Want one like this? Keep Workin' It!

This is something I am asked A LOT. You want to heal a Diastasis Recti & to get a flatter stomach after having babies. And after some weeks of Mutu… you’re like, ‘So, I’m fixed now. My core WORKS! Cool! Can I stop?’

Um, no. Not if you want it to stay fixed! The process of learning to use your transverse abdominis & pelvic floor muscles properly takes you in those 12 weeks of MuTu System moves from a feeling that is completely strange for most people, to almost unconscious.  Once it is nearly unconscious though, you still have to keep doing it! (Sorry).

In the first few weeks of MuTu, many of you forget how you ever even breathed previously without instruction  Your pelvic floor becomes relevant to lifting your child. You’re doing 10 minutes of daily exercises which are waking muscles that have forgotten what to do & even the way you roll out of bed takes conscious thought. Huh? How’d that get so complicated?

The reason is, when you did that whole pregnancy & childbirth thing… your stomach muscles got a little less good at doing what they were supposed to do. They got all shifted about & stretched out & changed & then they just kind of sat there.

It happens to the best of us. And its why when you lose the baby weight, you don’t automatically get a flat tummy.

But the human body learns (remember, you couldn’t walk once…;)) & after a few weeks of daily MuTu Core exercises the weird feeling doesn’t feel so weird anymore. And you find that not only do you brace your abdominal muscles, holding them flat & strong whenever you lift or walk, but your posture is better too & any back pain you had before starts to subside.

This is your most important deep core muscle, your transverse abdominis, doing its job. Stabilizing you, supporting you & holding your body how it was designed to be held. You progress at your pace through MuTu Core Phases 1-4, finding the right muscles first, then just engaging them, then strengthening them.

You CAN stop doing the separate daily core exercises once you reach Phase 4 of MuTu Core. I.e. when you have achieved full core strength & stability. You won’t need them anymore! This is generally at around the 8-12 week mark or before, but sometimes you will need to keep going with daily Core a little longer – it all depends on your starting point !

But if you want that muscle to keep on holding your stomach in & doing its job, you have to keep on using it. Engaging this muscle during everything from walking to working out to sitting straight becomes more & more unconscious, as your body learns & remembers. It’s not a separate workout anymore , it’s just using your body right.

12 weeks is a sensible, productive period of time to see real changes in your body when you follow the MuTu guidelines & workouts. But that’s not to say that at week 12 you go right back where you started… if you followed the process (full details of MuTu System online training, here), you’re looking down at a darn sight stronger, flatter tummy than you started with. Don’t stop doing what works!

If you have questions about this, whether you are already following the program, or just thinking about it, please leave them below & I’ll get right back to you!

They feel better when we feel better... (from my 'just for me' photoshoot with the gorgeous Jay Mountford*)

Women (Mothers) & their relationship with their bodies is not just about how they look.

What people often assume is that all this ‘exercise for mums‘ business is about: looking good in a swimsuit, looking sexy in jeans, a flat post-baby tummy, smaller thighs with no dimples, or toned upper arms. It’s all just ‘yummy mummy’ superficial stuff & a bit silly. We should get over ourselves & get on with with our lives.

But sifting through my inbox today, I am struck as I frequently am by the honesty & frankness with which people write to me. I am flattered & humbled by it. Sure, you write to me because you want your stomach to be flatter, your butt to be perkier, your arms to be toned-er (no its not a word, but I like it)…

Hey we all want that stuff – we’re allowed to be a bit superficial.

But I’d like to suggest to you that you’re deeper than you think you are. Because what you actually write to me is this:

“I want to feel sexy again”

“I want to feel good about myself”

“I want to have fun with my kids without getting tired”

“I want to accept myself as I am”

“I just want everything *down there* to work, & to feel like it used to”

“I want my partner to find me attractive”

“I don’t want to feel fat & frumpy”

These are your words, not mine, & every single one is about how you feel, not how you look. Sure you talk about the aesthetics too – but believe me – these are the emotions that dominate.

So if you ever wander into that mindset of thinking that to take the time to take care of your body & your emotional & physical well-being is somehow shallow or vain or not important, please think again. You have every right to feel good about yourself. EVERY RIGHT.

Wetting yourself when you laugh or sneeze, not wanting to look at your naked self or to have sex with your partner, not feeling confident to walk into a room knowing you are at least a little bit fabulous & vital & interesting… this is not superficial. It’s absolutely fundamental to your happiness.

