It's time we tell eachother the truth about motherhood.
Have you ever watched an adorable, well-lit mama-baby workout and thought to yourself…
Sure. That’s adorable. But it’s gotta be a joke.
Mmhmm. I see videos parents doing yoga with they’re adorable, crawling baby in lovely, grassy parks, and I wonder HOW did they train their baby to not crawl away?
And I get it… Babies are adorable. I’m a big believer that if you find something that works for you and your family, it’s important to share it.
But this is where we, as moms, can fail each other without knowing it.
When we only share the good – the beautiful, the “blessed” moments, the magical my-heart-is-so-full moments – we risk suggesting that our life is free of the struggles, frustrations and crazy-making that every human on this planet faces.
We risk making other moms wonder where did I go wrong?
I’m guilty of it too – I know I am. My theory? I think that we – as women, as mothers, as humans – don’t want to complain. We think we can handle it on our own. We think that if we share the ugly my-kid-just-shit-everywhere-and-then-I-literally-cried-over-spilt-(breast)milk-days, we’ll sound like a whiner… and we don’t want to bring anyone down into crazy town with us.
But here’s the magnificent thing about being human: While opening up about what we don’t know, where we have fallen or failed, how we are less than perfectly positive 100% of the time feels awkward and (for lack of a more sophisticated word) yucky, the act of sharing our vulnerabilities connects us.
Doesn’t that make your heart break and soften all at once?
Our vulnerabilities connect us.
Vulnerabilities make us human. Vulnerabilities grow our empathy muscle. Vulnerabilites allow us to nod along, admitting to one another “I’ve been there.” Vulnerabilites bring us into deeper, more authentic relationship with one another.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but over the last 18 months of mothering my sweet Max, I’ve found that we need one another in this season of life more than we know.
Now what does all of this have to do with a workout?
Well, this is my real life. The lighting’s never ideal, I’m rarely in “real” workout gear, but moving my body makes me feel slightly more sane, and I’m passionate about sharing the elements in my mind-body fitness wheelhouse that work… in spite of a pants-less toddler who refuses to leave my side.
For that reason, I’d love to share my real feelings about working out with a toddler, along with the incredible total-body workout that you can do on and around a stability ball (clearly, with a crazy toddler in tow.)
…and as you’ll hear, I can completely nerd out about the fitness intricacies and the training techniques. Rather than boring you with all of that, I’ll share more in your workout Cheat Sheet email. That way, you’ll know a little more about the super sets, compound movements and advantages of challenging your balance, but I’ll save you from those details here.
We’re all busy. We’re all slightly crazed. We’re all in this together, as long as we’re willing to genuinely open up with one another about the truth the threads our journeys.
Here’s a little piece of mine.
Whether you’re a recovering type-A person, like me, or you feel like you could just use a little more structure in your self-care routine, I’ve created a helpful workout cheat sheet for you, so you customize this very workout with clarity, confidence and compassion.
If you’re a busy parent who’s hellbent on serving your children the healthiest, organically grown, nutrient-rich food… yet you’re floundering when it comes to making your own healthy meals, you’ll find so much value in this recipe.
and the two go hand in hand. On a physical level, satiation prevents the discomfort of over-eating, mindless post-meal grazing, and cravings that distract you from your wellness goals. Satiation, the sense of satisfaction during and after a meal, happens when nourish our bodies with combinations of food that satisfy both our palate and our stomach. When we are satiated and feel like we received just enough, we are more likely to give our bodies a break between meals. Not only does this signal our nervous system to “rest and digest,” but it also facilitates healthy weight management/loss. Satiation gives us the opportunity to get to know our bodies again, to pay attention to true hunger signals, and to step back and remember what it feels like to be content with what is in this moment.
No. But, it will open the doors to satiation… and you have the option to walk through, giving yourself space to release patterns that no longer serve you. The satiation sensation grants you the space to pause just long enough for your mind to witness the “why” of particular desires, cravings and eating patterns. If you choose to open up to this awareness, whether you want to call it intuitive eating, mindfulness or simply “watching,” know that you will also give your hard working body the opportunity to rest and absorb all the goodness within your meal. In our impossibly fast, high-stress world, rest is an invaluable gift.
scooping up a handful of mixed nuts, mid-stride. You might be surprised by your answer, and if you’re open, that answer could lead you down a path toward a healthier, more mindful and more joy-filled way of eating. My hope for every woman working toward any goal, from baby-weight-loss to finding a purpose-filled career is that, as she works toward her goal, her strides bring her presence, joy and nourishment throughout her entire being.
‘s vegetarian bowl.
Are you a sweet or salty person?
And I’ll admit: I was afraid, coming off of the (breast-feeding friendly) cleanse that I did this Spring. I feared that I’d return to my eating-while-standing-with-my-baby-on-my-hip habits, grabbing whatever I could put together with one hand and hoping his extraordinarily long {and freakishly STRONG} arms wouldn’t intercept my next bite.
Don’t we all deserve a life filled with movement, nourishment, a little fun and a whole lot of compassion? Even when we’re tired… ESPECIALLY when we’re tired?
But it wasn’t just one walk or one healthy meal or one workout that got me there. It was a very simple, intentional plan that I stuck to… adjusted, stuck to… reassessed, and stayed committed to.
