Hi Ladies, my name is Vicki and this is my first time as a motivating mum and I’m extremely excited to have been picked and have a chance to share this journey with you guys.
I have been a Lose Baby Weight Challenge member since July 2015 and have lost 23kgs* so far.
January is a great month to be doing this, the beginning of the year when the temptations and craziness of Christmas is over and we have a brand new year to look forward to. I’m looking forward to thinking about my goals for 2016, making my pledge for January and planning my journey.
Join us this summer on the 28 Day Challenge and get your FREE sampler here
Or you can join the challenge directly here
I was overweight when I left high school, found my independence and husband, and embarked on years of fast lifestyle and fast food, we were both addicted. My weight kept creeping up and I would join a diet club or jump on the latest fad, lose 5-10kgs then gain it all back plus some more.
I’ve tried some big name diet plans, pills, shakes, cutting out certain foods, or starving myself on 1200 calories and less to lose weight. At one stage I weighed over 90kgs.
During this time I had three beautiful amazing children, I would lose a little bit of weight between pregnancies but gain it back after a birth. Add PCOS, severe PND and IBS and I was very lost and struggling.
A friend introduced me to Lose Baby Weight and I could see the amazing transformation she was achieving using the 28 Day Challenges and Healthy Mummy Smoothies. I wanted the same thing, I wanted to feel as good as she looked, I was desperate to do something to change my life.
I love food, but portion sizes have always been a real problem with me and I could never say no to second helpings. I was also a rather limited cook, I knew how to cook a few dishes really well.
Problem was the dishes were usually laden with lots of fat, cheese, carbs in the form of pasta or creamy sauces. Fine in moderation but I would have this at least once a day. Lunch could typically be takeaway or a pasta meal laden with cheese and butter.
My idea of what a diet I had to follow was revolved around limp tasteless boring salads, a dry tiny piece of boiled chicken and lots of tuna or recipes that took hours to prepare with expensive ingredients that no one in the family would like.
Oh boy was I disappointed, in the best way possible when I signed up to my first challenge. What I didn’t realise was the challenges have been designed with mums in mind.
We all know that mums are the busiest people in the world, we put ourselves last and our children and families first. We will worry about what our children are eating, are they happy and fulfilled, clean clothes and clean house.
By the end of the day we are running on empty and cooking a nutritious meal with our children at our feet is the last thing on our mind.
This is where the challenges became a lifesaver for me – really quick and easy meals to prepare, I don’t think I have encountered many that took more than 30 mins to cook and put together.
And I have without fail enjoyed every single meal from the challenges to date, and so does my family. We have Taco Tuesday, amazing curries and my favourite lunchtime meal is a salad.
Mornings are a breeze now, I whip together a smoothie for myself full of fruit, veg, healthy mummy smoothie powder and cacao for that yummy chocolate taste, then sip and enjoy whilst preparing the families breakfast and lunches for the day.
So what is my favourite way to do each challenge and keep motivated with my weight loss journey? Simple, its plan, plan, plan and write it down! I’m guilty as charged for having lots of grand ideas, things I want to do and plans for the week, but unless I take a little bit of time to write down those ideas, and plan how to achieve them, they never happen.
I work out what I want, what weight goal I’d like to be, what exercise goals would I like to aim for, dress size, body shape, fitness level anything you like.
Next I work out is it realistic, there are some things we just cannot change, like our underlying bone structure (tall/short), time restraints, finances etc I want my goal to be realistic so I don’t set myself up for failure and have an excuse as to why it’s not worth putting in the energy and effort to achieve something I just cannot do. Two big goals for me were to drop to 65kg and run 10km.
Next I write down my goals and break them up into smaller easily achievable goals, I set myself 5kg weight loss goals and a realistic time frame to achieve them in. I knew with Pcos and the medication I was on for PND that it was going to be slow going, so I aimed for 500g a week, anything more was a big bonus.
Next stage is preparation, how am I going to achieve these goals and what do I need to do to make this happen. If I was going to follow the challenges I needed to be prepared and organised, 20-30 mins a week to organise the meal plans for the week ahead, the challenges are fully adaptable, write a shopping list and organise when I would be grocery shopping.
I put aside half a day a week for baking, I would bake all my healthy snacks (try some chocolate weetbix balls or raspberry muffins are my favourite), put in containers labelled with the serving size and calories. Voila healthy snacks instantly on hand for morning and afternoon tea for you and the kids.
Know what your meals are for each day, no more looking in the fridge and deciding there’s nothing there and ordering in takeaway (I recall getting to the end of the week and throwing out crispers full of rotten food).
Lastly – organise some you time – it’s so important as mums that we look after ourselves and take time out to move and exercise our bodies.
You need to replenish the vessel that is you, before you can pour it out to your family. Give them everything and there is nothing left to give.
Take the time to look after yourself and your family will reap the benefits. Mine are.
Vickie xx
Join us this summer on the 28 Day Challenge and get your FREE sampler here
Or you can join the challenge directly here
Results from mums on the 28 Day Challenge
Mums lose an average of 4-6kg (8-13 pounds) on our 28 Day Challenge and below are some of the amazing results from mums JUST LIKE YOU who are already using the 28 Day Challenge and losing tummy fat – make the change and join them today too!
You can see lots of more results and you can join here too
Jess Lost 5kgs* with the 28 Day Challenge
Jess says: “The meals are quick and easy and so, so yummy! I never feel like I’m missing out! My husband is loving the dinners too when he’s not away. The challenge exercises are really keeping me on my toes!! Having the three rounds makes me really push to best my last reps!
For me, my biggest down fall is lack of organisation, but the challenge is exactly what I need to get organised and start smashing my goals!”