And your partner, your children, your friends, family or your boss – all those people that place demands on you & that require looking after & pleasing & loving (well, your boss doesn’t need loving especially, but you get the drift) - every one of them will benefit too from your self confidence, your strength, your Calm & your happiness. So it’s not remotely selfish either! That’s another one I hear a lot – that it is too self indulgent or even selfish to put your own health & wellbeing to the top of the list sometimes. All those people need you Lady – & you’re a lot more use to them strong, fit, healthy & HAPPY.

This desire, this need, to put ourselves back together again – inside & out – is not superficial or vain.  It’s really very important. 

*Thanks to Jay Mountford for the lovely photo of me & my girl at her incredible Rock the Frock photo shoot - the ultimate in ‘feel good’ & my 40th birthday present to myself! Just because.

Choose from badges like this for your blog!

The great thing about Mums is they talk to each other.

They tell each other what they love, what they hate & what they couldn’t do without… from parenting books to buggies, blackout blinds, blogs or workouts, us Mums constitute  an awesome network of truthful, real life recommendations & ‘Don’t Touch It With a Bargepole’ s.

So many fabulous Bloggers & Twitter-ers & are finding their waistlines & flatter tummies with MuTu System, & many have asked me for some sort of referral programme – so here it is… you & your website or blog can now become a Mutu System Affiliate!

All the details of the MuTu System Affiliate Programme are here. There are pretty badges & banners for your site to choose from (tailored for both UK & the US English speaking Mums & Moms!), & the process is very simple. You place a badge on your blog or site, & if someone clicks on it, & goes on to buy the MuTu System online training program… you get 33% of the price paid in commission! They don’t even have to buy that time – the programme remembers that you recommended them so if they come back later to buy - you still get your cut.

Click the link to get all the T-s & C’s, & email us if you have any questions  or need help setting up. You need to play with some very basic HTML which we’re happy to help you out with if you need it!

I mean if you’re going to recommend us, you might as well get paid for it!

MuTu Crew. Thanks Ladies.

I don’t just work for mums, I work with them, for the very simple reason that Mumpreneurs, WAHM’s or whatever pigeon hole you want to put us in… ROCK at getting the job done.

Mums Rock. I know, someone else invented that strap-line before me, but they do. I love being a mum & I bloody love helping other mums, every single day & from all around the world, to find their body confidence & get strong & fit & gorgeous.

Through the wonders of Twitter & recommendation, I have found a crew of incredible women who help me run my business. Every one of them has figured out how to make her profession work for her, whilst also having a life & being a mum!

I’ve never even met most of these women (but I will!), as we work together virtually… So if I may … a little shout-out to the fabulous Mums I work with!

Kelly is my Virtual Assistant (KC Virtual Solutions). She is organised, thorough, unflappable, tech & social media savvy & overflowing with initiative & common sense.

Natalie is my PR (Tally PR). She knows how to talk to journos & get me & my business  in magazines, newspapers & all over the web. Thanks to Natalie I spent a day last week being primped & preened & photographed for a top women’s glossy magazine… this lady knows how to get you out there!

Louise does all my design work (Lula Creative). Everything you see on my website that’s  pretty, Louise did it. She knows my brand inside out & creates everything from business cards for my team to blogger badges & affiliate banners.

Suzanne is my Lawyer (Lawyers4Mumpreneurs) when I need one. She draws up contracts & makes sure I’m, well… legal !

Georgi is my accountant (Starfish Accounting)  she keeps my diabolical book-keeping in order & makes sure Her Majesty’s worker bees get what they need.

All these women have a common ground.

They know their stuff.

They’re thorough & meticulous & professional.

They take a huge amount of personal pride in their work.

They deliver, above expectation & on or before time, every time.

They work when I work. Which means whenever we can, whilst fitting everything else in! We can talk at weekends, or in the evenings when the kids have gone to sleep. We all respect each others’ family & free time, at the same time knowing that it will get done, usually a darn sight quicker than any bloke in an office gets it done!

I say that from experience of using both… the mum at home beats the guy in the office every time… & she doesn’t sigh impatiently when a little one yells in the background! Of course I haven’t even mentioned my team of trainers… (more mums)…

Mums running businesses that work around their kids. It works! How do you make it work for you?

