Sweat Pink Spotlight: Healthy Moms Hangout On Air

Take us through a typical day in the life of Jennifer. My typical day starts with my kiddo and I getting up around 7am. We hang out for a few hours before I go to the gym around mid morning, because that’s when the kids corner at the gym is the least crowded. I train with my personal trainer three times a week (usually MWF) and then I do light cardio and abs on my two off days. I enjoy working out with a personal trainer, because they keep me motivated and typically push me further than what I would push myself on my own. After the gym the kiddo and I come home and I try to get some work done, because I work from home. Sometimes after the gym my son and I go and run errands or we do meet ups with a local moms group, which helps me have conversations that don’t involve the words, “Stop moving while I change your diaper!” or “Don’t grab the dog’s ear!” or “It’s not okay to grab your spoon and try to shove it down your throat. I don’t care if you are teething. I have teething rings for that!” Yeah…..that’s my day. 🙂

How do you make it all work? How can you work, run a household, spend time with your husband, and be a mother? I try to be flexible with myself. It took me a few months (my son is six months) to realize that I’m not going to get EVERYTHING done in one day. There might be a week that I go to the grocery store three times, because I forgot to get something for a recipe…..several times. I am very lucky to be able to work from home and I work for a company that pays for me to have a babysitter come to my house 3-4 times a week for three hrs at a time AND they cover expenses for me to bring a cleaning crew in to deep clean my house bi-weekly, so that HELPS A LOT!! My husband is active duty military and has deployed three times since we have been together these five years. It’s very important that we spend time together, especially now that we have a baby. He takes our son in the evenings when he is home from work and if we have a grandparent in town we often go to the gym together and I do his workout with him. Our date nights usually consist of us going out to eat and bringing our son with us.

How did you get started living a healthy lifestyle? I started in October 2011. I had just dropped my husband off to deploy to Afghanistan and I decided that I wasn’t happy with what I saw in the mirror. I had a good friend who was an amazing runner, so I literally just started running. After a few months of running and weight training on my own I decided to start working with a personal trainer. Best decision I could have made for myself. I lost weight, I got toned, and I didn’t stop even when I got pregnant. I spent my nine months training with my personal trainer and I only stopped running because I started getting contractions when I ran. Even when there was a possibility of me going into preterm labor, my doctor encouraged me to only tone down my workouts (i.e. lift less weight and stuff).

Where do you find inspiration for healthier recipes? Blogs. I get a lot of inspiration from blogs. If there are ingredients on there that I don’t like I try substitutes. I have Celiacs Disease so I have to do that a lot.

Was it hard to transition your family to clean eating? No. My husband and I agreed to do it together.

What were/are your biggest challenges in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and how do you overcome them? The biggest challenge has to be extended family. When we go and stay with other family members usually we have to go to the grocery store and pick up food that we will eat. Also, a lot of times my relatives or my husband’s relatives will buy every processed gluten free food out there thinking I will want to eat it. I almost dread the statement, “But it’s gluten free!!” I have to explain to a lot of people that we don’t really eat processed foods anymore, so don’t waste the money picking up gluten free crackers, cookies, boxed meals, etc.  The holidays are another challenge. I’m revamping my blog, so I will have A LOT of gluten free recipes for the holidays on there soon. I can’t promise they’re the healthiest ones, but at least you can enjoy green bean casserole and some desserts. I usually end up making my own holiday foods and taking them with me.

What was the best advice you received? What advice do you wish someone had given you? Best advice I’ve received is “you can’t out exercise a bad diet.”

Do you plan on introducing my son to gluten or keeping him gluten free? I go back and forth, but right now I don’t plan on it. We only cook gluten free at the house and we don’t eat fast food, so I don’t see a situation until he’s in school where I will have to worry about gluten with him.

How do you find the motivation to keep going each day? Coffee. Really good coffee.

How do you plan/prep meals for a busy family? I don’t really plan or prep meals anymore since I’m a work at home mom. I will prepare a chicken salad or a chicken and rice dish every week for my husband and I to have lunch off of, but that’s it. I’m sure once I go back to working full time meal prep will be back in full effect!