Fitness & Health

fitness & health

[00:00:00] Carla: Sponsoring this episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood today is me and myself. So, aside from doing this podcast, I also have a business called My Bump 2 Baby, and My Bump 2 Baby is one of the UK’s leading parenting platforms. I launched My Bump 2 Baby as a blog back in 2016, and I did this on a shoestring budget.

[00:00:26] Carla: I was on maternity leave and I didn’t want to go back to work full-time. That’s long and short of it. I learned everything there was to know about blogging, and now thousands of parents visit my website every single day, and I earn an incredible income through my blog as a result. The great thing about blogging is that you can work in your own time and at your own pace, and the sky is literally your limit.

[00:00:51] Carla: When it comes to growing your income through blogging, the great thing about blogging is I now can enjoy my life doing whatever I want during the day, and parents are automatically finding my blog through search engines generating me and income whilst I am busy enjoying life. If you love the idea of launching your own passive income blog, you can access my course in the link below.

[00:01:18] Carla: This is where I share all of my secrets on the blogging formula to success. If you would like access to all of my training, all of my email templates, all of my checklists, my media kits, and so much more, you can click the link below and if you are ready to start blogging today, you can use the. F I F T Y, all in capital letters for a massive 15% off my course today.

[00:01:49] Carla: I hope to see you over there.

[00:02:06] Carla: Hello everybody, and welcome to this week’s episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood. This week I am joined by my lovely friend Katie Mason again, and this time we’re gonna be talking about her area of expertise, which is health and fitness, and working out and eating healthy around being a mum. So I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:02:29] Carla: If you’ve got any questions, send us a message. We’ll send Katie a message because she knows everything about this topic, and I hope you enjoy this episode.

[00:02:43] Carla: Hello everybody and welcome to this week’s episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood. Today I am talking to my lovely friend Katie, who is our guest appearance on this season’s episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood. Does that make sense? Oh, no. That makes no sense at all. 

[00:03:00] Katie: It makes sense to me. Yeah.

[00:03:02] Carla: Yeah. Well, you know what I mean?

[00:03:04] Carla: It’s been a long morning. 

[00:03:05] Katie: It has . 

[00:03:06] Carla: Yeah, it’s been a long morning. So, Katie, today we’re gonna be talking all about something you know a lot about health and fitness after having a baby. We’re gonna pick your brains today. 

[00:03:19] Katie: Please feel free. Yes. What? Whatever you need to know. 

[00:03:22] Carla: So Katie Clay now is how old?

[00:03:25] Katie: He is four months old. 

[00:03:27] Carla: Yes, four months old. So you are getting back to it cause this morning I’d messaged you about the podcast and you were like, yeah, missed my run this morning. I thought, God, I’m still like using this excuse of like, you know, I’ve just had a baby. She’s a year old, so I need to get myself back to back in, into focusing on exercise as well.

[00:03:44] Carla: Cause it does make you feel so much better. 

[00:03:46] Katie: It does. And it’s different for everyone isn’t it? For like, exercise means different things to different people and for me it’s quite important because I find my mental health is so much better when I exercise. In fact, it’s in integral to my mental health.

[00:04:02] Katie: It’s really important. Um, I don’t feel myself if I don’t exercise. So, that, that, obviously I’m quite lucky in that way cause it will always drive me to do it, which I know for not, for, for some people that’s not always the case. Um, but there is no right or wrong time to go back to exercise really after you’ve had a baby, whether they’re four months, six months, a year.

[00:04:22] Katie: Um, but. It always boils down to, obviously if you feel fit and healthy, your mental health’s gonna be better, isn’t it? It’s the platform for, um, uh, you know, feeling good, being healthy, isn’t it? So.

[00:04:35] Carla: Oh, definitely. Do you know, after I’m, my problem is I’m lazy. Yeah, so, so as I think my energy’s in the morning and then like throughout the day, I feel like by nighttime I honestly, I can’t even get, I’m just absolutely exhausted.

[00:04:50] Carla: So yeah, that’s a time that I would normally exercise. Um, so my thing is fitting it around, fitting it around Olivia. Cause at the moment Olivia isn’t in childcare. So it’s like, so I did have my brother around last night who, who trained me, but to actually do it, I, I was thinking, oh, I hope he cancels. I hope he cancels.

[00:05:09] Carla: But afterwards I feel great, you know, I really do. So it’s just kind of trying to fit it into your routine day to day as well isn’t it really after you have a baby, because .

[00:05:18] Katie: Yeah, a hundred percent. 

[00:05:19] Carla: You’ve got the baby glued to you all the time, don’t you? 

[00:05:21] Katie: That’s it. And nine times out of 10, you are gonna feel better after that exercise session, whether it’s a walk or an hour in the gym, whatever it is, nine times outta 10, you will feel better. On the odd occasion, maybe your nights sleep’s been that hideous, it’s not gonna help. But you’ll be surprised that even when you’ve had a really bad night with the baby, that bit of exercise can turn your day around. Um, so it’s worth giving it a go.

[00:05:45] Katie: And if you feel like halfway through the session like this isn’t happening, then go and sit and have a coffee for the rest of the time. But the thing is, allocating that time to yourself in your week, whether it’s two days, three days, or four days, depending on, like you say, fitting it in around the baby, that is time for yourself and it’s really important to make you feel good and also to just, to just start rebuilding after the, the, the toll that pregnancy and having a baby childbirth.

[00:06:15] Katie: And those sleepless nights in the beginning are inevitably gonna take on your body, cause they are, they’re gonna take some toll. So it’s a case of. rebuilding from the ground up. I think after having a baby, no matter what your fitness level was like before, um, you know, it’s, it’s putting those foundations back in place and not putting too much pressure on that.

[00:06:36] Katie: Exercise has to be this big thing from the get-go. We can build it up slowly, can’t we? 

[00:06:41] Carla: Yeah, you’re right. I think, I think that’s it really. It’s just kind of getting moving and actually, and realising that you enjoy it and then moving a bit more, isn’t it really? But pram walks, I mean, you, you go on quite a lot of pram walks, don’t you?

[00:06:55] Katie: Yeah, I’ve said before, I think I love putting my headphones on, putting a podcast on, you know, I can see my baby’s yawning. He is getting ready for his sleep. And for me, I’m, I mean, you know, I’ve not got the sleep thing nailed with Clay yet at all. But if I go for a walk, he will sleep whilst I’m walking. So that works really well for me, and I’ve got that little bit of time to switch off.

[00:07:17] Katie: Um, I’ve realised, and I knew this about myself anyway, but if I’m stuck in the house all day and I say stuck in the house, some people love staying in the house all day. But for me, I feel, no,

[00:07:28] Carla: i, no, I don’t actually, I know exactly what you’re gonna say. Go on. 

[00:07:32] Katie: Yeah. But if I get out the house, I am a different person.

[00:07:36] Katie: You know, I, I’ve, I’ve got a spring in my step, a smile more, I’m nicer to be around. Whereas if I stay in all day, like. Don’t get me wrong. Occasionally a day of rest does me good and I’m happy for it, but most of the time if I stay in all day, um, I, I get doom and gloom. You know, that would be the baby blues for me if I was in the house housebound day in, day out.

[00:08:01] Carla: Yeah, that’s exactly what I did early days with George initially, cause that’s when I started my business, um, uh, initially cuz I was that adamant, like, right, I, you know, I’m not going back to work full-time, I wanna do this. So when he slept, I worked and I stayed in the house a lot and you know that for your mental health is.

[00:08:21] Carla: It’s awful. Uh, yeah. It, I really felt so down and I didn’t know why. And I imagine a lot of it is because I stayed in the house a lot of the time. I won’t get dressed. Yeah. Um, you know, I won’t get ready for the day. So by the time Danny came home, , I mean, I was still in my pajamas. I was Yeah. Felt depressed.

