow the 30-40-30 diet. Eat approximately 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat in a day. Avoid bottled juices and sodas— opt for water instead. You can enjoy detoxicating and cleansing while engaging in your favourite past time. If you spend your spare time surfing the internet, then you might find playing online games quite entertaining. There are great gaming portals like FoxyBingo that offers fun bingo games online. They also have great promotions on their website and present a friendly online community that is open to all bingo players.

High Protein Intake
Experts recommend eating lots of lean meat, fish, and eggs. Minimize your dairy product intake, such as milk and butter. Also, include 6-8 cups of vegetables and 2-3 servings of fruit per day. Always remember to limit your sugar and salt consumption.

Healthy Smoothies
A {protein smoothie} is a great substitute for two meals. Here’s an easy-to-make protein smoothie: Add 1 1/2 scoops of protein powder, 1/3 of a cup of strawberries (or other fruits), 2 teaspoons of flax seed oil, and 1 cup of spinach (optional). For your snacks in between meals, vegetables are great, but exclude peas, carrots, and corn.

Your Favourite 3
Choose one food from each category: carbohydrate, protein, or fat. Make sure you eat only those and try to switch these every week (example: chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas).

Cheat Day
Make a list of your favourite foods that are rich in protein or carbohydrates. Take note that each meal will be composed of 1 cup of your favourite protein rich food and 2 cups of your favourite carbohydrate rich food. From each group, choose only one.

Twelve weeks ago I was introduced to MuTu System and Thinking Slimmer. I had heard bits and bobs about both on twitter and was curious to find out more about these new and purportedly fantastic weight loss systems. MuTu requires some effort on the part of the person following it, but promises a flatter tummy, repair of any damage done by carrying a baby and giving birth, and a body that matches your pre pregnancy state. All this can be achieved in about fifteen minutes a day, four times a week, with no need for you to even leave the house. No treks to the gym, no childcare dilemmas, no undressing in shared changing rooms, no wobbling your jiggly bits in public. Every week you receive an email with a link to a video that tells you a little bit more about the things that you can do to help your body become strong again. It’s not just all about getting sweaty either, because it incorporates elements of yoga and general lifestyle advice, put to you in an understanding and completely non-patronising manner.

When you are out of shape, any exercise can seem very daunting and as an expert in the bodies of mothers Wendy knows this, and the exercises start really easily and you can build up the intensity when you feel strong enough and are ready. I was lucky enough to be reasonably fit to begin with, being a regular dog walker and baby (well, toddler, now) wearer, so I could progress to the higher intensity exercises within the twelve week period. But you don’t have to, because the end of the twelve weeks is not the end of MuTu, it is merely the end of the introduction to a change of lifestyle. The MuTu website is regularly updated and Wendy writes a blog that you can subscribe to by email. As well as this, she is on twitter @MuTuSystem and facebook and encourages a community of Mums to help and support each other, as well as also being there for professional advice herself.

Thinking Slimmer, on the other hand, requires absolutely no effort whatsoever. If you want to lose weight by the easiest possible method ever invented by anyone, Thinking Slimmer is for you. All you have to do is to listen to a ten minute mp3 for 21-42 nights consecutively after setting yourself some goals. For the first 21 days you will receive motivational emails, and after the 42 days you can ‘top up’ by listening once or twice a week, so that the magic continues. And it really does feel like magic – it sets off something in your subconscious that makes you eat less and more healthily. It really is as simple as that. Extra pods can make you exercise more, be calm, sort your chocolate addiction out..have a look at the website because there are tailored packages for a wide range of needs.

