Live chat with Kate Cook - author of An Unfit Mother - about reclaiming your body post birth. June 4th 1-2pm

[carriemumsnet]

On Weds June 4th from 1-2pm we'll be welcoming Kate Cook, co-author of An Unfit Mother. The book offers "inspiration, motivation and guidance on how to rebuild your body confidence and explains how it's possible to reclaim your body post birth, and lose your baby-bulge swiftly, safely and successfully."

Kate is a mother and a nutritional therapist and life coach, who has helped over 4,500 patients to take their health into their own hands so she's full of great advice.

If you can't make it on Weds, you can post advance questions here and we'll try and get them answered. We hope though that as many of you as possible will grab a (low fat) sarnie and come and join in the chat on Weds lunchtime. See you then.

MNHQ

lulumama
Yes..I totally agree?I think we should celebrate and embrace changes to our body ? things are not going to be exactly the same..and would we want them to be?
We are all under too much pressure (from mags, media) to be super thin/healthy etc but are they our values (intrinsic values) or values that are not our own (ie extrinsic values)-

perhaps she's a slow typer!
(She needs some jaffa cakes...shall I share?)

poppy34
Lucy Wyndham- Read wrote the exercise sections ? so I am sorry not to be able to answer those questions ? I hate exercising so, I just walk and do some yoga (mostly in my dreams!) ? But out pram walking is the best ? taking the stairs when you can (with a front loading baby sling)-

EffiePerine
Relax for sure!

sorry, personal bugbear of mine is misuse of 's, especially in a writer...

Am now several yrs down the line, still holding it together 2 kids later, not on a diet, but manage quite well to keep myself fit unaided so don't feel I'd have anything to learn from this book.

Kate Mosse is another matter, her book was invaluable to me in the early months of babyhood.

Anna8888
Hi Anna
The French ( I am slightly making this up) but certainly the Italians (I lived in Italy so know more about Italy) have a much better general philosophy about eating generally ? we, Brits, generally don?t have a clue ? and it is not our faults..so much contradictory advice out there ? in the book I teach mum?s that actually it is better to know what do eat before you even start to get pregnant and then you are not going to balloon in weight ? this is not for aesthetic reasons ? but for health reasons. It is much harder to get your eating habits/exercise habits ?back in the tin? after pregnancy if the habit didn?t exist in the first place

please advise "mums" not "mum's" ! There are lots of very educated people on here and it really gets up people's noses, especially when coming from "experts". Thanks.

currymummy

The C-section op is a major op ? we forget that! It is really hard. But if you know what to eat and when?I am sure that it would make a huge difference, step by step. Don?t feel under pressure however (or don?t put yourself under pressure more like it)..you are OK!

PS You mention that long working hours and wine didn?t help before you got pregnant ? I totally agree ? nutrition is a time management issue ? how to prioritise your food, and your exercise when there are a million and one drags on your time..

kate do you only have one child? i find it all goes belly up after the second

hi Kate, it is now nearly 3 years since I popped my last sprog and although i didn't put on much weight and lost it all soon after, like most mumsnetters I feel like my tummy is letting me down. I wear a size 6 in my jeans but when i take them off the tum wobbles off again of its own accord.

I exercise 4 times a week, eat pretty healthily and have the occasional treat. Do i have to live with the saggy tum forever or can I do something to get rid of it?

MissChief - obviously I am not one of the educated ones - I apologise! I am a nutritionist and not writer and obviously that shows! Go Well and Good luck

Morningpaper

Thanks for reading the book! You mention that you would have felt guilty if you had read the book whilst in the first stages..I haven?t done my job very well I am afraid?The whole point is that you should never feel guilty EVER about your weight?.dont ever feel guilty! No-one should make you feel that..
If you are at the stage where you feel you would like to get healthier/fitter and can take that on ? then great..but don?t do it because you should

yes - only one daughter - but I think you are right - it is more difficult with the second..hormones, and time I believe...but balancing your blood sugar and your diet will help (I would say that!(

Not sure what to say about the tummy wrinkles..I am sure Lucy (who did the exercise stuff would have something to say on it..I think some people are really unlucky on that point..
From a nutritional point of view - it could be a shortage of essential fatty acids (fish oil, nuts and seeds) or vit C which makes the skin less elastic - it helps if this is sorted out before pregnancy though..

you mention 'balancing your blood sugars' can you elaborate on this? I sometimes find that when I'm really busy I don't get chance to eat properly and end up feeling a bit weird - what foods can we eat/snack on that will stop this?

Dear Saffy

Balancing the blood sugar is one of the foundations of what I do as a nutritional therapist when patients come and see me..
Basically food "burns" turns into sugar (and therefore fat)at different rates - I am sure you have heard of the GI diets etc? I find it all too complicated for normal life..
So really simplistically

Food which is;
Sweet, fluffy (ie light in weight) or white
is fast burn
and Food that is Thick (heavy), fibrous (veg) protein is slow burn

Sorry Saffy..
Eat Breakfast (eggs/rye toast - porridge (yuck, well I think so but if you like it..or muesli) plenty of ideas in the book

Then Snack - oat cakes/nuts and seeds fruit,
nutbutters on oatcakes, etc

Then lunch

Snack - mashed smoked mackerel on rye bread (mix with a tiny bit of yoghurt) or similar
Try and get a bit of protein in your snacks

Dinner

IF you balance the blood sugar - you will be less inclined to reach for the cream buns..

Do you think that it gets harder to lose weight , the older you get? Am also in France and the french certainly believe this - the supermarket shelves are laden with slimming products 'for the over forties'.

Or have I jsut had too many children and my body is trying to tell me something?

By the way, if you are really time poor - the one thing NOT to skip is breakfast - this makes a HUGE difference (it means "breaking the fast") - this helps get your blood sugar balanced right from the start and the whole of the rest of day feels so much better

gglimpopo

As we get older, body chemistry does slow up (thyroid, the way cells communicate with each other, liver etc, horomones and how those hormones are processed by the body) - so yes in a way...but I have found I am slimmer now than I was in my 30's - just because I really just didnt know HOW to eat..
I didnt know that the French targeted women in their forties..maybe that is something to do with body image too..ie wanting the same bodies as we had in our youth

phew! nearly missed this! Hi Kate

Protein in snacks is all very well, but i have yet to find a proteiny snack that is as easy as a custard cream.

How many portions of fruit and vegetables do you recommend - is 5 enough?

Thanks Kate. Have to confess I do often skip breakfast - time issues (packed lunches to make, kids to get to school etc) but also I never really feel like much for breakfast. I don't like porridge, nor any bread/stodge and really don't have time to be cooking eggs. I much prefer fruit and yoghurt, washed down with a cup of tea - but I do get that 11 o'clock light headed feeling - is fruit not enough for breakfast?

Surely the yoghurt is protein saffy?