[00:08:38] Carla: I felt really down. My anxiety levels were an all time high. And that is probably from just not having a bit of a, a routine. Whereas now, second time around with Olivia, have to get out the house because I’ve gotta get George to school. Yeah. So I get up, I get showered, and it’s a lot more of a positive start to my day. 

[00:08:58] Katie: Of course. Yeah. 

[00:08:59] Carla: But when you don’t have to get out the house, it’s so easy when you’ve had a rubbish night sleep, like you say. To just be like, oh, I’m tired. I’m just gonna sleep when the baby sleeps, or I’m just gonna stay in. Yeah. And actually, I don’t think that does great for your mind .

[00:09:13] Katie: No, it doesn’t, and especially if you get into a cycle of it. So say the odd night you have a, particularly, like I said earlier, a really bad night. If the opportunity’s there to catch an extra 45 minutes before you get up and get out, then then do it. The baby’s having his morning nap, have a sleep, then get ready and go out.

[00:09:32] Katie: Don’t let it right your whole day off if you can. Um, the endorphins that you get just from moving, being out in the fresh air, the sun being on your face, seeing a few people interacting a little bit, whether it’s to walk into your local coffee shop and buy a, a drink to have on the go. All of those things just kind of normalise your life, don’t they?

[00:09:52] Katie: Rather than when you’re in all the time and you’re not seeing anyone, that can be really difficult. Um, but going back to the exercise itself, we can feel guilty as well, can’t we? We can feel like, oh, I’ve got my baby to look after. I’m on maternity leave. This is my job now, looking after the baby for these next six months, seven months, or whatever it might be.

[00:10:11] Katie: And we tend to sort of think. I haven’t got anyone else to look after the baby, so I can’t exercise. But if you actually think about it, there’s so many people usually who are dying to just have like an hour with your baby, whether it’s your parents, your in-laws, your sister, your your best friend, and they can come round to your house.

[00:10:32] Katie: It doesn’t have to be a big upheaval, packing bags and, and going places. Um, for me it’s easier to take clay to my mom’s cause she likes to be at home and she’s got all her little jobs she can get on with whilst she has a nap or whatever. So that works for me. And it’s only sort of twice a week at the moment.

[00:10:49] Katie: And then a couple of mornings I get out for a run whilst my partner’s getting ready for work, which he loves. I’m like, there’s the baby . Oh yeah, he’s having a shower. He’s got the, he’s got clay in like the bouncy chair whilst he’s having a shower, having a shave. But you know, you’ve got to, you’ve got to roll with the punches, haven’t you?

[00:11:05] Katie: That’s, that’s his time to look after him so I can exercise. 

[00:11:09] Carla: So would you ever exercise in the evening then? It sounds like you do yours in the morning and daytime. Yeah. How are you in the evening? 

[00:11:16] Katie: I’m like you. So what, what I was gonna say earlier when you said you start with your energy in the morning and it wets, sort of whittles off as the day goes on, that’s me as well.

[00:11:26] Katie: Um, if I exercise late at night, I am dragging myself through that workout and I’m not feeling it. Some people are the other way around. We’ve all got an optimum time, haven’t we? To, to spend our energy and for me it’s in the earlier part of the day, up till about 3:00 PM after 3:00 PM I’m pretty done. But you know, that’s not always gonna fit in with the baby and the childcare, isn’t it? My advice is take the childcare when you can get it. So if your partner can only watch the baby in the evening, go and do that gym session, even if it’s half of what you want it to be, you’ll soon start to get used to that routine and start to feel a little bit more lively in that time of day.

[00:12:09] Katie: Um, and, and just take the opportunity while someone else is, is prepared to, to watch the baby for you. Don’t feel guilty about it, you know, even if it’s a walk or a, a very relaxed swim. It’s something for you, isn’t it? 

[00:12:23] Carla: It is, and you do need that time. You really do away from your baby as well if you can. Because I mean, at the moment, you know what I’m like, I, I would say I’m probably a bit too attached to Olivia. Like I don’t like leaving her at all. I really don’t. I just like, maybe, I don’t know where, maybe it was the journey there, but I just like being with her all the time. 

[00:12:42] Katie: That’s what it’s all about though, isn’t it?

[00:12:43] Carla: Yeah. So it’s, it’s ridiculous really, because I was, it sounds so bad because when I say this, if you had had me on this podcast like five years ago when George was a baby, I was the opposite way around and I feel so guilty because you feel like a different parent. You’ve changed a lot, haven’t you? And you’ve grown up a lot and things have happened in between and, and when you’ve been desperate for that second baby. I think I’m just, I don’t know, but I don’t like leaving her anywhere. So if we do exercise, if I, I’ve got my garage gym kind of thing so I can take her in there. Um, sounds a bit cruel. She’s in her pram and stuff in the early days. That’s what I did. Yeah. Um, and I take her in there and she’d be quite happy.

[00:13:21] Carla: I’d just put the TV on and you’ve got a treadmill and stuff in there, but as well, you can exercise with your baby. So if childcare isn’t an option, you know, you can get some dumbbells, can’t you at home, put a work on the workout on the tv. You run an online? 

[00:13:36] Katie: My online challenge was so popular with, um, women who had children under the age of four, like before they were at school for that very reason.

[00:13:45] Katie: Because sometimes , there isn’t anyone like, you might not live near your parents for whatever reason. You have to manage that yourself. Um, and the online challenge had live workouts that you could join, but I also recorded them and the, um, participants in the challenge could do them at any time of day that suited them.

[00:14:04] Katie: So there was a fresh workout every day, so it didn’t get boring, but they could fit in around the baby’s nap or early morning, late at night, whatever was better. And you’ll be surprised how effective exercise from home can be with like the most minimal amount of equipment. So just a set of dumbbells, couple of resistance bands, and you can get a really good, you know, glute workout or upper body workout.

[00:14:28] Katie: A core workout’s so easy, you don’t need any equipment for that. Um, and then I used to say to. Do your cardio separately. So if you want to go for a walk, that’s your cardio. If you can go for a little run outside at some point in in the day, that can be your cardio. You see people now with these running prams, and I know that can seem a little bit extreme, but running along with a, with a running pram, if you’re a little bit more advanced with your exercising, you were running beforehand, that’s a great idea.

[00:14:57] Katie: Um, but what you said, prop the baby up in the chair or the pram, they don’t have to be asleep. They can be quite happy to watch you. You can make it entertaining for them. Can’t you talk to them throughout? And, you know, little, little goes a long way. 30 minutes a day. 

[00:15:12] Carla: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And the thing is, I, you know, um, I work from home.

[00:15:17] Carla: So when Olivia is asleep, I am very guilty of, if I am on a pram walk, I’d be like, get home, get home quickly. Cause I’ve got things to do. That’s my time to work really. So now I’m doing around 10 hours a week, which is great. Um, but that time when Olivia is asleep, that’s my time where I, I work. So, so getting out for a walk for me would mean later in the day really, when she’s awake, utilizing the awake time a little bit more really. But I know some parents who like to get a few bits done or they might have a program that really wanna catch up on during that time and stuff. So it is just kind of working out what, I guess what, what works for everyone. Cause everyone’s different, aren’t they? With what, how they wanna spend their time.

[00:16:00] Katie: Yeah, a hundred percent. And you can say to yourself, right, exercise isn’t my favourite thing. Okay, but I’m gonna do it three times a week. And then you might get someone else who loves exercise and they’re gonna do it six times a week because that helps them mentally. If that’s not your bag, then just try and allocate enough time so that your baseline, you know, fitness is covered.

[00:16:22] Katie: And hopefully, I mean, for me it’s, it’s also, it feeds into my life experience, if that makes sense. So if I feel fit and healthy, my general life experience is better. Like, like I said earlier,.

