Fit Yummy Mummy Blog – Post Pregnancy Weight Loss – Flat Tummy Workout

Meet Heidi Staddon ~ Featured Fit Yummy Mummy


No, I haven’t dropped a dumbbell on my head so please allow me to explain with a little background information pre-Fit Yummy Mummy.

I am a stay-at-home, 34 year old mother of two children, aged 2 and 1. Until my first baby, I worked 9-, 10- sometimes 12-hour days, and often went in on weekends. In school I always had at least one part-time job while playing varsity and intramural sports. I even had a gym membership since I was 16.

Growing up I was left alone from an early age and learned how to cupboard-feed, ie: canned and boxed pastas, chips, cookies, etc. While I taught myself healthy habits over time, I ultimately fell back into old ways after graduating and starting a career full-time.

Over the years, my weight slowly crept up as my self-confidence dipped, slipped and eventually plummeted.

Last year, after the birth of my second child, I experimented with the devil:

a weight loss clinic

Expensive, demoralizing, useless… I ultimately gave up.

Luckily, I still had my gym membership. And it had a daycare so that made it doable to go back to spending an hour or more on the cardio machines.

Only I was still not seeing any results.

Factor in the craziness of getting both kids there and back without any one of us having a severe meltdown and you can appreciate how the mental exhaustion was ruling my life!

Fast-forward to August 3, 2009:

The VERY last day to sign up for the Fit Yummy Mummy “Get Back To Fit” Fall Challenge.

While previously hesitant to become a member of ClubFYM, right then I pushed out of my comfort zone, joined the community and got started on my debut transformation challenge. I took and recorded my starting pictures and stats. I met great accountability buddies and together we got started and haven’t looked back!


Good Bye Old Heidi

Reviewing my journal entries weekly, I watched in amazement as the Old Heidi quickly melted like the Wicked Witch of the West after being doused with a bucket of water:

~ Goodbye portion distortion (goal #1)

~ Addiction to peanut butter straight from the jar (goal #2)

~Over-use of sugar substitutes and reliance upon overly processed foods.

~ See ya hours at the gym, useless cardio machines.

~ Having to wear maternity clothes despite no longer being pregnant.

~ Adieu constantly comparing myself to everyone at the gym, at the store, in the magazines and on television.

~ Auf Wiedersehen negativity, defeating self-talk and plummeting self-confidence.

~ Hit the road scale, you evil demon spawn you!


Hello New Heidi

Over the course of these last three months, I was introduced to the New Heidi:

* Hello moderation, meal planning, and clean eating of supportive nutrition.

* Hi there 15 minutes of exercise per day, six days per week
Where have you been all my life?

(Ooohh, who are your friends, Muscle Definition and Cardiovascular Endurance, have we met before? I love the way you look on my arms and legs, any chance you’ll be hitting up my abs sometime soon (goal #3)? Ok, I’ll keep working on you for that one.)

* Bonjour smaller, more frequent meals and always feeling satisfied, thus keeping cravings at bay.

* Guten Tag positivism, self-confidence, and a new-found feeling of pride with everything I do.

* Does everyone know my friend Overall Improved Health and Energy? She’s new here, please welcome her kindly.

*Oh and that scale?
That “tool” is useless to me now.

I’ll be honest and admit that they once had a serious hold on my daily life. The Old Heidi would literally weigh herself multiple times per day. Thankfully that is no more (goal #4)!


New Heidi realized very early on that the key to taking full advantage of Fit Yummy Mummy was also the hardest thing to recognize and do: a complete overhaul to both behaviour AND mindset.

No easy task after 30+years!

Early in the 4-Week Sprint for the Fall Transformation Challenge did it dawn on me that many of my poor eating and exercising habits were symptoms of a bigger problem.

Spending time reflecting on and understanding the triggers to my behaviours (including, but not limited to: overeating, emotional eating, and poor food choices) quickly kick-started my entire mindset shift from ‘it’s just how I’ve always done things’ to ‘necessary changes to make me a better person, no matter how comfortable or uncomfortable they feel at the time’.

More simply put….
Being armed with clear direction, precise instruction, and ongoing support and guidance Coach Holly, my amazing accountability buddies and the entire ClubFYM community.

I was able to muster enough faith in myself to rapidly kick-start my transformation by implementing these dramatic changes.

Heidi’s Fit Yummy Mummy Results


August 2009……………………..January 2010

137 lbs……………………………….123 lbs
size 6-8………………………………Size 4
waist @ mommy belly
(aka seatbelt bulge) 36.5″…….33″
hips = 38.5″………………………….35″

And voila!
Old Heidi has left the building. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Ooooh, but do not misunderstand:

I know full well that this transformation is not yet complete.

I do not pretend to know everything about my Body, my Self and the FYM lifestyle.

I know I’m just getting better and better each day at being the best Me I can be.

I’m consistently happier and have more energy.

I greet the day with a smile.

I am much less stressed over eating and actually look forward to preparing my daily and weekly meal plans.

I can’t believe I now make meal plans – this is awesome!

I journal and have even created a vision board complete with a complimentary photo chart.

I have gotten in touch with my own strengths and limitations and am ever-learning to adjust my behaviours accordingly.

Most importantly, I’m creating a better Heidi to be the best possible mother and role model to my children. Nothing in this world is more important to me than being the best possible mommy I can be.

