How to get started and stay motivated?

You need to remember WHY you want to lose weight. If the WHY is strong enough, the HOW will follow.

Grab an index card and write at least 10 things that are driving your weight-loss desires. Include the vain (like I want to look good) as well as the virtuous (to lower my cholesterol). Put the list in your purse or post it at your vanity mirror. That way when you experience a dip in motivation, you can look at it to remind you of everything you stand to gain by sticking to your plan. 

Commit with a capital C. Don’t let your baby keep you from doing your 15-minute Pilates workout or a box of doughnuts tempt you.

Be flexible – When you slip up, say it’s ok, and just start afresh the next day. Don’t give up and eat three cookies.

Do not give in to little nibbles as a handful of chips, a few jelly beans, free sample of cheese at the store – can add up to hundreds of calories. Tell yourself “I don’t eat food just because it’s there.” You’ll be amazed how much your eating patterns will improve as a result of this simple rule.  

Skipping meals can also ruin your diet as you will feel hungry, sluggish and deprived, so you gobble down whatever you can get your hands on quickly which is often fast food. Plus not eating during the day fools your body into thinking it is starving so it stores more of the calories it is taking in as fat as a form of self-protection. Eat three healthy meals a day and two snacks at regular intervals. Pay attention to how energized you feel when you are not struggling with hunger, fatigue and food cravings. 

Don’t feel guilty for “wasting” food? To break yourself out of the habit, leave just a bite or two of food on your plate and notice how you feel emotionally and physically. If you are truly hungry after pausing for a few minutes, go ahead and finish the food. But if not, tell yourself that eating food you don’t need is as much of a waste as throwing it away. 

You don’t have to wait until when you have lost all the weight and have the body of your dreams to feel good about yourself or buy flattering clothes. Each morning when you get dressed, look at yourself in the mirror and say “I look great”. Then believe it all day long. Similarly, this attitude can boost your confidence in your ability to make the changes necessary to get to your weight goal.  

On those days that you are too busy to schedule a workout, commit to doing just 10 minutes of brisk walking or some other type of cardio. At the end of the time, you might feel so good that you’ll keep going. But even if you stop, you’ve been successful. Research shows that you can get the same weight loss benefits doing just 10 minutes three times a day as you do from one 30-minute session. 

Last but not least, celebrate the smallest of victories. Concentrate on your successes instead of on your slip-ups. Keep a list of small wins counting everything that makes you happy, healthy and peaceful. Read them before going to bed and congratulate yourself on your efforts.

Long term weight loss success is practically guaranteed if you adopt the above strategies and the methods in my book. When doubt creeps in, remind yourself that you now have the tools and knowledge to handle challenges more effectively than you did in the past. And, if you find yourself slipping, go back to the weight loss strategies in this interview or my book and you’ll be back on track in no time.

How to lose weight quickly and easily when you have no time?

This is a great question and that’s why I wrote my book – which is to help time-strapped new mums who wants to lose weight while juggling household chores and baby.

I get many post-natal women coming for my classes looking for a fast and effective way to get rid of their excess weight and tone up their tummies. Many dropped out after a while as they could not find the time to come to my studio for an hour-long class. These women were desperate and asked me if I could come up with a diet and fitness program that they could do at home and still lose weight. 

To help them, I interviewed experts in the diet and fitness industry and planned simple and effective Pilates regimes for these clients, and I am happy to say that my body conditioning program has helped them lose weight, build strength, enhance flexibility and improve fitness …without even stepping out of their homes!

First of all, I start them on a basic 15 minute Pilates routine that is targeted at the tummy, arms and legs. Then, when their strength is better, I teach them 5 maximum fat-busting exercises like lunges, push-ups and bicycle. You will see results in a month if you do my exercises diligently five to six times a week, combined with a low calorie diet.  

I know how time-pressed my clients are, so I devised simple and effective exercises they can do anytime, whether they are watching TV or grocery-shopping.

Do you know you can get tone your butt and thighs while watching Oprah?

You can do this by doing body weight squats using your coach as a workout tool:

First, stand in front of your couch with feet apart

Lower your body until your bottom touches the couch, then slowly raising yourself up to starting position.

