photo by Title Nine

So early last week I received an email announcement about a blow out sale for the Title Nine catalog in the Phoenix area.  I was very excited, I love the Title Nine catalog and usually drool over their merchandise.  Unfortunately this “not so wealthy” active mommy can’t always purchase these awesome active mommy clothes.  The promise of 60% off on their clearance merchandise led me to make the 45 minute trek immediately after work on the first day of the sale (hey I wanted to get the best selection!)

So, I picked up my son from his school and proceeded to fight the traffic to arrive at the amazing sale.  First mistake, making the trek to the location with my son eagerly in tow and no drinks, snacks, or diapers.  On the way, he became extremely excited to go to the Title Nine shop.  We arrived to an old Linen’s and Things store with boxes and boxes of clothes, swimsuits, shoes, sports bras, and accessories.  I was in heaven and so was my son.  It was a great wide open space with amble areas to hide, climb, and generally play around the store and mommy saw lots of outfits she had seen in the catalogs at much cheaper prices.  Needless to say, it was hard for mommy to dig through the bins to find those amazing deals, but I persevered!  Don’t get me wrong, I still found some great things, but I ended up chasing my son around most of the time.  I got some great workout clothes and even left with a new pair of shoes. 

Well, I ran around following my son while looking in the occasional bin and adding to my garbage bag full of clothes.  Honestly, they actually handed out garbage bags at the beginning of the store!  We eventually made our way to the makeshift dressing room, which was actually a sheet separating the back of the store from the rest.  It was a large area with lots of other women changing.  My son entertained the room with his random comments, including “mommy that doesn’t fit you,” “why are you trying that on mommy?.” and my favorite “mommy can I try that on?”   Unfortunately, we ended our time at the store with “mommy I have to go poopy,” we ended in the big boy bathroom with no extra diapers!  We survived and overall it was an exhausting shopping trip, but it tired my son out and I got some great deals.  Shopping with your child sans stroller, treats, sippy cup, etc is truly an adventure.  We improvised throughout the trip, having a granola bar from mommy’s purse and using the drinking fountain repeatadly during the hour.  The next day my son asked to return to the Title Nine shop, my husband nixed that idea, but I did make it back on Saturday for a quick trip to buy a new swim suit (just couldn’t do that with my son there).   Thanks Title Nine  for the entertainment and if you are looking for some great gear check them out!

photo by Rail Life

Today our family went to our first art festival with our son.  Now, I didn’t see a lot of the art, but I did get a chance to see things through my son’s eyes.  We got a lot of walking in with our son leading the way and dictating our travels.  We also got a good workout dancing to some great live music.  It is so important to introduce our children to different things, including different art forms, music, food, and activities. 

We started our day riding the “light rail,” Phoenix’s new commuter train that opened in December.  This was the third time our son has ridden the train, yet he had the same excitement that he had the first time.  We rode the train for about 15 minutes and ended up at the far end of the art festival.  The first hour we simply played by the water fountain and ate kettle korn (OK not the best thing for my diet, but delicious all the same).  Then, my son decided it was time to explore.  He was fascinated by other kids getting their face painted, enjoyed a booth of animal photography that was amazing, and gave the juggling street performer about five minutes of attention.  We soon found the children’s area where he was able to do arts and crafts and play with a bunch of pool “noddles.”  My son was disappointed that the noodles did not include a pool and began to search for a body of water.  We got some great exercise going down some stairs that served as an escalator and jumping back up those same stairs.  We ended our “children’s time” dancing to a trio of stings player and being fascinated by a cello.  On our way to find lunch he was given some stickers which he used to decorate his shirt and mommy.  We soon ended up at a Mediterranean restaurant staying healthy with chicken, humus, and pita bread.

Overall, the art festival was a new experience for all of us.  Allowing our son to lead the way, we were led by his desires and enjoyed the atmosphere and freedom to explore.  Other then the food we ate, the festival and three hours of entertainment were totally free.  I highly suggest researching your own community to get out and enjoy new activities.  In addition, the walking is a great workout and other kid’s activities usually get you dancing and active.

photo by Shirley77

So after writing about the importance of portion control, one of my readers mentioned the Flavor Magic Portion Control Sheets.  Like me, she heard about these interesting diet sheets through some friends.  According to the five people I have talked to about using the product, the sheets help them to reduce their portion size to the size of a deck of cards and flavor their meat too.  So, I am hoping to find out if others have tried this product and what they think.  To me, it seems like a great way to marinate meat and control your portion size?  The problem is: how do you also limit your portion size of side dishes?  I am looking for some feedback on this product and what others think about it.  It seems to only be available online and the website does give a lot of information.  If you have tried this product, please comment on how it works as a diet aid, for portion control, and/or about the taste of the different marinades.

