Feel Good Friday - product review Fridge-to-go small lunch bag

I don't know about you but now that I have children I never leave the house without a packed lunch or at least snack food that they can eat on the run.  And now with the hot Sydney summer just around the corner the question of how to keep food cool and edible becomes an issue.  The majority of healthy food needs to be kept cool and fresh, avoiding packets means more perishable foods and therefore the need to look after them.  As a busy mum it can be hard enough to factor in organising a packed lunch for the days outings and to find it is warm and soggy by the time you get to it is no fun for anyone.

Enter Fridge-To-Go and their great range of cooler bags for all occasions.  I was lucky enough to be sent one of their small lunch bags to trial and we have been using it for the last couple of weeks and I love it.  We have numerous cool bags hanging around our apartment - but they don't quite cut it like this bag does.  One of the best features is the ultra thin removable freezer panels - the bag is designed to be able to put the whole thing in your freezer. But if your freezer is anything like mine then there is definitely no room for the whole thing, nor is there room for numerous bulky freezer blocks that you need for your traditional cool bag.  I took full advantage of the removable panel and loved that it didn't take up much space.

I think half the reason that we usually need so many freezer blocks in our cool bags is that they don't stay frozen for that long so you have to take quantity over quality in an attempt to keep your food and drinks cold.  The Fridge-To-Go panels keep your cool bag cold for up to 8 hours.  I even managed to leave Marley's lunch on the passenger seat inside my hot car for a few hours the other day (I blame baby brain) and it was still nice and cool when we came back to it.

The freezer panel slips into a discreet zip pocket which tucks easily away and becomes part of the the base of the bag and the fact that it is in a little pocket stops your sandwiches becoming soggy with condensation and also helps to prevent that musty, damp smell that cool bags often get.

It is small enough for Marley (my two year old) to want to throw over his shoulder, perfect to encourage your children to carry their own items (at least some of the way) and a great compact size that fits well into my baby bag too.  If you were packing lunch for more than one person you might want to upgrade to their medium lunch cooler bag or even their Mini Fridge 6 lunch cooler bag, there is something to suit every occasion.

Now mums, even if you don't need one of these bags for your child you must get one for yourself.  Commit to packing your own snack pack every time you leave the house to stop you reaching for convenience foods which are often unhealthy and fattening.  You will feel better for it, your body will thank you for it and Fridge-To-Go will help to keep you on track by keeping it cool for you.  We have certainly been giving our Fridge-To-Go lunch pack a work out.

To go into the draw to win one of three small lunch bags from Fridge-To-Go just post below what favorite food you would like to keep cool in your new lunch bag.

All entrants must 'like' both the Body Beyond Baby and Fridge-To-Go facebook pages 
Winner will be announced on Thursday 4th of November on the Body Beyond Baby facebook page and blog - Good luck!

Todays workout and NOsugarVEMBER

I had a great workout today with Troy - I always walk away with a bright red face after having worked really hard.  You always work harder when you are training with someone or someone is training you - highly recommended.  Here's a quick action snap shot and then I'll get into the real fun stuff for today.

  

Who is in for NOsugarVEMBER ???

This is something that Troy has been doing with his Fittabodies clients for over a year now (check the Fitta bodies blog here) , they get some awesome results and after reading on his blog that they are preparing to start again I thought it would be great to get a Body Beyond Baby team involved.  You will be surprised how much sugar you consume on a daily basis (in various forms) and by eliminating it from your diet, along with a good exercise routine leave yourself open to gaining some fantastic results just in time for summer and before Christmas rolls around.  So, rules, borrowed from Troy's  blog they are as follows:

Starting on the 1st of November for 1 full month, we will rid our diets of sugar.

This means;

No alcohol

No cakes, chocolates, pastries, ice creams, soft drink

No Fruit juices, boost juices, smoothies, milk shakes

No white potato

No sugar in tea or coffee

No sweetened yogurt

No dried fruit

2 – 3 pieces of fruit per day only

2 slices of wholegrain bread per day maximum

1 cup of cooked pasta per serve a maximum of two times per week

You are all going to lose some weight in this month, but the main aim of this 30 days without sugar is to show you how much sugar you normally consume and to hopefully curb your sugar cravings.

By the end of this month, you will have developed habits that will see you;

Drink tea and coffee without sugar

Only drink alcohol once or a maximum of twice per week

Only eat sweets once or a maximum of twice per week

Learn that meals should be made up of large amounts of non root vegetables

Treat pasta or rice as a accompaniment to a meal, not the main part of the meal

Never drink soft drinks

Avoid boost and other blended drinks

Learn that dried fruit is not a health food

Choose lower sugar yogurts
So who’s in?

Please put your name down in the comments section and we can kick the sugar as team 'Body Beyond Baby'

If you break your sugar free promise, you must log your indiscretion on the blog and perform 5 burpees. If you happen to break the rules again, you must log your indiscretion and double the burpees. For each indiscretion, you must double the burpees. Just think, 5 times and you will be up to 80 burpees on the 5th occasion!

