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For moms, looking good and feeling good can help many if not most aspects in life. Now we see these success stories all the time on Instagram, YouTube and even on talk shows. (Yes they still exist) For our company we see it all the time with moms of all ages and they become healthier and fitter than ever before. So how does someone become the quote on quote "Fitness Mom" and why its more than just a title. Let's look at some ways to get there. The fitness mom: 10 Tips to Get the Body You Always Wanted Getting the body you’ve always wanted is hard. It becomes even harder as you have children. Or does it? In working with many women, children or not, we have found that in most cases moms have a mental edge. That’s where we get the fitness mom. Why is that? I could only guess that having a child makes a mom mature more. Through pregnancy there is a change in hormones and the body itself. Mentally it can be draining day in and day out with morning sickness, aching back and hips and being fatigued. Then the baby comes and the sleepless nights. These all add up and then they grow up and have different challenges that are presented. Below we are diving into 10 proven tips that if implemented anyone especially moms can get the body they want. 1. Create an Eating Schedule Nothing happens by accident it’s not like one day somebody just wakes up and makes all the nutritional changes to be successful. It starts with scheduling meals. Prepping gives anyone who does it the edge. Why? If you have ever dieted then it’s not a shock when something goes out of order like being to tired to make food, being hungry and no other option but to stop somewhere to eat. These things happen but if there is food prepared for all your meals hunger becomes less of an issue, being too tired to make food becomes less of a problem because the food is already made. Picking a diet doesn’t matter. Contrary to what many coaches or many in the fitness industry are claiming that their diet is the best, it’s not the case. Nutrition comes down to digestion what someone can digest. If you prefer keto, carnivore, the vertical, plant based or whatever diet fits your needs. Truth is if meals are prepped success is so much higher. 2. Lift, Lift, Lift Do not spend hours doing cardio it serves no purpose to creating the body that is desired. Cardio is great for the heart and lungs as well as a calorie deficit. That’s where it ends. On the other hand lifting helps in the long game. First it helps build more contractile tissue. More muscle means the individual will have a higher Basal Metabolic Rate. In short it means more calorie burn throughout the day with added muscle. A few other reasons to lift is improved immune system, increased insulin sensitivity, physically stronger, better mobility, and support around the joints. What should a program look like? Let’s go through each one. Upper body and lower body splits are great if just starting out. Hit legs one day and upper body one day 2-4 days in a week. Utilizing only compound exercises for 1-3 sets at 5-10 reps. for those who are past this phase a push, pull, legs program may be better suited. In this one day there will be nothing but pushing exercises, such as, shoulder press, chest press and skull crushers. The next will be pulling: bent rows, seated rows, and lat pull downs. Next would be legs utilizing such as squatting, lunging or calf raises. Rep ranges now can be manipulated more with 5-30 and 1-5 sets. Then more advanced techniques such as HIT, mixed splits and so many other more advanced programs can become better utilized. 3. Add more Physical Activity Simply moving more will burn more calories and keep the body leaner. Gardening, house projects, cleaning the house, laundry and chasing after the kids can give the added activity requirements. Something that has been a game changer and eliminates cardio all together is walking for 10 minutes after every meal. Let’s start with how much physical activity can be accumulated through this method. Let’s say there are three meals eaten in a day and 10 minutes is walked 3x then we’re getting 30 minutes a day. Multiply that by 7 and we have 210 minutes of physical activity per week well over the 150 minutes that is suggested for the week. On top of this the glucose spike is mitigated by doing these walks. Therefore activity is met and cardio isn’t needed. 4. Do not Drink Your Calories Far too many times Starbucks isn’t even added into the calories or macros for the day. 300-800 calories extra can make a huge difference in getting to goals, while taking the person farther from the intended goal. Many times if drinks are calculated in the calories and macros then the micronutrients start suffering and it becomes harder to stay healthy. Best thing that can be done is to drink things that will help with macros and micronutrients. This can simply be milk, cranberry juice or orange juice. These all have micronutrients that are needed for overall health. Furthermore they all fit into macros. Be wise about what is drank and how it affects the body not just how it tastes. 5. Have Lower Calorie Snacks on Hand We don’t have to cut snacking out. The worst thing that happens when losing weight or simply cutting body fat is hunger. Being hungry sucks and even worse it messes with our hormones making us even hungrier. Having snacks prepared for times meals are not available can be the difference between succeeding and falling short. Many of these are used in short durations as weight loss and cutting phases are short lived. Let’s jump into some really helpful snacks. Popcorn is something that can replace potato chips and things that are similar. The popcorn has to be low fat ie Smart Pop. Are you a soda drinker substituting that with Zevia. It’s a zero calorie drink that can be tasty and even more so it can be tastier when hungry. Jello is another hit. With sugar free jello being so low in calories literally two packets can be eaten and that’s only 40 calories. Finding the best snacks for you can make the journey a lot easier. 6. Drink water Water helps many areas and with much of the world’s population being dehydrated adding this can be a great supplement added, providing energy and a clear mind. Helps maintain a healthy weight and eliminates phantom hunger which is caused by dehydration. Water flushes out toxins keeping the kidneys healthy and functional, while improving skin and maintaining regular bowel movements. Water has many benefits and it really isn’t utilized that well. 7. Regular Sleep Sleep is just as important as all the dieting, all of the workouts and all of the hacks. In many cases it is more important with regulating hormones, body fat and recovery. If you’re waking up to workout and losing sleep then stop it. Sleep is more important so either go to bed earlier and wake up early or simply workout later. We all make our schedules and depriving ourselves of sleep can lead to some rather unsavory health issues. 8. Hire A Coach I am not saying this because I’m a coach but because our coaches have coaches. In the fitness industry we all learn from each other. We see things that our clients do not. A coach can create a plan centered on the person’s lifestyle and adapt the program as the client changes. Getting to a goal is easy but maintaining can be difficult. Having someone who can help through plateaus and uncertainty will alleviate a lot of stress. Plus results will come so much faster. 9. Take care of yourself So many instances mom’s put everyone ahead of themselves and the best way to take care of everyone is to take care of you. Getting adequate sleep or at least as much as can be had depending on how old the kids are. Eating well helps everyone especially the kids. Having the children eat what mom’s eating will help them avoid pitfalls and understand mom is eating this way so should we. Sometimes easier said than done but getting everyone on board can help with long term success. 10. This isn’t Going to be Perfect There are great days, bad days and alright days that will come. The mindset should be geared to accept things will be up and down. Knowing things will be all over the place allows for expectations to be tempered. Following the above tips will help when things get bad and will push ahead progressing at a faster rate on the alright and great days.
“The Fitness Mom” is ultimately comfortable in her own skin and knows what her body functions best at. She takes care of herself so she is more equipped to take care of those she loves. She becomes more fulfilled and develops a higher level of self-efficacy. Fitness is not just determined off of looks or how well one can move a weight. There are mental, physical and emotional components that all factor in that have nothing to do with how well one exercises. The fitness mom is more than just hot mama.
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AuthorCasey Christianson Archives
January 2023
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