[00:16:33] Carla: I love that. Yeah, I know exactly. I mean, yeah, I do. I do. 

[00:16:38] Katie: Yeah. I smile more, I feel better with my clothes. I’ll put an outfit on and think, right, I’m ready to go. Whereas if I’m not fit or in shape, like I’m not saying being in super shape, I’m just saying feeling good in my own skin. 

[00:16:51] Carla: Well, feeling in, in your own self, being happy with how you feel and look, I guess. 

[00:16:55] Katie: Yeah. And I think we also have this bit of guilt that it’s vain, you know, that we shouldn’t think, think like that when we’ve got children. You know, we should be like, oh, okay, I’m happy that my body is whatever it is. Cause I’ve got children. Well, yes, that is, that is a side to it. Our bodies has done something amazing. Uh, we’ve produced a child and it will be different afterwards. However, if it’s important for your mental health to feel good, then, then it, it does feed into your life experience.

[00:17:22] Katie: Cause if you ignore it and push it aside, then it is gonna be on your mind, isn’t it? I don’t feel great. Oh, I’ve got nothing to wear. Oh, I’m wearing this outfit because it’ll do not because I feel good in it. And then you’re all, you’re automatically in like a bit of a, uh, a negative mindset about yourself before you’ve even stepped out the front door, aren’t you?

[00:17:41] Carla: You’re so right. Because it is not just then, the exercise and that moment, it’s everything afterwards, isn’t it? Like you said, that, that might change me. No, I do, to be honest, I do feel good after exercise. My thing is just actually getting in there and getting it done, um, because I’m not one of these people that has found my thing that I absolutely love yet.

[00:18:01] Carla: You know, like, do you know what I mean? 

[00:18:02] Katie: Like that, you know, like I’ve found Pilates or a found you know, I, I’ll play netball instead, you know, come to the gym, but you’ve not found that one thing.

[00:18:12] Carla: I’ve not found that thing. And I feel like I’m, I’m looking for that thing, but that thing, I can’t find it. Sat on the sofa eating, stuffing my face, basically.

[00:18:20] Carla: So I need to, I need to actually do it. I, I did like running, I did the couch 5K a bit ago actually, and that was really good. And that was enjoyable, like you said, putting the headphones in. Yeah, and I actually ran this, this’ll make you laugh actually. So me and Danny had a bit of a, uh, an argument outside where we got married, actually, weirdly, um, I can’t remember what it was about.

[00:18:41] Carla: It was about where we parked the car. I can’t, it was the most stupid thing. Anyway, I had been doing Couch 5K for a little while. I didn’t think I was that good at it at that time. Anyway, it was a really busy day. And me being me, stormed off in a mood . And then I turned around and I couldn’t see them anywhere, Danny or George.

[00:19:00] Carla: And I was like, oh, for God’s sake. Anyway, so I ran all the way home from the white church, which probably is about a good three miles. Didn’t stop once anyway when Danny came and he was looking. My battery had gone on my phone as well. And when Danny came home he was like, I was so worried. I was looking for you everywhere.

[00:19:19] Carla: I said to him, thanks. I’m so glad we had that argument because I didn’t realize I could run that far and I was so happy. Um, that was the happiest I’ve ever been. Yeah. After and argument, I mean, during an argument. Cause normally yeah.

[00:19:32] Katie: That diva moment your diva strop led you to your best run ever. 

[00:19:36] Carla: Oh my God. It really did.

[00:19:38] Katie: Yeah. But the thing with things like couch to 5k, they’re target driven, aren’t they. So sometimes starting an exercise plan or say you’ve not got a plan. That in itself is very daunting, isn’t it? It’s thinking, right, I’m gonna do some exercise. Okay, where do I start? Uh, should I be doing more after two weeks or three weeks?

[00:19:58] Katie: Like now it’s getting boring. What should I do to mix it up? So having like a goal, and I’ll say this to someone like regardless of whether they’ve had a baby or not, just generally deciding to get fit, like January, perfect time, I’m gonna get fit. Having a goal like a holiday or a wedding, or you’re gonna be a bridesmaid or there’s a party that you go into that you wanna feel good at, and just writing that down that date and then kind of working backwards from that goal is a really good place to start.

[00:20:28] Katie: So if you are saying, okay, in in three months I want to have lost half a stone, then you work out how many pounds. I work in pounds and stones. I’m sorry for the.

[00:20:38] Carla: No, that’s better for me. I do not understand the other one at all. 

[00:20:42] Katie: Well, I have to work in kilograms, but I still revert to talking about pounds and stones. Cause it, it, it’s, that’s what’s in my head. Um, but you work backwards. So in three months you wanna have lost half a stone. So you’re losing about two, three pounds. No. What is that? Two pound a month? Yeah, just over about two and a half pound a month. Um, and that equates to a pound every two weeks. For example, ignore my maths.

[00:21:05] Katie: But then you can work out from that, okay, I need to be exercising this amount of times. I’m gonna track my calories on an app like My Fitness Pal and make sure I lose that one pound a week. And then by the time I go to that wedding or go on that holiday, I’m gonna have achieve what I set out to. And that’s always a really good way to, to break it down.

[00:21:26] Katie: Uh, and from there you can then decide to lose a pound a week. This is the exercise I’m gonna choose. I’m gonna go swimming, or I’m gonna walk. And it can just help you formulate a little plan. 

[00:21:36] Carla: Yeah, I think that’s where, I think that’s what I like. I like to be challenged and I like a bit of a plan. So some of you might be similar to me in the sense of if I just woke up and be like, oh, let’s go exercise, I’d be like, right, well, what shall I do?

[00:21:50] Carla: Whereas if I’ve got a target and it’s a bit of a challenge, that that fires me up a little bit more. And uh, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I mean, the food obviously comes into it as well. I mean, eating, we’ve, we’ve briefly spoke about this because obviously when you’re pregnant, everything slows down a little bit.

[00:22:08] Carla: Things get a bit harder, you know? To go to the bathroom sometimes. Um, so what is the best kind of way to eat, structure a diet? Um, if you, I mean, obviously if you not don’t have time to exercise, it’s still good to eat healthy, isn’t it? But if you can do the two together even better. 

[00:22:27] Katie: Yeah, of course. And again, it feeds, it feeds back to mental health. So if you imagine your body is like a house and during pregnancy you’ve rented the house out, someone else has been in there and they’ve taken, 

[00:22:41] Carla: I would say, honestly, I was like a pig during there. 

[00:22:44] Katie: So, well, they’ve, they’ve taken everything they can and they’ve left, you know, they’ve, they’ve sucked out all your nutrients, you know, you left kind of a little bit depleted, aren’t you?

[00:22:53] Katie: So having a good foundation, a good baseline health is a really good way of rebuilding your house if you, if you like. Um, so I always look at, first of all, eating , eating regularly like little and often. There’s so many fad diets out there where people say, I’m eaten within this window in the afternoon. I’ve got like two hours to have all my calories or six hours, or whatever.

[00:23:17] Katie: When you’ve got a young child or a family, or a busy job or a busy life, you just need to fuel and sustain a good level of energy throughout all the things you’ve got to do in a day. So for me, that means having a healthy breakfast. A mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and a nice evening meal, not too late at night.

[00:23:38] Katie: And that way you drip feeding your body with good sustainable energy throughout the day. So you never get to the point where you’re gonna crash and burn and think, oh my God, I’m starving. Like what’s that? It’s four o’clock, I’ve not eaten anything. Give me their maltesers. 

[00:23:52] Carla: That is me. That is me. No, but that’s when I was missing breakfast. Cause you wanna keep your calories down some on some diet. So it is a calories in, calories out type thing anyway, isn’t it? But that is where I’ve never been hungry for breakfast. So I used to skip breakfast. Um, yeah, and that would be like, and then I’d have lunch and I’d have my dinner.

