The Body For Me

Want to get the body you've dreamed of? I'm here to help you get the right mindset to achieve that goal! With practical advice and a positive outlook you can get there and use what you learn to maintain your body, health, family and mental wellbeing.

[lauratbfm]

Here's an awesome close-up of my bum! These are two modified glute bridges to keep your workout interesting. If you don't have the bosu for the first type, just prop your feet up on a couple of cushions or the sofa. Great glute and hamstring burn!!! #thebodyforme #postnatal #weightlosscoach #personaltrainer #instafit #fitmum #fitfam #exerciseinpregnancy #entrepreneur #fitness #girlboss #health #mummy #onlinetraining #onlinecoach #pt #womenwholift #wweightlossjourney

[lauratbfm]

Finding the time to workout is easy sometimes. Others it's impossible. Just as you get a lovely routine going with your baby and a window of opportunity arises, they change. They drop a nap or decide to eat at a different time. Perhaps sleeping is for wimps according to your baby... Whatever happens, finding a regular spot just for you and exercise is hard. I'm coming up to 10 months post #csec and my exercise is still sporadic at best. I try day to day to get a good walk in, but even that is difficult because Lexi doesn't enjoy being harnessed into anything. While she is content in the pushchair, I can at least give my arms a bit of a challenge, by keeping the elbow from locking. Take a route which has a few hills and with your arms bent, you'll feel your triceps working - (often one of the least favourite spots on our bodies.) on the uphills and your biceps and even your back working on the descents. Where it's safe, try pushing with just one hand and you can feel your obliques and abs working to keep the pushchair straight. It's no dumbbell workout, but doing it every day will help. It all adds up. #thebodyforme #pt #personaltrainer #baby #exerciseinpregnancy #postnatal #prenatal #fitmum #fitness #fitfam #ladieswholift #entrepreneur #health #weightloss #instafit #mummy #onlinetraining #routine #sun

[lauratbfm]

Enjoying a lunch out in Marlow with my husband and daughter. Not long to go until work beckons, but if you want to work out with me and Lexi, keep your eye on my website for more details! www.thebodyforme.com #thebodyforme #prenatal #postnatal #exerciseinpregnancy #instafit #fitfam #science #personaltrainer #baby #nutrition #entrepreneur #move #womenwholift #groupworkouts #solopreneur #business #bucks #pt #wooburngreen #marlow

[lauratbfm]

Egg white omelette you say? How dull! No taste. This was lovely with a leeeetle kick of spice! Grab what you have in your cupboard or fridge - microwave veg, 2 new potatoes, an onion, cherry tomatoes and some spice. Doesn't matter if they're a bit past their best. Fry in your oil of choice, add in some spice (peri peri in my case) and glug in a good amount of egg white. High in protein, nutrients, fibre and vitamins. 10 mins done. In my face! #thebodyforme #fitmum #fitness #fitfam #postnatal #personaltrainer #nutrition #science #protein #weightlosscoach #onlinetraining #onlinecoach #weightlossjourney #weightloss #entrepreneur #girlboss #health #instafit #mummy #science #solopreneur

[lauratbfm]

A beautiful misty morning for my first run since January 2016! I don't like running, but I really fancied one today. So I made use of the early rise gifted to me by my 7 month old and I'm done. It wasn't far(2,5k!), but have to start somewhere and in trainers which gave me a blister!! #thebodyforme #neednewtrainers #postnatal #baby #entrepreneur #fitmum #fitness #girlboss #health #running #instafit #ladieswholift #mummy #nutrition #onlinetraining #onlinecoach #personaltrainer #routine #science #solopreneur #weightlosscoach #weightlossjourney #weightlossforwomen

[lauratbfm]

A lovely long walk in the woods with my beautiful little baldy & my mum. Lexi weighs well over a stone so adding her weight onto my walks can make any uphill a challenge! This stretchy sling has been one of the best purchases; comfy to wear with no back ache and comfy enough for napping! It was a warm, sunny day with some good hill climbs but the carrot cake at the end was worth it! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #baby #entrepreneur #fitmum #fitness #girlboss #health #instafit #ladieswholift #mummy #nutrition #onlinetraining #onlinecoach #postnatal #science #solopreneur #week26 #weightlosscoach #weightlossforwomen

