How It Works

• Medical authorities around the world recommend individuals take 10,000 steps a day to become or stay healthy.
• But the 10,000 step recommendation depends on your current health and fitness levels.
• If this is your first time returning to exercise since the birth of your baby and you have not exercised much in the past, you might find 5,000 steps or even less more realistic to start with.
• Regardless of your situation and condition, it’s best to start small.
• A good plan is to increase your steps by 500 steps each day until you reach the goal of 10,000 steps per day.
• Reaching these “bite-size” goals will allow you to go to bed every night knowing you’ll wake up the next morning one step closer to your dream weight.

• Meal Plans are personalised and we provide you with the optimum number of calories per day for you to shed fat without going hungry.
• We take into account your height, weight, age and whether you are breastfeeding.
• Everyone is different and this is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We do not believe in giving the same meal plan to a 70kg and a 130kg woman.
• Busy mums don’t have time to count calories so we’ve done it all for you. As you lose weight your requirements will change, so we adjust your meal plans accordingly.

We have some great stepping from home videos of alternatives in our members section when you sign up.

Once you get into step counting, you’ll find yourself looking for opportunities to walk more. It becomes a fun game and people are often surprised at how addictive it is! Soon making choices to be more active will become second nature. Here are some ideas to get started:

• Walk up and down stairs
• Vacuum cleaning
• Step while you clean the windows
• See how many steps you can do around the lounge room each TV ad
• Place laundry basket 10 meters away and hang out washing one piece at a time

• Place clean laundry basket in lounge room and put away clothes one at a time
• Call someone and step while you talk
• Step while brushing teeth
• Set an alarm to go off every hour. Step for 5 minutes
• Dance to your favorite music
• Walk around your local shopping centre 
• Hire a treadmill and watch TV or listen to music

• Pace whenever you’re standing around, e.g. while waiting for dinner to cook, while on the phone or brushing your teeth
• Step while you clean the house
• Do extra laps around the aisles when you shop 
• Take the bins out
• Play actively with your child

It is easier to make these choices when you have a motivational tool such as a pedometer or activity tracker reminding you how many steps you have done for the day.

Pedometers are powerful motivators! It’s very motivating to watch your steps add up throughout the day and they encourage you to move more.

• Pedometers are an excellent way to measure how many steps you actually take in a day and to remind you of how many steps you have done for the day. And what gets measured, gets managed.
• Being active stays top of mind rather than an afterthought.
• Pedometers can turn moving more and doing chores into a fun game to see how many steps you can sneak in doing different things throughout the day. Defeat your opponent (excess weight)! Our virtual walking challenges add to the fun.
• You’ll get immediate gratification. You can be happy knowing that every step is one step closer to losing weight.
• They let you be more flexible with your exercise and show that you don’t have to do it all in the one block.
• They are inexpensive and you'll receive a free pedometer worth $25 when you sign up.

Walking is one of the easiest ways to lose baby weight. It’s a gentle exercise that’s natural and safe - perfect for mums of all fitness levels. Along with burning calories and increasing your metabolism, walking releases endorphins which are the feel good hormones our body makes during exercise. These hormones give us feelings of well-being and also relieve stress and can help avoid any postpartum blues.

Other benefits of walking:

• Simple – anyone can put one foot in front of the other. You don’t need trendy classes, expensive gyms or complicated workouts. You need a simple routine you can build on week by week to make you stronger and fitter at a pace that you can manage.
• Bonding - walking is an exercise you can do with your baby. Most babies enjoy a ride in the pram or carrier, so if you have trouble settling your baby, taking a walk can not only make your baby happier, but is also likely to make you feel better. Your baby’s brain will be stimulated in the process by all the variety of sights and sounds during your daily walk. Walking can also help to increase the bond between you and your baby.
• Connecting - not only will you feel better physically, you might also combat those feelings of isolation that are common in the early days at home alone with a little baby.
• Flexible – if it’s too hard to carve out a 30 minute block for exercise, fitting in three ten-minute walks is just as effective.
• One tip to burn as many calories as you can in each short period of time by increasing the intensity - try walking faster and moving your arms.
• Social - walking can be a fun social event. Rather than catching up for a coffee with a friend, plan to go for a walk instead. You will both feel better. Walking with a friend also helps keep you accountable as you're less likely to let your friend down by not showing up. You may not even notice you're exercising when deep in conversation!
• Healing - helps with your cardiovascular fitness and recovery of the muscles that were stretched during pregnancy. Although if you've had significant DRAM (diastasis recti of the abdominal muscles or, more simply, a separation) it is important that you have a check of this with a physiotherapist or health care professional before you start a vigorous walking program.
• Preventative - walking can dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, osteoporosis, diabetes, high cholesterol and helps to clear artery-clogging plaque.

The early postnatal period is about rest, recovery and bonding with your new baby. This is the time to start your pelvic floor exercises. It is recommended that you wait until your six-week postnatal check before doing any exercise. Low-impact exercise such as walking is a good place to start easing into exercise. After your six week period, you should aim to increase your distance and speed gradually. Please watch out for any signs of a pelvic organ prolapse, which sometimes manifests as vaginal heaviness and worsens the longer you are on your feet. If you have any of these symptoms we recommend you visit a women's health physiotherapist or doctor as soon as possible.  

It is important to check with your physiotherapist, doctor, midwife or continence professional before returning to any exercise.

Our expert postnatal physiotherapist, Andrea, will give you some great tips for returning safely to exercise once you sign up.

• We created the challenges to help mums who find it hard to get motivated. The idea of that little extra reward for our training is often all we need to change “sitting” to “moving”!
• The challenges are designed for mums who find it hard to fit in the time to exercise. The challenges let you step on your own schedule at your own pace - whether that be walking, vacuuming, or shopping. You don’t need to carve out one big block of time, as every little bit counts.
• Our challenges are great for mums of all fitness levels.
• Our virtual challenges are perfect for you if you don’t have time to be part of a big event but still want to challenge yourself.
• Whether you walk with a friend, a group, or go it alone, our challenges will help you bring on the weight loss and boost your energy!
• It’s not all about losing weight. It’s about being healthy, having fun and feeling great.

• If 10,000 steps sounds overwhelming, don’t worry – you don’t have to do all the steps in one walk.
• You will naturally accumulate steps through your day to day activities, but to reach the 10,000 step goal, you may need to do a 30 minute walk as well.
• If you are at home with a new baby even 5,000 steps may be a better level to start with
• Start with a level that suits you with your end goal of taking 10,000 steps a day
• If it’s too hard to carve out a 30 minute block of time for a walk, three ten-minute walks is just as effective.
• Intensity is key - so walk as fast as you can, within your limit.