After you have carried a child (or two, or three, or more) most people find they need to lose some weight. Thinking Slimmer will do that for you on its own but it doesn’t help repair the damage that has been done to your tummy muscles and pelvic floor. MuTu can be done alone, but Thinking Slimmer makes the food bit of losing weight, effortless. I have done both and I really am overjoyed at the results I have had. I gave up smoking four years ago and went from a size 12 to a size 14. I was quite happy as a size 14 and after having my son would have been happy to return to that size. I cannot believe that MuTu and Thinking Slimmer have taken me back into a size 12 – a feat which I honestly thought would be impossible after giving birth – I thought carrying a child stretched your hips for good. Not only that but my size 12′s are starting to get loose and I am now wondering if I can reach a size 10! It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve been that size. I look in the mirror and I really like my silhouette now and my body feels strong. I can sneeze without having to worry about leakage and a pain that I’ve had in my knee since pregnancy has vanished. It’s amazing – I no longer have to hobble round after my son but I can run and jump and play with him without feeling like an old lady (hmm, now I just need to get more sleep!).

When I have told people about these wonderful systems, they often ask about the price.  I tell them that if you had to pay a voluntary amount at the end of losing the weight you’d pay three times the amount.  If you were to have a personal trainer it would cost you anywhere in the region of £25-60 per session. You’d have to book a session and stick to that time.  Wendy offers you similar support but is available out of hours for any questions you might have.  My local council gym is £30 per month, and I’ve mentioned the time cost of going to a gym in a previous post.  The two main slimming clubs cost £5-6 per session plus joining fees and you have the additional embarassment of weekly weigh-ins, and certainly no real support outside of that weekly meeting.  Compared to this, MuTu works out at just over £15 per month, though you do pay upfront.  Thinking Slimmer offer single pods and packages that beat any gym membership fees.

Since I have been an adult I have had to watch my weight and believe me I have tried all the diets out there, including crash dieting.  Doing Thinking Slimmer and MuTu has been the easiest way I have ever found to get fit and lose weight and it is done in your won time, at your own pace and in the healthiest way possible.  I have enjoyed myself and I havent been the best student in the world and there have been weeks when I’ve hardly done anything what with exhaustion and illness and I’ve still lost weight.  I could sing their praises all day long.  Really, they are worth every last penny – for the weight loss and especially for putting my child-torn body back together again, in a better shape than it was when I began!

Here are some scary/motivational before and after shots:

Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Week 5 – in the wars

Week 6 – and breathe ……

Week 7 – The food bit

Week 8 – a look at my goals

Week 9 – A little lie down

Week 10 – rocking some firey core exercises

Week 11 – what to with your exercise equipment

Well, week eleven. MuTu emails and videos get delivered for 12 weeks, but I won’t be stopping the exercise just because they have ceased, and we do continue getting periodic emails and of course the blog is well worth visiting on a regular basis. It is more like a twelve week introduction to a healthier and more active lifestyle really, because I do really need to re-watch the videos to remind myself what to do, every now and again. Even though I’ve been a bit of a slacker and rarely done the four times a week workouts that I am supposed to, I have enjoyed the workouts and have been amazed at the results of my little bit of effort.

This week I have managed to perform some of the ‘dynamic’ moves that Wendy has shown me – I honestly thought I’d never be able to do a dynamic plank but all of a sudden I can! The dynamic squats and lunges are a killer, and make me curse quite a lot but I can do them now and I realised to my amazement that suddenly I am not getting any knee pain any more, an affliction that had been troubling me since pregnancy.

The week eleven video shows some exercises that can be done with the help of some equipment that you might have lying around the house, such as the exercise ball (hard, very hard!), resistance bands (ive got one tucked away in a drawer) and some dumbbells, (which I haven’t purchased yet, but am thinking about). I’ve been mostly doing the tabata workout because it’s a) quick and b) easier because the mp3 has the sections timed for you so you don’t have to fiddle about with the timer on my phone.

I’m going to have to find something else to write about on the blog after next week aren’t i? Cripes. Suggestions can be commented below. An agony column? A crowdsourced topic per week? Honestly, I can chat sh*t about plenty of subjects so feel free to encourage me.

Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Week 5 – in the wars

Week 6 – and breathe ……

Week 7 – The food bit

Week 8 – a look at my goals

Week 9 – A little lie down

Week 10 – rocking some firey core exercises

Sorry Wendy (sorry my mummy tummy)! I’ve got a throat and chest infection and it’s all I can do to walk the dog and entertain the boy.