While I would really love to share all of my new habits with you, that just may put me waaaaaaay over in the word count. Suffice it to say, I really have transformed into someone who is in a much better place than even 12 short weeks ago.

And the most amazing part of this is that I can look myself squarely in the eyes and say



No one forced me and no one did it for me.

I laid out my plan of action (goals), followed the Fit Yummy Mummy guidelines, did the work (fitness and nutrition doesn’t just ‘happen’) and am truly reaping the rewards.

So, yes, I did gain 123 pounds and just simply could not be any happier!

For the record, that Old Heidi fuddy-duddy took along with her over 14 pounds and 15 inches of fat lost.

Keep it Old Heidi, New Heidi has no use of it!

Oh and Holly, “Thanks” for everything you have helped me achieve this past year. While I didn’t find Fit Yummy Mummy until July, I can say this much:

Christmas 2008 = 160pounds
Christmas 2009 = 123pounds

You have been instrumental to my success to date, and I can’t wait to see what together we accomplish by Christmas 2010.

Plus I tell all my buds at the gym exactly what is working and no one can believe it.!

Fit Yummy Mummy Rules!!

~ Heidi Staddon, 34 year old Mom of 2 (ages 2 ½ and 1) Kingston Province, Canada



Heidi!

I am so super proud of your results ~ what makes this transformation so powerful is that these changes have taken place from the inside out! Look at you shine now!

What a blast to share this journey with you at ClubFYM! I have no doubt you will have many more amazing stories to share!

You Rock!

Jane Hale continues to reach her body shaping goals
~ See her Amazing Anniversary Results!

“Dearest Holly,

I just had to write to you before 2010 got too far underway!

Susan Celebrates Two Years of Fit Yummy Mummy Written by Kathy Zachry who interviewed her best friend Susan for this feature. Susan Pearson began her Fit Yummy Mummy journey in November 2007 just as Holly began her website. She purchased Holly’s e-book and started working out in super sets. A couple of months later Holly began the ClubFYM website and that is when things really began to change for Susan. Initially weight loss was not a goal or need for Susan when she began Fit Yummy Mummy. She was looking for a way to be fit and toned and to gain definition in her body. She had tried different programs of exercise, but none combined nutrition and exercise. None were a lifestyle change. So, her results were limited with those programs.

My Fit & Yummy Life!! “When I first joined Fit Yummy Mummy , I felt defeated. I had been working feverishly at losing the post pregnancy weight of my second child….and my first. They were born 16 months apart and I hadn’t removed all of my baby weight from my first pregnancy. At my heaviest, I topped the scale at 214lbs. I stuck to what I knew – no carbs and lots of cardio. I managed to drop about 40lbs this way and then everything stopped!

After 2 pregnancies (one with twins!) and 2 c-sections I want to tell everyone there is a better way of eating and exercising and it is Fit Yummy Mummy!!! I am celebrating my 1 year anniversary with Fit Yummy Mummy. I also just celebrated my 35th birthday! I am a stay at home mom of twin boys, 3 ½ and a daughter, 1 year old. I never thought I would ever get my tummy flat again after a twin pregnancy and 2 c-sections. This is me one year ago and pictures of me from the start of the Holiday Transformation Challenge November 9th 2009.

My Fit Yummy Mummy Journey – A Year in Review “15 months ago if you had asked me if I had ever considered a fitness program, I would have told you that I used to be a gymnast and that those were good times but that body is long gone, so no I was in no need for that. I was the one walking around saying, I don’t really need to lose weight – I just need to tone up what I have, yet I had no idea how to do that. That was my excuse.

Elisa’s Fit Yummy Mummy Experience Helped Her To Lose 47 Pounds & Over 8 Inches Off Her Mommy Belly! “Even though my Fit Yummy Mummy journey began in September of 2007 it was not until April 1st, 2008 that I applied to become an official member of ClubFYM. I was DONE with being foolish in my ways, and after going it alone, it was time for me to come to a place of support in my life!

“Fit Yummy Mummy has become my life; it is a lifestyle not just a 12 week challenge for me. The workouts were the easy part, ok not easy but they were laid out for me with no guessing.

October 30th, 2008 is the day I wrote my personal contract to be committed to the principles of the Fit Yummy Mummy lifestyle. I meant every word of it and truly believed with tears in my eyes and emotion welling up in my heart, that this was MY TIME. This was MY TIME to truly get my life and body back better than ever. I never could have imagined what a sincerely transformative experience this would be, from the inside out. If the changes were only on the outside, the possibility of the changes lasting would be very slim, as statistics show.

“The 12 week Transformation Challenge was really just that for me. It challenged me to change my lifestyle, not just my workouts but my eating and attitude.” ~ Jill Wells is celebrating the results of her Transformation Success ~ “I was sitting on the phone complaining to Sheri Meierle in January 2008 about how I had no self-confidence, my posture was terrible and how I just didn’t feel like “me” at all. She suggested that I join ClubFYM and jump in on the 12 week Transformation Challenge. I was a little nervous about joining and especially about posting any pictures of myself. Since the fall of 2007, I had been working with a trainer at the local YMCA, so I spoke to her about ClubFYM. My trainer was impressed with it and excited to see that I was willing to participate in a fitness challenge. During the challenge, I struggled emotionally and physically. I was trying to change the way my family was eating and meeting great resistance.