[00:24:13] Carla: But honestly what you’ve said there, I’d always get to that point, would usually be around two 3:00 PM in the afternoon. Yeah. That I’d hit that. Oh my God. Gimme anything. Gimme anything. I’d go to that vending machine at work. There was a vending machine in the morning. I was like, yeah, you’re not gonna get me today.

[00:24:29] Carla: You know, I’ve got no change on me. Then they started accepting contactless, which is worse. And then, but anyway, I go with the best mindset. But by two 3:00 PM I was there. And I was not getting one bar. I was getting about four and just eating them in a row. And I thought I had a binge eating problem.

[00:24:46] Carla: Actually, you know me. Cause I over overthink everything. I was like, oh my God, there’s something wrong with me. But you have explained this to me before, but please explain again why I would get that way if anyone else does. I hope they do. Cause otherwise, yeah.

[00:24:59] Katie: Honestly, I, I do nutrition consultations with people and I’d say one in two people, if not more, have this issue. So it’s the 3:00 PM or the 9:00 PM Crash and burn. 

[00:25:10] Carla: I have both.

[00:25:11] Katie: Right. Okay. And you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar that if you’re gonna crash and burn, it’s between two and three or it’s at like eight, nine at night. And the reason being is because we utilize carbohydrates during the day for energy.

[00:25:25] Katie: So we need, we must have carbohydrates to fuel our actions. So our walking, cooking, cleaning, looking after the baby all requires energy. So the carbohydrates that you eat, things like. You cereal in the morning, you porridge your toast, your pasta, your rice, all those things are going to fuel your day. Now, if you go about your day without any carbohydrates, you might have a little bit left in your muscle from the night before.

[00:25:52] Katie: Whatever you ate for your tea, you’re gonna start burning through those carbohydrates. You haven’t replaced them by breakfast. So you’re then starting to run on no carbohydrates. You don’t replace them by lunch and you keep going and going and by three o’clock your body goes, whoa, hang on. I can’t do anymore cuz I, I don’t have any carbohydrates.

[00:26:14] Katie: So you then release a hunger hormone. Your brain starts to secrete a hunger hormone, which. Quickly get some sugar, because sugar is the fastest form of carbohydrates. So you, when you eat chocolate, that’s gonna hitch your bloodstream within 30 minutes. Whereas if you then go, oh my God, I’ve missed my carbohydrates, I’m gonna eat some porridge, that’s gonna take a lot longer.

[00:26:36] Katie: You’ve missed, you’ve missed the window to get it into your bloodstream and your muscle before you’ve needed it. So because it’s too late, your body craves the thing that’s gonna be most effective. Fastest chocolate, fizzy sweets, you know, hot chocolate drinks, anything sugary. That’s gonna give you a quick pick me up because you’ve, you’ve gone too far, you’ve missed the point of managing it, you know, in, in a, in a better, uh, more nutritious, slow release sort of way. Does that make sense? 

[00:27:05] Carla: Wow. 

[00:27:05] Katie: I can waffle.

[00:27:07] Carla: No, um, that’s really useful because I think a lot of people would not realize that because I’ve actually done a diet before. I’ve done all of the diets, actually failed them all miserably. But, um, I’ve done a diet before where it’s like literally no carbs. And yes, I did actually lose weight, but I felt ill really ill, yeah. 

[00:27:27] Katie: And actually it can affect mentally as well, having no carbs. 

[00:27:31] Carla: Oh my goodness. 

[00:27:31] Katie: You get some really bad brain fog from that. 

[00:27:33] Carla: It was awful. It was awful. I felt awful, but I had lost a bit of weight. But then, like you said, then, does it eat into your muscles then? You know, if.

[00:27:41] Katie: So the reason why people lose weight quickly when they drop carbs and, and say for example, someone’s got a night out on Friday and they need to get in an outfit and they know full well they’ve done it time and time again having no carbs, they’ll fit in that outfit. And it’s because carbohydrates are stored in water, in the muscle. Uh, it is something like if there’s a particle of a carbohydrate, there’s two particles of water holding it in the muscle. So when you burn that carbohydrate up, those two particles of water drop away and you whee them out. So you’ll probably find when you do low carb your wee lots as well.

[00:28:17] Katie: Cause all this water’s leaving your system so we feel less puffy. We feel with like, we’ve de bloated and we feel ultimately we feel thinner because of it, but it’s false economy because that’s, that’s only gonna leave your body until the water’s gone. And then after that point, you, you know, you, you will still lose weight because you’re in a calorie deficit.

[00:28:38] Katie: But you’ll, you, you’ll more than likely feel like you’ve said, feel like shit in the process because you’ve got nothing fuelling your body and you’ve got nothing fuelling your brain. So you’re kind of just flailing around existing, you know, without any , any direction or energy to do anything. And it’s not a nice feeling all, it’s more much as there are these like ketogenic diets out there.

[00:28:58] Katie: And that is the basis of them personally, I would always go with, you know, balance your nutrition over a day, make sure you’re in a calorie deficit at the end of the day, you can’t lose. 

[00:29:09] Carla: No, that’s brilliant advice. So, so in terms of. , you know, making sure you’ve got a balanced diet. So obviously healthy breakfast, healthy most of the time. Obviously you might have the odd slip up. Um, yeah. But, but what about vitamins then? Do they kind of come into it as well? Do you take vitamins or should you be getting all of that from your food? 

[00:29:30] Katie: So this is always like a bit of a, a debate point for lots of people because there are a number of people who are scared of vitamins because they’re putting something in the mouth that resembles a tablet, a medication, for example.

[00:29:44] Katie: They think, no, I shouldn’t need that. I should be able to get everything from my diet. And you can eat a very well-rounded, healthy optimum diet by including loads of fruit and veggies, making sure you get your protein and your carbs and some healthy fats. And from that your body will get all the little nutrients that it needs.

[00:30:05] Katie: However, , if you can tell me that you are perfect every single day, and you do that, you eat a well-balanced diet, you get all your variety of different fruits and veggies, and you, you’ve thought about every single micronutrient that your body might need, and you’ve managed to eat that. Then I, uh, I will, you know, the, there’s a wager in there from me somewhere.

[00:30:27] Katie: Just put it that way. Because I, it’s not really, it’s not really practical and I don’t really think it’s possible, if I’m honest, like, yeah, someone might do it as a challenge. But we’re living our lives here. We’re looking at what’s gonna fit in around our lives with ease. Um, so vitamins and supplements will help to bolster that and to boost your baseline health.

[00:30:50] Katie: So for example, if you take a multivitamin and your body needs five vitamins out that, and there’s 20 in it. It’s only gonna excrete the ones it doesn’t need. You’re just gonna wee them out. You, we might be bright orange that afternoon and then, you know, you didn’t need everything in that vitamin, but the ones that you did need, your bodies absorbed them so you’ve got more of an optimum baseline health.

[00:31:12] Katie: Does that make sense? 

[00:31:12] Carla: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:31:13] Katie: So we’re kind of just, it’s like our backup plan and if you are deficient in something, then you are topping that up without having to eat ridiculous amounts of, like say for example, you are deficient in vitamin C, you’d have to eat like 30 oranges in a day to top that up.

[00:31:31] Katie: Well, in that tablet, you know, you’ve done that by just remembering to take it in the morning. So for me, they’re really important vitamins, and I’ll always say I feel better when I take vitamins because I genuinely feel it in myself and when I don’t, I can tell. 

[00:31:48] Carla: So what, what type of vitamins do you think new parents and parents in general should, should be taken then. 

[00:31:55] Katie: So this is for everyone. Um, always take a good quality multivitamin. Please don’t scrimp on the price. Don’t go to body care and buy that one, that’s 2 99 off the shelf because it’s gonna be a poor quality with really low doses of everything in it.