And be honest! You signed up to this, nobody forced you! You need some sort of guidelines to keep you on track!

and to make it more interesting we will be going up against the Fitta bodies team so the losing team (as in the team that has the most amount of people cave in) will have to perform all of their burpees all over again - or something equally as mean.....Troy and I will nut that one out and get back to you.

And our first Feel Good Friday winner is Josie

Congratulations to 'Josie' 

you have won 40 beautiful photo cards of your choice from

Please contact me via email jenny@bodybeyondbaby.com.au to claim your prize 
 

Don't forget to check in tomorrow when our next review goes live - I am very excited about introducing you to

Body Composition #3

I went to see Jarrod for my Body Composition check in today - I had a shocking day, one of those that you are immediately behind from the moment you get up in the morning.  I felt rushed all day long and on the brink of tears for most of it.....chocolate popped up into my thoughts many times during the day - isn't it crazy that we have this emotional link to something that is bad for us with the feeling that it will do something good!  Time to retrain the emotional responses maybe.  Anyway, I got to Jarrod (10 minutes late for a 15minute consultation - lucky for me the person after me must have been having an even worse day and didn't show up at all)

I wasn't sure how it was going to go - I know my measurements have been going down but my weight seemed to be staying the same or moving just a little.  You can see from the results below that things are heading in the right direction.  Since my last scan 4 weeks ago I have lost 2% body fat which is great.  I have lost 1.6kg of fat and the only sightly concerning factor is that I have lost 400g of muscle.  However the breakdown of my scan shows that the majority of muscle lost came from my trunk which be have observed through this pregnancy and the last that this is an area that gains muscles whilst you are pregnant to enable it to support the growing weight of your belly so it would be expected that you would shed this muscle after pregnancy when it is no longer required for your day to day living.  I will however keep an eye on muscle loss in my next scan as the aim of the game is to maintain the muscles I have in order to maximise my metabolism.

So here you have it:

27th October 2010 - latest scan
Body Fat % = 28.3%
Total Body Weight = 59.9kg
Fat Mass = 16.9kg
Lean Body Mass = 40.5kg

23rd September 2010
Body Fat % = 30%
Total Body Weight = 61.8kg
Fat Mass = 18.5kg
Lean Body Mass = 40.9kg

5th August 2010 (first post baby scan)
Body Fat % = 30.5%
Total Body Weight = 64.1kg
Fat Mass = 19.5kg
Lean Body Mass = 42.1kg

I'm feeling pretty happy with my progress and motivated to stay on track (and I don't want the chocolate anymore)  however I am not where I was at this stage after my last pregnancy - check the results from this time last time below.....

8^th October 2008

BF: 26.4%

TBW: 57.7kg

FM: 15.2kg

LBM: 40.4kg

Technique Tuesday - Row

I managed to get to the gym today as my lovely friend Willow took India for a walk for an hour whilst I went to the gym and even enjoyed a quick shower.  It was legs training day for me but since I covered a squat last week I am going to look at a different body part today as part of our technique Tuesday.

Today I am going to talk about a 'row'

 Muscles worked - Rhomboids, Latissimus Dorsi, Biceps

Rows can be done in various positions but the main and great thing about including rows in your workout as a mum is that it will strengthen the muscles between you shoulder blades, your rhomboids, these are the muscles that, when combined with a good chest stretch will help you to stand up straight and maintain good posture.  Which is really important as we spend a lot of time in a
hunched position during feeding, rocking and carrying our babies.

 Stretch your chest and strengthen your back is a great rule of thumb


Rows can be done using cables, free weights or as you can see in this picture resistance elastics.  I will refer to the elastics as they are a great low cost, easy to store and carry piece of equipment that you can use at home or the park in your own workouts.  They come in various 'weights' and you can use them for many different exercises.  Check them out here

Let's look at a few technique points for performing a great row:
(you can do rows standing or sitting, I am going to talk about a standing row as I think it's always good to use as many core stabilisers as possible and this is achieved in this exercise when standing)

• Feet hip width apart and knees slightly bent
• Chest up and shoulders down
• Have an awareness through your transverse abdominal muscles
• The elastic for this particular row should be attached to something hip height or lower
• Start with hands face down 
• Retract your shoulder blades first drawing you shoulders backwards then bend at the elbows to bring the handles in to just below the ribs
• Focus on keeping your shoulders relaxed and your chest up
• Breathing out as you bring your hands to the ribs
• Slowly return to the starting point
• Just check in at the end of each rep to ensure your shoulders are down and traps relaxed - as mums we have a tendency to have our shoulders up by our ears a lot!

