Australian health influencer Sophie Guidolin knows first-hand how hard it is to lose weight, especially after having babies. Guidolin, 34, shared a video of herself working out in a variety of different exercise outfits, reminding her followers how important it is to take time for themselves. ️Imagine how YOU could feel in 30 days?! You will never regret spending time working on YOU. Turn your time into your transformation 🙏,” she captioned the post. Here’s what Guidolin’s fitness regimen looks like, and her best advice for postpartum moms who want to get back into shape.
Guidolin overhauled her entire health and fitness regimen after gaining 66 pounds through pregnancy. “I gained almost 30 kgs through inactivity and poor nutritional choices, and also developed gestational diabetes,” she told Kidspot Australia. “I suffered from ‘gymtimidation’ and had absolutely no idea how to train when I started. I grew massive shoulders and carved obliques because they were the only body parts I knew how to train! I burned up hours on the treadmill in a bid to get leaner, and I was under-eating, although I didn’t know that at the time.”
Guidolin took up weight training, upped her calories from 1200 to 2500 a day, and couldn’t believe the results. “The rush I got from weight training was more than anything I had ever experienced,” she told Kidspot Australia. “I still love that feeling of completing a hard training session, and the body confidence that being strong brings. I also realized I could eat all the foods I loved and still achieve the physique I wanted. It was like a magic trick – all of a sudden, exercise transformed from a drudge to a passion, and I could eat anything I wanted. I now eat chocolate, burgers and ice-cream. I just track it and am aware of what I put into my body.”
Guidolin enjoys a balanced diet and tracks her macros to make sure she’s getting all the nutrients she needs. “By tracking your macros against your nutritional and body compositional goals, you can eat the foods you love and still get the body you want,” she tells Women Fitness. “First you work out your daily caloric intake, based on your body composition and activity level. Then you calculate your goal intake of fats, protein and carbs. Then you track your food (I use MyFitnessPal) to ensure you don’t over- and under-eat a particular macro. It’s a flexible way of mindfully eating, which allows me to eat out with my kids, travel without dietary restriction, and live lean year-round.”
Guidolin has sensible advice for women trying to get back into shape after having a baby. “Moms need food!” she tells Women Fitness. “Too often, moms will prioritize making a healthy lunchbox for their kids, pureeing organic vegetables for their babies or cooking a healthy dinner for the whole family… but then subsist during the day on coffee, muffins or the kids’ leftovers. You can’t train without energy, you won’t sleep well on a sugar roller-coaster, and you certainly won’t get the fitness and physique results you want without planning your food. It’s as simple as making yourself a lunchbox when you make the kids’. Or cooking a double batch of dinner, and storing single-serves in the fridge to ensure you’ve got a wholesome meal on hand.”
Guidolin credits her parents with giving the confidence to reach her goals and follow her dreams. “They truly believed that [I can do anything] and allowed me to not only believe it but make decisions with that as my entire life philosophy,” she told Kidspot Australia. “It’s why I don’t flinch when the alarm goes off – I have an opportunity to create the life and career I want, so I leap out of bed ready to conquer the day. My body transformation has been years in the making and started not with the goal of winning a trophy but to prove to myself and my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to.”