[00:32:11] Katie: So invest, look for a good brand. Um, once you’ve got a good multivitamin, I would have, um, a vitamin C alongside it because vitamin C is necessary to absorb the other vitamins and it stops us from getting ill. So bonus, boost your immune system. So, um, you multivitamin, you vitamin C if you’re a vegetarian or you don’t eat much red meat, a B12 or a B complex because that will boost your energy and stop you getting fatigued.

[00:32:42] Katie: Um, and I can go, I could talk about red meat in more detail, but let’s just. Yeah, rush over that for the vitamin’s sake and say, if you don’t have much, have a, have a b12, um, everybody, 

[00:32:53] Carla: what much would you say, would you say that’s once a week or?

[00:32:56] Katie: So eating red meat, I’d say twice a week is, is good to boost your iron levels.

[00:33:02] Katie: And you, you, your b vitamins, but you can go too far with it. You can can have it with every single meal. You might get high cholesterol. There’s links to cancer and things from too much red meat. So for me, like a pescatarian diet, like a Mediterranean diet, lots of fish. I mean, I don’t eat fish, I’m a veggie, but I would say eat your fish.

[00:33:22] Katie: Um, oily fishes, olive oil, fresh veggies, um, and nice light carbohydrates like rice, grains, things like that. Try and avoid the stodgy things that are gonna make you feel. Lethargic, like lots and lots of bread, pasta, that sort thing. Just chi. Yeah, just have them in moderation. You don’t have to say they’re the devil, you can’t have them, but have them in moderation and other vitamins.

[00:33:47] Katie: When you live in the uk, as we do vitamin D really important because you only get that from the sun and that’s only if your arms or your legs are exposed to the sun for at least 15 minutes a day. So that’s not happening is it in the winter in the uk 

[00:34:01] Carla: don’t think it’s happening in the summer, to be honest with you.

[00:34:04] Katie: Yeah, yeah. So, um, the majority of people in the UK have low vitamin D if not borderline or deficiency. So get a vitamin D I get a spray, so I get a vitamin D spray. It’s quite a high dosage and I spray it under my tongue every morning. So for anyone who doesn’t like taking the big capsules, um, a spray is a, is a good way. You can get all your vitamins more or less in a spray version as well. 

[00:34:29] Carla: God, that sounds great. 

[00:34:31] Katie: Yeah. And then the last one,

[00:34:33] Carla: I didn’t know you could get sprays for vitamins. 

[00:34:34] Katie: Yeah, they, they tend to be higher doses of things when someone needs like a high dose of something. But again, you are not gonna overdo it.

[00:34:42] Katie: Your body will excrete what it doesn’t need unless you like spray the whole bottle in one morning. You know, I wouldn’t advise doing that. But if you have the recommended dose, those recommended doses on the back are the minimum. So when it says R D A, you recommended daily allowance. That’s the minimum. So if you are just taking that, you’re not gonna harm yourself. It’s the minimum that you need to function. So, you know, fill your boots. 

[00:35:07] Carla: For our pregnant listen listeners, what would you recommend they take? Would it be a pregnancy vitamin where it’s all in one or?

[00:35:15] Katie: Yeah, you get, you obviously you get recommended to, you get advised should I say, to take prenatal vitamins. Um, and they’ll be just, the same as a multivitamin, except they remove vitamin A and maybe anything else that could be detrimental to the developing baby. Don’t be afraid to take your vitamins because of those things. Make sure it’s a prenatal one. They’re all branded. There’s some really good ones out there.

[00:35:40] Katie: Throughout my pregnancy, I took a brand called Pro Seve and they did, uh, a first trimester, a second trimester and a third trimester vitamin. And then I went onto the postnatal ones, which I’m still taking cuz they’re good for breastfeeding. Um, so if you have your baby and your breastfeeding just carry on with your prenatal ones, you know, just, just keep taking them all the way throughout.

[00:36:04] Katie: Um, also a good Amiga blend, so that’s like you called liver oil. It helps your brain function, it helps your, your metabolism and your body and oils, your joints and all that kind of thing. Um, and the proceed do a, a prenatal one of those as well, which again, I’m still taking cuz I’m breastfeeding. So, um, Uh, that’s a good brand.

[00:36:25] Carla: It’s just remembering I’ve got vitamins and I’ve got those little days, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Yeah. I forget. Do you know? Yeah. I really do forget, and I should probably put them when I brush my teeth or something like that. So it’s in a place that I kind of link it together. But it is important to remember to take them. Maybe I need a reminder on my phone. . 

[00:36:45] Katie: Yeah. Just, but you’ve got to build it into your routine. It can’t be like this ad hoc, remember, like at any point during the day. So it’s got to be like, either you wake up the next to the bed or you brush your teeth the next to the sink, or you have your breakfast, they’re there on the down bed. So it’s got to be one of those things that you do at the start of the day and do it every day. Because once you start, you know, you, you, you, you, your day is underway. You’re gonna forget and it’s not gonna happen. 

[00:37:13] Carla: After pregnancy, how long should we be waiting to exercise? Obviously not as long as me, which is like a year. But, but in general, how long, how long should we wait? 

[00:37:24] Katie: It’s completely unique depending on your birth experience. So, um, I mean, they don’t give you a sign off at the doctor anymore, do they? No. So it’s, it’s a case of either six weeks or when you’re completely healed. So if you’re not healed at six weeks, just wait a little bit longer.

[00:37:39] Katie: Um, Uhhuh and again. Build it up. You know, it doesn’t have to be, oh my God, I had a baby six weeks ago. I should be exercising. Just do your pelvic floor exercises or take 10 minutes a day to do your pelvic floor exercises and a little bit of glut activation, like some bridges or, um, you can find all stuff like that online, early exercises after having a baby.

[00:38:03] Katie: And there’s loads of recommendations out there. And once you feel comfortable with those and you start feeling stronger, then add another layer. Okay, I’m gonna go up from 10 minutes to 20 minutes and I’m gonna do some cardio now as well. And it can take you a year just to get up to. A normal amount of exercise again, that’s fine.

[00:38:21] Katie: As long as you are building it up at your own pace and you’re doing something and working with your body, then you, you’re gonna get there, aren’t you? Eventually. 

[00:38:29] Carla: Yeah, and I like how you’ve said about for your mental health as well, because for some people, you know, the, they’ve got the baby, they don’t have anything planned and you know, they’re happy with their baby. But exercise in general, it’s good for us, isn’t it? So it is important for us to do it. 

[00:38:44] Katie: Yeah, definitely. It’s like that house that you’ve rented out. It, you, you, it’s, it’s like the roof on the house, your mental health, the bottom of the roof, you have nutrition and your sleep and your water and everything else is that side of the roof. And the third side of the roof is you exercise and it all links together and it all like, you know, it holds you up and makes you feel. 

[00:39:05] Carla: That’s really good. That’s really good. Yeah. Yeah, because the thing is after, I mean, I don’t know how much weight you put on during your pregnancy and I know it’s something really we shouldn’t compare cuz everyone is different. But I, I think I, I put on three stone or did I two stone, maybe two stone. But I, at the time you think, oh my goodness, it’s gonna take so long to like lose this. But yeah, if you can kind of get in a healthier routine with food going forward, it can come off quite quick, can’t it? 

[00:39:35] Katie: I think it, it can, but I think the key is don’t expect miracles into like, look in the mirror and see the person who was there before you were pregnant because your body has been through something.

[00:39:47] Katie: And ultimately, if we get a nice routine with exercise and food and we’re more conscious of it than before we were pregnant, we can end up feeling even better eventually. Mm-hmm. , you know, we can, we can refurbish that house and end up with a new revised model that we, that we actually really like. Um, so I wouldn’t feel like there’s a timeframe on it, or you have to be in a rush.

[00:40:08] Katie: I just think, yeah. You know, if you’re doing something and you, you are working towards it, it’s, you gotta give yourself a pat on the back and it’s, it’s worth it. 

