On this day at exactly 6.ooam, I weighed in at my goal weight…..10kgs less than what I was 6 months ago!

Last year was one of the most challenging and emotional years of my life! The year started with the most precious gift born into our lives….Mia Natalie Trew! Her birth was so bittersweet. I was induced at 38 weeks as I had just been diagnosed with a heart condition and no one knew what was going to happen to me during child birth! Thankfully all went well, but mentally I wasn’t in the place I had been after having Bailey and Sienna! I felt robbed of giving birth the way I knew how to.  Instead of being free to birth how I had in the past, I was hooked up to machines, checked every 10-15 minutes and had every obstetrician who was on duty that day come and ask me the same questions over and over again…..all I kept thinking was “enough already, I just want to meet my little girl!” Knowing Mia is my last baby I was really disappointed with how my birthing days had ended:( This played on my mind for a long time, along with not knowing how my heart was going to handle recovering from giving birth!

The above photo is of me at Mia’s Christening July last year!

To add to all of this, Mia was my worst newborn out of all 3! She took at least a month or so to settle at night into the one feed routine and her days were never as settled as her brother and sister! She was always the baby who never had two days the same…..thankfully being my third, this didn’t stress me out too much! But between being emotionally drained and sleep deprived all the time, I turned to food for comfort! I didn’t put a gross amount of weight on when I was pregnant with Mia (not like Sienna….we won’t go there…lol) it was months after that my state of mind was in such a bad place I stopped caring! I would eat anything and everything! Sonny (our dog) would never get leftovers because I would polish them off! Kane use to make fun of me and say things like “you’re right I didn’t want any!” Obviously I was starting to make a pig of myself and this is not normally the person I am!

My journey to lose the weight I emotionally put on started back in October last year! Mia was 8 months old and still such a difficult baby! She had so many issues that we took a trip to a pediatrician who diagnosed her with reflux, but apart of finding out what was wrong with her, I had to go on a crazy rabbit food diet for 2 weeks to eliminate some things as I breastfeed her.  I literally detox during the course of the 2 weeks.  I had withdrawals so bad I wanted to cry all day and night! I had to keep busy to distract myself from eating…..it was SOOOOO hard! But by the end of the two weeks I felt so much better! I had lost a couple of kilos, my stomach had started to go down and I was feeling less tired already! This was a huge turning point for me, from that day on I knew I had it in me to lose the 10kgs that would get me back to the weight that I always was before becoming a mum!

The above photo is me 5kg down on Christmas Day….my first goal achieved!

I initially was only going to concentrate on the diet side of things.  Because I’m breastfeeding, I didn’t want to chance losing my milk so I was going to wait and start exercising when I stopped breastfeeding. I also had an 8cm stomach muscle separation after carrying Mia so I wanted to take a full 12 months for that to heal.  It’s funny how things change quickly! One afternoon Kane came home from work and I said “see ya, the kids have been feral and I’m going for a walk!” He looked at me and said “seriously!” That day I walked and did a lot of thinking and from that day on I have maintained exercising 5-6 times a week!

Thank you to my wonderful husband who always supports me with whatever I do!

It’s not easy, in fact it can be very challenging at times! Preparing meals that are lean and healthy, not snacking, exercising. But the end result is so worth it! My first goal was to lose 5kgs by christmas and that I did.  The next goal was to lose the second 5kgs by my birthday which is next week!  There are  still days where I want to eat anything in sight but my mental strength over takes and yells out NO! I haven’t reached that point with the exercising, that I am absolutely loving! It’s also not easy fitting in the exercise! I’m lucky I have a husband that is very supportive and doesn’t leave for work until 6.30. I get up BF my daughter and then I eitheFIFO for a 4km run or half hour walk.  I make sure each week I do a total of 3 hours worth of exercise.  A doctor on the Today show reported that a human exercising 3-5 hours a week is very beneficial to their body!  When I’m having a moment of weakness I think about the clothes I can fit into now…..especially my new size 8 skinny jeans – I’ve never worn size 8 skinny jeans!!! Most importantly I think about how all the good I’ve done is helping my heart not get any worse.  When I’m running and feeling like I can’t run another step (this was more in the early days of exercising) I think of the kids and how I birthed them with no epidural and they were massive 10 pounders!!!

I am very proud of myself for what I have accomplished in the past 6 months, cause not only have I reached my goal weight and am now as fit as ever, I am as mentally fit as I have ever been.  I feel like I could do anything….sounds corny I know, but that is just how I’m feeling:) But I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the love and support of my wonderful husband and children! Being a wife and a mum of 3 little children is awesome but exhausting and for too long now I used this as an excuse to not get fit and healthy!  Now I feel I am a better wife and mum as I have more energy and am in a really good place with myself!

This is me now 10kgs gone for good!

WEEKLY EXERCISE PLAN

Monday – day off, Tuesday – Run 4km, Wednesday – half hour walk, Thursday – Run 4km, Friday – half hour walk, Saturday – 5km run, Sunday – 4km run.

DAILY EATING PLAN

Breakfast – large bowl of cereal with rice milk, Lunch – ham/chicken and salad sandwich, Dinner – Meat and salad/veggies.

During the day if I am hungry I’ll have fruit or rice cakes.  Meals at night may also have rice or pasta with them. I also drink at least 2 litres of water a day and take a multivitamin (Natures Way – Rest and Restore).

Saturday is usually my one day I will treat myself!

Thought of the day…..Everything takes time, you put the effort in and you will see results!

Everything I do, I do it for you!