Back exercises are the ones that are often forgotten in our workouts.  If you are in the park it is easy to do push-ups and triceps dips for the upper body and we often neglect the back.  Always try to balance your workouts so if you are including a push-up which works the chest and triceps you need to include a back exercise (which will work the back and biceps).  In fact in a lot of my program planning I choose two back exercises to one chest exercise - as a population and certainly as mums we have tight chests and weak backs so it doesn't make sense to keep training the chest on its own as this will only make us tighter and more hunched over.


To top off a great row include a good chest stretch also - here's to standing up straighter!

Thank you to my lovely models for today - Erica and Kylie :)

Monday measurements - week 5

As you can see below in terms of measurements I am heading in the right direction however I'm feeling a little frustrated at the seeming lack of downward movement of the scales (again, what a great example of how you can easily become disheartened if you are to rely on what the scales are telling you alone).

It is so important that you continue to plod away even when you seem to be getting no where.  It's interesting that  although I know that I am bigger this time around than after I was with Marley at the same number of weeks postnatally I feel much more at ease with myself and more comfortable in my own skin - maybe it's that growing respect that I have for my body and what it is capable of.  I still have a long way to go in terms of achieving both my fitness and body goals but I am feeling good about myself :)

Wednesday this week will be the true test as I am heading back to see Jarrod at Body Composition!

25th October 2010
Weight = 59.5kg
Chest = 94cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 73.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 84.8cm
Hips = 96cm
Right Thigh = 51cm
Left Thigh = 51.5cm

17th October 2010
Weight = 59.9kg
Chest = 96.4cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 73.8cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 85cm
Hips = 97.2cm
Right Thigh = 51.7cm
Left Thigh = 52.5cm

11th October 2010
Weight = 60.7kg
Chest = 99cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 75.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 86.8cm
Hips = 98cm
Right Thigh = 52cm
Left Thigh = 53cm

4th October 2010
Weight = 62kg ????? - no idea and this is why I am not the hugest fan on the 'at home' scales
Chest = 99.6cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 77cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 88cm
Hips = 99cm
Right Thigh = 53.5cm
Left Thigh = 54.1cm

27th September 2010
Weight = 60.1kg
Chest = 97.8cm
Waist (the smallest part) = 77.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 89.3cm
Hips = 99.2cm
Right Thigh = 54.1cm
Left Thigh = 54.7cm

Do you appreciate your body?

Have you stopped to appreciate your body lately?  I was training this morning in front of a mirror, deep in concentration of what I was doing and watching my body move.  You can't hide from yourself in the gym and I think that's a good thing.  If bits are wobbling as you move it's great motivation to stick at it until they don't wobble anymore!  But I think sometimes as women we don't appreciate our bodies for the amazing things they have done and are capable of doing.  We often only see the bits that we don't like and we beat ourselves up and get lost in the negatives.

We have all been insecure teens and the majority of us have been on some crazy diet or had some kind of food obsession at some point, if not at many points, during our lives but now we are women and we are mothers.  Mothers who's bodies have grown and carried beautiful babies, they had been through pregnancy, labour and birth and then continued to nurture and care for these tiny people whether it be through breastfeeding or settling through longs and sleepless nights.  And now we have sons and daughters, especially daughters who will look to us as they grow for guidance in the way to view their own body.  They will watch and observe and learn both positives and negatives from us no matter how hard we try to hide them.

As women, I believe we are lucky to have been given the opportunity to become so in tune with our bodies.  After childbirth we are then given the opportunity to rebuild our bodies, fix up any weaker bits and become strong.  Take the time to work on the inside both physically and emotionally and the rest will follow.  You learned to listen to your body through nine months of pregnancy and through the birth of your baby and you must take the time to do that now.

Be amazed at what you can achieve and be thankful for what your body does for you everyday.  Nurture the body that nurtured your baby and always respect yourself.  Give yourself time out daily to be present and to really tune into what your body needs to be the best body it can be for you.  You must look out for each other.  If you look after your body your body will look after you.

I am thankful for the strong and capable body that I have, I will exercise regularly and eat well daily and give my body the respect that it deserves.  Who is with me?

Feel Good Friday - product review 'thank you photo cards' by helloBABY designs

When I was contacted by Sallyann from helloBABY all I could think was "what a wonderful product" and "it's been 10 weeks and I still haven't organised thank you cards for the gifts and well wishes we received after India was born!" aargghh!!!

It's funny because I actually enjoy writing thank you's, I don't see it as a chore (usually) and often enjoy either making my own or adding a personal touch.  I had Marley draw (scribble) pictures and stick stickers in the ones I wrote after his last birthday, luckily we did his party two weeks before the actual date as India arrived in time to share a birthday with her big brother and all the thank you's were pretty much done by then.  I made my own thank you cards with him - but then I look back and wonder what I did with all my time when I just had one baby!  This time around the promise of personalised cards using pictures of India which I could order off the internet and would be delivered to my door was a perfect solution........now if only I could get them to write them too....

I went through the whole ordering process from start to finish and found the helloBABY website very easy to use.  It took me a while to choose a template from all of their designs, there are so many super cute ones to decide out of which is great and accounts for all different tastes and preferences.  I then had to pick a couple of photos of India to send through, so the hardest part of this whole process was deciding on the template and the photos - that has to be a good thing.