Do this during commercial breaks and you will have a nice and firm bottom in no time!

Can I lose weight and exercise while breastfeeding?

New mums should eat a healthy balanced diet post pregnancy, paying special attention to sufficient vitamins and minerals, especially if you are breastfeeding. You will need to make sure you have all the essential nutrients because these will translate as food for the baby.

Keep exercises light like walking and swimming to start. Moderate exercise does not usually interfere with breastfeeding. Have a balance of exercise and rest, and be sure you drink plenty of fluids, especially if you’ve been sweating. Some babies don’t like the taste of milk just after vigorous exercise. This is not common but if you find that your baby refuses the breast at that stage, just make sure that you feed before your work-out, then again until you have cooled down.

If you’re exercising, be sure to consume plenty of vegetables, adequate fruits, good quality carbs, preferably whole wheat for fibre and nutrition, sufficient protein and adequate good quality fats, like olive oil and nuts. 

You can eat as much fruits and vegetables as you like. For carbs, the quantity to eat per meal should be about 1 tennis ball, for protein, no more than a palm-size amount at each meal. Eat foods containing calcium every day as a lot of calcium from your body will go into breast milk. Milk and dairy products like cheese and yoghurt are the easiest way to get calcium. You can also get calcium from soy milk, tinned fish with bones like salmon and sardines, tofu, almonds, hummus and from green vegetables.

If you are looking to lose weight, you will need to reduce your food amount and pay attention to your fats and carbs consumed. It takes 3,500 calories to put on 1 pound, so keep your daily calorie intake below that and incorporate some light exercises to lose weight. Try taking 5 small meals daily instead of 3 large ones and choose healthier options like grilled fish and steamed vegetables and fruits instead of sweets.

Cut back on all soft drinks and fried snacks. It is possible to deliberately lose weight while breastfeeding without affecting your milk supply, but it needs to be gradual. Aim for about 1 pound a week. Avoid crash diets, which may affect your milk and will certainly lower your energy levels. It is also important to build up energy to cope with caring for your baby and you can do so by eating B vitamins which comes from wholegrains, green vegetables, fruits and eggs.

What can I eat to lose weight and what can’t I eat?

Eating well to lose weight is not difficult at all as you will see in my book. All you need is knowledge and someone to show you how to choose the right foods.

I have included a healthy grocery list in my book which will start you off on the right path. For mothers who like to cook, there is also a section that teaches you the right methods to cook healthily. You and your family will definitely be more energized and feel better from this healthy eating.

I also understand that eating out as a family is great bonding time, so you will not be deprived of this as you will learn how you can eat out on a diet and even go for buffets, without gaining a pound. Again, it is all about knowing and choosing the right foods. For a start, here are 10 foods you should cut out immediately to lose weight: 

1. Soft drinks – One can of soft drink has seven teaspoons of sugar (140kcal) so cutting them out will bring down your calorie intake significantly.

1. Oily and fatty foods

1. Fried foods and snacks, stop the craving by snacking on fruits

1. Desserts made with coconut milk

1. Gravy – these are often full of calories and salt due to the amount of oil and seasoning used.

1. Full cream salad dressings – Use lemon juice, vinegar and low calorie dressings instead.

1. Sweets and chocolates, substitute with fruits or low fat yogurt

1. Cookies and cakes

1. Flavoured rice or noodle dishes – go for plain rice or noodle and wholewheat if possible.

1. Alcohol – which are just full of empty calories

One metabolism boosting tip I like to share with my clients is this – Consume three to five cups of green tea daily as that burns about 100 calories which amounts to nine pounds per year. Green tea extract is a source of caffeine, a fat burner with a well-established track record. It also detoxifies, prevents cancer and enhances good health.

I have many other fat burning tips, which I have included in The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide and you can combine these tips with your exercises to lose weight faster.  

Effective weight loss is a combination of eating well and exercising. You can’t do one and not the other if you want to lose weight healthily and keep it off! Women should consume about 2000 calories per day.

Age, weight and activity level are the other factors to consider for calorie consumption. If you are inactive and want to lose weight, try eating 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day, but always make sure you eat a wide variety of healthy foods like lots of fruits, vegetables and lean protein. 

