Mentally, being able to put my health and wellbeing first before my bubba for a few hours a week – ‘The Mum Guilt’, and then physically getting used to a body that moves and feels very different post partum

I am already stronger in my upper and lower body before pregnancy based on my lifts and feel much more confident in wearing clothing other than baggy tshirts and tights again.

 

Getting enough sleep, and getting enough protein. My darling baby was going through a rough sleeping period so my sleep was very broken. I also learnt about macros and flexible dieting, and changing my meals around to have higher protein portions at breakfast to keep me satiated through the day. The other challenge was environmental, due to COVID lockdowns, very few people had met my baby, so lots of social events were on the cards, which i learnt to preplan calories for. I love that the Mum classes removed the barrier of time/daycare for me, so no excuses!

 

Consistency is key. Planning for ‘breaks’ was also really useful to avoid any feelings of guilt. I am also a much happier and healthier person already, which makes me a more resilient and engaged mum too! I used the challenge planner a lot to set SMART goals and micro wins/rewards too.

 

I feel as though my efforts to be consistent have been rewarded, as this is the most success I have had with fat loss in over 5 years despite training with a Personal trainer in a commercial gym previously. We are also a few weeks past Christmas and my scale weight has dropped further so I know the programme works and will be successful long term!

 

I wish I had found 23w sooner! This is the first place I’ve felt confident and safe attempting a chin up in my life! The other girls are all so motivating, and I love that we all encourage each other to lift heavier or go harder when needed. I also really like that I can go at my own pace through work outs whilst still being pushed and the trainers proactively provide postnatal alternatives. One of the struggles I have had in the past with group training is being too intimidated to ask for an alternative exercise so I just stopped going. I love knowing that my baby is looked after by the amazing nanny when I exercise and that if I have limited mental energy, I don’t need to remember a work out or my weights for heavy lifts as its all recorded. I’m also always learning from the coaches new ways to target the same muscle groups which keeps the group classes interesting.

 

As I want to start dancing again, I would like to reduce my scale weight further (as its all body weight lifting), and be able to do an unassisted chip up!

 

Thank you so much for creating such a welcoming space with so many opportunities to learn, and feel body positive again!