Eight weeks and beyond...

Congratulations! You survived the first few weeks with your new baby and gradually trying to piece together what your new life should look like.  And, more good news, your body will continue to change over the next few months after having a baby - so what can you expect to feel like eight weeks after having a baby...and beyond?

• Your postnatal bleeding should have stopped or the flow reduced considerably and the colour of your discharge become very light. If this isn’t the case, please seek advice from your GP.
• You should be generally pain free but your caesarean scar might be tender or be painful if you over exert yourself. The area around the scar might also be numb.
• Your bowel movements should be easier and have returned to a normal rhythm, if not take a few teaspoons of Linseeds soaked in hot water before bed to help re-establish a good rhythm.
• Your pelvis may still be feeling very unstable and loose or conversely you might feel a general tightness in your pelvic region.
• You may still be experiencing some degree of incontinence – urinary, gas and possibly faecal.
• You may still have difficulty connecting to your Pelvic Floor muscles.
• If you are still feeling tired, check with your GP whether you need to take an Iron Supplement.

And what else can you do to help speed up your recovery?

• Ensure you include a high quality vitamin and mineral supplement in your diet and also supplement with Omega Fish Oils.
• Apply the principles of high level optimum nutrition to replenish your postnatal body after pregnancy.
• Keep well hydrated with water and fruit teas.
• Include a regular stretching program
• Take advantage of ANY opportunity to be still, quiet and rest.
• Prioritise your self-care and the care of your baby - housework and the rest of life can wait until you get your energy and strength back!
• When given the go-ahead start exercising according to your level of recovery.

Come along and try one of our 'pram camps' - where you strengthen those 'Mummy Muscles' - back, tummy, pelvic floor, and arms - and re-gain your fitness with other Mums just like you AND you can bring along your baby and toddler. Check the website for more details on where and when or you can contact me directly.

Acknowledgements: Jenny Burrell, burrelleducation.com.au

So what's normal after having a baby?

Perhaps nothing feels 'normal' or at least not the way you remember it! Seriously though, first-time Mums are often so preoccupied with the very thought of just 'getting through' childbirth that they haven't even thought about what might happen to their bodies afterwards. So what can you expect in those first few weeks (when you're also trying to cope with a newborn) - and what can you do to help speed your recovery?

 Birth to 6-8 weeks after delivery

• You’re tired and generally not feeling like your old self yet.
• Stitches and tissue damage/tears may feel tender.
• Your post birth bleeding should have ceased.
• You may be a little fearful of or cautious when performing bowel movements.
• You may have difficulty straightening up/standing tall especially if you had a caesarean.
• Your caesarean scar is still healing and may be tender. You will have to modify getting up and down from the sitting and lying down positions.
• Your pelvis might be feeling very unstable and loose or conversely you might feel a general tightness in your pelvic region.
• Your abdominal may feel loose and unsupported.
• Your muscle may be tight and achy especially around your hips, shoulders neck and backs of your thighs.
• You may have some degree incontinence – urinary, gas or faecal.
• You may have difficulty mentally connecting to your Pelvic Floor muscles.
• You might be experiencing some neck, bicep and shoulder pain and general tightness in your upper body due to the demands of breastfeeding.

Your best actions: rest when you can and as much as possible, no lifting anything heavier than your baby, begin gentle stretching, get a specialist Post Natal massage and nourish your depleted body through the very best in nutrition, home-cooked good food! Ultimately, start reconnecting gently to your body especially your Pelvic Floor gently but also let mother nature do her job too!

Acknowledgements: Jenny Burrell, burrelleducation.com

Time out for New Mums - tips to revive and survive!

"OK, you've got me, but who's got you?" - Lois Lane to Superman as they fly off the terrace into the night...in Superman: the movie, circa 1978)

I'll never forget those first 48 hours after bringing home my first baby from hospital. Even after nine months of carrying around "Fuji" (as she was affectionately known then in utero), I just couldn't believe that this small baby girl was actually mine. And now that we were home from hospital, there was no-one (gulp) with the 'expertise' to help out. No midwife to consult on breastfeeding, or sore nipples, or strange pains 'down there'; no one else to change nappies or take her away to a nursery so I could get some shuteye. It was down to me - I'm a Mum now, and this tiny little girl is totally dependent on me.

The thing is, no-one really tells you just how hard it can be in those first few weeks of motherhood. (Maybe Mums forget - or are so sleep deprived that one day just blurs into another?) In the lead-up to having a new baby, you're really focused on 'the birth' and how you're going to handle it. Then the instant the baby's born, your attention turns to feeding the baby (and how you're going to do that!). AND THEN, when you're home from hospital, inevitably, you're trying to cope with adjusting to a new life with a baby while trying to lose your own sense of self...not to mention sanity.