photo by uhuru1701

As mothers, we are always looking for ways to cut back and control our portions.  I found a great slide show on msn.com that has great hints on easy ways to cut back on calories.  We have all heard about “America’s Portion Distortion,” it is important for us to set good examples for our children and watch what we are eating as well.  The slide show focuses on certain areas we add calories without even thinking about it.  There are two slides that really touch base with me, liquid calories!  I have a hard time just drinking water, I enjoy juice, soda, and sugary drinks (ie. Starbucks white chocolate mocha).  These drinks are a source of a lot of calories so I have been trying to drink unsweetened green tea and only one glass of a “tasty” drink during the day.  I have also added a glass of skim milk at dinner which satisfies my thirst and fills me up.  Overall, there are easy ways to cut hidden calories out of your diet without huge changes in your eating and drinking habits.   Check out the slide show on msn.com.

photo by Tasha Lawton

Recently, I got in touch with an Australian pilates instructor who specializes in pre and post-natal pilates and has her own site at Pregalates.com.  Tasha Lawton has dedicated her life to pilates fitness and helping other mom’s maintain their fitness and core body strength throughout their pregnancy and beyond.  Tasha has developed a series of pilates videos that focuses on each trimester of pregnancy and post-natal exercise, they are a great way for expectant mothers to maintain their fitness.  Interestingly enough, Tasha filmed these videos while she was pregnant with her own child, so she knew exactly what pregnant women are capable of!  I want to take this opportunity to let Tasha Lawton introduce herself to all of you “active mommies.”

Introducing Pilates Instructor Tasha Lawton:

Ok, who am I? Well, I’m a 33 year old everyday mum of two kids (5 and 3) with a passion for well-being and exercise just trying to create a balanced life. Along my road to discovery, I fell upon pilates roughly 9 years ago.

I will never forget the day I realized just how beneficial pilates is for pregnant women. I had been training a woman for her nine month term and at the end of a drug-free, 6 hour labour, she successfully managed to give birth naturally to a baby girl born posterior. Midwives believed pilates had made it possible to avoid intervention. That baby girl was my daughter.

I qualified as an instructor in both mat and studio exercises after fifteen hard months training with PICP (Pilates International) in Melbourne. My specialism was in ante and post-natal pilates and that led me to present on Australian national television for Pilates TV as their pregnancy expert. Since then, I’ve also appeared and demonstrated at national expos and on the radio.

Over the years of working with pregnant women, I realised that there weren’t any pilates for pregnancy DVDs on the market that featured a pregnant instructor. So when I fell pregnant with my second child, I decided to make the most of my situation and filmed four separate trimester specific pilates workouts. These dvds are now available for sale on my website: www.pregalates.com

My broader pilates experience includes training professional athletes including an AFL footballer suffering from a condition that he was told would only be cured by surgery. Six weeks later, he was injury free with no operation necessary.

It is my dream to make pilates a regular part of every pregnant woman’s preparation for birth and their ongoing recovery. I want to promote its benefits to as wide an audience as possible.”

Thank you to Tasha for sharing her story with all of us and being dedicated to helping pregnant women achieve maintain their fitness and core body strength.

photo by Bigcountry15

There are always many ways to workout.  As a mom, it is a struggle to workout and spend time with your child.  This past weekend my husband and I took my son to the zoo.  Now, walking around the zoo with my son is usually a workout.  We always start in a stroller, but quickly move on to him walking/running around the zoo.  We are members at our local zoo so he knows the area quite well.  I discovered this past weekend that our zoo actually has a fitness walk as part of it’s program.  This walk takes a certain path and has you do certain exercises at each stop.  It is a fun way to entertain your family, see the animals, and get a workout in.  Now, you don’t need a set schedule from your zoo, you can put in short bouts of exercise at each stop.  I found that doing lunges by the giraffes and doing squats by the rhinos may make you look funny; but it was well worth it!  Like usual, my son joined in and had a fun time exercising with mommy, now if I could only get my husband to take part!