[lauratbfm]

Oh weights, how i have missed thee! It seems the laws of physics have changed in the few months I've not lifted. When did a 50kg deadlift get so heavy?! My workout book was looking lovely, I'd written my session, sets, reps and revised down my weights to lift knowing how long is been away. I had to revise again and again as i went along! Changing 3x8 for 5x5. 60kg deadlift for 50kg etc. Not one exercise went as planned, but i came out of there feeling awesome!! I'm aiming for one spin session a week and one weights session. I injured my foot last week, so home workouts are tough, but I'll throw those in when i can. Do what you can, always. Xxx #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #postnatal #onlinetraining #onlinecoach #weightlossjourney #womensfitness #baby #entrepreneur #week23 #fitness #fitmum #girlboss #science #solopreneur #health #ladieswholift #mummy #instafit

[lauratbfm]

Well, balls...

Firstly, my apologies if this post is rather disjointed. Lexi is in bed, but is a bit restless, so writing a sentence with a break to settle her in-between can often mean I lose my train of thought...

I had my DNA testing back! I assumed it was going to tell me what I already knew: 

Laura is built for power, not for endurance.  "Laura likes this"!

I assumed I had naturally gravitated towards my 'best' areas as this was where I performed best. I was never good at cross country in school nor sprinting for that matter. (Nobody had ever told me to sprint on my toes..?!) More than performance, the company looked at my diet and other genetic markers. But I was semi confident in what it was going to say.

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! So much for my assumptions!!

My genome is good for power, but I also share the same genotype as 87% of the competitors in the Mount Olympus Marathon... I looked this hell race up. It's a marathon (obviously), held in mid-summer Greece, completely uphill. WTF. 

I was so surprised to read that I shared this gene for endurance given I've always hated it. I get so bored running and my knee hurts after 7k. Doesn't sound like an endurance athlete to me...

Then the real kicker.

My body doesn't process carbohydrates particularly well, so would benefit from a low carb diet. Balls.

To add to this crushing blow, I don't lose weight easily (tell me about it!) but when I finally manage to, it tends to stay off. Well I guess something had to go my way! Also, it turns out I have a high tolerance to caffeine, so can happily enjoy a few cups of coffee without it affecting me too much. Good to know!

Overall they looked at 40 or so areas of my genome and sent me a report, which I really enjoyed reading. What I've taken from it, is to watch my carb intake. (I say carbs, I mean bread.) But as far as exercise goes, I'm inclined to keep on doing what I enjoy. 

So what if my body wants to run 26 miles uphill in 35 degrees? I enjoy circuit training, HIIT workouts and team sports. These are the activities I'm likely to continue with for life because I ENJOY them. Because I enjoy them, I work harder and love to see my progress. I might add in a 5k run here and there, but I'd much rather go for a walk with the baby or do a hill sprint session without the baby!

I guess what I'm saying is, you might have all the genetic markers for obesity, you find it difficult to lose weight etc... But knowing you have them won't change anything. You will still have to work harder than the woman at work whose weight just falls off. Is it fair? Of course not, but moaning about it won't change it. Make a plan and go. 

I'm off to have a low carb dinner. Shit.

Laura xxx

[lauratbfm]

Of course, there's always another way.

It’s been 2 weeks since I decided to suck it up and try to lose my extra pregnancy weight. If you have read any of my previous posts, you’ll know I’m not one for pills, potions or cleanses, 500 cal diets or anything extreme which sets you up for failure.

I’ve been introducing goals each week to get back to how my diet and lifestyle were before pregnancy. More protein and moving more have been my goals throughout January and I'm really pleased with the improvement in my diet. I had to be careful with exercise as my knees had been really sore since Lexi arrived. Despite the relaxin not affecting me during pregnancy, it has done afterwards, giving me sore knees, shoulders and feet. 

I’ve been eating pretty well and getting out every day for a walk. I’ve also started baby spin. Not as horrifying as it sounds, but I work out on the stationary bike and Lexi watches from the ‘comfort’ of the car seat! Week 1 went well despite Lexi exercising her lungs too! This also coincided with my joints improving so I've been pain free for a week or so now!

