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Want to Get Fit? Get in Shape: Find Your FIT Challenge!

Our health and wellness contributer, Julie Watson, has started her “Find Your FIT Challenge” on her blog. We love the idea and want to share with you!  When I read Julie’s post, it rang true for me because this happens to me every year.

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Find Your FIT Challenge by Julie Watson

I usually start gaining my “Christmas weight” around Halloween time up until New Years.  But this year, I decided not to let it happen again.

Julie writes that she had already put on her Christmas weight by December 15th and decided enough was enough.  On New Year’s Eve, she posted her “Find Your FIT Challenge” inviting others to join her in her 60-day journey to get healthy.

Here is Julie’s post and first vlog!

For 60 days, I am going to post vlogs containing weekly workouts you can do at home.  Video moves of the week, posts written about my progress, my eating, my workouts.  You will be my journal and my accountability.  We can talk nutrition, sleep, hydration, cleanses…whatever you want.

Here is what you need to know about the “Find Your FIT Challenge”

F: Freedom, Forever, Fix.  This process will help you feel the freedom from weight, stress, chemicals, processed foods and from your own thoughts.  This process is forever, there is no “quick-fix” when it comes to getting fit and staying fit.  This is a transformational feeling that we can make last forever.

I: Integrate, Interchange, Inspire. By integrating your favorite activities, be it yoga, walking, hiking, dancing, running, strength training, swimming etc. you can choose your best workout, for you, your body, mind and spirit.  Cross-training garners the best possible results, so interchange your workouts. Get inspiration from people you look up to and admire.  Inspire yourself, and inspire others in the process.

T: Time, Together. Make the time for yourself, because you deserve it.  NOW.  Not later, not when you retire.  Let’s do this together, grab a partner too.  Being accountable to someone else, or competing with someone (if that’s your thing) will help you achieve your goals and stay with it!

What you need:

  • A measuring tape (not a scale, unless you want one)-I will post the necessary measurements.
  • A journal to track food, water intake and workouts (should you want to see your own progress)
  • Running shoes ( if you want to do my workouts-or simply track your own)
  • Commitment (hey, we all fall off the wagon, or dine out, or go on a trip, or get sick–but just jump back in!)

You can let me know if you are joining me, or just quietly manage your own challenge, whatever suits your needs.

I am doing this for me, and for whoever wants to join me!  Follow along next week as we start our New Year with a workout vlog!   Our goal will not be a specific measurement or weight, because we will be continuing our new lifestyle well after the challenge is over.  Our goal is transformation– to making health and fitness a priority in 2011.  I can’t wait to transform along with you!

~ Julie

Watch Julie’s first vlog and stay updated and watch more videos on Julie’s blog! 

So what are you waiting for?  Find your FIT challenge and good luck!

Julie WatsonJulie Watson is the owner of AfterGlow Health & Fitness in Toronto, for prenatal, postnatal and beyond. When not training, speaking, or writing about Moms & Babes, she apparently spends too much time on her computer, and does her best to listen to her 3 kids. Not necessarily in that order.

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Featured

The Baby Belly

By Julie Watson

In just about every class and every one on one session I do with a postpartum Mom, I get asked how to get rid of the baby belly.  Sometimes moms will grab their little “C-section sack” and show me what needs to be trimmed and toned, other times moms will ask about the “inner tube” they feel they have acquired since pregnancy.  And then there are the moms, who have a fairly flat stomach, but still feel their mid-section needs work. 

The point is that as a woman, I think we are all very conscious of our bellies, and what shape they have taken on since giving birth, regardless of how big or small.  I have many tips to help flatten your tummy (see afterglowtoronto.com/blog for 7 tips to flatten your tummy), but I also have some advice that has nothing to do with a crunch, yoga, or holding it in.

Perspective. 

Here are a few things to consider before judging yourself, and your baby belly that the magazine’s, moviestars, and modern society don’t talk about:

1.  How old is your baby?  Are you two months postpartum?  Three, four, five or six? Did you know that it takes up to a YEAR for all your bits to return to their natural habitat?  That’s right!  Hips, organs and the like have all been displaced in order to carry your bundle.  So give it time before you get that tummy tuck because your body needs to re-jig itself, and what it needs most is TIME.

2.  Are you breastfeeding?  This can go one of two ways.  Most women tend to hang on to extra fat during breastfeeding for how long?  Wait for it…until they stop breastfeeding!  For some that could be over a year.  So pull out the perspective and give yourself a break.  You will only feed your baby from your breast for this amount of time ONCE in his lifetime.  Stop and smell the roses, it will be over before you know it. The other side of the coin is that you lose weight while you breastfeed.  It’s not as common but congratulations if this is you… you may find that at some point you plateau, so know that this is totally normal.

3.  Another bit of perspective right here is exactly that… it is totally NORMAL.  Think about it.  You have just carried around a big ole baby in your belly for 10 months.  Imagine what that does to your body parts? Perhaps before having that baby you should come to the understanding that your skin will stretch, your muscles will change, and your six-pack may never be the same.  That said, it is totally possible to regain all of your belly strength.  Just give it time.  Did I say 10 months?

4.  Are you sleeping?  Lack of sleep and stress hold onto belly fat.  You may not be able to do anything about this until your baby gets older, so once again take it in stride.  It won’t last forever.