I have also talked about the importance of group exercise.  If you are embarrassed to do push-ups by the monkeys alone, you can always enlist a friend to join you.  Our zoo also allows a local Stroller Strides to do group workouts at our zoo.  These early morning workouts are similar to other “mommy” workout groups, yet they mostly focus on fitness walking at different speeds.   Our zoo also has a great playground, we get out there and swing like the monkeys on the bars, do pull-ups like the apes, and run like the zebras.  If you pretend to be an animal with your child, he/she will enjoy it immensely and you will get a great workout.  Whether it be at the zoo or a local park, get out there and get moving.  There are no excuses to get a workout in while entertaining and spending time with your child.

photo by transverant

So I have been working very hard to lose the baby weight, while it has been a struggle the weight is slowly coming off.  I have been stuck at a plateau for a long time and I finally realized that while I was exercising religiously I needed to make a change in my diet.  Last week, I decided to focus on the South Beach Diet and cut out many of the carbs and processed foods.  My sister is actually on a gluten free diet, for health reasons, and had a lot of success losing weight and keeping it off and the South Beach diet is very similar.  I finally decided on doing a “modified” South Beach Diet, I focused on eating lean meats, cheese, and fresh fruits and vegetables.  I didn’t NOT cut out the fruits and vegetables that the diet suggests you cut out.  In one week I saw a difference in the scale, I lost a surprising five pounds in a week and a half!  What helped me to handle this diet?  I was pretty strict and healthful throughout the week and I cheated on the weekend.   Now when I say I cheated, I wasn’t terrible… my cheat on Saturday was a Starbucks coffee and my cheat on Sunday was a couple of bites of Cold Stone ice cream and a Girl Scout cookie after dinner.  Trust me, the little cheats made all the difference in keeping me on track.  So here is my suggestion, commit to a healthful eating pattern, but let yourself indulge a little on the weekend.  Just remember, it is only a little indulgement not going crazy!  Those little cheats can help you stay on track so that you don’t feel that you are depriving yourself of all your favorite foods.

photo by Shelly

In February, our StrollerFit group of moms focused on our Heart Health in honor of American Heart Month.  Most people do not know that the number one killer of women in America in heart disease. Children will only live what they know – monkey see, monkey do.  We, as parents, may wish we could instill the “do what we say, not what we do” premise, but our children will always aspire to be just like us.  What does this have to do with being “heart healthy”?  Plenty.  Children will not just learn their pleases & thank yous from us parents, they learn how to form lifestyle habits.  What you do every day reinforces to them that this is the right way to live.  Whether your day includes a half mile walk or two stops at McDonalds ~ your child takes it all in.  Moderate physical activity can help the heart get stronger.  Most people also find that exercise reduces stress and boosts energy levels. Regular physical activity also may lead to other important health advantages, including weight control, weight loss, better circulation and blood pressure, and lower cholesterol levels.  The American Heart Association has some great resources to help you learn about heart health and share the information with your family.  Check out the American Heart Association website for some fun games and activities for kids.

This month our Amazing Active Mommy of the month is Christie Bruner, she is one of my former swimmers who is dedicated to fitness and being a great mom.  Christie was an All-American swimmer at Truman State and now owns her own Strollerfit franchise in Florida.  Christie has some great ideas for active mommies and will also write an article for our blog this week about heart health. 

My name is Christie Bruner and I live in St Petersburg, FL.  I have lived here for six years with my husband, Dusty.  We were both college athletes and have always lived pretty active lives.  I received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science.  When we were blessed with our first baby three and a half years ago our lives just got turned upside down!!  Luckily I found a wonderful program called StrollerFit while I was still pregnant and started training to be an instructor as soon as my daughter was born.  StrollerFit is a great workout for new moms incorporating cardio & strength training all while providing a fun, developmental experience for the kids.  I bought the StrollerFit franchise when I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter, and I decided that this would be my stay-at-home career while my children were young.

1. How do you handle working and raising your children?

Since I own my business and work from home, it is so hard to separate “family time” from “work time”.  I have a three year old daughter and a 15 month old daughter – and I want to spend as much quality time with both of them as possible.  However, I do realize that it is because I have the opportunity to work from home and earn some extra income that I can spend my days with my kids.  I’ve been trying to really schedule my day out so that we have play time, meal time, and quiet time (mommy work time).  It’s a work in progress.

