Revealed
TUM-BELIEVABLE
Mum shares the secret to her flat tummy in 7-step post-pregnancy transformation
Ely Fisher lost over four stone after having son Ocean. She shares her top tips for getting rid of the post-pregnancy pouch
LIKE many new mums, 27-year-old Ely Fisher found that pregnancy dramatically changed her body.
And after giving birth to her son Ocean, that the baby weight stuck around.
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"I was a very slender slim person pre-pregnancy and never ever exercised," she told The Sun.
"I never really had a good relationship with food or with my body...I would binge and then not each much for a day or two purely because I didn't like what I was seeing in the mirror."
The Perth-based fitness blogger told us that she was what she calls "skinny fat".
"Because I had very little discipline back then, I couldn't bring myself to work out so I would just starve myself to try and attack those areas - obviously that doesn't work," she said.
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"I guess then I got pregnant unexpectedly and being a honeymoon baby, I had emotions to get through and I turned to my cravings and feeding them as comfort.
"I wasn't very happy with where I was during pregnancy, as due to my lack of fitness, weak core and zero muscle, my body also took a beating throughout the pregnancy, especially my back and my heart health.
"I ended up being induced because my resting heart rate was through the roof."
On her wedding day, Ely weighed 13st 7lb, and said she stayed like that for an entire year.
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"I would wake in the middle of the night to breastfeed my son, I would grab him, walk to the fridge, pull out a hedgehog slice (brownie) walk back to the bed with him, lie down and feed him, eating my brownie half asleep!" she admitted.
"I was so tired, I was sad, I avoided mirrors, I didn't look down at my body in the shower, and I wore clothes far to big for me in hopes that no one could tell.
"I walked around believing this was my life now - I wasn't the young, once-vibrant, spontaneous cool mum I dreamed of being.
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"I really struggled. I knew my body would change - it does when you grow a human - but I never expected to see a reflection I didn't believe reflected who I was on the inside, I didn't expect to see a body that couldn't give me the lifestyle I wanted.
"And I had no idea how to fix it."
Fast forward 18 months, and she's not only 4st 5lb lighter, but she's now helping other mums come to terms with their new bodies - whether they want to slim back down or not.
She told us that her weight loss journey began after seeing some photos from Ocean's first birthday.
How Ely lost her belly fat in seven simple steps
Ely shared her seven tips for getting rid of her 'pouch':
"In the beginning I realised, I had fat ALL over, and if I wanted to lean up well proportioned, then I needed to work out my body evenly," she told us.
"Although I had more fat on my stomach, sides and bum, I didn't just work those out, I did a day of legs, a day of arms and a day of abs.
"The beauty of doing this was that my entire body was burning fat. Then as I began to slim down I would switch it up.
"Now I do abs for maybe 5-10 minutes every workout. But in the beginning, it was just burning about fat all over while building lean muscle.
"Getting that heart rate up and keeping it up throughout your workouts is your biggest aid in weightless."
1. Fat loss happens all over
If you're evenly working out your body, from your arms, back, chest, abs, legs and bottom, you will see fat loss all over and evenly!
If you have a problem area, it doesn’t mean you just overwork that region, neglecting the rest.
Your body responds best in a team effort. So plan your week out working upper body, lower body and an abs day.
For the first year of working out, I made sure at least once a week I had a 30 minute workout JUST for my core & abdominal area.
2. Get that heart rate pumping
The best ab workouts are the fiery one for fat loss...I’m talking Mountain Climbers, Snap/Tuck jumps, commandos, bench jumps! These are great to incorporate into any workout, to get your heart pumping, along with adding in a quick ab burner! I’ve begun to finish off most workouts with a plank to failure also.
3. Always engage your core
If it’s leg day, make a conscious effort before squatting, to pull that rib cage in, squeeze those glutes and get tight. If it’s arms, do the same! This will engage and work your abdominals the entire time.
4. Try to eat prominently clean
They say abs start in the kitchen, this is true!
But I'm not always the cleanest eater, I don’t live off lettuce, and you don’t need to starve yourself!
5. I was surprised at how much my skin did naturally come in as I lost weight
I set myself a physique goal and once I reached that goal, about a week and a bit ago I went and had a skin tightening procedure. But until then, it's all been pretty natural.
6. Patience
Trust your body, document your progress photographically every 4 weeks to help you track your progress which will add motivation!
7. Love yourself, believe in your strength!
"I was smiling and wearing a pretty dress, the first one I had dared to put on in almost a year, I looked happy to everyone else, but I could see through that smile.
"I was hurting, I was lost, I was yearning for energy and adventure, I was yearning to be able to run around after Ocean and not tire or puff, I didn't want to struggle to pick something up off the ground when I dropped it anymore.
"I had attempted to work out a few times earlier but always failed. it just hurt too much and I was so tired or busy.
"But then I realised that the pain of my current situation was way more painful than a sore 30 minutes workout.
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"Something clicked and I realised I had to choose this, even when I don't want to, because I didn't want this to be my life, this wasn't me."
So, she started doing 30 minute home workouts three times a week, and began watching her calories.
Ely spent a year following Kayla Itsines' Bikini Body Guide programme, before training at Rest Based Training (RBT) gym where she said she learnt a valuable piece of advice.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, her trainer told her, became successful after learning that "his body was one smart son of a gun...after one workout, he realised his body was ready for that exact workout again, so he had to constantly SHOCK his body, change it up, surprise it, and that’s how he saw such fast, drastically different results".
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So that's what Ely did to blast her body.
"I’m so glad I shocked my body the way I did, and pushed through the pain, exhaustion and lack of motivation at times, it took me a year to start the journey after having Ocean, but better then than never."
But her transformation was about a lot more than purely physical goals.
"I never did it to look a particular way, in the beginning anyway, I did it to feel a particular way," Ely said.
"I have loose skin, cellulite, and stretch marks - no matter how fit I continue to get.
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"People ask how I'm so confident with them and how I love them now and its because I got healthy, I lost my weight, I got fit and I now love my life and my body, so all of those things don't really matter to me...having those marks while feeling energetic and fit is way better than being depressed and not being able to use my body the way I want to."
Ely, who has shot to hanging on to her body positivity and fitness tips, said that a lot of pressure on new mums to get back to their pre-body shape is internalised.
"There was no one around me telling me to lose it, and the people I saw on social media weren't telling me to lose it when they posted a harmless bikini photo in their tight, smooth skin, wearing their rock hard abs - I was seeing those photos and looking down at myself and my circumstances and shaming myself," Ely said.
"I just needed to see more photos of women who had been where I was then being confident and fit, but I wasn't seeing it anywhere, hence the goal behind my Instagram account.
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"I want to give women hope because I had none, for an entire year. I didn't think I would be where I am today ever.
"If I had seen more of what I post from others back then, I might have been here a lot faster."
So, what's the one piece of advice that Ely would give to other new mums struggling to come to terms with their bodies?
"Don't shame yourself, don't be hard on yourself - you've just birthed a baby!
"Whether you have gained weight, or gained loose skin, stretch marks or cellulite, whether your boobs are saggy or too big, you made a human.
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"Not everyone is blessed to be able to do that, not everyone can use their bodies the way that we can.
"My biggest advice is to give yourself time and grace, which is that thing you ask for when you mess up.
"Us mums all know this way too well. Guilt is our next door neighbour now, we speak to him frequently - we don't need any more of that.
"Just remember, if we look after ourselves, we become better mums for it."
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