In the meantime, have you all seen the free videos on the MuTu website? I particularly like the Tabata workout, and it shows you a link where you can download the workout music to an effective four minute workout. I’ve been doing the full eight minutes because, well, you might as well finish what you’ve started.

There’s also some cracking tummy exercises  on YouTube.  I bought an exercise ball from an ebayer (always a bargain hunter, me) and it has brought me a new found respect for Wendys abdominals.  She must be made of steel to do ab exercises with a ball – I was struggling to keep my feet from flying off in the opposite direction to the ball.  Incredibly hard.

Week 11 to follow when I have my energy back….TTNT….

Firstly, apologies for taking a week off but I’ve had a very tiring virus and they do say that if you’re ill above the neck, carry on exercising but below the neck, rest.  So that is what I’ve been trying to do, as much as the mother of a toddler and owner of a dog can rest!

Finally I am down to 10 stone 10 which brings my BMI to a nice healthy 25.  I will switch the Thinking Slimmer pod this week to the ‘keeping the weight off’ one.  I seem to have curbed my enormous appetite and now eat noticeably smaller meals, compared to the plates-piled-high portions that I allowed myself previously.

Week 9′s breathing has come in handy during my fluey week, but last night I got on with the programme and fair wore myself out watching the new and more intensive core exercises and some of the free videos available on the MuTu site.   Today, finding myself short of time, I decided to do the five minute workout that had arrived recently in my inbox.  I warmed up with the new core exercises, which looked evil but I must be getting stronger because they actually weren’t too bad.  The five minute workout definitely set my body alight though – if I had thought a five minute wonder was going to be a walk in the park then I was very much mistaken, I was panting by the third repetition.  Tomorrow I will attempt the Tabata workout with the pumping bootcamp music which I have downloaded.

I love how Wendy recognises that we have restraints on our time as Mums, and she shows us how to achieve maximum results with what little time we have to spare.  I was in the swimming pool today with my little water baby (boy? he’s too big to be baby now) and from the pool you can see part of the gym.  I actually felt sorry for those poor souls beating the treadmill laboriously up there.  When you think of the effort that it takes to go to the gym: get kit bag together (10 mins), drive to gym (15 minutes), sign in and get changed (5 mins), work out (1 hour), get showered and changed (15 minutes), drive home (15 minutes), unpack bag (5 minutes)….that’s over two hours just wasted, when you could be at home, nobody judging your wobbly bits, workout over and done with in about fifteen minutes and sat down with a brew….it’s a no-brainer, to me.

Big up the MuTu – it will save me a lifetime’s gym memberships.  All I need now is a nice steam room & jacuzzi in the back garden and bob’s your uncle.

Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Week 5 – in the wars

Week 6 – and breathe ……

Week 7 – The food bit

Week 8 – a look at my goals

Week 9 – A little lie down

I liked the title of this weeks workout – I am not the kind of person who will say no to horizontally positioned activities (put that dirty mind away, I was thinking sleeping, reading or watching the telly).  I do find a good yoga breath very cleansing and uplifting but it is another one of those things that I forget to do, as life rushes by in it’s usual whirlwind fashion.

This week Wendy taught me a yoga breath to perform a few times a week that sot only makes you feel as though your body is full of fresh mountain air, but also has the added benefit of toning the pelvic floor area.It really is a lovely thing to do.

I’ve been a reasonably bad girl this week with exercise and food so it comes as no surprise that I’ve not lost any weight but I am still very happy to have a whole load of old jeans that ft me – I’ve still no worn every pair yet. Heaven!  I’ve also discovered that dancing to The Swinging Blue Jeans live in Switzerland album is a cracking alternative to skipping and jogging on the spot and can actually be better, because I lose track of time and go over the one/two minutes that I am supposed to be sweating it for.  Lovely.  Cub is not at all embarassed to have an un-coordinated Mummy lurching all over the living room to a swinging sixties vibe – he looks on with and expression of mild bemusement and wiggles his nappy-clad bum in support.

Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Week 5 – in the wars

Week 6 – and breathe ……

Week 7 – The food bit

Week 8 – a look at my goals

At the beginning of this exercise and diet programme, Thinking Slimmer asked me to define my goals.  I said:

1. To do the MuTu exercises daily
2. To lose half a stone and fit into all my size 12 jeans comfortably.
3. To be a nice calm relaxed person

And this was to be done by the end of August.

Coming into week eight, I am finding myself trying to overcome a little bit of an enthusiasm dip.  As it is also the end of August, I have looked at my goals again and was a little disappointed that I had only managed 50% of my goals, but encouraged also by the way that I am feeling in myself, the way that my body is looking, and in fact the massive progress I have made this year full stop.

I have not managed to do the exercises daily, in fact there have been weeks when I have only fitted in two or three. This week I have decided to change the time of day that I exercise.  Previously I’d been doing them in while the dinner cooked but often I was feeling a little tired, or my blood sugars were low, or my son was tired or hungry and wanting attention and the exercises got interrupted or bypassed completely.  The past few days I’ve been exercising after breakfast and it’s been quite a nice feeling to get them out of the way earlier on in the day.

I was 11 stone 1 and I am now 10 stone 11 (I gained 1lb in the last week), so I have not lost half a stone BUT i do fit into my size 12′s, in fact I have put all my too big jeans away and brought out over ten pairs of jeans that I have not worn for many many years, so I am ecstatic about that.  In terms of measurements, on the 6th July i was:
bmi: 25.5 and is now 25.13
chest: 38″ and has stayed the same
waist: 31″ and is now 30″
hips: 37.5″ and are now 36″

I call that an achievement!  One more lb off my weight and my BMI will finally be in the healthy range again.

The massive thing for me is that before I got pregnant I was a size 14, and now I am a size 12.

As for being more relaxed, I can definitely say that Thinking Slimmer has helped me to achieve this.  I have had more energy in the daytime because less energy has been wasted being anxious.  It’s incredible how Thinking Slimmer works – in fact I have been discussing it on twitter today.  You can even eat ‘bad’ foods, because you know you will stop when you’ve had enough, so you never overeat.  It’s like magic, it really is.

So, onto week eight of the MuTu programme, which brings with it some new and rather viscious exercises and I’ve promised Wendy I will attempt her 50 burpee challenge..watch this space for much hilarity as i attempt this – did I mention, on video!!

But if you want a laugh in the meantime (this is one of the photos that made me realise diet had to be done!!)….here’s a before and after shot:

Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Week 5 – in the wars

Week 6 – and breathe ……

Week 7 – The food bit

Amazingly – because last week I did have some less-than-healthy snacks AND only did two full and two interrupted workouts (one interrupted very early on) – I have lost another pound, bringing me to 10 stone 13.  I haven’t read as much more of the MuTu handbook as I wanted to and Trev has skipped a few nights too.  But the weight is going down and not up so that can only be a good thing.

This week Wendy’s video told me all about my posture and showed me some nice-looking stretches to do.  As I had a rather painful dog-trip-head-road incident on Monday I’ll be having to give anything too strenuous a miss this week until I am properly healed but there is nothing stopping me doing a few stretches, in fact they will be good for me becasue my muscles are incredibly tight today.

Posture is important, and I definitely find it difficult to walk upright when I’m carrying Cub on my back/pushing a buggy/holding his hand when we are walking.  Hopefully these exercises will make good posture a more natural state for me to be in.

 
Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

Entering Week 2 with Thinking Slimmer and MuTu

Week 3 – @ThinkingSlimmer and @MuTuSystem

Week 4 – a new workout

Hooray! Well the good news is that I am a whole three pounds lighter! Not bad for the first week and only four more to my target. What’s more, my BMI is finally in the healthy range at last, at 25!  I am very happy with this.

