Fit Mom Confessionals Part Two
Over the summer I interviewed two of my favorite UK moms about how they balanced being pregnant and having children. Now that my son is here, I was curious to learn how one of the moms I interviewed keeps it together with her family, consulting company and fitness regime. I strongly believe in creating a "tribe" that inspires me and I hope I can do the same for them. Continue reading some of their fit mom tips to get your daily motivation.
Michaela
Discovering new things was a great way for me to stay on track. Exercising has always made me feel calm and happy, and at the same time, I get inspired with new projects, energised, and of course I feel positive. It’s fun, good for you, and it’s a powerful motivational tool (some people would pay thousands for that motivation from exercise).
I had always found working out and healthy eating relatively easy and I really do enjoy it. During pregnancy, even more so as I wanted a healthy body and mental preparation for a new born baby can never be under-estimated.
I have done Yoga in various forms for about 15 years, and I kept it up during pregnancy, and also discovered Pilates. I loved the results with Pilates – the strength, the lean muscle and it gave me a much stronger mind than Yoga. I ended up preferring Pilates over Yoga and now do classes with Sarah Dineen of 360 Fitness. We used to live in London, not far from stylish Chelsea and where buggy fitness is booming. Every green space is crammed with new mums any day of the week squatting and pushing, running and stepping.
I became a part of this buggy fit world when Mariella was 8 weeks old. I had a caesarean and had to wait for a proper sign off. Of course, it is very different to Pilates, getting the heart rate up very quickly, sharing stories with other newbie mamas outside, and setting unheard of challenges with the aim of returning to pre-pregnancy weight.
I also discovered so many great fitness classes that would allow you to take your baby. Anything from Zumba with Baby to Barre-Core with Baby. And I loved all of them. The trick is to take advantage of the time you have off as new mama, and working with baby’s sleeping and feeding times. I had that sorted pretty early on, as I am also a freelancer and had to return to work about three months after M was born. My life was baby, work and working out. I look back now (five years later) and wonder how I ever did it, but I did, and both me and baby were happy, healthy and I was in a good state of mind to make good decisions about work, life, and being a parent.
Traveling for work is unavoidable with me, so I schedule in workouts in my diary, plus I love how so many fitness workouts are available online, either via Youtube or a paid membership. One online workout that deserves a big plug is Sleek Technique. These two ex-professional ballet dancers took their unique fitness online for sleek, easy workouts that work. I used to book in for live online classes and have M in the background as I worked out with them.
Mariella has grown up around healthy eating, healthy choices, exercise, and I am gluten free because I have Coeliac Disease. While I don’t stop her from having gluten, she does understand what a healthy snack is, and that fresh air and exercise even for a little person are essential.
These days, at the age of five, it is Mariella who gets the Pilates mat out and asks to do a workout, and has her own little weights, and we go for a little person’s run and swim every week together. She even has her own workout kit.
She makes healthy choices too, with her food and her activities. She started big school last September and chose dance and gymnastics as her two afterschool clubs, and just loves PE.
The kid makes me laugh.
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