So the big question remains: how do you cope with your new life as a Mum without losing your mind in those first few weeks? Here are my 5 top sanity savers. I hope they help you too!

Avoid 'the pursuit' of perfection.The pressure you put on yourself in the chase will make you quit when your efforts don't match your expectations. There are no hard and fast rules to looking after a newborn, just take the time to find your own way, and don't expect to know everything - expecting too much from yourself will only cause anxiety and frustration and can leave you feeling down. Remember, your baby doesn't need you to be perfect or to get everything done - at the end of the day - your baby just needs you!

Have a daily plan. Not a strict schedule, but one that takes you out of the house for some fresh air. Grab the pram and walk to the local park, shops, or explore your neighbourhood. Why? It helps stop a long day from feeling endless (especially after a night of little or no sleep). Plus if you're active, your body is producing endorphins (a chemical reaction in your body which in turn makes you feel GOOD). The real plus is it can help relieve stress, boost your immune system, as well as improve circulation and healing from labour and birth. 

Do some household chores while your baby is awake. And sleep when the baby is asleep! When you have your first baby, it's easy to think you have to be completely focused on them while they're awake. But as any second or third-time Mum will tell you, the baby will be happy whether you're doing the laundry, unpacking the dishwasher, cooking, or even lying on the floor - as long as the baby's near you.

Ask for help when you need it. When you were pregnant, you probably looked forward to being at home, hanging out with other Mums and sipping on a latte. But realistically, life with a newborn isn't like that. Being at home a lot looking after your little one - instead of doing paid work - is a big adjustment, so give yourself some time to get used to it. Sometimes you can feel lonely and just talking about it with someone else can lighten the load. If you feel overwhelmed - ask for help - don't feel as though you have to do it all on your own while your partner is at work. 

Believe in yourself. Being a Mum can be overwhelming, but no-one is more capable than you. Write a list of all the things you're good at, stick it on the fridge, and look at it whenever you doubt yourself.

Eat healthier for a better life

Most of us know what we should eat and why we should eat it. But more often than not we get caught up in work, or running around after our little (or not so little) kids, that we don't. We say it's too hard too eat healthily, we don't have time to cook or plan meals, or even that it costs more to prepare healthy alternatives. And we look for a short-cut or what we think will be a quick fix to good health and fat loss.

And does it work? Maybe in the short term, but so-called 'dieting' isn't the answer in the long term. Diets mess with your head, your moods, and confidence. How often do you feel guilty about something you ate for instance? Diets can create a negative cycle of stress, deprivation, bingeing, guilt, denial, frustration and the biggie – failure. Not exactly what you'd call a great model for a happy, healthy Mum.

And like it or not, our kids learn by example and not just from what we say but what we do. A friend of mine was shocked to see her three-year-old mimic her on the bathroom scales, saying she'd “have to try harder” and that she was “too fat”.

So I say BOO to dieting! Throw away all the junk magazines and crazy diet books. Instead, think positively and get savvy about nutrition. It all comes down to habits and behaviour.

And more importantly, happy, healthy Mums can't help but be an example to their kids.

Here's 3 simple tips to get you started:

1. Reduce your intake of starchy, refined, processed carbohydrates(rice, pasta, bread and potatoes). This is one of the ultimate keys to the fat loss kingdom. Reduce these items dramatically and you’ll see an amazing difference to your waistline within a week.

2. Avoid sugar where possible!You have to work hard at this one, but it’s worth it, again, controlling your blood sugar is vital to preventing the mechanism which causes you to store fat. 

3. Dump the junk and processed food. You know why! Full of trans fats, sugar, salt and who knows what else. Eating processed food won't take you towards your goals!

Cortisol and stress - the natural enemy of fat loss in new Mums?

Time and again I meet new Mums who wonder why it's so hard to get the fat loss results they want. Putting aside the need to eat a healthy diet and exercise, there are some other factors to consider when looking to get your pre-baby body back.

What is Cortisol?
Adrenaline and Cortisol are the two main stress hormones produced by the Adrenal glands. Totally useful when we need to get out of danger, not so great when our modern life and stress levels keep us chronically in a state of over-production.

So what does this mean for your fat-burning efforts? And why does it seem that our body might actually be fighting us to achieve our goals?

• Both hormones circulating in the system increase appetite and then drive the stressed individual to consume – guess what? More carbohydrate and fat!
  
• During pregnancy, the hormonal signals have been set to ensure fat is stored in preparation for feeding the baby.
  