Once my order had been placed I received a confirmation email and then updates on how my order was progressing and when I should expect them to arrive. They were on my doorstep 2 days later and I was very excited about opening my package.

As you can see from this picture I was certainly not disappointed with the final product and having sent out the cards I have had numerous phone calls from happy friends and relatives telling me how much they love their card.  A cool feature that I like about these cards is that they are printed onto photo paper and mounted onto a card which you can write on, this means that you could put the picture into a photo album or even frame to keep it on show for much longer than a traditional card would last on the shelf.

You are also provided with a magnet for the back - I am always a big fan of sticking things on the fridge so this was a plus for me. Overall I am really happy with my thank you cards and feel excited to send them to my family and friends and I will be keeping one in India's little keepsake box as a memento of her birth.  I would definitely recommend helloBABY designs to you and they also do Christmas cards (the designs are now on their webiste) and birthday invites too.

To go into the draw to win 40 photocards of your choice from helloBABY just post below what occasion you would use these cards for and which is your favorite design from the baby announcement range over on the helloBABY website


All entrants must 'like' both the Body Beyond Baby and helloBABY facebook pages 
Winner will be announced on Thursday 28th of October on the Body Beyond Baby facebook page and blog - Good luck!

Todays workout

I love it when a good plan comes together - this morning was my first Crossfit workout with India in tow.  She happily watched her crazy mum huff, puff and sweat through a great workout only getting frustrated and tired right at the end - thank you India.

I feel fantastic for it especially given I couldn't get it together on Tuesday - I am still figuring out my Tuesday training session.  Next week may be a super early one as Ben is home but after that he is gone for three weeks so even more of a reason to have a firm plan.  Check out my 'action' shot.

Hows your workout week going?

And our first Feel Good Friday winner is mamamia

Congratulations to 'mamamia' 

you have won a fantastic ergoCocoon from 

Please contact me via email jenny@bodybeyondbaby.com.au to claim your prize 
 

Don't forget to check in tomorrow when our next review goes live - I am very excited about introducing you to

Technique Tuesday (on Wednesday)

I am operating a day behind at the moment, I have the idea in my head on the right day - I know what I want to sit down and write but somehow the day gets away from me and before I know it I am battling through dinner, bath and bed, trying to make myself something healthy to eat before dragging myself to the couch computer on lap to finally get on with it.

Today has been a non exercise, Gymbaroo day - this morning was all about Mr Marley.  The day for him started with a bowl of oatmeal, chopped banana and sultanas (at his request),  little bit of TV time while mummy had a shower, off to Gymbaroo to jump and climb and sing and run and......... then we hit the park to run off a little bit more of that never ending energy supply, picnic lunch at the park and home to bed all before 12 - I certainly wish I had made it to bed, instead I battled through an online Center Link form only to have my session timeout and lose all my info whilst I attended to a screaming baby.....arrrrggghhh!

So, I miss it when I don't manage to train but today was one of those non training days that I had factored into my week so that makes it a little easier to deal with.

I thought today I would talk a little bit about the technique you use when you are training.  I see many people both in the gym and outside using poor technique and I immediately want to rush over and correct them and stop them doing themselves any potential damage.  If you perform an exercise incorrectly over and over again you are essentially training yourself to train badly and the results you get will be no where near what you might get if you were performing exercises properly, not to mention the over activity of other muscles groups which will compensate during a poor movement pattern and the injuries you leave yourself liable to.

So lets talk about a squat

Primary muscles used - Quadriceps and Gluteus

The squat is a fantastic movement pattern, it uses almost the whole muscular system especially if you are weighting your squats (we are using an resistance elastic in the picture and you can find these on my website).  Squats are a great example of a compound exercise which means that more than one joint and more than one muscles group is involved in the exercise.  A good heavy squat will also work the cardiovascular system.


As a time poor mum there should definitely be at least one form of squat in your workout.  You could even add a shoulder press into your squat pattern to work the upper body also.  By using lots more than one muscle group by recruiting the largest muscle group in the body (legs) squats will have you burning lots of energy and getting lots of muscles working which is a great way of keeping your metabolism raised long after you have finished your strength workout.

Let's check in with a few technique points for performing a great squat:

• Feet should be just wider than hip width apart
• Toes are facing forwards or slightly outwards
• Chest is up, shoulders are down and you have a natural curve through your lower back and an awareness through you TVA (Transverse Abdominals)
• Keep your weight towards your heels
• Bend at the knees and keep your knees from going over your toes
• Stick your bum out as if you were hovering over a toilet seat and work towards a 90 degree angle at the knees
• Try wiggling your toes to make sure you weight is in the correct place
• You must keep your back straight throughout the exercise - a rounded back in not good and can lead to injury
• Slowly bring yourself back up to the starting point whilst exhaling

Okay, so what are you waiting for get squatting....you can even do them holding your baby (but be extra aware of technique)

Monday measurements - week 4

Monday rolls around doesn't it - the hardest thing I find about the weekend is ensuring that my 'treat' evening which is often a Friday night doesn't roll over into the whole weekend - it can be so easy to drop the ball on Friday night (which technically isn't even the weekend yet) and not to pick it up until Monday morning which in essence is more than one third of the entire week - certainly not that helpful in achieving my goals and a good thing to remind yourselves of also when the chocolate (or treat of choice) is coming out a little too often on the weekend.

