Lose Mommy Tummy? Week 2 of the Mum Tum Challenge!

So I’m on a mission to lose mommy tummy and the first week of my Mum Tum Challenge went really well… and really badly. The badly partly is I think mainly down to having my expectations of myself set too high, as usual. So let me explain exactly what happened in my first week and then I can tell you what is up next.

Exercise – Epic fail!

The first day went great. I got up at 6am and put on my takkies and I was out the door, determined as can be. I ran a full 1.8km without stopping and I kept up quite a good pace.

When I got home I did the 15 minute yoga session that I shared in my Mum Tum Week 1 post… and you know what? That isn’t a beginners yoga session. I couldn’t concentrate on it fully when I was testing it out because my 2 year old son was on the loose trying to ride me at the time.

It is a great yoga session, but for someone that hasn’t done much physical exercise since I had kids (about 5 years??) it is not a good one to make a start with.

So come the next morning I was feeling just a tad stiff and sore to put it mildly. I also had a massive headache (which I will get into later on in this post)… but I was still very much determined so I got out the door and ran and then hobbled… and then slowed to a walk and then ran a bit… and so on for 1.2 kms.

Not bad for someone that was feeling half dead. But this was down to pure stubbornness and quite possibly stupidity. I got home feeling rotten and searched for an easier yoga session, which was called a stretch session for after exercising.

Here it is, I will be doing it this coming week every day:

I quite enjoyed that one, and once again even though it said it was for beginners I have to admit that it gave me a workout of note. So yes I am seriously unfit, that much is very clear.

Day 3 I did the stretch yoga session… and then my exercise came to an end and I have not picked it up again.

So yes in a lot of ways this was an epic fail. I do have a sort of excuse (migraines) and it is not all bad though as I will get to.

Eating – Nailed It… Mostly.

So for the first week the eating plan was to have a detox from sugar and caffeine and to eat hardly any carbs and lots of protein. Plus add in lots of salads and of course water.

I really think I did well here. I drank loads of water with lemon and I stuck to my eating plan very nicely.

The only things I deviated from was that I planned on eating breakfast, lunch and supper, as well as a morning snack and an afternoon snack. I was never hungry in the slightest at lunch time, so I have not eaten any lunch yet. I just don’t see the point in eating if I am truly not hungry.

The other fail here was the coffee… I will explain that separately.

Addicted to Caffeine? Oh dear!

I am serious, this was such a problem that I am going to dedicate a post on my addiction website to it soon.

I started off well but this got me and it got me badly. At 11am on the first day of the challenge I got a headache. I was actually expecting it because I have read about it and I have heard other people saying that when they had a detox they got a terrible headache.

I drank lots of water and I remembered reading it might last a few days. I plodded along and took it in my stride the first day. That night I slept but I could feel it through my sleep, so it wasn’t restful at all.

On Monday, the 2nd day in the challenge this headache picked up in intensity, by a long shot. I still managed to plod along. That night I hardly slept.

By Tuesday it was migraine status and it was so bad I could hardly stand. I felt nauseas and dizzy.

I had a cup of coffee with 1.5 teaspoons of sugar and by the last sip I felt great. No sign of a headache or feeling ill.

Oh my gosh does coffee have a hold and a half on me.

Now I feel very strongly about addiction, being an addict in recovery, but the other side of this is that coffee won’t kill me. I’m also not fond of self torture.

I continued to have 3 cups a day for the rest of the week.

The difference here is that I was drinking a lot more than that previously and I had very strong coffee loaded with much more sugar.

Yes I can see that coffee is something I am going to need to look at more closely but for now I will keep on with my 3 cups a day to stay sane. I will just go down to 1 sugar a day this week.

But did I reach my goals? Yes I would say so!

Actually yes!

I wanted to make some lifestyle changes and I have. Perhaps I expected too much of myself in the first week and set myself some goals that were not easily achievable… BUT my main goal of this challenge is to lose mommy tummy and to feel physically better and comfortable in my own skin.

The way I have been eating has made me feel physically better already. I feel lighter and more energetic.

I weighed myself on Sunday, exactly one week in and my weight has stayed the same. However when I took the piece of string that I used to measure my waist with (see in the Youtube video below) I can see that I have lost a nice amount around my waist.

I am still a long way from ever being able to wear a bikini again but it is nice to know that there is a difference already. This is from just cutting out all the naughty foods and drinking water!

I am enjoying the way we are eating and I feel I can keep up with this indefinitely so that is also an achievement.

For week 2 I am allowing some carbs, but focusing on low GI foods. I am also including fruit which I can have with my morning meal or as my afternoon snack for an afternoon energy boost.

I am also going to do the yoga stretch session every day and not try and do a marathon to start. I think it is best to do too little but make a habit of doing it every day, enjoy it and build up that routine.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you are following along and also trying to make a lifestyle change please let me know how it is going for you! How are you doing to lose mommy tummy?