If you are already fit before pregnancy and want to develop real fitness after pregnancy, you can start building up your cardiovascular strength with brisk walking for 3 weeks. After that, you can try a mixture of brisk walking and light jogging for 15 to 20 minutes. You can even make it more challenging by pushing your baby in your stroller.

Pilates strengthens your core strength and improves your flexibility which will make you stronger and increase stamina. I have many marathon runners in my class who tell me that Pilates has helped them run longer and faster. Incorporate my Pilates series once a week into your workout routine to boost your fitness level.

How to get rid of wide hips and love handles, tone up the arms and get my breasts back in shape after pregnancy and breastfeeding?

Tone up after pregnancy

All new mothers should resume walking as soon as possible after delivery to lose weight and get rid of love handles. Walking increases blood flow circulation which also helps to speed healing. Try to walk for a short time—starting with 15 to 20 minutes—every day.

Slowly increase the amount of time walked by 5 minutes every session or so, building up to where you can walk for 30 minutes without fatigue. After this point, try to walk for 30 minutes on most days of the week.

You can walk anytime, whether you are grocery shopping or just shopping with your friends. Try walking outdoors as the fresh air will make you feel good.

For added resistance and more calorie-burning, try walking in the pool in waist-deep water. Swimming is another great way to tone up and this can be done after your post-natal check-up.  High impact exercises like running or court games can be done after six months.

A simple exercise that you can do to tone up the arms and help get breasts back in shape after breastfeeding is push-ups.

Push-ups are a great way to build upper body strength, tone the entire arm as well as tone up your pectoral area, which are the muscles behind the breasts to lift them up.

Try this wall push up which is great for beginners:

– Stand about arms length from the wall with feet apart.

– Place arms on the wall in line with your shoulders. Slowly bend your elbows and straighten them

– Try doing about 6 to start, working your way up to 15 push ups. Remember to breathe slowly and tuck your tummy in while doing your push ups

What is the difference between losing weight, getting in shape and toning?

Losing weight is part of getting in shape. Losing weight simply means slimming down and becoming lighter than your current weight. 

 

It can constitute both muscle and fats loss. Getting in shape is the broader, healthier picture. It includes fat loss, muscle definition and eating well so that you are in shape both inside and outside.

 

I like to call my program a Healthy Living Program as it incorporates eating well, weight loss and toning up exercises as well as mental coaching.

 

You will learn how to think thin, stay motivated, choose the right foods to eat well as and learn how to exercise to target problem areas, and all this can be done in the comfort of your own home!

 

The reason why I teach my clients to exercise at home is to make it convenient for them and when it is convenient, they will exercise consistently.

 

CONSISTENCY is the key to permanent weight loss!

When is it necessary to lose weight, tone up or get in shape?

 

 

Losing weight is necessary when you are overweight. A good gauge will be to check your Body Mass Index or BMI which is a number calculated from dividing your weight in kilograms with the square of your height in metres. If your BMI is over 25, you are overweight and it is advisable to lose weight so that you can prevent weight-related diseases, feel better and be healthier.

 

Toning up is part of getting in shape and all women should tone up and develop muscles as muscles are your body’s fat burners. That means, the more muscles you have, the more calories you burn. Resistance exercise like Pilates is a great way to develop muscles, especially abdominal and back muscles.

 

Another reason why you want to start exercising is because your metabolic rate starts to slow down after the age of 35, that’s when it gets easier to gain weight and harder to lose the weight. Resistance exercises like Pilates will help to develop your muscles so that you are constantly burning all the unwanted fats, even when you are at rest.

How to get rid of flabby tummy and get back my flat belly?

 

This is the number 1 question asked by all my clients. All women want a nice, flat tummy without any love-handles and pooch, especially after pregnancy. The good news is, this can be done with just a few key exercises.

First of all, please get clearance from your doctor after you have given birth before you start any exercise program. Recommended rest time for normal delivery is 6 weeks, for caesarean, 8 weeks.

Before you jump right in and start doing sit-ups after your pregnancy, it’s helpful have a basic understanding of the structure and functions of your abdominal wall as fitness after pregnancy is a little different and exercises like sit-ups may actually do more harm than good in the initial post-natal period.

