Not too dissimilar from awesome 80s ladies wot wrestle Netflix series; the ladies of GLOPP have done for the Mum-Bun what Jennifer Aniston did for layers circa 1994, are heavyweights in Netflix-bingeing and are fighting their way back into the ring sponsored by Spanx and caffeine.

The post-partum period in a woman’s life sees more changes than the name of the law-firm in Suits. I mean, talk about an identity crisis! The body we’ve spent the better part of two decades or more fitting into is suddenly unrecognisable, and the life we had created is suddenly invaded by aliens which sprung from our own bodies. Don’t get me wrong, they’re super cute, human-like aliens who we love more than life itself, but still their presence does make us feel like we’re starring in a remake of the Body Snatchers.

What I want to know then is how can a woman-turned-mother, for the first or fifth time, reclaim her sense of self, physically and mentally. Like seriously, we thought our potty training days were over and then incontinence comes and kicks us up the hoohaa! Well that was certainly the experience of Mum of three and my self-appointed fitness guru, Kimberley “Kimmy” Smith, otherwise known as the creator of the Fit Mummy Project.

Meet Kimmy Smith Fit

Struggling with prolapse and incontinence following the birth of her second daughter, Kimmy’s research into post-natal fitness and exercise options led her to the land of elderly. “I was a healthy woman. I had suffered some postnatal complications and yes my body needed extra support, but I was still healthy. And I definitely wasn’t elderly!” says Kimmy. This was all the motivation she needed to spy a post-partum hole in the market and fill it with the Fit Mummy Project App circa 2017. Designed to support women after birth to create a strong and healthy body, Kimmy devised a series of high quality 15 minute work-outs that were safe for their postpartum bodies and could be done in the comfort of their own homes.

The FitMummyProject App, which incurs a one-off cost, delivers work-outs direct to your phone, ticking off the Mum criteria of affordable and accessible. I personally put off joining a gym after my number two baby because the classes interfered with his morning nap and the cost interfered with my online shopping habit. #truestory Now I’ve had a third, my regular cardio comes by way of changing the sheets on my kids’ bunkbed (seriously, it’s fucking hard work!), suffice it to say having the option of working out at home is a prerequisite for this GLOPP.

Caring is Caring…

Graduating to mother of three just recently, Kimmy has this to say to the Mums who (like me) just can’t fathom how to incorporate self-care, exercise and healthy eating into their already chaotic day to day.

“It starts with realising that your health and wellbeing are an absolute priority. If you are feeling run-down or drained, I think the whole family feels it. Once we begin to value our own wellbeing, we begin to make choices to prioritise it. My best tip for Mums is just to do a little bit every day. I don’t exercise a lot, but I do move my body for 15-20 minutes every day. Whether it’s yoga or simple pelvic floor and core exercises. I try to do something for myself every day.”

Kimmy’s top 3 self-care tips:

• Try to do it first thing in the morning. If your baby / kids are sleeping through the night, set your alarm to wake up 15 minutes earlier. I use the Fit Mummy Project App to do a quick workout and meditation combination which helps me to feel energised and calm for the rest of the day.

• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare! The best thing you can do when it comes to eating well is to prepare as much as you can in advance. Sunday is my preparation day. I make a soup, some healthy snacks - normally muffins or bliss balls and do my online shopping so I have a full cupboard. Also - cheat! I often will order some healthy meals online and have them in the freezer for nights when we don’t have time to cook.

• Keep It Simple: Women often think of self-care as a day at the spa or going to a yoga retreat. I have a list of simple things I love to do. These are the things that make me feel good. They include things like having a bath, a morning coffee, stretching before bed, a morning gratitude practice, chocolate after dinner. These simple things are my self-care. They make me feel good and I can always include one or two of them in my day.

Oh I’m so glad she brought up the word ‘chocolate’! As I’m sure my fellow GLOPPs will attest to, it is as essential as caffeine. “I am a chocaholic! I have chocolate after lunch and dinner every day. I believe there is always room for indulgence. I’ve never been good with diets or restricting myself,” says Kimmy.

What the Fit Mummy founder explains though is that consistency is the answer. Not to the cocoa-covered treats we crave but how they feature in our lives. “What we do every day matters more than what we do every now and again,” says Kimmy. “When it comes to healthy eating, I try to eat whole foods (rather than packaged or processed foods), eat mindfully so I can stop eating when I’m full and include vegetables, proteins and fats with every meal.”

Kimmy applies the same logic to what her kids are putting in their bodies. “I try not to label foods as good or bad, but just help them to make decisions about choosing healthy options.”

An extension to her growing brand, Kimmy recently launched the Nourished Mummy Project App for the very purpose of guiding Mums through the minefield that is food after baby. The Nourished Mummy is the product of her collaboration with a nutritionist and nurse to create an online trove of recipes for pregnancy, postpartum, baby foods and toddlers.

See Monkey Do…

Speaking of the little people, how many of you worry about how your response to your post-partum figure will affect your kids? My 6yo is obsessed with the term ‘skinny’ and since starting school has apparently discovered ‘chubby’ and ‘ugly’ too. I keep trying to reinforce ‘healthy’ and ‘beauty from within’, something I show her in herself daily but in a world addicted to image, how do we stop our own self-prejudices from casting an adverse reflection of self-worth to our kids?

