Q&A with Healthy Mummy founder Rhian Allen and her top tips for health and weight loss
Want to kickstart your health and weight loss? Want to get to know Healthy Mummy founder Rhian Allen?
We had a Q&A sessionย with Rhian herself, hereโs what she had to say about losing weight, staying healthy, sticking to a budget and her favourite recipes!
Q&A with Rhian Allen!
What gave you the idea to create the now-successful Healthy Mummy website?
I started The Healthy Mummy in 2010 when I was pregnant with my first child. I was working in corporate media and realised that there was nothing out there for mums who wanted to lose weight and get healthy after having their kids on a national level.
So I quit my stressful, 12 year career, sold my house and invested everything to make a mum-friendly, healthy and sustainable program which places mums as NUMBER 1.
It started off with just a few hundred mums using our programs on Facebook.ย But now in 2018, there areย overย 1.5 MILLION mumsย in our awesome Healthy Mummy community who are getting healthier and losing weight with our massive range of products, including the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge andย Healthy Mummy Smoothies (COMING SOON TO THE U.K! Read more HERE).
What is the aim, apart from obviously weight loss,ย of your Healthy Mummy program?
We are all about empowering mums to live a healthy life with their families. Itโs not all about going to the gym every day and trying the latest superfoods, itโs about cooking healthy, family-friendly meals that are affordable too and being able to play and be active with your kids.
The recipes and exercises areย put together for new mums, but could anyone follow thisย program with success?
Anyone can follow this program whether youโre a new mum or not! If youโre breastfeeding, you should aim to add an extra 500 calories (2200 kilojoules) on top of your usual energy needs as your body burns up a lot of energy when youโre producing breast milk. Have a few more snacks, a smoothie or up your portion size for main meals.
Why a 28 day plan?
On our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, you can expect to lose weight in a healthy way. Itโs about gradual, sustainable weight loss and being healthy without depriving yourself rather than an immediate quick fix like lots of unhealthy fad diets.
How do keen mums get started?
When youโre ready to start losing weight and taking control of your health, the first thing to do is calculate your BMR. This number indicates how much you can eat and still lose weight and stay healthy. To work that out, the formula for women is:
655 + (9.6 x your weight in kg) + (1.9 x your height in cm) โ (6.8 x your age in years)
Then to work out your total daily calorie needs, you need to multiply your BMR by the activity factor that suits your lifestyle.
- If you do little/no exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.1
- If youโre a light exerciser (sports 1-3 days per week) multiply your BMR by 1.275
- If youโre moderately active (sports 3-5 days a week) multiply your BMR by 1.35
- If youโre very active (sport 6-7 days per week) multiply your BMR by 1.525.
That figure is the total number of daily calories you need to maintain your current weight so before you start the 28 day plan, reduce this figure by 10-15 per cent to calculate how many calories you should aim to consume each day to lose weight. As always, this is just a guide so if you feel hungry, eat and if youโre not, donโt!
Read more about it, and use our online calculator forย BMR here.
What is the key to setting goals?
I LOVE using SMART goals. Keep these five things in mind before you start your journey:
Specific- say โI want to lose 10 poundsโ rather than just โI want to lose weight.โ
Measurable- aim for โIโll go to bed at 9pm every nightโ rather than โIโll go to bed earlier.โ
Attainable- keep it realistic and say โI will walk 30 minutes a dayโ instead of โI will exercise for 4 hours every day.โ
Relevant- โI will fit into my wedding dressโ rather than โI wonโt eat Nutella from the jar anymore.โ
Time-bound- โI want to lose a stone by Christmasโ instead of โI want to lose weight fastโ
What are your three top tips for timesaving and planning?
1. Start early
I wake up before everyone else so I can fit in a workout before it all gets hectic with work meetings, school drop-off and all the other distractions!
2. Meal prepping makes life so much easier!
I like to do a big cook-up on the weekends and freeze 28 Day Weight Loss Challengeย meals so that on the nights I donโt have time to cook I can pull out a healthy, family-friendly meal and have it on the table in minutes.
3. Keep a diary
Writing down your goals and seeing them will keep you accountable so you can track your weight loss and health.
What are your three top tips to stay on a budget?
1. Use a list when you do your grocery shopping and stick to it.
Take note of what you already have in your fridge, freezer and pantry and remember you can always swap ingredients for what you already have.
2. Buy in bulk
You can save money by buying large amounts of certain ingredients like meats, frozen fruit and veggies, pasta, rice and tinned goods.
3. Shop online!
If youโre often tempted by the unhealthy things you see on special, you can avoid being impulsive with your purchases. Itโll save time and money as you can compare prices and you donโt even need to leave the house!
Tell us five things that are in your fridge now
- Avocados- avocado on toast is probably one of my favourite ways to start the day!
- Spinach- great to put in smoothies as well as salads and pasta dishes.
- Mince beef- the Mexican Lasagne is a big favourite in our house!
- Eggs- you can hard boil them for a snack or use them for tasty egg sandwiches.
- Frozen berries- delicious in smoothies, desserts, and the strawberry cheesecake ice blocks from the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge!
What did you have for breakfast this morning?
As it was a busy day, I had a Healthy Mummy caramel smoothie with plain milk, banana, oats and a dash of maple syrup. Breakfast is such an important meal of the day and these smoothies are the perfect meal when youโre on the go!
Find out more about the U.K launch of the Healthy Mummy Smoothies HERE.
What is the last photo you took on your phone?
I took a selfie with me and my boys, I love spending time with my family, theyโre my number ones!
Are you ready to lose weight with the 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge?
Want access to thousands and thousands of healthy recipes to help you lose weight? Then be sure to check out our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge.
Ourย 28 Day Weight Loss Challengeย is a family-friendly, breastfeeding-safe program designed FOR MUMS to help them tackle their health and lose the baby weight.ย
Every week you are given a different meal plan to follow and eachย month we add 100+ NEW recipes to our Challenge Recipe Hub. That way, youโll never get bored and stay on weight loss track while digging into healthy, yummyย recipes.
Learn more about our 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge HERE.
