Category: Pregnancy

Children, Diet, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Fitness, Healthy Eating, Parents, Pregnancy, Reviews

MUTU System 12 Weeks On

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on MUTU System 12 Weeks On

After the birth of each of my first three children I seemed to manage to get back into shape within a relatively short space of time. I don’t know if this was my youth giving me more of a zest to get back to my pre-baby self, the boundless energy I seemed to have or just luck but it was never really to much of an issue.

Yes my body had changed in countless ways but I could deal with this and my body confidence(whilst clothed) wasn’t to much of an issue for me.

Along came number four and this is where things took a change in the way I felt about my body and how my body was now dealing with multiple pregnancies. If I’m honest the fact I was breast feeding a baby with multiple allergies and an impending wedding the weight loss and diet side of things were pretty on point but my pelvic floor was really feeling the strain from so many pregnancies and vaginal births and I suffered terribly with vaginal prolapse that I managed to improve a little myself before I fell pregnant for the fifth time.

Age was now not on my side, struggling to find a work life balance with caring for five children, weight gain and a completely shot pelvic floor left me in a place I wasn’t happy with and if I’m honest its taken me four years and the kick up the bottom I needed to get me back on track.

I had gone from a hugly active job as a personal trainer to writing my blog which I never imagined would be a completly new career path for me. All my time, love and passion were being ploughed into this new project and any form of exercise had taken a nose dive. This added to events with free flowing food and drink I knew something was going to have to give.

After going along to the Embrace Workshop with the owner of the MUTU System – Wendy Powell she opened my eyes to the way I looked at myself and was just the stepping stone I needed to get things back on track and my body feeling better both inside and out.

The MUTU Systems main aims are to strengthen your core and pelvic floor, heal your diastasis recti, lose weight and eat well.

The program consists of 12 modules with exercises lasting only 20 minutes or less. The programs can be downloaded to any device which makes it easy to keep up the program whenever and wherever you are.

As well as the exercise program there is an easy to follow food guide that promotes healthy eating rather than unrealistic, restrictive diets.

The plan offers realistic goals and allows the flexibility to fit around everyone. My plan still has a couple of weeks to go as I had a bit of a blip over christmas so stay tuned to see my final results…if I pluck up the courage to post them!

I am already reaping the benefits with a significant weigh loss, flatter tum and most importantly for me, less leakage. If you want to give this plan a try for yourselves then click HERE and use the discount code EMBRACE15 for your 15% discount.

*Collaborated post

Antenatal Exercise, Children, Exercise, Families, Family Life, Fitness, Parents, Pregnancy

We All Deserve A Body That Works:MUTU Embrace Workshop

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on We All Deserve A Body That Works:MUTU Embrace Workshop

“We all deserve a body that works” these are the wise words from the creator of MuTu System Wendy Powell who has put together a complete body makeover program to help Mums fell better about themselves.

I was lucky enough to be invited along to meet Wendy and spend the morning taking with a group of lovely mummy bloggers about body confidence and trying out a few components from the MuTu System.

The morning kicked off with a screening of the documents movie – Embrace. The movie was made off the back of two before and after photos that were posted by Taryn Brumfitt an Australian mother of three that took social media by storm.

The buzz around these photos was so great due to the fact that Taryn flipped the usual before and after images on their head by showing her honed, bikini competition ready body as the before picture and her softer, heavier picture as here after photo.

The huge media attention from this created such an impact on Taryn that she took off on a round the world expedition to see how woman from of all different ages, cultures and backgrounds feel about their bodies and the results were pretty amazing.

It was a moving, heartfelt and thought provoking movie that really made me think about the way the over 90% with me falling into this category are in fact ‘highly dissatisfied’ with their bodies.

Thinking about the way I perceive my own body I would certainly say that I have a huge amount of hangups and these actually go back to well before my child bearing years.

After childbirth I have gained and lost a lot of weight and really lead a very yo-yo style of dieting and exercising for the past 20 years and have forged a very unhealthy relationship with both of them that I have battled with for a long time.

I am a very all or nothing person and really want to find a balance of healthy, not restrictive eating that can go hand in hand with an exercise plan that is flexible and sustainable.

This is where I was pleasantly surprised what MuTu has to offer as it fits this criteria perfectly.

Simple exercises and easy to follow diet guidelines to fix your body from the inside as well as the outside.

This is where Wendy’s phrase ‘we all deserve a body that works’ really comes into play.

So much emphasis is put on looking good that we tend to neglect the issues that can appear after childbirth such and rather than take the time to fix this we just put up with it.

Carrying and naturally giving birth to five children has certainly taken its toll on my body and after a few pretty unsuccessful trips to my GP who simply handed me a pelvic floor exercise sheet and told me to get on with it, it is by far one of the most important things for me to rectify but I have never made it a priority.

Pantyliners are now just an everyday habit when in reality I shouldn’t have to go day to day with these worries when there are resources out there to help us women to live worry free lives and enjoy time with our family without worrying about any embarrassing leakage.

During our workshop Wendy showed us some simple moves that can be carried out pretty much anywhere with the use of very little equipment and time but could have a huge impact on your day to day life.

Armed with all this information, my MuTu kitbag and bundles of inspiration I headed home to embark on the 12 week program that aims to help you lose your Mum Tum, heal your core and pelvic floor and give you confidence from the inside and out.