[00:40:17] Carla: Yeah, because I mean, I do see a lot of people, you know, when it comes to celebrities and they’re kind of, they’ve had a baby and then all of a sudden they’re out there in this bikini and you think, what the hell?

[00:40:28] Carla: Like, how are they like that? Yeah. Sometimes I don’t think that does good. , it does very well for people because I think you think, oh my goodness, why does she look like that? And I don’t look like that. And, and you can compare yourself to these people online, which a lot of them heavily edit their images, don’t they?

[00:40:45] Katie: Uh, of course they do. Some people won’t put a picture on without editing it. You’ve got to remember that. Um, and be realistic and remember that you can stand at a good angle and wear a flattering outfit and hide that, that bit in your tubby. That’s still a little pouch. And all of these things are going on in those pictures, so don’t think for one second they’ve got it together and you haven’t because it isn’t the case.

[00:41:06] Katie: They’re just portraying, you know, um, an image and. , if they are like springing back into shape, they’ve probably got a personal trainer going round every day whilst the nanny looks after the baby and the chef prepares, you know, the balanced diet for the day. Yeah. So you gotta give yourself a break. You know, they’re in a different league, some people aren’t they?

[00:41:26] Carla: Yeah, they are. Absolutely, they are. Although we’ve got a few friends that have bounced back. I mean, you, you bounced back quite quick, didn’t you? Really? 

[00:41:34] Katie: Well, I, uh, to, no, I am currently, like you say, we shouldn’t compare ourselves, but I am still about two stone over my normal weight. Yeah. Uh, because. Obviously you’ve heard my birth story when I fell pregnant. Uh, my inception story, should I say, when I fell pregnant with clay because of like different tablets and having a miscarriage and so on, I was a stone over my normal weight already. Mm-hmm. and then I had pregnancy, et cetera on top of that. So I’ve got a bit of work to do and I don’t mind that.

[00:42:02] Katie: And no trainer. I, I’m not gonna say, you know, I was perfect through my pregnancy, exercised through my pregnancy, ate perfect. I didn’t, I listened to my body when I felt like it was time to taper off the exercise I did when I wanted to eat cheese toasties, I did, you know? Yeah. So it, I’ve still got work to do now, and, uh, I’ll do it. I’m not overstressed about it. It, it’s just gonna take a bit of. 

[00:42:27] Carla: That’s brilliant. No, it’s a good mindset that, and it is important not to compare ourselves or feel like we should be back to, you know, back to how we were before because our bodies have changed and they have been through a lot. And when you’re sleep deprived, oh my goodness.

[00:42:41] Carla: Like you can crave so much, you know? Yeah. Can’t you, in those first few months? Um, I mean, even I say first few months, you know, even now, um, you know, I was looking at a picture on Facebook yesterday. I dunno why, and I get texts from Dominoes. Do you know his texts from Domino’s come through around 3:00 PM around that time?

[00:42:59] Katie: I do, they do don’t they, they are naughty.

[00:43:02] Carla: Um, but yeah, it’s like all of a sudden that time hits and you start to see all these blooming takeaways, pizzas and you think, oh, I don’t wanna cook tonight. So I, for me personally, my, I’m doing dry January at the moment, actually, because it’s so easy to, when you’re staying in weekends and you’ve got children to just be like, oh, should we have a bottle of wine? Should we have a bottle of wine again? You know, Friday, Saturday, yeah. And leading to the next Sunday, there’s some left on a Sunday. So, yeah. So I’m doing dry January. I feel really good for it actually. I really do. Yeah. I didn’t realize how much better you do feel once, once you kind of. 

[00:43:37] Katie: And again, like going, going back to like having a normal balanced life.

[00:43:41] Katie: We go out, we have fun and we enjoy ourselves. That’s important. Um, it’s important to blow off some steam to see your friends or go out for a meal with your partner. But if you are serious about needing to drop a few pounds and you’ve got a timeframe and a goal, cutting out alcohol really speeds things up.

[00:43:58] Katie: It speeds up. It’s, it’s known to speed up your metabolism because your liver isn’t constantly working on detoxing your body and, you know, getting rid of the alcohol out your system so it can function much better and your metabolism will sort of pick up the longer that you don’t drink for. 

[00:44:14] Carla: That’s really good. Yeah, I mean, I, I said to Danny, we got in a situation really, I think it was really Covid during Covid, you know, when you were in a bit more, I mean he was making these cocktail, he became a cocktail making machine. My husband, honestly, they were just amazing. They were just amazing. I think that’s when it slowly, alcohol slowly started entering the house a bit more.

[00:44:36] Carla: Cuz before that we’d never really have alcohol in the house. It was something that we did. We went out and had a drink and things like that, and, When you’ve got children, I think, because you can’t just go out for a meal or you can’t just go to the cinema and have a bit of a date night. A date night sometimes consists of a bottle of wine and a nice meal, doesn’t it?

[00:44:55] Carla: Because Yeah. Isn’t loads that you can do in the house, really. Um, and slowly the alcohol started creeping into our lives and that just became the norm really. Every weekend. Oh, should we get our bottle of wine? And, you know, and it just, it just doesn’t, you don’t realize though how groggy you feel when you’re living in that alcohol world. Do you know what I mean? 

[00:45:14] Carla: Yeah. When you drink on a weekend,

[00:45:16] Katie: it’s a cycle. Yeah. 

[00:45:17] Carla: Yeah. You think you just feel groggy because Yeah, because actually I feel so much better for it now. 

[00:45:23] Katie: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, and I’d recommend to anyone not to look at it like they’re being deprived of something they love just to look at it. That thing that you enjoy, that’s obviously got a lot of calories in it and it’s making you feel groggy is it’s on hold for now. So at the end of January, you are gonna have a drink. It’s not left your life forever has it. But in the meantime, you’re gonna achieve that short-term goal of dropping a few pounds, feeling better in January, and it’s really important to be able to separate the things that you think are a treat and that you enjoy, um, in that sense. being able to achieve your goals. Cause I, I’ve had loads of ladies come to me before and they’ve done the consultation and they drink a bottle of wine every night. So, you know, when you are saying Friday, Saturday, that’s nothing. 

[00:46:08] Carla: Well, and Sunday trying to keep a bit back. So half basically. 

[00:46:14] Katie: Yeah. Yeah, basically half. There’s a lot of people who are doing that every night and they try to achieve the fitness goals without letting go of it. And I still wanna drink my bottle of wine tonight, but I want to be two dress sizes smaller. Unfortunately it’s not the way it works, it’s not gonna happen. And I, and I’ve, I’ve had to like, take lots of different approaches with people before, but you get to the odd time where you’ve just got to say, you are not gonna achieve this unless you stop drinking every night because you won’t feel your best, you won’t have the best energy for your exercise, your workouts aren’t gonna be as efficient and.

[00:46:51] Katie: You’re also probably having double the amount of calories a day cuz you’re topping up with wine, you know? Mm-hmm. . So I’m not saying it’s a sin God, no. We’ve all got to have fun, haven’t we? Yeah. And enjoy ourselves. But when it’s become a crutch, it’s like something you’re relying on to relax in the evening, then it’s really important to try and address that as well as moving forward with your health and fitness.

[00:47:13] Carla: This is a really good time to take a break now. 

[00:47:17] Carla: Are you looking for local pregnancy to preschool groups, classes, and lessons to go to with your children? If that’s the case, head over to www.mybumptobaby.com where you can find the latest groups and classes in your local area. As well as that, if you are looking for financial advice, family law, advice, or a local estate agent, you can also access our family protection and legal directory www.mybump2baby.com/familyprotectionlegal.

[00:47:54] Carla: So Katie 

[00:47:59] Katie: got the giggles now. 