We decided to take Lexi swimming for the first time last week and it went as well as can be expected! However, I picked something up from there I wasn’t planning on & my body emptied over the course of the next 24 hours. I lost 5lbs in a day. Mostly water of course, but it wasn't pretty.

It has meant I’ve had a good weightloss over the past 2 weeks, but it’s not a plan of action I would recommend. Bleurgh.

I’m feeling much brighter this week, but have had to contend with a baby suffering from the same bug so activity has had to take a step back.

I’ve put a couple of lbs back on just from replacing the fluid lost, but as well as losing weight, I re-measured my body to see the difference in size.

Start: 15/01  to 29/01

Weight: 11st 11  - 11st 7

Waist: 32  -  30.5

Hips: 44.5  -  43.5

Chest: 38  -  37

Right bicep: 14  -  13

Left Bicep: 13.5  -  13

Right Thigh: 27.5  -  27

Left Thigh: 28.25  -  27.25

TOTAL: 197.75 inches  -  191.25 (6.5 lost)

 I’m really pleased with the difference over 2 weeks! Very much hoping another bug doesn’t hit the Janes household so I can concentrate on being active outside rather than aiming for 2000 steps a day on my fitbit! I don’t recommend illness as a way of losing weight, but it certainly gives you a headstart! Although, if all that weight-loss was through the bug, I wouldn't have expected my inches to have dropped as much, so there really is some good news in there.

Since feeling better, I’ve been adding Amazing Grass greens powder and a splash of kefir to my protein shakes to help my gut microbiome get back to pre-illness health and slowly building my activity up. My diet took a hit because when I'm unwell, toast is always the answer...

But onwards!

For my birthday, my husband bought me a DNA testing kit. As someone who used to work in the field of DNA analysis, I’ve always been fascinated by genetics and how our environment and choices affects our genes. This particular analysis measured 41 different markers to give me a diet and exercise blueprint based on my genetic strengths and weaknesses. He knows me so well!

I’ll write about the results when they come in, but my instinct is that I’ll already have naturally gravitated towards my strengths. I assume I’ll be strong in power lifts, so low repetitions with heavy weights, poor in endurance as I always find it really tough to run long distances and I assume I won’t be the best at processing carbohydrates. I think I’ve always known that to be true but have chosen to ignore it because I love them.

Keep on with the small changes. They're the things that will add up over time to create something wonderful. xxx

[lauratbfm]

What a dinner! Made this in about 15 minutes for me and my mum. Gorgeous daughter in bed and prosecco in glass! Pan fried salmon, potato & beetroot mash, tender stem broccoli, asparagus, male & peas topped with avocado salsa (avo, red onion, coriander, lime juice S&P). We've had a lovely day waking in the countryside finished with pyjamas and a roaring fire. Wonderful! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week14 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #emcs #movetogetbetter

[lauratbfm]

And so it begins... The post-baby quest for pre-baby health & fitness starts now! I've written a blog post over on my website so go take a look! Link in bio. #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week12 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #emcs #movetogetbetter

[lauratbfm]

And so it begins...

Me looking mighty fine from the front!

Right. The quest for pre-baby health and fitness is ON! I don’t give a shit about my weight, if I can feel good in my clothes and I can lift, twist, turn, bend, crouch and run like I used to.

Lexi is now 3 months old and my diet at the beginning was essentially toast and chocolate digestives. I ate quite well throughout the pregnancy and continued with the gym until I was 7-8 months pregnant and I haven’t been to the gym since! As much as I LOVED my diet being slightly in the favour of carbohydrates, I couldn't put off trying to find my way again. 

Back in October, due date came and went. The days were long, slow and frustrating with no sign or symptom suggesting labour was about to kick off.

I was miserable, even with the Great British Bake Off to watch. I baked enough to rival the weekly sugar consumption in the tent and then ate the delicious cakes. My professional guess is that most of my pregnancy weight went on in those 12 days..!

