Each one of us wishes for a beautiful figure. There aren’t many women who haven’t tried some sort of ‘guaranteed-to-work’ diet, fat-burning formula or going on a hunger-strike. Working out in the gym always bears fruit, but it also costs a lot of effort. With the arrival of their first child, many women give up on their dream of a beautiful figure. However, Oľga is a living example that shows that you can get the figure of a model even during your maternity leave.
A mom like any other
Oľga is 28 years old, lives in Banská Bystrica and is the mom of one-year-old Riško to whom she devotes all of her time and attention. Before her son’s birth, she was an active blogger that entertained mothers-to-be with her remarks about pregnancy. She has caught our attention for a completely different reason, though, which was her perfect athletic figure as soon as six months after she gave birth. You can visit her Instagram (Olichrumblog) to watch her progress (not only) in fitness.
A pregnancy full of chocolate
Oľga was never a lover of sports. She even claims that she and sports weren’t a good combination and she used to avoid mandatory physical education as much as she possibly could. She began exercising a lot later and even then it never lasted too long. One of the reasons was also her recurring medical problems. When she finally decided to truly pick up exercising and stick to it, she found out she’s pregnant.
“Yes, it’s true that being pregnant isn’t a disease, you can exercise even during pregnancy, but Riško was sitting low and the doctor advised that I should only take short walks. Honestly, I was happy about that because the weather was extremely hot that summer and there were days when I didn’t even leave the apartment,” Oľga says about her pregnancy.
Because of the health risk, Oľga had no other choice but to put up with the restrictions and try to make the best of it. She began enjoying that time as much as she could and without regrets. She’d eat a lot and never say no to sweets. “While I was pregnant, one of the instafitmums, Sarah Stage, was also pregnant. I thought to myself ‘wow, that’s so cool’ while eating chocolate,” Oľga says. She believed that the weight she gained will go down on its own after the birth of her child and only became worried toward the end of the pregnancy when the scale showed that she gained 26 kilograms.
Baby strollers help burn calories
Oľga’s exercise was never planned. She burned the first kilograms by just pushing her son around in his stroller. After all, she spent as much as five hours every day outside with Riško. After a few weeks of strolling, she decided it’s time for a change and after almost a year of doing nothing, she put her running shoes back on. To her surprise, her running times became better too. She could run a kilometer in less than six minutes. Before her pregnancy, it took her two minutes longer.
Walking around pushing a stroller and carrying her son has also helped her get back into shape. She had some form of movement every day, not only during weekdays. Oľga and her husband made their weekends more interesting by going out for trips and by doing sports. Cross-country skiing with a two-month-old baby will give you more than any training.
Happy mom = happy baby
Many new moms are frustrated with the sudden change of lifestyle that comes with having a baby. A baby brings a lot of joy, but it’s important to also take time for yourself. Six months after she gave birth, Oľga began exercising with a trainer. At the moment, her exercise takes her 4 hours every week and during that time, her son is with her mother.
“It was hard at first, going to the gym or going out for a run and not think about the baby, what he’s doing, if he’s not crying—now I can easily do that. Sometimes I realize that I hadn’t thought about him at all during that hour, but when I’m sitting in the car full of endorphins and going back home, I always look forward to our day together.”
Endorphins are what makes you feel great after exercising and get you started on a new day with the baby. Moving gives your life energy and helps you solve every-day baby problems with ease.
The baby comes first
Many mothers are afraid to exercise because of breastfeeding. Oľga still breastfeeds her son and says: “I’ve told myself at the very beginning that if my exercise was bad for my baby, caused me to lose milk or something, I would stop immediately. I know there have been many debates about the taste of breast milk if the mother exercises. They say that the lactic acid that’s produced during exercise changes the taste of breast milk, but I’ve never had anything like this happen.
I’ve actually read about a study which confirmed that babies don’t like breast milk right after the mother exercised, but that was because the mothers fed their babies right after they were done, without taking a shower—the babies didn’t mind the taste of the breast milk but the sweat, the salty taste of the nipple.”
What would Oľga recommend to moms who can’t bring themselves to exercise? “Don’t force yourself. If you’re not in the mood, you don’t have the right motivation, you’re probably not ready for it yet. Maybe you need the energy for something else. I tried it out on myself and I can say that personally, the more I move, the more energy I have and I handle the day a lot better. Maybe someone else needs good food or to sleep a few minutes longer, but I always look forward to exercising or running.”
Favourite exercise
We weren’t at all surprised by Oľga’s pick. It is squats. Squats are great for exercising not only your backside but also the muscles on your belly and your whole body overall. They’re convenient because they’re not time-consuming and you can do them in the comfort of your own home. Ideal for moms on their maternity leaves. When your baby falls asleep, try a few series of squats. If you don’t give up, you’ll see the changes in just a few weeks!