So mum left last Wednesday and I feel like I'm doing okay - I haven't cried yet which is always a good test.  Ben went away yesterday and is back on Friday night so if I can get through the week and hold it all together I will be happy and one step closer to trying to figure out how to make life happen with two children.
Fitting in exercise is one challenge while Ben is away and now mum has gone - I had it easy there for a while with my built in babysitter.  Now it's more a case of organising my week.....  I figured it out and in terms of exercise it will look something like this:

Monday - run in the  park with both children in the pram - we will then spend time playing in the park as a thank you to Marley for letting mummy do her exercise.

Tuesday - gym or park session with India in tow - I'm still figuring this day out, I'd love to get into the gym but I'm not ready to leave India in the creche yet

Wednesday - nothing... Marley has Gymbaroo

Thursday - crossfit workout with Troy and India in the bouncer on the sidelines

Friday - nothing structured, maybe a walk to the park and my physio/core strengthening exercises when the children are sleeping

Saturday - gym workout with little people at home with Daddy

Sunday - steps session with Daddy daycare :)

I used to love having a rest day on the weekend but if Ben is home I need to use him as I can't drag the children to exercise with me everyday of the week.  It's good for him to have some one on one time with Marley and India too.  So if I manage to exercise 5 out of 7 days a week I will be both happy and on track.
How do you structure exercise into your week?

Here's my Monday measurements - we are heading in the right direction and I have Body Composition next week...........

17th October 2010
Weight = 59.9kg
Chest = 96.4cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 73.8cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 85cm
Hips = 97.2cm
Right Thigh = 51.7cm
Left Thigh = 52.5cm

11th October 2010
Weight = 60.7kg
Chest = 99cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 75.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 86.8cm
Hips = 98cm
Right Thigh = 52cm
Left Thigh = 53cm

4th October 2010
Weight = 62kg ????? - no idea and this is why I am not the hugest fan on the 'at home' scales
Chest = 99.6cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 77cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 88cm
Hips = 99cm
Right Thigh = 53.5cm
Left Thigh = 54.1cm

27th September 2010
Weight = 60.1kg
Chest = 97.8cm
Waist (the smallest part) = 77.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 89.3cm
Hips = 99.2cm
Right Thigh = 54.1cm
Left Thigh = 54.7cm

Feel Good Friday - product review 'ergoCocoon' stocked by WrigglepotI

 India has been trialing and testing the ergoCocoon which was supplied to me by Christine from Wrigglepot.  I have to say when India came along I was a little dubious of all these new and supposedly wonderful forms of wrapping or swaddling your new baby.  Marley was wrapped in a good old piece of muslin and I had decided that this baby would be no different, after all we had hundreds of the things.

So along came India and lots of not so settled nights it was a bit of a shock to the system..... we had some wraps lent to us by a friend which promised to be great but once we had finished figuring out what bit goes where and which pieces of velcro attached to each other she would have wriggled her way out and we would find ourselves starting over again.  Another day whilst wondering a baby store we stumbled upon another version that we hoped might be the answer to our prayers only to find she really hated it and wouldn't sleep in it at all - this one is now neatly folded in our wardrobe.

Then I became in touch with Christine from Wrigglepot and she introduced the ergoCocoon - how I wish we had found this product earlier.  There is no velcro (just a very soft zip which is nicely covered at the top so as not to irritate baby's neck).  It is so simple to use and no one could possibly get it wrong (not even dad) so there's no worries about leaving your baby with someone else and coming home only to find their wrap up around their little head.

The zip also goes from the top and the bottom so if that night time nappy change really can't be avoided then bub can be kept all tucked up and warm on the top half - I always find if their arms stay wrapped they stay more sleepy, there's nothing like arms being freed to bring on a stretch and a big wake up smile.....lovely as it is it's not quite so welcomed at 3am!

The ergoCocoon is made from  a beautiful organic cotton with a hint of spandex which makes its snug but stretchy and it's nice and thin which makes it perfect for the Australian summers.  The other great feature of this product is the fact it has poppers at the arms to that when your baby is transitioning from being wrapped to a sleeping bag you can continue to use it and the fact that the larger size goes up to 12 months or 11kg means the transition should be easier and you will save money by not having to go out and buy yet another baby product quite so soon.

