UPDATE: unfortunately post party is no longer trading. That post baby slump is one I remember all to well.  After a difficult birth, not only was I feeling low but my clothes didn’t fit, breastfeeding wasn’t going well and I felt isolated – to name just a few things.  What you are led to believe (pre-baby) should be the happiest time of your life was anything but.   Thankfully things have changed – there is a lot more open talk about what really happens after you give birth and how you may feel.  Still not nearly enough but far more than there was even a short seven years ago when I gave birth.  In the end it took me close to a year to start feeling ‘normal’ and two years to shed the baby weight. At the time I wondered what was wrong with me but now I know that this is perfectly normal.

One of the things I tried to push myself to do was to get some exercise.  With the best intention in the world I registered for a yoga class (with a creche) and promised myself I would go twice a week.  After just a couple of weeks I started finding so many reasons not to go.  It was cold, I was tired, I needed to feed my baby, it was expensive – the list was endless.  Slowly, the excuses took over and I stopped going.  But then a friend convinced me to join up to a month long buggy bootcamp and it was the best thing I did.  I went because I had committed to her and that is what got me out of my slump, out of feeling low and starting to feel like myself again. Exercise helps.  Not only to lose weight but for so much more. There is just no doubt about that.

I recently found out about Postparty and I am so excited to be working with them because I thinks it’s such a great idea for mums anywhere.  I wish there had been an online fitness for mums site like Postparty when I gave birth.  The idea of exercising in the comfort of my own (warm) home would have been far more appealing and far more difficult for me to create excuses!  Postparty offers a series of fun and engaging videos for pregnancy, post-pregnancy and beyond.  The best part is that many of the videos incorporate your baby or toddler in to the workouts – babies become weights, toddlers do push-ups with you and everything is do-able with your kids around. Postparty also offers fitness for any stage of motherhood – things you can do while your kids are doing their homework or are playing. 

Postparty was created by Kerri – a mum of three and a certified fitness trainer – who knows just how important exercise is for not just weight loss but your overall mental wellbeing too.  She began by offering a buggy bootcamp in London but wanted to make easy, fun and accessible fitness available to all mums.  So Postparty was born.  You don’t need to buy expensive gym memberships, you don’t need to organise childcare and you don’t even need to leave home – for a small monthly fee you get access to the videos and you can workout whenever it suits you.  It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, as long as you can watch an online video, you can join in and get working out.  If you’d like to find out more visit Postaparty and take a look at what mums are saying about Kerri and her training.  

P.S. Postparty are running a giveaway where you can win a family holiday to Italy.  Find the details and how to enter at Mothers & Shakers.