#35: I had a traumatic birth. How to heal after birth trauma?

No matter how you prepare for the birth of your child you cannot control or know exactly how the birth will go. However, women are not always aware, or hardly ever talk and want to admit that they have experienced a traumatic birth. We feel that something isn’t right but we don’t really know what.

Birth trauma includes more than just danger of death to mother or baby. It also includes physical injuries (pelvic tears or c-section) and the perception of danger as well as feelings of extreme fear, aloneness, disrespect, lack of control, or helplessness.

Many women who experience birth injuries and trauma suffer in silence, focusing on their babies and families, not knowing what to do about that.

The good news is that our body can experience healing after experiencing trauma

New MumKarolina ZywickaJune 9, 2022new mum, birth, trauma, postnatal

#34: My postnatal recovery and fitness journey

Postnatal recovery and weight loss looks different for each woman, and we should never compare ourselves to others. Six months after giving birth I was desperate to lose my baby weight. I hoped that by this point I will be back to my pre pregnancy clothes. I had this idea about how my postnatal recovery should look like and the reality didn’t really match it. I kept on trying to get back to training and I failed every single time. Eventually, when Freya was 12 months old I just crashed. Every little thing was making me extremely stressed. I didn’t know what was going on with me but it wasn’t such an unusual thing. Many mums go through extreme fatigue in the first year of giving birth (I don’t mean depression, I mean total exhaustion which also affects mood but isn’t the same as depression).

New MumKarolina ZywickaJune 2, 2022ne, new mum, pregnancy, postnatal, postnatal weight loss, hormones, hormonal balance, female, female trainingComment

#33: The best first exercise for a new mum that you can do 14 days after giving birth

Despite what Mr. Google says you should never start your postnatal recovery with any of these exercises: hip bridge, tricep dip, modified side plank, bird dog or plie squat.

They sound safe, and they will be after a few months, but before you start performing them, you have to first rebuild your muscle-mind connection and strength in your deep abdominal muscles.

Today, many women have distended abdominal muscles years after having children.

If we start exercising before we restore our abdominal muscle-mind connection and rebuild our strength, we risk destabilising the back and the whole body. The risk is even higher after a c-section or pelvic floor injury during birth.

#32: How to start exercising after having a baby

The images of different stars and celebrities looking amazing only 12 weeks after giving birth are extremely encouraging but at the same time misleading. Look at Kate Middletown for example. She looked stunning 8 hours after giving birth to her third child and back to her pre pregnancy body just three months later. That leaves most mum with this unrealistic expectation that postnatal recovery is so fast. It makes us try dieting and extreme exercising too soon, leaving us stressed, fatigued and sometimes even fatter (as our body stores fat when we’re stressed).

#31: How much protein should a new mum eat to lose baby weight?

High protein diets have been recommended as the best way to get lean and keep our cravings at bay for a while now. Protein is an important macronutrient. Overeating protein is as bad as overeating fats or carbs. Too much of anything is just too much. Yet the amount every person needs is very individual. There is more to healthy nutrition, especially for women. How much you should eat depends on your body type, genetics, lifestyle and may change with age. Postnatal nutrition is also slightly different.

New Mum, NutritionKarolina ZywickaApril 28, 2022protein, macros, hormones, hormonal balance, woman, female, postnatal weight loss, postnatal dietComment

#30: Why intermittent fasting doesn't work for new mums

Intermittent fasting may be the latest “proven” way to lose weight and improve overall health, but it hardly ever works for women in their reproductive years. Even though I lost some weight when I tried it, I ended up crushing and burning (=messed up my hormones).

#29: My baby didn’t sleep last night, how will I survive the day? Tired mum’s survival kit.

Last night I got no more than 4 hours sleep as Freya woke up in the middle of night and struggled to sleep again (hungry?). As I had so much work scheduled for the day, I needed energy.

In this post I share with you 9 healthy and easy tips that helped me keep my energy high-ish despite having so little sleep. It was a good day in the end.

New MumKarolina ZywickaApril 14, 2022new mum, tired mum, no sleep, postnatal fitness, postnatal, energy

#28: How to avoid back pain and sciatica flare up while taking care of your little one

Taking care of a newborn and then a growing baby is a physical and emotional challenge itself. Trying to do it while suffering from back pain makes everything way harder, both physically and mentally.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

By moving mindfully, taking time to do self massage or see a therapist and exercising daily you will be pain free. You don’t need much time or energy to do that. The four exercises I share with you in this article will help you get rid of back pain and keep it off.

#27: Improve fitness and feel energised by exercising only 5 minutes a day

Hard workouts are not a solution for the majority of women, especially those after 30 and those who are looking to stabilise their hormones and reduce different symptoms of hormonal imbalances.

The truth is, that exercising, but doing less and training smarter, while we’re juggling home and work and we don’t sleep enough, will help reduce stress hormones and therefore will result in better health as well as healthy weight.

Here are some other benefits of 5 minute workouts:

· It will help you build a new lasting habit

· It will help you strengthen your core muscles and balance your body

· It will help you improve your posture, help you feel good and confident

· It will help you balance your hormones

· It will help you reduce any pains or aches

#26: My 18 month old has so much energy. Here is what I do to be able to keep up with her.

Freya, like most 18 month year olds, has so much energy. I am at home with her until she is 2 years old, trying to keep her both safe and entertained. This task requires a lot of imagination and energy. I bet it is even harder for any working mum. Finding energy after a long day in the office is quite the challenge. So if you’re fed up of being tired and want to have the energy to have fun and be playful with your little one here is what will help.

New MumKarolina ZywickaMarch 24, 2022postnatal fitness, postnatal, postnatal weight loss, new mum, mum, tired mum, busy mum, fitness, energyComment

#25: My favourite and super easy exercises that help me get rid of neck and back pain due to nursing and breastfeeding

Despite nursing being a wonderful time, it was also quite a painful time sometimes. And I don’t mean “bleeding nipple” pain (I still remember the first week of breastfeeding as well as nursing after being bitten… that wasn’t fun at all 😊) but neck pain. It bothered me the most at the very beginning, in the first 12 weeks postpartum, before I started exercising again. Afterwards it happened less and less and honestly I don’t remember anymore when was the last time.

Being a new mum is massively challenging to our body and it needs more care than before (who has time for it you ask? I totally understand however avoiding pain is priceless, especially now). In the end, being a mum is a hard physical work, without sick days or holidays. We have to stay fit and healthy to be able to take care of the little one.

#24: Three reasons why a new mum should exercise daily (for only 5 minutes)

Nursing, lifting a growing baby, carrying them around, cooking, working, not sleeping, it all puts a lot of stress on mum’s body. Therefore, to be able to keep doing all that, we need to exercise every day.

The thing is that most mums don’t have either time or energy to work out. I totally get that. But when I say exercising, I don’t mean long workouts. As little as 5 minutes will make you feel much better. All you need is a couple smart exercise to strengthen your core (abs, back and glutes) and neck as well as a few stretches.