So I am really happy with our ergoCocoon and India is sleeping soundly as I type all wrapped up.  I would definitely recommend this product to mums as something that will make life easier and help your baby sleep - at least it did mine and I plan on sitting comfortably at my computer to order a second one (for when this one is in the wash) from Christine at Wrigglepot as her website is great and her customer service wonderful (my first one arrived on my doorstep the very next day after being in touch with her and lets face it when we decide we need these baby things we need them yesterday!)  I'll leave you here with a picture of India looking very happy in her ergoCocoon.

To go into the draw to win your very own ergoCocoon just post below your name, phone number and email along with how you think this product will make your life as mum easier. 

All entrants must 'like' both the Body Beyond Baby and Wrigglepot facebook pages 

Winner will be announced on Thursday 21st of October on the Body Beyond Baby facebook page and blog - Good luck and happy sleeping!

Before shot - from 23rd September

And I can't fit into the jeans I wore in this photo last time!!!

Goals part two

Yesterday we talked about setting goals and today I thought I would share mine with you:

By 20th December 2010 - India will be 5 months old and I used this time frame in my first BBB journey after having Marley so I aspire to reaching the same goals as I did back then

I will be 22% Body Fat
I will be able to do 15 push-ups on my toes
I will be able to do 2 chin ups on my own
I will fit into my dark blue denim shorts with NO muffin top (I bought these shorts in Perth the December after having Marley)

By 23rd April 2011 - my 30th Birthday

I will be 20% Body Fat
I will be able to do 30 push-ups on my toes
I will be able to do 5 chin ups on my own

On 18th September 2011

I will run the Blackmores marathon for charity

Why do I want to achieve these goals?

I want to have a flat tummy again and I know the rest of my body has followed and I feel good about myself

I want to look great in a bikini 

I want people to be shocked that I have two children and to prove to other mums that you can look and feel great after having babies - it is not the end for your body

I want to feel and be strong again

I ran a half marathon the year after I had Marley - I know I can do it so I now want to push to the next level - the full

I want to give something back to our community and to a charity that I believe in so I will run the marathon to raise money

I FEEL good when I know I look good

I want to set a good example of eating well, exercising and living well to my children

Do remember that goals are tangible, they are not set in stone and you can move the goal posts if you are exceeding your expectations or you can set mini goals to achieve on the way to reaching your main goal..... Just remember to be true to yourself, find the reason for your goals and make a commitment to yourself to reach them.  Really commit even if its just for a certain period of time where everything you do is based around achieving that specific goal, you will be amazed at what you can achieve once you put your mind to it.

Please feel free to share your goals with us should you wish - becoming accountable and sharing what you aspire to is very powerful - it's how I ended up writing this blog in the first place!

Goals

We all have goals - you know the thoughts in the back of our minds that we aspire to or that we hope to reach one day.  Many of us have financial goals or career goals but how many of us actually take the time to sit down and write them out?  and how many of us have actually sat down and written our body image and health goals?

Health and fitness goals are often the ones that stay at the bottom of the pile - we will start working towards them tomorrow or next week and we somehow never reach tomorrow.  Its only too easy especially as a busy mum to continually shift these types of aspirations because you just don't have time to get onto them.  We are not all the same and some of us shift different priorities to the bottom of the pile - for me I will go to the gym or make some form of exercise happen before I clean our home (a bad wife maybe but I NEED my sanity and exercise gives me that).  Don't get me wrong it's not a dirty home but it IS often VERY messy and deep down I long to live in a tidy home where every thing has it's place and I don't have to 'excuse the mess' every time someone comes over.  But for me that is the goal that gets pushed to the bottom of the pile - I really should take my own advice and get something on paper - plod away at it everyday and eventually live in the home I desire.......

Back to health, fitness and body image goals - I put body image in here because it is important - being fit and healthy are very important goals and often a great body will belong to a fit and health person but I believe body image and the way we portray ourselves especially as women impacts a lot on the way we feel about ourselves, our self esteem and our general happiness within our own skin.  One of my goals is to run a marathon but I can tell you I want to look great doing it - for me it's about both, looking great AND feeling great and you need to figure out what is important to you when you are writing your goals.  Make them personal and make them mean something to you - it's only when you relate to them that they will become your driving force.

How to start:

I like to use the SMART principle - it speaks for itself and if you follow each step you will be on your way to having a great set of goals.

Specific - know the exact outcome you want to achieve and exactly how you will know when you have gotten there.  i.e 'I will fit into my size 10 sass and bide jeans with NO muffin top', 'I will be able to do 10 push-ups on my toes'  get the idea.....

Measurable - You must know where you have started to know where you will get to.  Take a measurement of where you are now, use Body Composition if you can or at least measurements and the scales (to an extent) or know that you are now a size 14 in Sass & Bide jeans so you have two sizes to lose in order to reach your goal.  You may be able to do 3 push-ups now and you must build up to 10.  Theres no point in just saying 'I want to lose weight'.  Take photos of yourself now, during and once you have reached your goals - they are a powerful tool.