The course is easily accessed online where there are simple to follow videos, week by week plans and a food ideas to help you along the way.

I am currently four days in and have already been feeling the benefits.

I’ve not been hungry or felt the exercises were a hinderance to fit in around daily life, in fact I have a new found energy and am hungry to see what each new week will bring.

I will keep you up to date with my progress and will report back here after my 12 weeks are up so wish me luck!

*collaborated post

Children, Exercise, Families, Fish, Fitness, Parks, Pregnancy

The Sun Was Shining On The Baby Race

by thejoyoffive7 Comments on The Sun Was Shining On The Baby Race

I felt terrible this morning as I woke the house up at 6am on a Sunday to make our way to Bluewater for me to take part in Tommys Baby Race again this year.  It was a wonderfully sunny morning and the promise of a trip to the playground and the Lego shop at Bluewater was enough for them to forgive me.

This will be my third year of competing in this race and I love every minute of it.

We arrived to the lovely ladies from Baby Sensory putting on a warm up for the toddlers.  Number four was to interested in the balloon man to take part but number five loved the bubbles and beach ball throwing!!
      

To warm up the Mums and Dads the super energetic Buggfit leader took to the stage and gave us all an upbeat, fun warm up, and my husband and children always find their massively uncoordinated mother hilarious to watch!


Once the warm up was complete it was time to make our way over to the start line.  The route had changed this year and it was to complete six laps of the beautiful lake.  This was better for the children as there were bubble machines and music on the way round plus lots of ducks to spot.  I also found it an easier course too,  which can’t be bad.


I’m not sure how long it took me to complete the course as I was trying to keep number four from getting in the way of the start as we set off but I was over the moon to come in second place and receive a much appreciated goodie bag, voucher for my place to spend at Bluewater and best of all a much needed complementary bottle of water.


I take part in this race for so many reasons.  Firstly as it is for a wonderful  charity that brings hope to so many families out there. I like to hope that the money I raise each year will go to helping more people during times that I can’t even begin to imagine being in.  It is a real day out for all the family and whilst I am taking part the children can play in the playground and take a walk around the lake looking for fish and feeding the ducks.  My husbands favourite part of the day is going into the fantastic shopping centre and getting a big breakfast which is his reward for the early start!


           I would like to thank everyone that has taken the time to sponsor me this year and if anybody is still wanting to donate to my Just Giving page it will still be open for another few months.

There are still several Baby Races being put on by Tommys across the county this year if anyone feels like joining in after reading this post, or I would be more than happy for some company when I take part again next year.

Antenatal Exercise, Exercise, Pregnancy

Exercise In Pregnancy Was A Must For Me

by thejoyoffive28 Comments on Exercise In Pregnancy Was A Must For Me

  
Exercise in pregnancy is a much talked about subject with many pros and cons and lots of contrasting information being thrown around.

During my first pregnancy I had very little information on the benefits of exercise and just followed the age old rule of eating for two and putting your feet up.  I gained quite a lot of weight and had a seventeen hour labour which resulted in a forceps and ventouse delivery.

With my second and third I was much more careful with my diet, swam a few times a week and walked regularly.  These deliveries were a lot shorter and were much more straightforward with little pain relief.

I was convinced that keeping active during pregnancy was a factor in this and from here I grew a passion for the subject and went back to college to retrain as a personal trainer specialising in pre and antenatal exercise.

I found the training fascinating and went on to open my own personal training company geared towards mummy’s and mummy’s to be.

During this time I have had another two children with great pregnancies and good labours.  I even managed to have a water birth with my last which is not normally allowed as there are higher risks with your fifth labour.

Here are few benefits of keeping fit and healthy whist carrying your precious cargo.

Smaller Weight Gain

Let’s face it one of the things we all dread during pregnancy is putting on to much weight.  You should not be training to lose weight during this time but keeping it stable during your pregnancy will make it much easier to get back into shape after the birth.

Keeps Your Enery levels Up

Pregnancy can really take its toll on you and the last thing you probably want to do is get up and start jumping yourself around, but even twenty minutes of raising your heart rate can give you a real burst of energy for the rest of the day.

Less Likely To Need Intervention During Labour

You are 75% less likely to need the use of forceps and 55% less likely to have to have an episiotomy; which lets face it we would all rather avoid.

Give You the Energy To Get Through Labour

I’m sure if you signed yourself up for a marathon you would never think about going into it with no training.  Well labour is called that for a reason.  It’s a long hard slog that takes both mental and physical energy.  You need the strength to get yourself through it.

Keep Those Happy Hormones Flowing

Exercise releases endorphins that make you feel happy!  What could you need more when you’ve had a hard day and things are taking there toll.

Reduce The Risk Of Gestational Diabetes

Your can reduce the risk of developing gestational diabetes by up to 27%.  This is a condition during pregnancy that can cause problems for both mother and baby; so if it can be avoided by getting up and exercising a little everyday it is so worth it.

To me exercise is as important during your pregnancy as your midwife check ups and antenatal classes.  It offers so much that it really shouldn’t be over looked.

If you are already a regular exerciser then it is fine to continue your usual routine and for those of you that are not active it’s never to late.  It’s not advisable to start a new exercise program whilst pregnant but gentle exercise such a walking and swimming are completely fine and if nothing else give you some much needed me time.