After Alexis arrived I could no longer spend an hour in the gym every day or nip to the supermarket for ingredients. The what-do-you-fancy-for-dinner-tonight conversation changed to what's-in-the-fridge-that-will-make-us-less-hungry one overnight. Steve thankfully stepped up and was happy to cook, but I was certainly limited by what I could eat. I had a baby attached to my side, so I became good at eating with one hand (pizza) or steve having to cut up my food so I could just fork what I wanted! This actually happened in a restaurant about 2 weeks after birth!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, but instead make small changes week to week which will help me get back to where I was.

The first week has been to eat more protein. We bought a Nutribullet in the sales so properly blended protein shakes are now easy to make. I base my meals around protein as often as I can given the demands of a baby, have some vegetables and complex carbs to complete the plate.

The second week of January was my birthday & exercise and diet took a slight back seat, but not totally. My aim for the second week was damage limitation as I knew there would be drinks and meals out.

Now that week has passed and I’m ready to crack on with a proper starting point, more protein and now I’ll be adding in an exercise regime.

My minimum level for exercise is to walk every day, but I will be doing my workouts at home to increase my fitness, improve my mobility and gain strength.

3 months since giving birth and my joints are rather sore; far more than they were during. The relaxin hormone is still kicking around and until 6 months post birth, I can’t do high impact exercise like running or high energy aerobics.

Here’s my workout from this morning. It’s easy to do and amend as I go along if something hurts or doesn’t feel right. I have one piece of equipment, the TRX bands, which I bought from EBay for about £17. If you're not sure what TRX bands are, I've posted a picture at the bottom.

Afterwards, I did some mobility work on my shoulders with a resistance band and some chest and back work on the foam roller. Much like when I sat at a desk, with rounded shoulders and slumped chest, a baby requires me to be in a similar position for a lot of the day. The stretches I used to do to alleviate office posture, work perfectly for how my body is now.

The starting stats! 

Weight: 11st 11lbs

Waist: 32ins

Right Thigh: 27.5ins

Left Thigh: 28.25 ins

Chest: 38ins

Hips: 44.5ins

Right Bicep: 14ins

Left Bicep: 13.5ins

I've included an image of my body from the front as it was this morning and below is a side shot.

Lets go!

[lauratbfm]

Breakfast before a lovely long walk with 14ish lbs attached to my front! 2 wholeness toast, loads of cherry tomatoes fried in coconut oil, salt, paper and balsamic vinegar. Boiled some kale for a couple of minutes then stirred in with the tomatoes and bacon to pick up the lovely flavours! Add in scrambled egg (& egg white!)to get the last bacon-y balsamic deliciousness from the pan! Lexi gives me approximately 8.5 seconds to eat it before crying through jealousy! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week11 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #movetogetbetter

[lauratbfm]

No resolutions as usual here at TBFM, just small changes to get me back to pre-baby body. Week 1, more protein in my day. Pregnant me didn't fancy much protein & the first couple of months with Lexi means eating when possible, usually toast based! There's still a lot of toast in my day, but dinner was a beef stir fry and I had a little dessert too. After the sugar fest of 2016, I can feel the craving for sweet things every day. Instead I made protein pancakes (egg, egg white, almond milk, cinnamon & choc protein) with some sultanas and a splash of maple syrup. Lovely Friday night with peppermint tea, pancakes and baby monitor! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week11 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #movetogetbetter

[lauratbfm]

OMG!!!

I haven’t written a blog post since July! To be fair, I’ve been quite busy: Pregnancy, house-buying, house moving and then having a baby. I now spend quite a bit of time looking after said baby, which I don’t mind. She’s lovely so we’ve decided she can stay!

Anyway, I am a mum, but I’m still Laura and here to help you attain your goal body, whether you’re a mum or not!

RESOLUTIONS

It’s that time of year again, when everyone in the country makes an extreme diet based resolution. Detoxes (don’t get me started!), juice cleanses and aloe vera diets are everywhere and people are doing them. On purpose. Expecting miracles.

Everyone loves the easy answer – Do A and get B. All you must do is… Only thing is, ‘A’ and the ‘All’ are eat broccoli and drink 3.7 gallons of water a day. It initially appears easy, because you know the ‘rules’ – there’s no thinking or wondering about whether you can have this or that, studying nutrition labels or cooking stupidly complex meals.

