How to use the BRONZE Postnatal Health & Body Plan
No one mum is the same so with different individual needs the Bronze Postnatal Health & Body Plan has been created for you to have safe, effective workouts and dietary advice flexible for you and your family. Its basically all my knowledge in one place to allow you to create a plan personal to you without the expense of me creating your plan and coaching you.
Within the community the workouts, recipes and other blogs with hints are tips are there to help you lead a healthier lifestyle and you can use the information as you wish, you can be more flexible with it but if you are looking for something more structured and want to create your own PHBP then the following information will help you make a start.
Each step is snippets of information taken from blogs within the community which will help get you started but I would recommend taking the time to read each of the blogs when you have chance to have a greater understanding of the journey you are about to begin.
You do have to write a few things down and have some determination and motivation but you CAN do this! So grab a piece of paper and start putting your plan together.
If you want me to create your plan for you this is available through the Silver membership.
Step 1: Set Your Goals
Taken from- How to set your Goals
Goal setting is really important when starting a new health and fitness regime. I recommend that you should set long, medium and short term goals to work towards.
When setting goals make them SMARTER-
Specific
Measurable, So if its fat you want to loose or inches, how will you do it?
Agreeable, its not something so out there that you, me or your family cant agree to.
Realistic, for fat loss 1-2lbs a week is healthy an realistic
Time orientated, when will you achieve this by?
Evaluated, you can tick it off and comment on what you would change.
Recordable, keep a diary, a log or take pictures of your progress to look back on.
Start with a long term goal then work backwards to set medium and short term goals.
For Example-
In 1 year I will lose 2 stone.
In 6 months I will lose 1 stone.
In 3 months I will lose half a stone.
Step 2: Work out how many Calories you need
Taken from - The right type of diet for you , How much food do I need, Macro tracking, The importance of hydration, Example meal plans
First you need to work out how many calories your body needs, from this you can then tailor your calories to make yourself in a calorie deficit (to loose) a calorie surplus (to gain) or maintenance calories (to maintain).
Please note this is just a guide, breastfeeding mums need to ensure they are eating enough and drinking enough fluids in order to have a good milk supply. Now is not the right time for an extreme diet, it is about being more mindful, choosing carefully and making small changes.
Your Basal Metabolic rate is the calories needed for your body to function at rest, you can find an online calculator easily by using a search engine, you will need to input your gender, height, weight and age. Try this link HERE.
Once you have this you need to add the calories for the day to day activity you do. You can use a PAL value, just simply multiply your BMR by the following as a guide-
For a sedentary lifestyle 1.4
Low physically active life style 1.5
Moderately physically active life style 1.6
Physically active life style 1.7
Now with this value you need to make it fit your goal.
Please note that you can create a calorie deficit through diet alone or exercise alone but both diet & exercise together are recommended for health and fitness benefits.
You could set calories and be consistent, do what exercise you can and see if it works, after a few weeks if you see no change then you know you need to add more exercise or reduce calories slightly. The key is to be consistent and stick with it to find out what combination of calories and exercise works for you!
For weight loss following the recommended exercise guidelines (see below)you should create a calorie deficit and/or you could reduce the value by 100-200 calories to begin with.
For weight gain you go the other way and start with 150 calories above this value.
For maintenance then try this value to start, you may find with extra exercise you will need to up them.
You can then check out the example meal plans or the guide on macro tracking found under Nutrition and use the recipes to work alongside these plans, slightly adapting to how many calories you need.
Macro tracking enables you to track the foods you like using apps like My Fitness Pall, you just aim to hit your calories and carbs, fats and protein by the end of the day. The food plans are already calculated to calories and macros with foods to choose from. If there isn't a food plan to fit your calories simply reduce some of the portion sizes for example cut out snacks or reduce the Carb, Fat and Protein options by half to reduce the calories slightly. As long as you are consistent you will soon know if it works for you.
You will also find the recipes have codes at the bottom of each one explaining the Macro Value to fit the example meal plans, (1C 1F 1P = 1 Carbohydrate, 1 Fat, 1 Protein) and of course macro trackers can macro track them to.
Some people prefer a higher fat diet but the ideal macros for a healthy diet are 50% carbs, 20-30% Protein and 20-30% Fat. Although we do need to make sure our bodies are getting the correct balance there is no magic macro split, it is the overall energy balance that effects out fat stores and alongside exercise, our muscle mass.
Aim to drink 2-3 litres of water a day.
Step 3: Work out how much exercise to do
Taken from- The right type of exercise for you, Core Training, Diastasis Recti
First and foremost is core training so please read Diastasis Recti and begin your core training following the Core Training blog.
The NHS guidelines for cardiovascular exercise for health benefits for people aged between 19-64 are to do-
At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or brisk walking every week.
and
Strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).
or
75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, such as running or a game of singles tennis every week.
and
Strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).
or
A mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity every week. For example, two 30-minute runs plus 30 minutes of brisk walking equates to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity.
and
Strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).
A good rule is that one minute of vigorous activity provides the same health benefits as two minutes of moderate activity.
One way to do your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is to do 30 minutes on five days every week.
All adults should also break up long periods of sitting with light activity, just keep moving, create a calorie deficit and you will loose fat, and a calorie deficit doesn't have to be through exercise AND dietary changes it could just be through one. Less exercise less food…now I know id much rather get up a little earlier and do a little workout so I can enjoy more food.
Remember the right type of exercise is the one you enjoy so check out the Strength/ Weights workouts, the HIITs, or think about what else you enjoy doing, do you like to swim, walk, dance?
Step 4: Blogs you MUST READ
Two blogs you must take the time to read which include exercises you must include in your program are-
Diastasis Recti
Core Training- This is a training program to rehabilitate your core which is vital so please ensure you follow this safely and do not progress unless you are ready.
Core Re conditioning video of Exercises
Monitoring your Progress
Step 5: Get started & Enjoy!
You are all set and ready to go! I would recommend taking measurments, and pictures to monitor your progress and the scales give can give some indication if your on the right path although weight fluctuations can be crazy so don't just relay on the scales. If your feeling better in your clothes and yourself and your measurments and pictures are changing, your strength is up and you have energy then your getting there!
As you progress things may change, you will have to maybe reduce or increase your calories at times and you might come across a hurdle or two so I would highly recommend reading each blog properly to have a greater understanding of the processes and methods you will be using.
I would definitely recommend taking measurments, pictures as well as the scales as a form of monitoring your progress but do NOT relay on just one and please know that weight fluctuates throughout the month so if the scales don't change but you feel and look different then stick with it, the scales are a good indication but they do NOT measure your body fat. Check out the Blog Post Monitoring your Progress to help you with this!
There are tons of other Articles which can also help you on your journey so please be sure to have a look around. I'm also constantly uploading new blogs with useful information, recipes and workout so keep an eye out for the most upto date information.
If you wish to have a plan created for you this is available with the Silver PHBP which you can upgrade to in your account settings.
You can also always contact us with any questions HERE.