An Unfit Mother: How to get your Health, Shape and Sanity back after Childbirth. Kate Cook

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      * Read a mag—who cares if it is full of rubbish about celebs? Quite fascinating secretly.

      * Go and get your highlights done.

      * Do not walk around in your stretchy tracksuit bottoms—even at home.

      * Put on your make-up if you are going out.

      * Take care of your nutrition—I know I said feed your soul, but you will feel so much better eating great stuff.

      * Get some silk pyjamas and a snuggly dressing gown—at least when you are up in the night you’ll look beautiful, even if you don’t feel it. Nowadays silky fabric washes with the best of them.

      * Use my tick lists (see box, opposite).

       Your very first tick list

      We all want to be perfect and do everything in this book by the book—but don’t. The tick lists that run through the book are to reward yourself for things you have focused on—there are points to be won! Doing all of these would, of course, be perfect, but only aim to do four things a day from this tick list—and do them well—and you are a winner.

       Exercise

      

I did ten ‘Squeeze please, Louises’ following the sticky note on the mirror in bathroom.

      

I held a perfect posture when noticing the sticky note on the kettle when I made a cup of tea.

      

I tilted my pelvis ten times when I was in the bathroom.

      

I belted up!

      

I performed ALL of The Elvis (the King) lives routine.

       Nutrition

      

I filled a fruit bowl and put it on the table.

      

I chucked out all dodgy crisps, ice cream and biscuits.

      

I increased the amount of vegetables and fruit that I ate.

      

I tried a new fruit or veggie I wouldn’t normally have.

      

I froze some emergency meals.

      

I ate a substantial breakfast.

       Be nice to yourself

      

I took a nap.

      

I had a long bath.

      

I read a mag.

      

I didn’t wear my elephant trousers.

      

I put on my make-up.

      

I bought a beauty treat.

      

I had an early night.

      Good news!

      * Good news! You may lose 4 to 7kg (9 to 15lb) on the very first day after birth (a mix of baby, placenta and amniotic fluid). The rest is stored fat so that you have enough extra calories for breastfeeding—isn’t nature thoughtful?

      * Good news! Breastfeeding your baby gobbles up 500—600 extra calories a day.

      * Good news! Two hormones called leptin and serotonin work together to put your body in weight-loss mode—no one is quite sure how leptin works exactly but what is certain is that leptin levels stay high throughout pregnancy and that leptin is released by fat tissue and signals the brain to limit fat intake. Leptin levels drop at birth, allowing you to recalibrate your body’s ‘set point’—your metabolism is working in overdrive to burn more calories than usual to give you extra energy. The serotonin works to control your energy balance and helps keep your appetite in check. So get cracking now with healthy eating—you have the gods on your side.

      * Good news! Your tummy may look pretty saggy now, but it will bounce back to where it was.

      * Good news! Your uterus contracts during breastfeeding—and helps everything return to shape. These contractions can be quite strong, but keep your chin up, it means your stomach is shrinking.

      * Good news! Well not really good news exactly, but if you are feeling really sluggish, treacle tired and really not getting back to where you were—could your thyroid be working below par? Other signs are hair loss and feeling the cold. Worth checking out?

      Step away from the scales

      Don’t always assume that the scales are a true measure of what is going on with the body. If exercise levels are adequate, you may be putting on muscle but losing actual fat, which is what we want, isn’t it? Muscle weighs three times more than fat, so concentrate on losing inches even if you are not losing the pounds. I recommend you measure your waist at its narrowest point and your hips at their widest point and do this if you absolutely have to just once a week.

      There are lots of ways to determine what you should weigh, but remember that most of these scales are done for average people and can be misleading. For example, body mass index (a scale that looks at mass rather than weight on its own) doesn’t take into consideration if you have a lot of muscle. So, obviously don’t ignore the indicators of where you should be, but don’t feel that you have to live by them either.

      Look at the tip on body image on page 188. Loving your body now is the only way you will accept yourself as you are—without all the chat and wishing you were a size 10—face facts, you aren’t. But if you just get on with great nutrition, great exercise and a great attitude, you will be fine. You might want to use the indicator of your clothes to judge whether СКАЧАТЬ