Body Beyond Birth is all about the postpartum exercises and pregnancy exercises that can help improve your health and fitness in all stages. That’s why we were happy to hear from Marnie, a recent Body Beyond Birth member and her use of our programs. Her story of pregnancy and the postpartum exercises needed to help restore her to health and fitness is a testament to what our program can do.
Marnie’s story: Getting back to health with postpartum exercises
My name is Marnie and I’m a 36 year old mom. I have three boys, Leo 4, Fynn 22 months and Kai 9 months.
Yep, you did the maths right – that’s three under four with the last baby. My first two bubbas were IVF. When Fynn was 4 months old, I found out I was pregnant naturally with Kai. Not quite how we planned, but we feel really lucky to have had a great experience with IVF and to have a natural bub too.
I’m about to step back into the workforce after two years on parental leave from my HR Business Partner role. I return to work 4 days a week in a weeks’ time. Wish me luck! My husband Jono has been lucky enough to take three months paid parental leave to spend some time with our babies. Perhaps Jono needs some well wishes too?
Post pregnancy exercises? Exercise at all? Hmmm
Those that know me know I hate exercise. I admit I am usually quite lazy when it comes to working out. All that changed in February of this year when I discovered the postpartum exercises and Pilates of the Body Beyond Birth program.
My first experience with Body Beyond Birth was back in 2014. After having a terrible delivery with Leo, I was diagnosed with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (a loss of stabilisation in your pelvis). I had it relatively under control until I fell pregnant with Fynn and my pelvis gave up the ghost.
I was referred to Becky as a physical therapist. She fixed my pelvis and helped to maintain it when it went out of whack a few times throughout both my pregnancies. At one point I couldn’t even get out of bed in my last trimester and after one visit with Becky she helped me get back on my feet.
At one of my last appointments, I remember Becky asking me to promise to look into her Body Beyond Birth program. She felt the postpartum exercises and Pilates may help my recovery.
Kai was delivered via C-section in December 2016. By March 2017, I was feeling pretty flat and fat! I’d put on over 22lbs and felt pretty restricted in terms of leaving the house. So I decided to trial the Body Beyond Birth program. The member spotlight of Nicky inspired me. Nicky had 3 boys and looked terrific so I thought I’d give the postpartum exercises in the flagship BBB program a crack, too.
I did the 7 day free trial. I instantly fell in love the Body Beyond Birth program. The program consists of a weekly 20 minute Pilates workout and there is a day by day guide to keep you on track. The program is varied each day with a bit of cardio, Pilates, yoga, meditation and stretching to keep you interested. I found the guidelines around healthy eating really helpful, too.
I’ve just completed Level 2 and have been doing this program for 26 weeks. That’s pretty amazing for someone that normally hates exercise. I can keep up with my boys and have so much more energy and strength. I’ve also lost those 26lbs!
The food is a big drawcard
I love all the recipes by Nadia Felsch. The salads in particular were really yum and filling. They don’t have too many ingredients as well which makes them as tasty as they are simple. My favorites are the haloumi quinoa and pomegranate salad, the Italian Summer Salad and the watermelon and feta salad.
My advice with using Body Beyond Birth
Having 3 boys at home can make it hard to exercise so for me I made sure I put them all to bed at the same time for an afternoon snooze.
Once the kids are down, don’t do house work, do the postpartum exercises and BBB program! Do it as soon as your kids go to bed so you know you can have at least 20 minutes of peace. You’ll feel great after it.
Need a contingency plan? If the daytime sleep idea fails, take the kids out for a walk or a bike ride and get some incidental exercise. Or hand the kids over to your partner when they get home so you can get your 20 mins of exercise in.
Don’t be put off by hard moves, either. To start, you might hate the plank and the swimmer but after a few months of getting into the program you’ll be pretty chuffed with how strong you have become. I know that’s how it worked for me.
My favorite healthy tip
Look at your portion sizes. Exercise was only one piece of the puzzle. I had to re-educate myself on how much to put on my plate. After being pregnant for so long my appetite had increased and I had to re-train myself. The nutritional advice from Meg through the program is fantastic. There is information on serving sizes and calorie portion planning to help you through it.