5.  Expectations can drive a person mad.  Seriously mad.  It is unrealistic to expect that after pumping out a baby (or two or three) that your body will just sink back to your 20-year-old self, no issues.  Now if you happen to be one of those women who’s bodies do the miraculous transformation to “skinny bitch”, then consider yourself lucky but one of the very few.  It is not as common to see that, and do you know why?  Because it’s not a part of the process.   You may always have that womanly curve – which by the way, used to be the sexiest part of a woman.  Where did we go wrong? Or slightly wider hips.  The sooner you accept it, the sooner it will disappear.

 
 

Credit: INFphoto.com

6.  You are not a movie star.

Maybe you are, so scratch this one from your list.  But for the rest of us…we don’t have a personal trainer at our beckon call 24/7, nor a personal chef to cook us raw vegan meals.  Nor do we have the time or money for surgical procedures that can zip-zap us into red-carpet ready the day after baby comes.  Put down the magazines and pick up a mirror.  You are beautiful. You are not Madonna, Gwyneth or Heidi…who has time for two hour workouts anyway?

Embrace this process and this part of your life.  Your body has provided your babies a safe and healthy place to start, your body did the unthinkable, and pushed, shoved, or c-sectioned your baby to life.  Your body fed your baby, carried your baby and probably rocked, played with and slept with your baby. 

Be proud of what you are capable of, and the uber-power you have performed.  But most of all, have some perspective on this completely natural and transitional time in your life.  And give yourself a break.  You look great, and so does your tummy!

Julie Watson is the owner of AfterGlow Health & Fitness in Toronto, for prenatal, postnatal and beyond. When not training, speaking, or writing about Moms & Babes, she apparently spends too much time on her computer, and does her best to listen to her 3 kids. Not necessarily in that order.

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parenting

Kids Say Amazing Things… Are You Really Listening?

by Julie Watson

Our kids whisper to us every day. We can choose to hear them, or we can brush the whispers off as ‘they’re just being kids’.  Sometimes they speak at normal levels, sometimes they scream it at us, but whatever the method, there is always a message.

My kids whisper to me constantly, and I will confess, I don’t always have the time, patience or awareness to really hear what they are saying to me.  I am not talking about not understanding them because, for example, my 22 month old calls a banana a “ballalalalala”, or a soother a “sooey”.  I am talking about how perceptive they are, and how they comment in their own, innocent and primitive way what they observe in their lives, and need from us…their caregivers, role models and nurturers (not to put the pressure on).

The other day we were packing up to take a long awaited trip to Disney World. I wasn’t even aware that my son, 7, who was engaged in Star Wars Lego action figures, and my daughter, 5, who was re-enacting High School Musical, were even paying attention to me. (just so you know… kids HEAR everything).  As I was running through the list of things we needed to bring in my head, I looked at my computer and thought…but apparently said out loud, “hmmmmm….nope, I am NOT going to bring my computer.”

Both kids stood up from what they were doing, jumped up and down and cheered loudly, “YAY!!!!”.

I almost cried. Seriously. I heard them. No, I mean I really heard them. What I heard were 2 kids who needed their mom’s undivided attention…for a change.

You see my computer is set up in the dining room, so I can conveniently do work while they play, watch TV, do homework, essentially so I can multi-task. Even though they might be busy doing their own thing, and I just happen to pop on my computer to check email, or facebook, all they see is ME on my computer, not spending that time with them.

Then they see me when I am doing official work in the evening, and they also see me checking my emails in the morning, so I can be prepared for my day. They wanted me to be right there, present for whatever they might throw my way.

I could have chosen to laugh it off, or assume they were just being ‘needy, selfish kids’, not understanding that my computer is my life blood…(well, maybe it shouldn’t be…), but I didn’t, I chose to hear them and use this vacation to catch-up on some missed opportunities, and time spent with my kids, without saying, “just a second, just let me check this email, just let me write this story, just let me save this file…”

A friend of mine who recently went back to work full-time after her second child, has tried to maintain the same at home balance from her time at home with the kids. She drops her kids off at 7:00 in the morning, and picks them up in time to get home by 5pm, prepare a full, fresh dinner, bathe, play and bed the kids by 7pm, do laundry, clean house, and organize social activities with a husband who works long hours and fiddles with home improvements (sometimes handy to have…though not while you are knee deep in diapers and dishes).

We recently had plans to meet up for dinner. Before she could get out the door, she rolled her hair into curlers, made dinner for the kids, cleaned the dishes and prepped the kids for bed. While she was loading the laundry into the washing machine, curlers and all, her 3 year old peered around the corner into the laundry room and said, “Mommy, why you work so long?”

I think she did cry. Why is it her 3 year old is the one to stop, make notice and question my friend’s actions? Kids are smarter than we think. Listening to the whispers can pay off in giving them what they need, but also in nurturing ourselves and our needs as Mother’s. Just ask my friend.

On a funny note, another friend was telling me about a conversation her 2 kids ages 3 and 5 had in the car. They had been talking about when to call 911. Using examples to identify what constitutes an emergency. While they were talking, the song “911-Fire Burning” by Sean Kingston came on the radio. The 5 year old said, “see mommy, why is he singing about calling 911, what’s the emergency?” and the 3 year old said in the most serious voice (and with a lisp), “don’t you hear him? there’s a fire burning on the dance floor!!”

Listening to the whispers, talk, or shouts can pay off in learning about our kids, their personalities, what they perceive, and how they are really feeling. And some days, it’s just good for a laugh!

 

Julie Watson is the owner of AfterGlow Health & Fitness in Toronto, for prenatal, postnatal and beyond. When not training, speaking, or writing about Moms & Babes, she apparently spends too much time on her computer, and does her best to listen to her 3 kids. Not necessarily in that order.
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