Jenny Dugard's workout for today

FYSB Before and After - Christa

Many of you will remember Christa - Christa shared her Body Beyond Baby - Find Your Summer Body 8 Week Challenge journey with us.  Despite spraining her ankle towards the end of her challenge Christa made some fantastic progress and achieved wonderful results.

Along with the before and after pics you see below Christa improved her push-ups from 23 on her knees at the start of the challenge to 8 on her toes come the end.  She also improved her beep test from 4.9 to 8.3.  Always a pleasure to train, putting her head down and working hard Christa is coming back for Round 2 and I m excited at what she will achieve next - keep up the great work Christa.

FYSB Before and After AND Q&A with our winner Sarah

Today we chat to Sarah - overall winner of our first ever Find Your Summer Body - 8 Week Challenge.

What initially made you sign up to the 8 Week Challenge?

I wanted to lose the weight I had put on during my pregnancy.  I felt this was a good way to do it as the sessions are aimed at post-pregnancy.  I wanted to kick start my exercising again and the challenge looked like a great way to do that.

What were your initial goals and did you think you would reach them?

These were my goals as I emailed to Jen prior to the challenge:

Goal 1 - Currently weighing in at 76.9kg, my aim is to lose 1kg a week to get to a weight of 68.9kg.  This is close to my pre-pregnancy weight of 66kg, which I plan to continue to achieve after the 8 week challenge.

Goal 2 - To fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, currently they just go over my hips but don't go anywhere near zipping up. They are a size 12. This is important to me because it is a very good indication that I have my figure back from before I had Harry.

Goal 3 - At the test I was able to do 13 push-ups on my knees, by the end of the 8 weeks I would like to be able to do at least 10 on my toes. This is important to me as it is an indication of strength I have built up over the 8 week period.  I have never been very good at push-ups so whilst this isn't a great number it will be an achievement for me.

Goal 4 - To be able to perform the exercises using the correct technique.  I am not very co-ordinated and am not very good at balance and using the correct technique in the exercises.  At the final test at the end of the challenge, I would like to be able to perform the exercises without making any mistakes.  This is important to me as it will give me confidence to go on after the challenge and perform these exercises on my own without the guidance of a trainer.

I felt the goals I set myself were achievable as long as I remained committed to the challenge until the end, attended all the sessions and ate healthily.

What were the easiest and most challenging aspects? 

Easiest – I adjusted to the healthy eating easily, mainly because of the support from my husband who ate what I ate and didn’t tempt me with foods I was trying to avoid (cakes, ice cream, etc)

Most Challenging – going to the Sunday steps session every week, it got to about Wednesday every week and I would start to dread the steps session coming up that weekend! Even though they are the most challenging, they are also the most rewarding once I had finished, I went home on such a high afterwards and felt really good, I also felt they had the most impact on my weight loss.

What were your favorite and least favorite bits? 

Favorite – I liked the feeling at the end of a session, particularly the weekend sessions, when I knew my exercise was done for the day and I would race home to see Harry and Paul (my husband), it was such a good feeling. In terms of the sessions themselves; I liked the Saturday sessions which were a bit different to the weekday ones. One week we played stuck in the mud, which was fun, and also I liked working on the benches and running around the trees.

Least favorite – was doing the sessions in the cold and rain. There was one Saturday session where it rained heavily, which actually turned out quite fun, but there were a few sessions where as well as being wet it was windy and cold, and I wasn’t a big fan of those sessions - but we conquered them anyway!

How many sessions per week did you exercise to achieve your goals?

Four times a week, two during the week and the weekend sessions, I attended every session I had booked into throughout the challenge.

Did you have to change your diet a lot?

In some ways, yes but not in others. Yes because Harry was only 2 months when the challenge started so I was still eating for two! I really had to cut down my portion sizes and this was the biggest change for me. Initially I found this hard, as I was breastfeeding and had to increase my calorie intake to allow for that.  I didn’t have to change the kind of foods I ate too much though, as we already ate a lot of wholemeal foods, bread, pasta, rice and fruits and veggies, so I knew what I had to do.

I used foodlog for the first few weeks to ensure I was on the right track.

Do you feel like your diet and exercise changes were sustainable?

To a certain degree – yes. Exercising 4 times a week worked well – because you pretty much have every other day off which is easy to put into a long term plan.