2. How do you live a fit life?

It is definitely a lot harder to live an active life after kids come along.  Before I had children, I would take advantage of the wonderful weather and environment that I live in daily.  St Petersburg, FL is full of parks, gardens, beaches and more that beckon you to roller-blade, swim, and run.  While I can’t participate in these activities at the drop of a hat anymore, I try to incorporate my family into these activities that I love so much.  Eating well is also a lot harder when you have to figure in children’s appetites.  I always have lots of fresh fruits and veggies on hand to offer as snacks (another perk of living in Florida!).  It’s almost easier for me to eat better now that I know that I have two precious girls watching my every move – I want to model a healthy lifestyle for them.

3.What is your favorite form of exercise and why?

I am so glad that my “sport of choice” was swimming when I was growing up.  I was fortunate enough to swim through college (shout out to Coach Colleen!) and on to a Masters team.  Swimming is truly a lifelong sport, and is so healthy for all people in all stages of life.  I don’t have the opportunity to swim all that much right now (our pool needs to have a daycare!), but I love it every opportunity I get.  Whether it’s been six days or six months since I last swam, I get such a total body workout each time.  Since I’ve been swimming for so long, I know how to tailor a workout to get the greatest benefits – whether I want to just get a great cardio workout (4 x 500s) or to focus on my core (25s dolphin kick on your side).

4. How do you motivate yourself?

Hard question – sometimes I don’t feel very motivated at all!  I teach five StrollerFit classes a week, and I think that really helps me get out of the house and get going.  I know that other moms are there counting on me, and I want to bring something new and exciting to them every day.  It makes me be accountable.  Again, I know that my girls are watching my every move and I don’t want them to remember mommy watching Oprah every day when they were growing up.  I want them to remember being outside, having fun and being active.  Making active play-dates also helps – instead of just meeting at a friend’s house (and inevitably watch TV), I’ll make plans to meet friends at the zoo, go for a walk or attend a dance class.

5. How do you encourage your children to be active? What activities do you do as a family to stay fit?

I’ve been involved with my business, StrollerFit, since before my first daughter was even born.  I began attending classes when she was five weeks, and started teaching when she was six months.  Since StrollerFit has always been a part of her life, and a part of my life as a mom, it has been easy to live an active lifestyle.  Both of my daughters have grown up accompanying me to class, watching moms workout and have fun.  They think of being active as an enjoyable part of life.  I am so thankful that I was able to raise them in an environment such as StrollerFit.  My girls are both busy-bodies and can’t sit still to watch a movie or do indoor activities for very long, so we are always outside playing.  We take family bike rides on the weekend, pack picnics to bring to the park, and spend afternoons playing Frisbee at the beach.  Being active has become a natural, easy part of our lives.

6. What advice do you havefor other moms on staying fit and active?

My biggest piece of advice is to find other moms in your area.  Before kids, moms usually don’t have any “mom friends”.  It is amazing how much your life changes after baby, and how your friends without kids just can’t relate.  If you can find a group of moms to bounce questions off of, get together for play-dates, and bond with – you will be a happier, healthier mom.  When you get together with other moms, you’ll be more likely to participate in fun activities that will keep everyone moving.  You’ll be able to motivate each other to stay busy and try new things.  Consistency is key for new moms as well.  If you can get on a schedule of working out – whether it’s going to the gym every day or just going for a walk after dinner with the family – once it’s part of your daily routine it’ll be easier to stick with.

Thank you Christie for all your wonderful advice and ideas, check back this week to read Christie’s article on heart health.  In addition, Strollerfit is a national chain and has franchises throughout the country.  If you are looking for other active mommies to workout with check them out: www.strollerfit.com

photo by Soja Martial Arts

I realized today that while I enjoy teaching pilates, it is hard to get a workout in while you are teaching.  Luckily,the advanced class I was teaching tonight allowed me to workout with them.  It was a great workout and we all enjoyed doing it together.  Group camaraderie is so important, most of the advanced students could easily do a workout on their own, yet they consistently attend class to get a workout together.  As their instructor, I challenge them to reach new goals and challenge their level of intensity, but truly working out together and motivating each other is their best energizer.  They laugh and groan together, but enjoy the company and the workout.  If you are having trouble getting motivated to workout find a class that interests you or a workout partner who will keep you moving.  I swear by pilates, if you are looking for a way to get rid of that mommy pouch, improve your other activities, and feel strong, pilates is for you.  There are two new mothers in the advanced class and they are losing their baby weight and toning up very quickly.  I know other moms who have committed to yoga who have had similar results, it really depends on the type of workout you want to get.  Whatever that workout is, stay active!

Other exciting news, I am being featured on http://workoutmommy.com for being “one fit mommy” please go to the site and check me out!