23 Sep My Story
Then and Now…!
CrossFit 121 Co-Owner and Myotherapist Maria talks about her experience in getting back on track after having children.
I am 32 years old and have 2 children. Like many other women, after I had my 2nd child I started making the effort to lose my baby weight. I had always been pretty fit and healthy, however if I am honest I had never been that happy with my weight, but having children just made it that much worse. Lucky for me, I own a gym with my husband, Chris, so I had all the tools to get started, but after having my 2nd child it seemed like everything had shifted. I thought I would just bounce back into my fitness and the weight loss would just happen once I started, but that was definitely not the case.
I returned to training, how I had always done, and I shifted a little bit of weight, but nothing substantial which became really annoying. I felt like I was trying my hardest and didn’t have a lot to show for it. What made things worse was feeling like everything was super hard, I felt tired, I was sleeping all the time, barely motivated to do anything. It seemed more than just being a typical tired mum trying to do everything. However, because I had seen some progress, I persisted with what I was doing, but after 2-3 months I felt I like had started going backwards and fast, it felt like I was on this uphill battle, with no end in sight.
I remember saying to my friend & trainer Jamie and my husband Chris that I felt like I was putting weight back on, and fast, but both of them said that it couldn’t be the case, I was doing everything right. However, after a few more weeks of struggling, I jumped on the scales (which I rarely do) and to my horror the small amount of weight I had lost was back on. At that point I knew something was just not right.
… I knew I was struggling with fatigue and not feeling myself, and as much as I didn’t want to most days I still dragged myself to the gym, trained and ate well. So, the fact I had still being ticking all the boxes regardless of how I was feeling, I was gaining weight, it just didn’t make sense!
I then decided to go to the GP to get a blood test as it was getting to the point that I could barely go through a day without napping myself when my baby girl went down for her nap. After getting my blood test results back, the GP said everything was “normal”, and to try eat less and exercise more. I was so confused because I was already doing this.
After a few more weeks of feeling like crap and literally starting to feel depressed. After having the same conversation about how bad I was feeling about my health with Chris (my husband), and a few other people close to me, they all recommended me to look further into it, and all recommended I try find a naturopath, or a holistic therapist, and investigate it further as they could tell it was really weighing me down and I wasn’t myself.
A few years prior to having my first child I had done a DNA test (SmartDNA), which at the time I really didn’t understand much about it, however I knew it had some answers to what I should and shouldn’t be doing. So, I started researching practitioners, I finally found Dianne in Mentone and booked in my first appointment for early in the new year. I was nervous about going, as by this stage I was really flat and not feeling myself at all, I felt like I was failing. Owning a gym, I felt like I should be a certain way, and I was so far from that, it was embarrassing.
I had my first appointment, Dianne looked at my blood test I had had with my GP and she flagged some things that were in the “normal” range but on the very low scale of normal. One was my Vitamin D Levels, I was very low, and she wasn’t surprised by how I was feeling given this. Another was my HDL (high-density lipoproteins AKA “good” Cholesterol) which on my blood test was actually flagged red as extremely low, however most people think all cholesterol should be low, so the GP didn’t even care about this.
By this stage I was feeling so horrible, the need to feel better was much more important to me then the weight loss. So first and foremost, she wanted to address these issues, and we did that by putting me on a Vit D supplement and increasing the good fats in my diet (coconut oil, avocado, olive oil, etc.). Dianne also wanted me to try fasting in the morning and have my 1st meal of the day at lunch. At the start this was super hard for me to do, but I was pretty committed to feeling better, so I persisted with it. I left the office feeling happy I’d found someone wanting to listen and help me. But, I was seriously nervous, as it was different to what I had ever been told! I remember as I was leaving that first appointment, Dianne telling me, if I get my body working properly again and feeling better, the weight loss will happen.
I won’t lie, fasting was hard. Especially the first week However, with the Vit D supplement and increase good fats in my diet I was already feeling 50 % better after 1 week, and by the end of the 4th week, I had more energy and felt 90% better. That was enough for me to keep going. We also added another supplement to my day which is called HPA Essentials, which is a Vit B complex supplement, which helps converting folic acid into enzymes, which my body is not great at doing itself.
In the following couple of visits after this (I still hadn’t weighed myself) we spoke about changing the way I train to suit my menstrual cycle as I had just come off my pill because it was making me feel really horrible, and I was having some wicked cramps. It’s pretty embarrassing being a 32-year-old woman and having such little knowledge about my cycle and what it did to my body! Leaving that session, I now had a plan on how to adapt my training based on my cycle. I now have hard weeks and really easy weeks, which was such a foreign thing for me, I just thought I needed to smash myself every session!
In reality I haven’t necessarily changed that much, and honestly everything I have changed has been adapted for the long term (life time approach) not a short-term change. It has been focused more on my overall health, rather solely on weight loss. I don’t count calories, I enjoy my food, and I also really enjoy my training now, but most importantly I have a better understanding of what I am doing, and I feel good.
Main changes to my lifestyle and eating
Fasting
This isn’t for everyone, however according to my DNA type it turns out that I’m suited to this type of eating plan. I can still have coffee in the morning, so that helps.
Increasing the good fats in my diet
I had trouble with this initially, retraining myself to stop thinking that all fats are bad. I now cook with more coconut oil, and I add avocado or olive oil to everything. The bonus is, it makes everything taste much nicer!
Getting good sleep
I’m useless when it comes to sleep. So, I set a bed time and try to stick to it. I don’t always keep to it; however, I am aware of how it makes me feel when I don’t get good sleep.
Training to my cycle
This is something that has been a game changer, training to what stage of my menstrual cycle has helped so much in understanding how my body is feeling, and why. The variation of hormones for us women over the month is ridiculous, but if you adapt your training to the up weeks and low weeks, it makes it a whole lot easier to get the most out of our training.
Not being hard on myself
Enjoying eating my food! When I eat chocolate I enjoy it, rather than beating myself up about it. The cortisol level increase when you stress about eating something bad can have a bigger impact on our system than eating the treat itself. So, when I’m having my treats, I enjoy them.
Backup plan
Because of finishing work at 8pm some days I come home and can’t be bothered cooking (especially during my period). I now have back up meals. I either freeze meals from earlier in the week, or I have Market day Meals / Youfoodz in the fridge ready to go for these days.
Drinking more water
Everyone that knows me, knows I am hopeless at drinking water. But I feel a huge difference when I do. So, this is something that I am constantly working on.
Since the start of 2018, I have lost approx. 15kg and I feel a lot better both physically and mentally. It hasn’t been a magic pill, or a short-term diet. I have committed to focusing on my long-term health for this change. I remember the first few weeks feeling annoyed because I hadn’t lost 10 kg (like they do on the biggest loser) but I have gradually lost the weight. I know people want the overnight fix to weight loss, but the reality is that with all my knowledge and going through it myself, I know it’s just not possible, it takes time, effort and most importantly changing your habits for a life time not a short time. Making sure you are healthy, and allowing your body to work in the right way is much more important than counting calories. I haven’t finished my journey yet, I still have about 10kg until I get to my goal weight, and while this approach may not seem revolutionary, it is my story, I am happy and healthy and it has worked.