PS it goes without saying that I personally recommend all these women very highly… don’t go stealing all their time though now will you

Time your workouts with the Gymboss timer - you'll be amazed what you can do in 15 minutes!

Finding time to exercise after having a baby is hard, so really effective postnatal exercise needs to be very efficient. It needs to give the biggest results in the shortest amount of time!

Trips to the gym involving travel, bag packing & an hour’s ‘same old routine’ workout simply don’t happen for most of us, & so exercise doesn’t happen… again. Us mums have many excuses not to exercise…’No time’ being the most well-used of all!

This is why the principles of High Intensity Interval Training (basically a fast paced, circuit type workout) make so much sense for moms (after initial recovery & core restoration with MuTu Breathe & MuTu Core of course!). Just done my MuTu Intensive workout for the morning – (12 minutes) some ball shenanigans & a yoga sequence to finish. Total: 19 minutes & I have worked up a sweat, made every muscle in my body work & wound down with stretching! If you’re still jogging steadily or slogging away on boring cardio & resistance machines at the gym for 30 mins & upwards… its time to switch up!

Please remember that you should not do high impact exercise for at least 20 weeks after having a baby… the MuTu System online training programme progresses you safely step by step, so you can start it immediately after having a baby or many months or even years later! This is a specialist programme designed for mums at ALL stages of motherhood, so just follow the instructions as to where to start!

For a taster of a short sharp MuTu workout that will get you sweating, tone & shape your body… all in less than 20 minutes, check out this free MuTu workout video … & stop wasting your time at the gym

More details on the MuTu System 12 week online training programme here!

Owing to her prolific tweeting & efforts at MuTu Mama gorgeousness… Mummy Blogger Mummy’s Little Monkey has been chosen as the lucky winner of an entire set of MuTu Fit Kit!

A big bouncy ball, resistance band, cute little pink intervals timer and a lovely yoga mat are all winging their way to her in the next few days!

Let us know how you get on Jax! We want to see pictures of you using your shiny new MuTu exercise gear!

Want to Join Jax on her MuTu Mama journey…?

Get Started Here!

Clients often ask me ‘Well what do YOU eat?’, & “What does MuTu Food mean?”:  It means clean, fresh, real food for the whole family. Low in sugar & refined carbs, high in fresh vegetables, whole grains (varied – so not just wheat), fruit, lean protein, fish & essential fats.

It’s not weird or faddy, or complicated. Its just food. The real stuff.

I drink water, green tea, more water, herbal teas & have one cup of proper, strong coffee every day (that’s not a recommendation… I’m just telling you what I have )

Click the apple for MuTu Food & the MuTu System explained

I cook in coconut oil, as well as dollop it in the occasional smoothie. I’m generous with the good olive oil (but never cook in it – it ruins it). I like real butter, but it has to be organic & salty (yes you read that right, sorry). I eat cheese occasionally but it gives me weird dreams so I always avoid it in the evening.

I eat organic wherever possible, but especially fruit & vegetables, dairy or meat.

For breakfast (usually after a walk or run with the dog) I’ll have porridge, or eggs on toast, peanut butter on wholegrain toast or muesli with fresh fruit & natural yogurt. My hubsand’s American so pancakes, bacon & eggs sometimes sneak in at the weekend!

I don’t eat: processed foods like ready meals, commercially baked foods or pastries, fizzy drinks or take-aways, anything packaged as ‘low fat’ or ‘diet food’ or anything that has ingredients I can’t pronounce.

My kids eat the same as I do, except the little list below of course:

Guilty pleasures: Salt & black pepper flavour kettle chips, a glass of sulphite free, good red wine, dark chocolate & steak. Not necessarily altogether. Although there’s a thought…

I would always choose: Organic butter over low fat spread; diluted juice or water over a Diet Coke; dark organic 70% cocoa chocolate over the sweet dairy stuff; spicy, light & fresh over bland or stodgy; real food over substitutes or ‘low fat’ alternatives; oat milk over cows’, natural organic yoghurt with muesli, berries & honey over a bowl of Special K; steak over soya.

I love good food, & I eat plenty of it, but I stop when I’m full. I hate processed, fake food because it tastes like crap, makes my body feel rubbish & genuinley gives me no pleasure.