[00:48:00] Carla: Oh, I know. No. So Katie, you know, in the evening at around like 9:00 PM when you’re watching TV and the kids are in bed and you just feel like, oh, I just want something. , that is when I would reach for the chocolate. So what would you say is a good kind of snack to have in at all times? That you can just have a little bit of. 

[00:48:20] Katie: Okay. Right. Well, there’s two, there’s two points to this 9:00 PM thing. One is, yes, have those healthy snacks ready, stuff that you can have. And two is the distraction technique, which is always good at nighttime as well. So sometimes at night we’ve got the sugar craving because we’re tired and we just need to go to bed.

[00:48:41] Katie: You know, sometimes that’s the reason why we’ve got it. Other times if we really want to have something, we’re staying up to watch tele, um, things like, uh, listen, the whole very little nu nutritional value. They’re just to get you through the sugar cravings. So please like, don’t crucify me for some of these things because they’re not always that perfect on the nutrients, the health.

[00:49:03] Katie: But sugar-free jelly, that’s one. It’s got a little sweet kick to it. A pot of that and you might just think that sugar craving’s gone and you’re over it. Um, there is things like flavored, no percent fat Greek yogurt. So you’ve got high protein content, yogurt with a bit of a sweet edge to it. That can be good.

[00:49:23] Katie: Um, you can get the ice creams, you know, like the halo top and the calorie controlled ice creams now, which are really tasty. There’s very little point like getting the, the ones with twice the amount of calories in cuz they’re really nice. Um, hot chocolates, you know, the sh the sugar-free hot chocolates, the uh, low calorie options, stuff like that that can take the edge off.

[00:49:45] Katie: But importantly, making sure that you’re hydrated, that you’re not just thirsty. So have a. Glass of water, sparkling water, flavored water, whatever you want. Um, and just make sure you’re not just thirsty. If you can just go to bed and sleep it off, go to bed and sleep it off. Or if you just need that bit of motivation, think of like, you know that story you told me once where you were in the changing rooms and you got stuck in those clothes,

[00:50:12] Carla: Yeah. I thought you might drop that in. Kinda So Ill tell you thatstory, just because I wouldn’t want anyone else experience experiencing the same. So I have always been a 10, not always, obviously, when I was a kid I wasn’t a 10. But in my adult life, I’ve always been a 10 and I’ve kind of come to the realization that I like being a 10.

[00:50:35] Carla: You know, I, I’m not bothered for being an eight and I would like to, I feel comfortable at, at the weight I’m at at the moment. I would obviously like to lose a few pounds, but a 10 feels good for me. Um, anyway. So I was clearly a 12 or 14 at one point. Okay. And, uh, it wasn’t actually that long ago. Um, and I went into my local shop and it was, I think it was River Island or New Look, I can’t remember.

[00:51:03] Carla: Anyway, I wanted to wear this dress and I thought, I’m gonna try that on. And when I picked it up, I picked up a 10 and I thought, yeah, I’m a 10, even though I wasn’t really a 10, but I am a 10 and I refuse to believe I’m not a 10 because that’s the way I am comfortable. Anyway, went into the changing room.

[00:51:23] Carla: Don’t think I wore knickers that day anyway, because I, I don’t know why I was rushing. I was, I can’t remember. But basically I just, I just put my leg in on and I just went. So anyway, that was fine. Fully naked. Um, I put the dress on, only I got stuck in it, so I literally got stuck in this dress. I actually thought I was gonna die at one point. it was awful.

[00:51:47] Katie: It’s happened to me so many times that it gives me instant anxiety, you know, when you realize that you can’t get it back off. You’re just like in the middle. It’s halfway around your face. .

[00:51:58] Carla: It’s when you’re stuck at that point and it’s like suffocating you. You know like 

[00:52:02] Katie: yeah, I actually hyperventilate as well. 

[00:52:04] Carla: Oh my. It’s awful. Well then I had to get the shop assistant. Basically I had to get it pulled out of this dress. It was so embarrassing. 

[00:52:13] Katie: What did you do? Like go to the door of the changing room and 

[00:52:15] Carla: Well, I was going like this and I was trying to move, you know what? In your own house, it’s a bit easier, isn’t it, to manoeuvre when you’re in a little changing room.

[00:52:23] Katie: I’d just rip it.

[00:52:24] Carla: And there’s a curtain. I was forward backwards trying to just get outta this dress. And I was thinking, and you, you really do panic, don’t you? I mean, it was awful actually, honestly, 

[00:52:36] Katie: mild panic attack sets in and you realize 

[00:52:38] Carla: it’s like my life flash before my eyes. Honestly. It really did. I thought, this is it.

[00:52:44] Carla: I’m gonna die. I was rocking back and forth trying to get this thing off a couldn’t. Anyway, the shop assistant. And had to pull me out of this dress. And honestly.

[00:52:55] Katie: Must have been making some noise for all the shop assistants to come running over. 

[00:52:59] Carla: It was awful. It was absolutely awful.

[00:53:02] Carla: Anyway, eventually I got pulled out of it, bearing in mind no knickers on anything. I was so embarrassed cuz I thought, I bet, I bet They think Why on earth is she trying on our clothes with no knickers on anyway, it’s gross. 

[00:53:13] Katie: Where did they pull you out of the dress? So you just had to come out the cubicle in a couple of them whilst you were naked. Just like, just hoist, hoisting you out the clothing.

[00:53:20] Carla: I mean, at the time I didn’t care. I just wanted to be out of the dress. But afterwards, 

[00:53:24] Katie: well, it was a life or death moment. 

[00:53:25] Carla: It was so, it was, and and so my, you know, that’s what I need to remember when I reach at nine o’clock for that chocolate. 

[00:53:33] Katie: Yeah. A little, a little funny moment like that.

[00:53:35] Carla: That, that was, that honestly was frightening.

[00:53:37] Carla: It really was. Imagine ringing my family. Hi, it’s uh, Carla. LetT, uh, we’ve got news for Carla. Let, unfortunately she suffocated in the change rooms with the dress and she’s here currently naked because she didn’t bother to put knickers on. Oh my God. 

[00:53:58] Katie: Please, can you collect the body?

[00:54:00] Carla: Can you please collect her? Sorry. Oh, God. Just imagined having to tell George that. 

[00:54:05] Carla: Oh, goodness. 

[00:54:06] Katie: Listen, listen though, it’s happened to me in changing rooms and I know loads of people who’ve listening. They’ll have been in the same situation. And don’t tell me there aren’t people out there who’ve just thought, so I’m ripping this dress and I’m running, you know?

[00:54:17] Carla: I know.

[00:54:18] Katie: I think I’ve probably damaged the dress once or twice trying to get it back off, you know? Oh, it’s all, and then you coily, you just put it back on the hanger, don’t you? Sorry. To any shop owners, 

[00:54:30] Katie: ust try and get out there really fast. Don’t you like, like 

[00:54:33] Carla: thanks. Bye. Honestly, it’s. Yeah. Anyway, so that, that is what happened to me and really that is something that I should remember when I am thinking of reaching to that because I do, I’m not, you know, everyone has a size that they’re comfortable with, don’t they? I mean, I’m quite strong and I’m, I’m quite sure, and that, that for me, I’m, I’m comfortable at that size, but whatever your size is that you’re comfortable with, so instead of kind of reaching for anything at nine o’clock, I will just kind of either think in my head about that dress incident or, um, you know, or pick something a bit more nutritious, like what you’ve mentioned. Really. Also, fruit is quite good at night, isn’t it? A bit of fruit. 

[00:55:16] Katie: Yeah, exactly. And like Leica just said, obviously it, it, don’t sit there starving if you are really hungry, but just try and distract yourself and you’ll probably find nine times out of 10 it was just a craving. Um, go and get a few jobs done and.

