Giaan by Spalding

Shop my Giaan by Spalding look: Long Sleeve Top | Tank | Leggings | Tshirt | Sneakers

So let’s all just be real for a sec. We all do it, it’s all part of being a woman, a busy woman, mother or not, weekend or week day, its in our DNA. What am I talking about? The Melbourne uniform, gym gear and make-up of course! I am the first to admit this new and accepted way of styling has been my go-to since the birth of my first son in 2011 and now that I am a busy mother of two, sometimes, for me to get out the door looking presentable means I get 10 minutes to get the make up on and one minute to simply go to a reliable outfit I don’t need to think too long about- gym gear.

I was asked by Target to suss out the Giaan by Spalding collection and although sportswear isn’t something I would usually feature on my blog, I had a few good reasons to be open to the idea.

The first: Well, as mentioned above, the Giaan by Spalding pieces will get a good ‘work out‘ (and I don’t mean the sweaty kind) I knew I would actually wear the stuff. I look for sportswear that is black/charcoal and always with a hint of statement colour or print to give it a fashion edge and this collection does exactly that with the neon lime. I also think, it is a little bit sexy with the oversized t-shirt, I mean, gym-gear and makeup is all about looking hot without physically feeling hot am I right? I also don’t like the idea of spending too much on my workout-wardrobe but because it is a go-to outfit, it also needs to look great and Giaan has nailed this in her designs without limiting breathability, functionality and style and the most expensive item here is $40 (hello! be quick! I got a size 8 in the t-shirt and long sleeve and a size 10 in the leggings and the tank FYI for sizing.)

Second: Because since having my second baby and the fact I lost my baby weight uber quickly, I have received many emails and messages asking for my weight loss secret and this is a great and relevant segway into the weight and fitness discussion.

And third? Well, in 2015, I made a decision to give more to my readers in terms of shopping, I want to deliver to you more opportunities of me being your blogger personal stylist. I do the finding of the great pieces from women’s fashion, accessories and even active wear that I actually love and will provide you with the website to shop it. (Feel free to email me with requests, I get them all the time so don’t feel bad!)

Now, lets get into detail about my post-baby weight loss story.

For some reason, I can’t explain why, but with my second pregnancy, I didn’t put on a lot of weight (unlike the first! yikes 25kgs) so I was off to a good start. After Will was born, a cesarean section, I immediately felt smaller compared to my natural birth with Aston, I would joke that Dr Kliman gave me a tummy tuck when he stitched me back up (this didn’t happen- just to clarify.)

When I got back from the hospital, I had 8 weeks or more of recovery ahead of me, so lucky for me, I had family prepare dinners for me with the number one request being Chicken Soup. I had a batch each week of soup arrive from my mother-in-law and in between, I would make my famous Thermomix Minestrone along with fast, simple yet nutritious meals for myself, Aston and my husband which would be a protein (beef eye fillet, chicken fillet or salmon steak steamed) with either vegetables or salad and some sort of carb (breastfeeding meant that I had to keep up my kJ’s and when I decided to stop breastfeeding, I was able to cut down on the carbs.) There was no dieting for me during breastfeeding, lets be clear on this. So, after I stopped BF, my plan to get back into my skinny jeans was to do it by my food as I had zero time to work out and I knew of some other mums who did it this way and saw a nice gradual and healthy result.

Then, a blood test result when I was about six months post pregnancy, shook things up. I found out that I have high cholesterol (a genetic thing, thanks mum!) which was a total shock to me when the results came back after it had only been just a routine check. I really had to get some info on this and get my cholesterol down, as a mother of two, an anxiety trigger is my health and I want to be sure that I will be around to see some grandchildren.

There were foods I knew about that cause high cholesterol such as fatty foods, saturated fats, animal fats etc that I hardly ate anyways and I knew that I had to think about exercising at some point. I saw a Naturopath (a choice I made after seeing my doctor, we don’t need to get into the Dietition/Nutritionist/Naturopath thing please) who told me about the Paleo diet (and…before any anti paleo peeps get all up in arms…) I wasn’t strict on the diet, but I followed the recipes from a certain famous celebrity chef for inspiration, so you could say it was more clean eating rather than Paleo.

I began to eat clean and fresh food strictly and cut out as much refined sugar (chocolate) as humanly (womanly) possible, I cut my two cafe-latte’s-with-one-sugar down to one coffee with half sugar, replaced butter with avocado or avocado oil, stopped eating lamb (fatty meat) increased my fish intake to twice a week, snacked on nuts and not so much fruit, gave up my beloved poached eggs for oats and used my Thermomix like a bitch!. Everything was made from scratch so processed food stayed in the supermarket and the food going into my mouth was real, fresh, good-for-my-heart-and-my-health food.

I still didn’t have the time to go to the gym or Pilates, so I started to walk a lot more by walking the baby to sleep in the pram in the mornings and walking Aston to kinder and back three times a week. I don’t drink alcohol (never have) or soft drinks and juices, just water and coffee and limited restaurant meals as much as possible (what a bore!)

So, just from cutting out certain foods, essentially clean eating and being strict on what I ate to ensure a good cholesterol reading at my next test, I started to say bye-bye to any signs of baby weight and those stubborn 6kgs that usually like to overstay their welcome.

What? its that simple? no shakes, delivered meals, calorie counting, hours sweating up a storm at the gym? C’mon Jess, give me your eating plan or something! Look, I actually think this is a great example of achieving weight goals if you are a busy woman/mother like me who doesn’t have the time to get out to a boxing or spin class, simply, be careful with your food, get some fresh air and perhaps- get a cholesterol check, because you might get a surprise like I did! I went back to get my check five months later and my cholesterol levels were significantly lower! Yay! Chocolate time… I mean ummm nothing!

I just want to make a point in saying, weight loss after becoming a mother should not be a priority, your child and your health (mental included) should be number one and when you are ready to or you feel like you want to get back into those skinny jeans again, then a good and healthy approach is in the food you eat. Get some advice from a doctor, nutritionist, naturopath or dietician, whoever you trust and don’t rush it and DO NOT compare yourself to others. It takes 9 months to put on your baby weight and carry a little human in you, it is so normal to take that long, if not, a lot more to get back to where you feel comfortable again.

Like I said, it all just kind of happened for me and the only reason I am sharing this is because of the amount of emails I received about it, definitely not to boast, not to say that my approach is the right and only way or to make anyone feel bad for not dropping it as fast as I did.

Don’t forget to get your fab Giaan sports wear for less at Target here

And just here are some great sites for some clean eating recipes:

Wholesome-Cook
Quirky Cooking
The Paleo Way

My favourite recipe below is from Model to Mum (she is amazing and is so motivating, also fellow mother of two young boys) Thanks Mon! xx

Raw Chocolate and Goji Mousse

1/2 large avocado or a whole small one
1 banana (fresh or frozen great on hot days)
2 heaped tbs raw cacao powder
1 sachet organic coconut paste
1 tbs almond butter (optional)
1 tbs rice malt syrup or coconut syrup
Small handful goji berries
1 tbs cacao nibs
1/2 tbs sultanas (optional)
1-2 tbs natural yoghurt (optional)
Blend all in food processor and serve. Enough for two or one large serve 😉
*Leaving out any or all the optional ingredients it will still taste amazing and I have tried all ways.