Problem is, you’re a person with a life, a family, work, birthdays and events.; not a bikini model or Victoria’s Secret Angel who gets paid to look stunning (forget the natural genetic advantage!) and probably has tailored meals cooked by a professional chef every single day.

WILLPOWER

Willpower, which I discussed in an earlier blog post, is like a muscle. It can be exercised to become stronger, but with overuse becomes tired. Just as when you have an awful night’s sleep, you feel weak and sluggish, so does your willpower. Chances are, you will not manage a full January on broccoli and water. Plus, your workmates will have complained to your manager about the general stink in the office from your frequent flatulencies!

But what happens next? You’ve made it to the end of January (or the 3rd) and you’ve lost 10lbs! How do you move forward? Likely back to eating the way you ate before, but now you weigh less & have less muscle so your metabolism won’t be as high. Weight will go back on and maybe a little more for your efforts.

What’s is the best way to lose weight and keep it off? Sadly, the answer isn’t magic or sexy, but the result can be both…

I started losing my weight in the Summer of 2008. I reached my pre-baby weight of 10 stone in March 2009. It had taken me a lifetime of choices to reach 12 ½ stone and a good few months of less calories than I needed to reach my goal body. I wasn’t a big exerciser back then but watching my food intake I slowly and surely lost weight.

I kept the weight off by improving my portion sizes, which had been a weakness of mine, improving my lunches and trying new foods and by adding exercise into my life. I’d been a member of gyms for a good few years, but never really knew what to do when I was in there. What changed, was the type of exercise I did. I joined in with group exercise and I LOVED it!

My plans for 2017? I now weigh 11st 11, which means I’ve gained around 1 ½ stone having lovely Alexis. I’m not going to go crazy in the new year, but make some changes which I can manage while looking after a 10 week old baby! I thought I'd feel huge and gross and really unattractive given my flabby belly, extra weight and stretch marks, but I really really don't! I'm not aiming to reach a weight, but to get my health and fitness back. If I'm healthy, then I'll be able to enjoy my little girl and be around for a good while.

My first week of 2017, I will focus on increasing my protein intake. My body wasn’t too keen on protein while I was pregnant and it’s taken a while for my desire for it to return. I haven’t tracked any food in 2016, so that will start again in January. I love My Fitness Pal and it has everything I eat in its database making it really easy to log my food.

I’ve essentially taken an entire year off food tracking, which has been very liberating but I’m ready to get back to good food and moving more! I have to plan my workouts around Alexis and do what I can at home!

Make 2017 the year you achieve the body YOU want. What do you want to achieve physically, personally and emotionally? What steps do you need to take for it to happen? Make changes that suit you and your life and goals.

If you want help to make your plan, get in touch with me at [email protected]

Happy New Year!! x

[lauratbfm]

That's a steep hill I've just climbed! My only goal is to do it in one, which I've done ever time except today. I'm suffering with a cold as is little Lexi, so I've brought us out for fresh air. My glutes are burning!! I've started some body weight exercises now I'm fully healed & i'll post them when I have a spare second! Little and often seems to be the way right now! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week7 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #emcs #movetogetbetter

[lauratbfm]

We've made it to week 3! It's easy to say I'll just stay home. Anxiety pounces on many new mums and I haven't been immune to this. Maybe we can walk when she had more of a routine? What if she needs to feed? Nappy change? Won't stop crying? Anxiety can be paralysing. I don't suffer from it normally, but it's easy to succumb to. So I've thrown myself in at the deep end. Sling on, baby in and a walk through the beautiful, if very chilly, English countryside! #thebodyforme #personaltrainer #sun #science #nutrition #weightloss #week3 #fitmum #fitfam #fitspo #weightlosscoach #womensfitness #onlinecoach #entrepreneur #solopreneur #ladieswholift #girlboss #relax #instafit #fitness #live #walk #protein #makememoriesnotreceipts #bucks #wooburn #fitdad #mummy #emcs #movetogetbetter #autumn #sling