I have definitely noticed changes in my eating habits. I am realising when I feel full, and am not polishing off my sons leftovers as well as my own (well, not every meal). When you are helping another person to eat, it is easy to forget about enjoying your own meal, and the tendency is to just shovel it down so that you can pay attention to your child.

I have listened to the drop a dress size slimpod and the chillpod every night, but I have not listened to the making exercise easy pod because I don’t regularly have a definite nap time at midday every day, so from last night I have added that to my pre-sleep playlist. I think I am also a little bit more chilled out too, which is definitely a good thing. And I think I’m falling a little bit in love with the man with the soothing voice, even if he does send me off to sleep sometimes. Although it seems the easiest thing in the world just to listen to something before you go to sleep, in reality there are nights when I have had to force myself, because it has gotten late and I really just want to go straight to sleep. I am going to have to be stricter with myself about internet-off and pods-on time.

I have done my MuTu exercises daily, well, almost-daily because I think I may have missed Saturday in a haze of over-tiredness. Week two of the programme introduces some interval training to get my heart rate up and to start to make me strong. I did definitely perspire! Some of the exercises involve skipping, so I have modified these to suit myself because I have a clicky knee that hurts if I jump on it, and also my ceilings are low and its been rainy and also..oh yeah..i’m a pretty rubbish skipper and keep tripping over the skipping rope. When the weather is nicer I may attempt to skip but for now my skipping is replaced by jogging round the living room and hallway, an activity which my son and dog seem to find entertaining also; picture me, followed by dog and small boy. It is a pain having to run upstairs and change into your sports bra too, if you find a window of opportunity for exercise, and I can jog clutching my chest to keep it still a lot easier than skip.

It’s amazing how long a minute feels when one is in the plank position, but I have a strange liking for an exercise called the gecko. The video demonstrations are very clear and easy to understand and quite relaxing to watch and Wendy makes it all look very easy, with none of the red-faced huffy-puffy-omgisaminuteup-iness that I so glamorously add to the exercises.  With all this physical stuff, let’s see if i can lose another lb this week.  fingers crossed!

 
 
Previous weeks – the Thinking Slimmer and MuTu story:

Diet 2011 – the story so far

MuTu and Thinking Slimmer – What’s that?

This week is the start of a new phase of weight loss for me. Christmas 2010 brought with it some photos that were scary enough to shock me into doing a little extra to shift that residual ‘baby weight’. I got weighed and measured at the exercise class I was attending and my bmi was at 27.9, with my weight at 12 stone 1 and a scary 40.2% body fat.

The new year brought with it a new opportunity for exercise, as my new house had plenty of good sized walks from my front door, so with baby on back on dog happily wagging along behind me, we embarked on an increased exercise regime.

I have been breastfeeding throughout, so this has helped me lose lbs, and I find I lose a good chunk of pounds evey time my irregular monthlies arrive. I’ve found that with regular relaxed exercise and a reasonable amount of healthy eating, plus running round after a lively toddler, the weight has steadily dropped and today my measurements are as follows:

weight: 11 st 1 (Idid get down to 10st 10 but I got cocky!)
bmi: 25.5 (almost healthy!)
chest: 38″
waist: 31″
hips: 37.5″

I’m very happy with these stats, but my bmi should be below 25 ideally, and I can see a few wobbles here and there, so as of tomorrow, and with the help of some very special people, I will be letting you all know how I’ll lose that last pesky half a stone (and maybe more!) and comfortably do up all of my old size 12 jeans that have been in storage from a time before i even got pregnant.

Today began with the delivery of the long-awaited Zaggora HotPants, so i made a start, giving the dog a nice long walk whilst wearing them. I imagined them to be unflattering and uncomfortable but they were neither, though when I removed them my hips and thighs were lightly perspiring, but that is how they help to shift the cellulite. They claim to make you lose 2 dress sizes in two weeks, so watch this space……

I am an ambassador for Zaggora HotPants and recieved a pair to evaluate.