“Personally, I try to never speak negatively about my body in front of the girls,” says Kimmy, “I try to really focus on their qualities as humans, rather than what they look like. It’s hard because I will often say to them “you look so pretty, or you’re so beautiful!” I think it’s natural to want to compliment our children, but I try to make sure I’m also complimenting them on their kindness, cleverness or thoughtfulness. Not just their looks.”

The post-partum period in particular is perhaps the time in a woman’s life when she wrestles with self-esteem the most and feels judged by everyone, not least the person staring back at her in the mirror. “I really don’t like the focus on having to bounce back after birth,” says Kimmy. “Our bodies go through so much to grow and birth a child. I would love to see our focus shift from wanting to ‘bounce back’ to creating new strong and healthy postpartum bodies.” It is this sentiment which drew me to Kimmy to begin with, because her raison d’être has everything to do with being our best selves regardless of how much that self weighs on a scale.

“I feel like if we could shift our focus from trying to get our body back or fit back into our old jeans, we would begin to have a whole new level of appreciation for our bodies and what they are capable of. Personally, I don’t want to bounce back. I’ve put in way too much work to get to where I am now. I’ve learnt way too much. I’ve grown and birthed three babies. I don’t want to pretend that never happened.”

Doing Post-Partum Recovery right

We may all be silently mouthing the words ‘I am woman hear me roar’ at this point but those bodies we relied on to birth our babies are not the infallible machines we expect them to be. They are subject to a little-known term, unfamiliar with many women, and that is RECOVERY. Bedding in with baby occurs in some cultures, giving a mother time to bond with her newborn and heal from the birth, but for many of us it’s 1-2 weeks of paternity-leave fueled support and then we’re left to fend for ourselves. It is said that the first 40 days of the post-partum period can affect how you feel for the next 40 years, so what can we do to set ourselves on the right path?

“The most important thing you can do in the first few weeks is to rest and allow your body a chance to heal,” says Kimmy. “I think during this time, you can set yourself up for a great recovery by doing three simple things.”

• Taking time to rest and staying home as much as you can during the first six weeks.

• Starting gentle pelvic floor and core exercises to create strength from the inside out.

• Eating warming soups + bone broths to help repair your connective tissue, heal your gut and rebuild energy.

What about abdominal separation?

Stomach separation happens to almost every woman during pregnancy. It is a stretching of the linea alba (the fibrous connective tissue that joins the left and right sides of your rectus abdominis muscles). Kimmy explains that it’s not actually a separation of these two muscles, but just a stretching and thinning of the connective tissue. “A lot of attention is given to the gap between the left and right side of the rectus abdominis. This is definitely a factor in determining how much stomach separation you have, but we also want to look at the integrity of the connective tissue and the ability to create tension through that tissue,” she says.

“Two simple things all women can do to begin to heal their stomach separation (and prevent it during pregnancy) is to focus on breathing through their diaphragm and standing with strong posture.”

— Kimberley Smith, Founder Fit Mummy Project

Of course this is where all that stuff about pelvic floor, drummed into us by antenatal instructors, midwives and OBs comes in. “To begin to heal stomach separation, we want to begin to strengthen the transverse abdominis (TvA). The TvA is the deepest layer of abdominal muscles that wraps around your entire core like a corset. To engage this muscle, we want to create a feeling of ‘zipping up’ from the pelvic floor all the way to the breastbone,” says Kimmy.

Pointing new Mums to her Pelvic Floor and Core Restore workout in the Fit Mummy Project App from 4 weeks post-partum, Kimmy also advises GLOPPs to consult with a Women’s Health Physio around the same time they have their 6 week check. That way you can have your pelvic floor expertly assessed and be shown how to properly engaged those muscles.

This year may have seen Kimmy add a new addition to her family and her business, with the Nourished Mummy Project App, but there’s no slowing down for this Mum of three. “Next year I am really excited to launch a complete health and wellbeing program that will range from pregnancy to postpartum. It will be a holistic program with a range of different experts providing practical advice, workouts and exercises that will range from exercise to mental health, nutrition and everything in between!” says Kimmy.

So, while Kimmy focuses on guiding us towards the care of our post-partum needs, we GLOPPs would be wise to seize our 15 minutes of fitness and with it our inner glow!

About Kimmy

Kimmy Smith is the founder of the Fit Mummy Project App - the complete post-natal fitness and wellbeing App. Kimmy is also an ex-professional athlete, fitness instructor, qualified yoga teacher and mother to three girls. Kimmy is on a mission to support and empower women to embrace the journey of motherhood. In 2016, Kimmy launched the postnatal fitness and wellbeing hub, www.kimmysmithfit.com, an online destination that encompasses fitness, food and healthy mindset essentials including tips, advice, workouts, meal plans and recipes. It aims to help all new mums create a beautiful, fit and strong new body and life.

Connect with Kimmy:

Facebook: @fitmummyproject
Instagram: @kimmysmithfit
Website www.kimmysmithfit.com