Oh & I move. A lot. Which is kind of fundamental to the whole ‘weight’ balance thing…. So there you have it. What Wendy eats & what she doesn’t. Does my MuTu Food look like yours? What’s different & what do you eat to stay lean & healthy?

OK it's time... Use this not your body!

You want to lose your baby weight  in the New Year (even if we’re not really blaming the baby so much as the chocolate…)

You want to lose fat, drop pounds, get fit, tone up & eat healthy food… in the New Year.

You’re going to do all that stuff, but next week, because it’s not the New Year yet is it? And there’s all that lovely sweet, chocolate-y, baked comfort food sitting around & you can’t let it go to waste now can you?

Ladies, there are 4 full days before the New Year.

A pound / 0.45 Kilos of fat is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories. By reducing your daily calorie intake, or by increasing your daily exercise, by 500 calories, you can lose a pound of fat in a week.

Unfortunately – this theory works the other way round too. The extra large portions, pastries, cake, desserts, chocolate, wine… most women will easily add AT LEAST 500 extra calories per day to their consumption over the festive period.

It’s done. It’s over. It was fab.

Now move on & BIN the rest of the fattening food! I’m serious. Those leftovers you ‘don’t want to waste’ will add around another POUND OF FAT between now & New Years Day.

Cut out the Middle Woman. C**p belongs, well you know. Still got a box of Heroes hanging around with just the ones no-one likes but you’ll still eat if they’re all that’s left? Couple of mince pies left in the box? Chips / crisps, left-over desserts… draw the line Lady. Save yourself a pound of fat in 4 days & stop picking

MuTu System 12 week online training shows you EXACTLY how to get your post baby (even very post-baby ) body back where you want it. Video, audio & a full colour photographed manual… find out more here & join the MuTu Mamas finding their waistline & their Mojo in 2012! (But starting now!!)

Your New Years Gift To Yourself?

There’s a great saying ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got’.

So if you’ve greeted every New Year for as long as you can remember with a hangover, a ‘Detox plan’ that lasts less than 2 weeks or an expensive gym membership that is used for one month only … Time to do something different!

• Go to this page
  
• Click ‘Add To Cart’ on the UK English or US English version
• Enter discount code: seasonofgorgeousness (UK) or seasonofgorgeousnessUS (US)
  
• And get a full third off the price!

That means you’ll pay less than £40 GBP or $60 USD for the full 12-week MuTu® System programme, including step by step, easy to follow instructions, a comprehensive, fully photographed manual, weekly instructional videos, audio downloads, motivational strategies, nutritional planning, journal, goal setting and more!

You can set your programme to start in January or any date you choose… But you must use your code by Christmas Eve!

If you want to wait until after the Holiday festivities to start the video series, that’s fine. You’ll download the entire programme right away, but you decide when you hit ‘Go!’ on the videos.

That’s it my Lovelies, no catch. I’m right here, as always. Got any questions? You can find all our contact details here.

Your waistline AND your Mojo for Christmas. For less than 40 quid / 60 bucks. How many of your Christmas present cost less than that?

Don’t forget to get your MuTu® Fit Kit home exercise equipment! CLICK HERE

is only valid until Santa comes down your chimney, so in a nutshell, here it is:

1. Go to this page
   
2. Decide whether you prefer UK English or US English (i.e. are you a ‘mum’ or a ‘mom’ & do you push a trolley or a cart around the supermarket…)
3. Click ‘Add To Cart’
4. Enter discount code: seasonofgorgeousness or seasonofgorgeousnessUS
5. And get a full third off the price

That means you’ll pay less than £40 GBP or $60 USD for the full 12-week MuTu® System programme, including step by step, easy to follow instructions, a comprehensive, fully photographed manual, weekly instructional videos, audio downloads, motivational strategies, nutritional planning, journal, goal setting and more!

Remember! If you want to wait until after the Holiday festivities to start the 12 video series, that’s fine. You’ll download the entire programme right away, but you decide when you hit ‘Go!’ on the videos.  Now, Boxing Day, 1st January or your choice of date… but you must use your code by Christmas Eve!

That’s it my Lovelies, no catch. I’m right here, as always. Got any questions? You can find all our contact details here.

Your waistline AND your Mojo for Christmas. Better than a gift-set from Boots.

Don’t forget to get your MuTu® Fit Kit home exercise equipment! CLICK HERE