[00:55:30] Katie: You know, by 9 45, you, you’re not hungry and you could have literally ordered a three course takeaway at nine o’clock. So yeah. Yeah, it’s just all about changing the mood in that moment from sitting there tired thinking about food. I suppose.

[00:55:43] Carla: Next time, Katie, on this podcast, I think we should talk a little bit about how we feel around our bodies afterwards.

[00:55:52] Carla: Um, because I think our bodies change so much. Like for, for me personally, my scar now, because I’ve had a second C-section and not everyone experiences this after a second C-section, but I’d say it’s probably a little bit more of a dip in now than what it was before. Um, and, and when I go to put on maybe a tight dress or anything like that, I do feel a little bit insecure.

[00:56:15] Carla: So I think next time I’d like to talk about that and also how our bodies can change and, and we can feel a bit down. Sometimes we might feel down about it. We might be really happy with and embrace our bodies. 

[00:56:27] Katie: Yeah, I think. Like we said at the start of this episode, I think we live in a society where we’re kind of told sometimes we should feel a certain way.

[00:56:35] Katie: Like either you should feel happy with your body because you’re blessed enough to have this beautiful child at the end of it. Okay? I agree. Everyone should feel good body confident, but what if you’re not? What if there are a few things that are still gonna get to you after you’ve, you’ve been healthy, you’ve done your exercise, and you just can’t accept them, and they’re getting you down.

[00:56:56] Katie: So I bet there’s so many different things out there that people can do. You know, these laser treatments, uh, Different creams things for, for you say personally you are bothered about that scar there, there’ll be roots and ways for you to feel a bit better about the, about it, won’t they? 

[00:57:14] Carla: Yeah. And I think next time maybe what we should do is talk about a few different ways to make them feel better.

[00:57:19] Carla: And also, I, I would like to talk about how I opted for a boob job after George and the reasons why. Um, I actually had a boob job after George, and, and we’ve discussed potentially you having your second one. 

[00:57:32] Katie: I am definitely having my second boob job. Yeah. And that is because my boobs around my waist. I’ve breastfed two children. Yes. I did have a boob job in between, but it was 11 years ago. So I’m ready, I’m ready really to, to revisit that myself. Um, Again, like, you know, that’s just me personally. Somebody else might not feel like that, but I definitely want to get my boobs up a good three inches. So let’s see. Yeah, let’s see what we can find out about that. 

[00:58:01] Carla: Yeah, I think with something we should definitely touch on and, and it’s great. I mean, I think there’s so many people out there that are confident afterwards. And to be honest, I’m jealous sometimes. Like, I wish I felt more confident in my own body sometimes.

[00:58:14] Carla: Um, especially when you can’t help if something bothers you, can you? And that’s, that’s it. 

[00:58:19] Katie: And that’s why I’d say, again, with society, you can’t point your finger at somebody for, for, for not being happy with something and wanting to do something about it. That’s why. The beauty industry is a multimillion billion pound industry.

[00:58:34] Katie: There are so many treatments and, uh, and creams and different things out there. So it’d be nice to just dissect a little bit, like what’s worth spending your money on, I guess. Yeah. Uh, you know, is, is are there certain things that you should just disregard or are there some things that are like, Worth, worth investigating a bit further. I find that sort of stuff exciting. 

[00:58:53] Carla: Oh, I do. And I think it’s nice to hear what other people have done, um, to get a bit of an idea of, um, you know, what they’ve done to make themselves feel better as well, and how, how you come to terms with your new, your new body really, because Yeah, you know, a lot of us have stretch marks and things like that and it’s, it is embracing it to a certain level, but also it’s kind of thinking about, well, what can I do to make me feel a bit more confident around this?

[00:59:18] Carla: Personally, I think, you know, around the stretch mark side of things, I absolutely love seeing all of those positive pictures of like tie stripes and things like that. Um, but there will be people out there as well that are insecure around, around that kind of thing as well. Yeah. And yes, it’s brilliant. Like you said, we’ve had babies and it’s great and it, you know, I’m so blessed I wouldn’t swap my sec, my c-section scar for Olivia in a million years, but I would like to feel more confident. Inside and outwardly as well. And you know, 

[00:59:52] Katie: and I have always, I’ve always had this little thing about treatments, so I, I have so many appointments. Connor can’t believe it. He’s, he, he’ll go work, what appointment have you got today? Because I love going for a treatment. It’s like a little thing for myself. I like finding a treatment and thinking, oh, that’s, that, that’s gonna work for that. I’ll do a little course of those and just see what happens.

[01:00:13] Carla: Yeah. 

[01:00:13] Katie: Um, and, uh, there’s so much out there now that I actually do find that topic quite exciting. Yeah, that’s brilliant. When I got my first job, when I was sort of, th I think I was actually 12, I think it was illegal, but I, I got my first hot time job when I was really young and I remember getting my pay, my, my pay cash in hand.

[01:00:32] Katie: Uh, obviously cuz it was illegal. And, uh, I worked in a cafe, I think, and. I’d go to Boots and cuz it was all new to me, cuz I was so young. I’d go up and down the aisles and I’d be like, wow, there’s a cream for that. And oh, there’s a, yeah, it’s like, What’s this? And I’d, I’d go up to the woman behind the till and be like, what’s this, what’d you do with this?

[01:00:52] Katie: And I was just so intrigued by it all. And we live in a, a society now. Don’t we wear, there’s endless amounts of treatments, products, things we can invest in. Little courses we can do before and afters, so yeah. 

[01:01:06] Carla: Oh yeah. Oh, I’d love to talk about all that. Yeah, I mean, I’m actually scheduled for a bit of Botox actually later this afternoon.

[01:01:14] Carla: And, um, I’ve not had, I’ve been dragging it out. I’ve been dragging my heels with it really for as long as possible, so I need to get that in. And we did speak last time about you not having that yet, so I think we should talk about what you’ve done instead of as well. 

[01:01:27] Katie: I, I’ve found a few, I’ve found a few useful things whilst I’ve been breastfeeding that I’ve, I’ve done instead of Botox, so I can let you know what they are.

[01:01:35] Carla: Oh yeah, I, I know a few ladies that’ll be interested in that. So thanks everybody for watching and if you’ve got any questions around the health and fitness and nutrition side, then Katie is your woman. Um, if there’s anything else that you wanna share, anything about how you feel about your bodies as well, you know, how do you feel? Are you happy with how your body is after having a baby? You know, I’d love to hear everyone’s different kind of stories on how they feel as well. Cause I think that’d be interesting. 

[01:02:01] Katie: Definitely. And also anyone’s tips, how they managed to get exercise in into the new routine or if they found any, like new exercise, um, you know, types of exercise that worked really well with a baby.

[01:02:14] Katie: I’d love to hear cuz I, you know, I dunno everything about having a young baby. There’s people who have had more babies than me out there who will, will have lots of bits of advice. So I’d love to hear those as. 

[01:02:25] Carla: So send us in any, anything that you want us to share. Uh, you can do it anonymously. Every time I say that word, I always think I’m good to say it wrong.

[01:02:32] Carla: I’m gonna say it wrong anonymously. You can share, or if you want us to read out your name, we will do that too. So thank you so much again, Katie. And you can get get Katie’s links at the bottom of this podcast episode. 

[01:02:45] Carla: Thank you so much for listening to today’s episode of 50 Shades of Motherhood. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope you did too.

[01:02:55] Carla: We’ll be back next week with more mum chats, more honest, raw, real, unapologetic, uncensored mom chats, and I can’t wait. If you enjoy today’s episode, don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so that you never miss an episode. And also, if you did particularly like this one, don’t forget to leave us a little review.

[01:03:17] Carla: It really does do us the world of good with our rankings for our podcast. And finally, if you have something that you wanna share with either myself or Katie, then please feel free to message us on the links at the bottom of this podcast. Anyway, we look forward to speaking to you next time on 50 Shades of Motherhood.