Our motto at Lose Baby Weight is and always has been to only ever even think start to about losing weight until you feel 100% ready.

You should never feel like you have to lose pregnancy weight gain by a certain date and you should never rush to lose the weight or compare your own post baby body to that of a celebrity as the two are just not comparable. And you can read more about this here

The number one focus should always be on the health of the mum and the baby. Then when you feel up to it, you can start exercising and focusing on diet more. For some mums this can be a couple of months post birth and for others it can be a few years. We are all different so don’t compare to others and go by when is right for you and you only.

I am the owner and founder of Lose Baby Weight (that’s me below with my big bub) and I had my second ‘little’ boy on 31 Dec and at the 8 week mark I felt physically and emotionally ready to start with the weight loss – but please note just because I was ready then, it does not mean that if you had your baby at a similar time as me or before me that you will or should be ready at 8 weeks – everyone is different and we all reach the ‘ready’ point at a different point and we all have different lives and different pressures to juggle and deal with.

Wow – can’t believe how much the past 2 months have flown by!!  I am loving being a mum of 2 and life is hectic but absolutely fantastic!

As I wrote 8 weeks ago I wasn’t going to put any pressure on myself to lose my pregnancy weight and was going to follow our healthy eating plans plus go for a daily walk, then when I felt that I did want to focus more on exercise and losing weight then I would – but that it would be on my own terms depending on how life with my new bubba went.

And on this note, I think it is very important to state that for some mums this feeling of being 100% emotionally and physically ready to lose pregnancy weight can be a few weeks after birth and for others it can be well over a year – and for many it is more than 5.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to losing weight and there are so many personal circumstances and reasons which contribute to when you feel ready – so only do it when you feel ready and enjoy the time with your baby.

I gained 19kg in my second pregnancy and over the first 2 weeks lost 9kg from the birth and fluid loss (my bub weighed 4kg and I was carrying a lot of fluid too).  My pre pregnancy weight was 54kg and 2 months on I am at 64kg.

We often get asked if pregnancy weight is different to lose than normal weight. And the simple answer is no. Fat is fat and no matter how you gained it, it isn’t a different type of fat if you gained it in pregnancy.

But is pregnancy weight harder to lose than non pregnancy weight? For most people the answer is YES.

And this is because of the significant change to a woman’s life, time, priorities and energy levels post baby (plus the extra weight we gain around the tummy which can be tough to shift). And this applies whether your children are babies or are a lot older.

Pre having children we often just didn’t quite appreciate having time to yourself. I certainly did not appreciate how much time I had to do my own thing and now with two children I find it hard to have any time to myself (which I don’t mind!).

This means that pre baby there is time to go to the gym, or to focus on exercise, or to have a full night sleep each night, or to take it easy if you feel tired, or to spend time cooking and shopping for healthy foods or to have a day off if you feel like it – all of which can mean losing weight is easier to do or certainly more achievable – as you have the time to focus 100% on you.

Hooray! My little boy has been born and I couldn’t be happier!  The birth was uncomplicated and I am loving being back at home and having a new addition to our family!

And as my first little boy was such a bad sleeper I am fully prepared for more sleepless nights – but am hoping that little Jake is a better sleeper

And I have had quite a few questions in from other mums asking me when I plan on focusing on losing weight and doing exercise so thought I would answer that here too.

I gained 20kg with this pregnancy and just over one week after the birth I have 11kg to go to be at my pre pregnancy weight. My little boy weighed 4kg and as I was carrying lots of fluid I have lost 9kg naturally over 8-9 days.

And although 11kg isn’t a huge amount to lose, as we always say at Lose Baby Weight, weight loss is a very personal issue and no one should ever feel judged for when they lose weight or how much weight they have to lose and this is how much I have to lose to be back in my pre pregnancy clothes and feeling confident.

Pregnancy. Some people sail through it and others have a shocking time. But what is for sure, although there are many common pregnancy experiences no two pregnancies are the same.

I am due to have my second baby in the next few weeks and am well and truly over my pregnancy! 9 months seems like such a long time and I now cannot wait to meet our family’s new addition.

Four things have plagued me this pregnancy – which is pretty much on a par with my first one:

1) Extreme tiredness all the time (admittedly running a very busy business and having a very active toddler doesn’t make this easier!).

