I have had the pleasure of personally working with hundreds of busy moms over the course of my fitness career.
WORKOUT? There’s no time! I can’t even go to the bathroom!
I love working with mothers. They are the most selfless clients I have ever worked with, almost to a fault. Honestly, I wish they would just be a little more selfish sometimes because if they aren’t healthy, then their entire family will go downhill. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look and feel better.
Many good mothers have a hard time when it comes to their fitness. In general, they tend to think that it’s okay to put all of their personal goals and desires aside as if they’re merely dust to be swept off the floor for the good of their friends and family. But in reality, moms are not as effective as they could be when deviating from a healthy lifestyle.
After all, a mom who doesn’t work out will not have the energy to keep her engine pumping 24/7.
Multi-Task Much?
In retrospect, I have identified the 5 anchors that hold most moms back from getting the sexier body they’ve dreamed about. Here they are, in no particular order:
Obstacle#1
– Too Many Missed Meals- Especially Breakfast!
Many moms work twenty four hours straight – dealing with the stresses of parenting and/or challenging careers. Mornings can be especially
difficult since most moms have to make breakfast for their children and husbands, drive their children to school, and even go to work themselves.
Set that alarm 5 minutes earlier and make it a point NEVER to miss breakfast!
So missing breakfast becomes a reality, often leading to a host of other missed meals and snacks throughout the day. This leads to depriving
yourself of a lean, toned body while also priming your body to overeat junk food later in the day, and storing ugly, unwanted fat, especially around your hips and midsection. Furthermore, this starvation protocol creates low levels of blood sugar which zaps your energy and leaves you feeling awfully sluggish the entire day.
Look- there’s always room for breakfast, you just need to make the time! Better yet, plan ahead. Prepare a breakfast high in lean protein and fiber, so you stay right on course.
One solution that’s worked really well for our clients is called PROGRADE LEAN It’s a tasty, nutritious, meal replacement shake that contains a whopping 35 grams of protein and 8 grams of fiber. What’s the best part about it? There’s NO room for excuses! All you need to do is put 2 scoops in water, mix, and enjoy. The Ultimate way for you to get all you need, for the busy mom who needs a good meal.
For more info, please click the link below:
Obstacle#2 – Failing To Make The Daily Workout Appointment
This one is simple, yet oh so powerful. Think about it- moms never miss an appointment for their kids. Why? It’s because they love them, and
stick to their appointments to keep their kids healthy.
Schedule your workouts and stick to them like they are a family obligation!
What would happen to your kids, if something went wrong with you? Do you really love your kids? If you did, then you’d also want to be religious about keep your appointments, especially the fitness ones. You’ll be just as religious with your appointments as with theirs because if you’re not healthy, in the long run you can’t keep them healthy either.
Scheduling is also important. You might like to workout in the afternoon, but with a very busy schedule, you’ll probably need to work out in the morning just like I do. This way the stresses of life do not get to you.
In my experience, most Moms work best when doing their workouts either first thing in the morning while the kids are still sleeping, or right after they drop their kids off at school. It seems that too many unexpected obstacles get in the way of an afternoon or evening workout for the typical mother. But, regardless of when the best time may be, just schedule it in and stick to it like it’s a family commitment!
Obstacle#3 – Too Much Mindless Snacking In The Kitchen During The Day
I can’t tell you how many times I have had a Mom who has “been following the nutrition plan” with limited success to later find out there were
some extra eats and treats in the mix. You know, I know what you’re talking about. It wasn’t that they were being dishonest about it- rather most people don’t count every snack, candy, or “piece” of food they eat (even if the piece ends up being an entire meal).
Think about it – how many people do you see randomly snacking? Now imagine how many times you have popped something in your mouth and haven’t logged it in and now you can see what’s going on. Right?
Many moms spend LOTS of time in the kitchen around tasty food all day- and they eat a lot more of it than they realize!
I know, I know- you have to sample the goods to know if it’s good. But, you need to understand that the occasional taste test can sabotage your fat loss goals.
Furthermore, moms get into trouble with the multiple snacks their children have, and of course it’s tough to pass on food when it’s always in your face. A couple goldfish here, a couple goldfish there, and before you know it you’ve just killed the entire bag of wonderful fishes sure to fatten your waistline.
My advice is to guard your mouth with lock and key. Ask yourself every time you bring something close to your lips the following question: “Will this help me burn fat and build muscle?”
If NO – then throw it away or leave it be, it just ain’t good for ya!
Obstacle#4 – Too Much Cardio While Pushing a Stroller
You need more time, since that’s not possible, then let’s make the way you use your time as efficient as possible. Interval training burns 9x more body fat than long and slow cardio for 45 minutes of your day. Aerobic training burns calories, but doesn’t increase your metabolism and burn fat as efficiently as interval training does. Also, the true power of interval training comes from the intensity of each work period.
Don’t get me wrong, moms should be active and it’s great to be outside and move with your kids. However, I wouldn’t want to see a bunch of moms hurling their child in their stroller, while the mom is trying to do a bunch of sprints. So hopefully you sacrifice some time for yourself, so you can run hard, and speed up your metabolism to burn all the fat you could ever imagine.
Honestly, how much intensity can your cardio workouts have when you are pushing a stroller?
Obstacle#5 – Too Many Glasses Of Wine In The Evening
Nobody wants to hear that a glass or two of wine at night is going to stop your fitness goals in its tracks. But alcohol is oh so bittersweet. It paralyzes the fat-burning process while at the same time creating fat within the body. Plus alcohol tends to lower inhibitions, meaning you don’t care about eating all that scrumptious junk food. Not good!
A couple glasses of wine per day is a your one-way ticket to cellulite city… sorry!
So I say “zip it” to all of those health experts who say: “consuming several glasses of wine a day is healthy because it has anti-oxidants and that keeps you from getting sick.” This is just a bunch of cheap talk from drunk doctors who are trying to convince themselves that it’s okay to drink regularly and keeps you healthy – it’s not by the way.
Fruit and veggies have more health and nutrition than all of the wine in the world, so we just need to cut the BS that wine is an integral part of a healthy diet and you need to start eating what really will get you to cut your waistline. Don’t forget, there’s always grapes.
Now, I want to be sensitive to those busy, hard-working moms who have a glass of wine at the end of the day to unwind and take some of the
load off of their shoulders, because I get that. But I also know there are easy ways to de-stress that don’t have such a negative effect on the way you look. Such activities are stretching, yoga, taking a bath, reading a book, etc.
So please remember – if you booze, you WON’T lose! (Fat that is!)