Achievable - You goals must be achievable to you - set them too high and you may become disheartened when you don't achieve them and too low and you may not have to make any changes in order to get there - your goals need to stretch you a little and challenge you to become a better you but they are not supposed to break you nor are they supposed to 'just happen without trying'.

Realistic - Know yourself, know your body and know what is possible - aiming to lose 10% Body Fat in a week just isn't going to happen but aiming to lose 10% body fat over a period of 12 weeks just might be.  And write your goals so they are true to yourself, get under your skin and find out what makes you tick - know what you want and feel passionate about achieving it.

Time Frame - 'I will fit into my size 10 Sass & Bide jeans with no muffin top by the 25th of December'  If you have a special occasion planned this is often a great time frame.  Be strong and set that date otherwise tomorrow will never come - we all know that feeling only too well.

You can write your goals and stick them on the fridge, on the back of the toilet door, on the bathroom mirror, in your car or in the photo part of your wallet - anywhere that you see them regularly.  Having a hard copy that you see often will help to keep you in check and keep you from going off track.

So what are you waiting for?  Set your goals and come with me to achieve your best body beyond baby.

Monday Measurements - week 3

Its Monday night, not the best time to be writing a blog post but its been one of those days where time just flies by.... children and life seem to descend upon my day and before I know it its almost midnight and I really must get to bed.  Not however before sharing this weeks progress report with you.  It's not looking too bad if I do say so myself - steady progress in the right (downwards) direction.  Next week will be the tell all though as I return to Body Composition for my week 4 check in - I'm excited and nervous all at the same time.

11th October 2010
Weight = 60.7kg
Chest = 99cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 75.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 86.8cm
Hips = 98cm
Right Thigh = 52cm
Left Thigh = 53cm

4th October 2010
Weight = 62kg ????? - no idea and this is why I am not the hugest fan on the 'at home' scales
Chest = 99.6cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 77cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 88cm
Hips = 99cm
Right Thigh = 53.5cm
Left Thigh = 54.1cm

27th September 2010
Weight = 60.1kg
Chest = 97.8cm
Waist (the smallest part) = 77.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 89.3cm
Hips = 99.2cm
Right Thigh = 54.1cm
Left Thigh = 54.7cm

I know I am making progress as the jeans that were tied together with a hair elastic three weeks ago now sit comfortably on my hips, in fact I might say they were a little loose in parts.  I have a whole wardrobe of jeans varying from a size 12 to a 7 (don't worry they were purchased the year I got married and was super small - I don't aspire to fit into those jeans again) but I can't wait to make my way through the rest of them and back to a comfortable me...... that leads me to my goals and how important having goals are on your best body and mind journey.  Check in tomorrow (hopefully before 11pm) and I'll share my goals with you.

Todays workout

I was up early today and off to the gym - I decided a couple of weeks ago to get myself a trainer.  Not so much for the knowledge side of things (though  we can all learn something new from fellow trainers) but because I think everyone needs a cheers squad from time to time and being a mum, just like you sometimes I struggle to stick to my plans and if I have a date to be somewhere I will be there.  I also enjoy being pushed and not to have to think about my workouts now and then
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Troy takes from the CrossFit philosophy so sessions are tough, challenging and intense.  You can see this mornings workout above and me looking very hot and sweaty post workout below.

So, how hard do you work in your sessions?  Yes, as new mums and referring back to my previous post we must know our limits and we must take the time to rebuild our bodies but we are also capable of so much.  We can work hard to achieve the body we want and you shouldn't be afraid of a little hard work.  After all if you can get through sleepless nights, tired days and crying children you can push through a 30 minute workout and reap the rewards of doing it on a regular basis.  And what I mentioned before about a cheer squad and a time and a date to be somewhere it is so worth while - if you are struggling to stick to your workout at least organise a time to meet with a friend and go for a walk or do a workout in the park or at the gym.  Team up with a group (come and join our Body Beyond Baby sessions) or find someone on your area that might offer a nanny service so baby can tag along to make your life easier.  Do what you must for YOU and join me to achieve your best post baby body.

Switch on your TVA and repair abdominal separation

Rebuild from the inside out

Wow - I cant believe its Wednesday already, the public holiday definitely makes for a shorter feeling week -  I have been busy getting in contact with some fantastic businesses who will be providing me with products to review that are aimed at making mums (and bubs and therefore mums) life easier and happier.  I am really excited about who we have on board and can't wait to introduce them to you.  These businesses have also been kind enough to offer their product for you to win too - so look out for Feel Good Friday - we are bringing products and prizes to help make life simpler and you feel great.

