Some mums seem to have everything sorted don’t they? They show up to the school run looking insta-perfect, dash from after school club to PTA meeting with seemingly boundless energy, wear matching socks on a daily basis and have no sign at all of a so-called ‘mum tum’.
I’m NOT one of those mums.
Eight long (but admittedly fantastic) years of broken sleep, biz and family life balancing, play dates, celebration assemblies, last-minute maths homework and sibling peace-keeping have taken their toll. Throw in an appalling lack of exercise and a high carb, high sugar diet (mums need cake, ok?) and mum-life has led to an exhausted, older and chubbier me.
This is me just over a year before giving birth to my first daughter…
And this was me just seven years later…
Almost unrecognisable right?
When my youngest started school this September I decided to make a commitment to myself and to reclaiming my sanity, energy and figure. Don’t get me wrong, I’m was under no illusion that I’d ever going to get back to my pre-children weight, but losing a stone and regaining some much needed energy should have been pretty doable right?
Wrong.
Whilst it seemed like I had a master plan for success, the huge shifts needed to create such a change just seemed impossible. Daily gym sessions? With a business to run I just don’t have the time. Cutting out sugar, wheat dairy AND cake? I was after self-care not self-torture!
It seemed there was no simple solution. Until I discovered Catherine’s Shattered Mum Recovery Programme.
After reading the reviews from other mums this seemed like something I could really get on board with. As well as recipe suggestions, work books and lots of essential foodie info there was also the bonus of a Facebook group full of mums who ‘got it’ plus weekly online group calls with Catherine herself!
It was the weekly sessions that really set this program apart from others, firstly there’s the simple fact that you’re getting an hour a week with a highly qualified Nutritional Therapist with pretty impressive credentials (Catherine trained at the same Nutritional Institute as Amelia Freer don’t cha know!) Secondly, having that weekly support really helped to keep me motivated.
With most diets and online programmes you get access to a bunch of online videos and you’re pretty much left to your own devices. That might work well for some people, but with the will power of a weak and feeble gnat I needed a guiding hand.
Catherine takes you through the basics of good nutrition in a simple and easy to understand way. She also has no compunctions about revealing the rather naughty tricks that some producers use to fool us into believing a certain food is really healthy, when in fact it can be the complete opposite (you’ll never look at some ‘healthy’ snack bars the same way again!)
After Catherine’s session on hidden sugars I investigated the contents of my fridge and food cupboards and was totally shocked with what I found! We all know that there is sugar in Frosties and chocolate spread and Stollen Bites right? But guess what else in my cupboard contained too much hidden sugar?
- Bread
- Tortilla wraps
- Multiseed bread flour mix
- Tuna pasta bake packet mix
- Chicken korma cooking sauce
- Baked Beans
I mean seriously! Why is there sugar in my pasta bake mix? I’m not a great cook so I depend on time-saving solutions like these to make life that little bit easier. Luckily The Shattered Mum Programme comes with access to a great range of do-it-yourself recipes, including mealtime staples like spaghetti Bolognese.
Most importantly though, the Shattered Mum Programme is totally and utterly keyed to family life. As a working mum of two herself, Catherine really understands the pressures that modern mums live with on a daily basis.
She’s living that life too! Toiling away in the parental trenches and dealing with endless requests for crisps, biscuits and chocolate bars just like the rest of us!
Catherine’s programme is all about taking what you’re already eating and tweaking it to create a more healthy and energy-packed daily diet. There’s none of this making one meal for mum and another for the rest of the family and absolutely, definitely no guilt. Instead it’s about eating the right foods at the right time of day, being mindful about what you put on your plate, substituting snacks or ingredients for more healthy options and adding extra nutrition where you can.
Whilst the Shattered Mums Programme isn’t a weight loss program the changes I made to my diet saw a few pounds drop off pretty rapidly. My overall energy improved and not being tired all the time even made me more patient with my children. Driven by the results I even signed up to a weekly (not daily!) yoga class which I’m still doing.
This is me now…
The biggest change I noticed was to my skin. Within just a few weeks it was brighter and clearer. Now when I look in the mirror I see a mum that looks healthy, content with how she looks and most importantly… happy.
And really, that’s what’s most important right?