TV presenter and national treasure Katie Piper has launched a brand new diet plan – The Healthy Happy Mum Plan – following the birth of her second daughter. Little Penelope was born in December 2017, and since then Piper has lost an impressive two stone.
She says that the way she’s overhauled her lifestyle has had knock-on benefits for husband James and her two young daughters. She’s had the help of fitness expert Terri-Ann Nunns, and together they’ve launched a diet and lifestyle plan to help mums regain their former fitness levels after the birth of children.
It focuses on losing weight and getting fit in a way that’s healthy and sustainable – no crash dieting tips to be seen! Katie said: “Feeling ready [to return to exercise] is definitely not immediate, your body has gone through such a big change. I didn’t feel like I had to be slim straight after giving birth and everyone knows you’ve had a baby.”
She said the first time she went back to the gym was a disaster: “I felt rubbish, horrendous when I started exercising again I was so out of shape, my stomach was wobbling as I was running, it was horrible. But every journey you have to start at the bottom, and the best thing about starting at the bottom is it’s never going to get worse than this.”
Once given the all-clear from her doctor to start exercising post-childbirth, Katie says that she started off slow. Doing simple exercises on the living room floor meant that she was able to stay close to her little one as she started getting back in shape.
She’s also found ways to incorporate exercise into spending time with her little ones – which she says helps to cut down on what she calls ‘mum guilt’. “At the weekend at the park with Belle, I’d wear my gym kit instead of jeans and I’d sprint around and run around with Belle.” She says. “She didn’t see it as ‘Mummy’s gone to the gym’, she saw it as, ‘Mummy’s taking me to the park’.”
As well as the exercise component, The Healthy Happy Mum Plan involves following a healthy diet – but it’s one that allows mums to eat with the family as usual. By eating up to 1500 calories in one 8-hour window per day, mums can sit down to dinner and eat whatever the rest of the family has – they just cut down calorie intake at other times of the day.
Katie said: “At family mealtimes at about 5.30pm I’m cooking one thing for all of us, I’m not cooking diet food. I cook one meal for all of us to enjoy together, instead of me sitting there scrolling through Instagram or watching TV, and then that’s it I shut the kitchen up.”
If you’re looking to book a celebrity mum for a campaign or appearance, Katie could be just the person for the job. Her healthy attitude to shaping up post-baby is sure to be a real inspiration to other parents, and her bubbly personality will make sure every audience member warms to her immediately.