With the diet I cut out all bad things except I allowed myself a meal off a week, I didn’t always stick to this but for the main part I did, and so some of my favorite things did not get eaten or drank. For example, no ice cream or no smoothies! I don’t want to cut these out completely long term, however, I do know not to go mad on these types of things!

What else did you gain from your challenge experience (apart from diet and exercise)?

I felt like I got my body back.  Before, I had lent it to Harry and now it is mine again! The challenge was also good to have an hour to myself to be 'Sarah' again rather than 'Mummy', whilst still having Harry close by.

I also made some good friends who were also doing the challenge with me, which really helped me along the way, and was good motivation.

What would your advice be to a new mum thinking about doing the challenge? 

I would definitely advise them to do the challenge.  I would advise them to try and commit themselves 100%, I was lucky with Harry because he is such a good boy.  I have had very few sleepless nights, although he always seemed to know when the steps session was as he would wake more that night! I would say to remember that it is only 8 weeks, but could be an opportunity to get yourself in a much healthier routine that is maintainable after the challenge is over.

Sum up your challenge experience for us

I signed up to the challenge thinking that it would be a kick start to my weight loss and getting my figure back. I never thought I would exceed my weight loss goal and I am amazed at my before and after photos, I can’t believe how different I look. I am really pleased I took up the challenge, and feel really good.

And here are Sarah's before and after pics:

 A HUGE congratulations to Sarah and thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with us - I am very much looking forward to what Sarah will achieve in Round 2!

FYSB Before and After - Nicole

Nicole came to us with a large separation and little abdominal strength - as well as losing body fat you can see from these before and after images that all her effort and Transverse abdominal retraining has dramatically helped to reduce her 'mummy tummy'.

Testament to this is that at the start of the challenge Nicole could do her prone hold on her knees only and we really had to watch and feel what was happening to her stomach during this exercise. A prone hold can be a very strong and difficult exercise for those with abdominal separation - you must be very aware of how to properly recruit your TVA and not allow any 'bulge' or 'peaking' through the gap.  If you are unsure or it doesn't feel right please go back to basics and train to your weakest link.

Congratulations Nicole on achieving these great before and after shots AND a prone hold of 2'45" on your toes at the end of the 8 weeks.  Keep up your fantastic work.

FYSB Before and After - Cindy

Well done Cindy on achieving some fantastic results during our first ever Find Your Summer Body - 8 Week Challenge.

 

Cindy would like everyone to know that this is her 'work in progress' she is coming back for Round 2 of our 8 Week Challenge - has more goals to kick and can;t wait for you to see what she can achieve next!

BE the one in two that succeeds with your Fitness Goals in 2012

Did you know in 2011 a survey commissioned by a breakfast cereal found that one in two Australian women made a new years resolution to diet and only 10% of them stuck to it beyond the first week.  The same goes for many new years fitness goals and if those stats are correct that means that many of you that are reading this now are already off track for 2012.

I can help - if you have spent any time on my website, blog and facebook page you will know that I am extremely passionate about helping mums to look and feel fantastic.  I know that you don't have to settle for second best and that it is possible to find a way to put your needs first and start to feel good about yourself again (and look great too) so it is my mission through Body Beyond Baby to give you the tools you need to make this happen.

After the success and amazing results we had with Round 1 of our Find Your Summer Body - 8 week Challenge we are back with Round 2.  Kicking off on the 6th of Feb you will launch into 2012 with all the tools that you need to make a real difference to yourself both inside and out.  And don't worry, if you have done the challenge before we have made a few changes so you will continue to be challenged and gain results.

ALSO we are adding a few more sessions to our timetable - from 6th Feb you will be able to train on a Wednesday at 9.15 & 10.30 along with a Tuesday morning in our brand new 6am Early Risers session (there are no nannies at this session).

To top it off if you are a new BBB mum and you sign up for the challenge now and do some pre-challenge sessions between now  and the 6th of Feb you will get  complementary Saturday sessions to really warm you up.

I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have about sessions and the challenge and I very much look forward to having you on board!

Click on the above image to sign up now

My top 5 motivating tunes for 2012

I don't know about you but a great song played loud in the car or on my iPod at the gym can really make a difference to my head space and my day.  This year, for me, is about positivity, getting stuck in and moving forwards so I am going to carry these songs with me.   I hope you enjoy them too.










And the last one I am trying to track down on YouTube so I'll bring it to you asap!