• During pregnancy and the early weeks after having a baby, cortisol is naturally elevated. After birth, the body elevates Cortisol and other stress hormones to help keep Mum alert and aware of any possible dangers to the baby - and it's though that they may even have a role in the attachment process.

• The physical stress of labour and birthing, not to mention the stresses of adjusting to life as a new Mum and poor sleeping patterns/lack of sleep means that Cortisol levels may remain high long after the little one comes into your life, making it difficult for you to lose weight.

• Being an older Mum can also be a factor in holding fat as sadly, by the mid to late 30’s the body is preparing for menopause. And the ultimate paradox - as women head towards menopause the body will automatically be reluctant to let go of fat around the middle as this is where Oestrogen is mainly manufactured. This happens because the body knows that Oestrogen will help protect our bones from Osteoporosis so the body tries to hold onto the fat to hold onto the Oestrogen to prevent Osteoporosis which it obviously deems to be a greater threat than having a fat belly!

• The ultimate blow comes in the fact that abdominal fat cells have four times as many receptors for Cortisol than anywhere else in your body so if you’re continually too stressed, your abdominal fat cells will be calling out for Cortisol and encouraging the body to store fat around the abdominals!

So what can we do to keep the cortisol levels at bay?

• Obey your natural rhythms of sleep and rest – our circadian rhythm allows the adrenals to rest and Human Growth Hormone to be produced – vital for optimal fat metabolism.
  
• Caffeine, sugar, tobacco and low blood sugar create emergency situations within our systems and signal stress, they are ALL best avoided!

Special thanks to: Burrell Education 2012 www.burrelleducation.com

Why alcohol makes and keeps you fat

You've had a hard day at work, the kids are finally in bed, and all you want to do is sit down and kick back with a glass of wine or two...or more.

But if you're serious about your health and your waistline then pay special attention to your alcohol intake! Limiting it will help to save calories and enhance your fat burning efforts.

So why does alcohol make and keep you fat?

Alcohol has a two-fold negative effect on our ability to lose fat:

1. Alcohol is highly calorific and easily over-consumed. Compare its calorific value with the other components of our diet: Alcohol is 7kcal/g, fat is 9 kcal/g, both protein and carbohydrate are roughly 4kcal/g).

2. The simple presence of alcohol in your system has a hugely negative impact on your ability to metabolise fat. This was shown by a study where 8 men were given two drinks of vodka and lemonade separated by 30 minutes. Each drink contained just under 90 calories. Fat metabolism was measured before and after consumption of the drink. For several hours after drinking the vodka, whole body lipid oxidation (a measure of how much fat your body is burning) dropped by 73 per cent!

The reason why alcohol has this dramatic effect on fat metabolism has to do with the way alcohol is handled in the body. Rather than getting stored as fat, the main fate of alcohol is conversion into acetate and the presence of acetate in the system puts the brakes on fat loss. The greater the quantity of alcohol, the greater the quantity of acetate created, the less likely fat is metabolised.

In other words, your body tends to use whatever you feed it, and after a time becomes adapted to the macro nutrient intake. Unfortunately when acetate levels rise, your body burns the acetate preferentially.
So the body simply burns the acetate first, this basically pushes fat oxidation out of the metabolic equation.

Acknowledgements: Burrell Education 2012, burrelleducation.com

Why water is a vital part of your fat loss

Drinking water is one of the best things you can do for your health, for many reasons that go beyond hydration. For a start, if you don't drink enough water, your body can't store carbohydrate energy (that you need in the muscles to exercise). BUT your body can still store fat, which can work against any fat-loss plans you may have!

Did you know:

• Your body is composed mostly of water, 65-75%!
• Water is required for every cellular action in the body.
• By keeping hydrated you provide the water required for your body to work optimally INCLUDING BURNING FAT.
• Being dehydrated will REDUCE YOUR CAPACITY TO BURN FAT AS FUEL!
• Water helps to DETOXIFY your system and should be considered one of your most vital supplements.
• Water will also help any substance that your body does not need exit safely and it will also greatly aid in transporting the necessary nutrients throughout the body.
• How much should you drink? Roughly about 3 per cent of your total body weight. For most people getting up to 1.5 – 2 litres a day is a pretty steep order but that is your ultimate daily goal.
• What counts as ‘WATER’? – Pure, clean, simple WATER & FRUIT TEAS!
• TOP TIP: Start by getting a re-usable 1.5 litre bottle and make a habit of having it with your all day so you can see exactly how much you have drunk. Aim to simply finish it before the end of your day, EVERY DAY!

So don’t sabotage all your other great efforts! Get that water in!

 Acknowledgements: Burrell Education 2012, www.burrelleducation.com