So, how is my week going in terms of exercise and staying on track?  I have learned a big lesson this week and one I know that my physio would give me a great big slap on the wrist for but I wanted to share it with you because it reinforces how super important it is not too do too much too soon.  I completed a cross fit style workout last Friday morning which I am really enjoying and I had been taking it a little easier than normal and modifying exercises etc to ease back into things and leaving out any really challenging ab exercises.  I have checked myself and been checked for abdominal separation and thanks to the rehabilitation exercises that I have been doing almost immediately following India's birth I am lucky enough not to have any gap already.  With this knowledge I went in a little gung hoe and did an exercise which recruited lots of abdominal muscles (including rectus abdominal) along with upper body strength - it felt fine at the time but as I got to Saturday I was feeling like someone was constricting my breathing and it was even uncomfortable to walk!  Now I tell you this (and am a little embarrassed by it) but it is so super important to build up slowly - I have been building up over the last 5 weeks but I still pushed myself too far on this occasion - you must rebuild your body from the inside out and even when you 'think' you are feeling great and you can challenge yourself with something more advanced keep in mind that your body may or may not be quite ready so keep it slow and monitor your progress and how you feel the next day.  It is now Wednesday and I am still feeling my tummy muscles from last Friday - not exactly the best idea.

Even though I have been diligent and have been doing my rebuild from the inside out exercises I still managed to push too far so I can't stress enough how important it is before going on to more strenuous exercise.  If you learn how to do these inner unit activation exercises properly you will build a fantastic base for your best and strongest body ever AND get rid of that 'mummy tummy'.

You can check out my DVD on the Body Beyond Baby website and check in tomorrow for a new online video showing you how to switch on those inner core muscles.

Monday measurements

Monday has rolled on around again and it's been a week since I kicked off my journey and I know for a fact that I have slipped up on some of those very simple things that I often talk about really need to keep in check.  We have had a weekend of social engagements along with it being a long weekend and I don't know about the rest of you but it's very easy for the weekend to become longer than the actual week - think Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday all somehow roll into the weekend so its okay to give yourself a break and ease up a little.  Hmmm so all that good work you have done from Monday gets left behind in a snowball of treat meals and snacks.  This has been my problem this week - two lunches and a birthday party haven't exactly been helpful in reaching my goals.

Let's check in with this weeks measurements:

4th October 2010
Weight = 62kg ????? - no idea and this is why I am not the hugest fan on the 'at home' scales
Chest = 99.6cm - this will go up and down given I am breastfeeding
Waist (the smallest part) = 77cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 88cm
Hips = 99cm
Right Thigh = 53.5cm
Left Thigh = 54.1cm

27th September 2010
Weight = 60.1kg
Chest = 97.8cm
Waist (the smallest part) = 77.3cm
UM (the bit around the belly button and where we store lots of fat) = 89.3cm
Hips = 99.2cm
Right Thigh = 54.1cm
Left Thigh = 54.7cm


So there have been a few little changes in terms of measurements and a weight gain in terms of the scales - it is disheartening seeing the number on the scales go up instead of going down but I will put this out of my mind and its also a good example of why I encourage you to use other forms of measuring your progress rather than just relying on your scales.

Now in terms of staying on track this week - the training is not a problem, I have been to the gym and done my cardio but I know that due to lack of food preparation and allowing my weekend to take over my week I have not made as much progress as I could have done and that all my hard work exercising has been undone by my lack of discipline.  These are both things that I know happen easily and happen to many people and I also know what to do about it!  I am going to sit down this evening and plan my food for the rest of the week and I am going to ensure that one 'treat' on the weekend doesn't end up being one treat per day AND remind myself that the weekend starts on Saturday and ends on Sunday - very simple stuff yet very effective when you abide by it.

Getting back on track.

Wow Jenny your blog has been amazing, fitting in a run with all that is going on around you.

So the past month has been crazy for me on a personal level which has meant an impact on my exercise and diet regime. A frantic dash to Melbourne for a family funeral the week before Zara turned one years old meant that my sessions with Rosie became non existent - and how I missed them.
Am on the up again trying to be consistent with training and, just as important, ensuring consistency with my diet. One thing I have noticed is how I snack on Zara's food whilst she is eating, especially as I prepare her dinner at a time that I too am hungry.
I have had some successes throughout the crazy month that was September. I finally went clothes shopping and managed to fit into a size 12 dress! I almost felt normal again. I have shed the weight and weigh 65kg, and though I ideally I would like to be 60kg Ifeel so proud that I did it. In the first few months of having Zara I just couldn't see ahead of me to how I would manage to loose the weight I had gained. When being administed the epidural the anethetist was trying to guess my weight and put me at 90kg - he was half joking but I would say he wasnt too far off. Luckily i had an obsetetrician who wouldnt weigh his patients, but let me tell you if I ever brave it to have another child I will do all I can to avoid such a massive weight gain.
The week ahead is getting back on track - a session with Rosie on tuesday and then encorporating exercise into every other day of the week.
Thanks to everyone who has been following my blog. One lession I have learnt is that there will always be something to set us back if you let it. The key is to just keep on moving forward. A funeral, a kids birthday party, intersate visitors - I've had it all. But at the end of the day the only person you can blame for not exercising is yourself.