The most important abdominal muscle you want to target after pregnancy is the Transverse Abdominal muscle which runs across the abdomen and performs abdominal compression.It draws the belly inward and narrows the waist, getting rid of the dreaded belly ring or belly fat. Fitness trainers refer to this muscle as the body’s “internal girdle.”

Imagine yourself wearing a girdle, that’s what the transverse abdominal muscle does to your tummy. After pregnancy, working on this muscle will act like an internal splint, helping to close abdominal separation from the inside. The transverse abdominal muscle is the body’s most important core stabilizer and is responsible for re-flattening the abdominal wall after pregnancy.

A critical component for restoring your abs and the development of core strength is learning to control the shape of your abdominal wall during exercise. This must be understood and utilized to quickly, safely and effectively strengthen and flatten your abdominal wall after pregnancy. To do this, you need to train your abs to pull back in toward your spine during exertion.

I’m going to now describe a special exercise specifically developed for this essential skill:

– First, stand up tall, then think about drawing your belly button towards your spine.

– You are not sucking in your breath, you are using your abs to do this. Once your belly button is drawn it, it automatically activates your transverse abdominal muscle.

– Try to keep your belly button in as you breathe normally. Practice a few times until it becomes comfortable.

I use this exercise myself to keep my own tummy flat. The best part about this exercise is that you can do it anytime, everyday. I do it when I am walking, shopping and standing on escalators.

This exercise rehabilitates your tummy and prepares it for the 15 minute belly-flattening Pilates routine that I have demonstrated in my book.

Your most pressing weight loss questions answered here

To launch The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide, I conducted an online survey, asking mothers to send me their most pressing weight loss questions…and the response was OVERWHELMING!

 

Thank you for all your weight loss questions. This proves that there are many women out there who want to lose weight after pregnancy and are looking for a most effective method.

 

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to share with you some of the main questions below, as well as my answers to them:

 

1. What is the difference between losing weight, getting in shape and toning?

 

Losing weight is part of getting in shape. Losing weight simply means slimming down and becoming lighter than your current weight.  It can constitute both muscle and fats loss. Getting in shape is the broader, healthier picture. It includes fat loss, muscle definition and eating well so that you are in shape both inside and outside.

 

I like to call my program a Healthy Living Program as it incorporates eating well, weight loss and toning up exercises as well as mental coaching. You will learn how to think thin, stay motivated, choose the right foods to eat well as and learn how to exercise to target problem areas, and all this can be done in the comfort of your own home!

 

The reason why I teach my clients to exercise at home is to make it convenient for them and when it is convenient, they will exercise consistently. CONSISTENCY is the key to permanent weight loss!

Lose weight and get in shape here!

 

 

How to exercise to lose weight and tone up after pregnancy…without leaving your house

Beat flab with Pilates!

My name is Pearlin and I am a Pilates instructor. As Pilates is an exercise that targets the tummy and back, I get many post-natal women coming for my classes looking for a fast and effective way to get rid of their excess weight and tone up their tummies.

While some of them came for my classes regularly and managed to win back their bodies and gain flatter tummies, many of these women could not juggle finding the time to come to my studio for an hour-long class and looking after their babies. They were desperate and asked me if I could come up with a diet and fitness programmme that they could do at home and still lose weight.

Using my knowledge as a contributor to SHAPE magazine, I interviewed experts in the diet and fitness industry and planned simple and effective Pilates regimes for these clients, and I am happy to say that my body conditioning program has helped more than 200 women lose weight, build strength, enhance flexibility, improve wellness, fitness and posture…without even stepping out of their homes!

This exclusive programme is now available to you in The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide – which has been proven and tested in the real world! I sincerely hope that you will be my next weight loss success story.

I have a favour to ask…because I want to address your needs, please tell me what your most pressing weight loss question is.

Go to www.exercisepostpregnancy.com and enter your question. These questions will then be posted and answered here.

You will also receive a free e-book sample of The Essential Post-pregnancy Weight Loss Guide after you submit your question.

Thank you and I look forward to your weight loss success!