Fit Mama of the Week: Leigh

Our gorgeous new Fit Mama of the Week is Leigh!  When we heard how involved Leigh is with her children's day to day activities we were so impressed with how she has successfully balanced everything that that entails along with keeping fit!  I was ready to give her the title of Supermom of the Year!  My kids are also super busy as well and I have always found it so challenging to find energy to stay focused on my training.  Leigh is a big inspiration to me and I think she will be for you mamas too.  To stay motivated, Leigh turns to positive people who will support her and cheer her on.  We wanted to highlight this because making changes and being on this fitness journey isn't always easy.  Look for friends on a similar journey or look to our #fitfam community on FB and/or IG!  

Name/Age/Occupation?

Leigh and I'm 36 years old.  I am a stay at home mom.  

Do you have kids?  How old are they?

I have two very busy boys ages 8 & 5.

Have you always been into fitness?  If not, why did you start?

I have always been into sports, especially tennis.  I had loved weightlifting in the past, but wasn't too motivated to go to the gym after kids. In January of this year, my whole family joined Cal Fit (Sacramento area gym), and I decided to put everything into it.  Honestly I was highly motivated by Christelyn & Billy and their transformations as a couple.  I started changing my eating habits (and my family’s eating habits) and got my butt to the gym every day!

How do you continually keep yourself motivated to workout?  

I stay motivated by a few things:  
1) taking lots of progress pics 
2) following fitness accounts on instagram and facebook 
3) having friends that work out with me.

I take a lot of progress pics because it reminds me of how far I've come and and to remind myself to not give up despite any plateaus I think I may be at.  Also, once you get to a point of losing the initial weight, you get to a point of gaining more muscle and essentially tightening up. This part is hard because you can't rely on your scale....the changes are smaller than before. So I use progress pics to see those small changes. It helps me to stay on track and to not get disappointed by the number on the scale.

Having friends to work out with also helps me stay motivated. With my friends, we take classes at the gym together (Group Strength Training & Xbike are our favorites). We also text each other to make sure we stay on track (and text each other when we strayed from being on track!).

How do you balance  taking care of you home and family AND staying fit?

Since I am a stay at home mom, I am aware that my children and I need a break from each other at least once a day.  It’s good for me, and it’s good for them.  They love the kids club at the gym we go to, so it makes it really easy to go to the gym with my kids.  My best advice for keeping a good balance is to remember to make your gym time like an important meeting.  Bosses do NOT miss important meetings! Sometimes I even schedule it into my iPhone….seriously!  As a stay at home mom, I am able to constantly be in the classroom to help, as well as be there for fieldtrips, etc.; this keeps me super busy. My kids also have a crazy schedule that perhaps a lot of other moms can relate to.  I have two boys 8 & 5, and they are involved with sports year round. Baseball, basketball, football, soccer, swimming. Right now we have basketball (for my 8 yr old) and soccer (for my 5 yr old), and yes, I shuttle them around everywhere! But again as I've mentioned before, I schedule my gym time like an important meeting that I cannot miss.

Share with us what you would eat on a typical day.

I am still working on making better food choices.  The change in the kitchen just started in January of this year.  BUT, I generally like to start the day with oatmeal or an egg sandwich. I snack on nuts, fruits, or Greek yogurt during the day.  At night I try not to eat after 8pm.  I try to have the majority of carbs at breakfast or lunch, and try to keep my dinner filled with proteins and vegetables.

Favorite snack is Fage Vanilla Greek yogurt….yummmm! The kid’s favorite snack is probably apples and peanut butter or cheese sticks.

What are your fitness goals for this year?

My fitness goals have changed over the past months.  Originally it was a certain weight that I wanted to get to.  Now that I have been lifting weights more and more, I realize that the number on the scale isn't always the best goal.  My body is changing for the better, but my weight is staying the same in the past few months.  It’s a hard thing to do, but I am trying to not look at my goals in numbers, but rather by how my clothes fit and how my body feels.

What or who is your biggest inspiration?

My biggest inspirations are the fit mamas out there.  It’s hard to find the motivation everyday to workout.  Especially when your body has morphed into something that you don’t recognize after having kids/breastfeeding/not having the time to workout.  It takes one step in front of the other every day and eventually you will be off and running, and that weight will come off.  And I know, it’s harder for some mamas compared to others.  I watched moms give birth and bounce right back to their old shape….that wasn't me.  It took hard work EVERY DAY.  Making the choice for a chicken breast over a yummy pizza slice. Going to workout when all you want to do is close your eyes and take a breather because the kids have worn you DOWN. But if you get that workout in, and you push yourself a little harder each time, the results will come….and you will get some of your sanity back…lol! I call the gym “my therapy” for the day!

past

present :)

Thank you Leigh for sharing your fitness journey story with us and for sharing such inspiring words!  Congratulations on all of your amazing accomplishments not just on the weight loss but sticking with the game plan day in and day out!  We as moms all know this is not easy.  It takes a lot of hustle and it definitely is a daily grind.  But ALL of our Fit Mamas of the Week have proven that getting fit/staying healthy and balancing home life and the kids can be done in multiple ways. #BeInspired