2) Terrible foot pain in my heels where if I am on my feet for more than 5 minutes my heels just burn and are in so much pain.

3) Extreme leg cramps all the way though which keep me up all night every night (and doesn’t help the tiredness) and finally migraines.

4) I have always suffered from migraines but the pregnancy hormones going up and down mean that I get some shockingly bad migraine attacks where I pass out/can’t see/hear/talk.

I find magnesium and iron supplements (I use Spatone iron) really do help with the exhaustion and cramps to a degree but all in all I just have to roll with it and I know the end result is worth it!

Only 8 weeks for me to go now until my second little baby is here and I cannot wait!

I met up with some other pregnant mummas the other day and it is funny how pregnancy effects everyone so differently – there is no common or average pregnancy and some get a good run and others get a terrible one! (the pic here is of me and a friend – who isn’t pregnant)

I met one mum who had had 4 children – plus one on the way – and she just loves being pregnant. Pregnancy makes her feel happier, less tired and she swears the pregnancy hormones just make her body work better.

Then there was another mum who was on her second pregnancy and absolutely hated it and has had horrendous morning sickness, exhaustion, severe haemeroids, very bad back, gestational diabetes and crazy food cravings.

And although the average weight gain is 12-14 kg everyone gains a different amount and amongst the group I was with, some of the mums had gained over 20kg and others only 8kg! And all were in their last trimester.

Most mums find it hard to cope with their new life post the birth of their baby. Accepting the changes that happen with the birth of their newborn, especially bodily changes is difficult for most mums. In fact, as a new mum you just wish you could shed all those kilos that you gained during your pregnancy.

There is an abundance of weight loss plans in the market today and it is important to weigh all your options before diving head-first into your chosen method. We understand that if you are reading this article, your goal is to quickly lose those extra post-maternity pounds, but don’t forget to factor in your number one priority, your beautiful new born baby.

Researching and selecting the right plan is vital, especially if you are breastfeeding. Naturally, it is going to be a hectic, albeit exciting journey that revolves around your new born, and sometimes you might feel that there isn’t enough time to follow a strict weight loss plan.

But don’t give up on the idea of getting back in shape and regaining your pre-maternity body as the Lose Baby Weight plan was created especially for time poor and busy mums who wanted to lose pregnancy weight in a safe and healthy way.

Well what a week I have had this week!  It started off on Monday morning with a live TV interview on the Kerri Anne Kennerly show – although as it turned out Kerri Anne took an impromptu week off and Catriona Rowntree was in hot seat instead.  And what a delight she was.  She was warm, friendly and happily chatted away about her own struggles with losing her baby weight – but she looked amazing and you wouldn’t think that she has had two children!

I had also managed to convince two wonderful mums who have lost their baby weight on the Lose Baby Weight plans to come on TV with me – so after nearly a year of working with Nicole Furlong and Jo Martin it was an absolute pleasure to have them fly down from Queensland and meet two of the ladies who I have just loved helping over the past year.

Wow, can’t believe summer is actually here! I went down to the beach today to do some exercise with my bub and it has really warmed up – which is good as I am very much over the winter weather now.  I have been asked a lot on our Facebook page how can mums lose weight fast for summer and lose tummy fat, so I wanted to give our easy to follow top tips to get you beach body ready for when the warm weather is here to stay.

On August 27th Lose Baby Weight won an incredible two Awards in the annual AusMumprenuer Awards and we are so happy it is beyond belief!

We launched Lose Baby Weight on October 1 2010 after discovering there was no solution to help mum lose their pregnancy weight in a safe and healthy way and shape up post pregnancy.  So after a lot of research and a huge amount of work (and when I was 6 months pregnant) we launched and since October 1 my life has been a rollercoaster ride of crazyness which included the birth of my first baby, Kai, in December and my own weight loss journey as well as helping mums across Australia lose over 15,000kg!

Most people who meet me think I am slightly mad and don’t understand why I work so hard or do so much and always tell me to slow down, but I just don’t think it is in my nature and I am so passionate about helping other mums get healthy and I dedicated to doing it 24/7!  Plus I have the ability to do it around my own baby which I love!