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Single Moms, Working Moms, Fit Moms! Eating Healthy is Easy!
Ever since I started having children, I was increasingly more intrigued by the idea of being a Fit Mom. I would run in the mornings around the man-made lake near our tiny apartment in Arizona. When my husband and I first had our oldest of three, I was not the most fit person you would see. You couldn’t actually tell that I worked out ever. I was on the other side of chubby, but not quite in shape yet. Being fit, especially after having children, has certainly come at a price. Many things were sacrificed along my way toward becoming the Nita Marquez that people see today. I am often asked if I was always athletic, or if I was always thin. No to both. I was athletic at eating when I was growing up, and I was made fun of for my weight, even by my own parents. Weight, food and diet were always either very foreign to me, or extremely unfriendly. I didn’t synergize well with this fitness lifestyle at first, so I learned to take baby steps, and for the amount of sacrifices, there are A LOT of baby steps involved. Likening this journey to that of a baby growing up, I will say this, you do have to learn to walk before you can start doing sprints, and that almost always starts out with a crawl.
As a mother who was married at one time, I had the luxury of a second adult in the household to ease the stress at moments of overwhelm. I had someone there at night telling me they love me, just like I do my children. The affections and praises of another adult make all the difference in the world when it comes to replenishing our energy stores. There is something to be said about being a mother in a two-parent household, even if it’s not picture-perfect, which mine wasn’t, it’s still an ease on the daily tasks of motherhood when someone else can take the kids to the amusement park or do something outside the house with the children so a mother can have peace, quiet and solitude, and of course, have another grown up say, “You’re doing great,” to make you feel appreciated and valued. It also gave me time to start focusing more on myself and my fitness goals for myself and my family.
After I became a single mom, I went through the jolting reality of how much that other adult’s presence in my life meant. Being a fit mom by then, yes, I certainly had an advantage in being already settled into some of my fitness habits, and it certainly helped my self-esteem to be getting into better shape even though I was a single mother of three. Most people expect that a woman falls apart physically in such scenarios. Still, I was by myself with these three, one of whom, is diabetic, my little infant son (now 9). It was harder than before to keep moving along so energetically on a daily basis, even though I had already built a lot of those fitness habits.
There was a point though, where I was finally able to make the correct adjustments that have come to be my hallmark as a fit mom today, the adjustments of efficiently living fit as a mother. There are many efficiency points in living the life of a fit mom, but all moms, especially fit moms, understand the value of making choices that help us capitalize on our most precious asset (aside from our kids, of course): TIME.
Integrating my family time with my fitness time was a great option for me, and evaluation of my life choices, helped me see how I could make more time available for both. Taking inventory of our personal choices is key. If you want to have the life of a fit mom, it’s about choices. Not that we won’t make mistakes, but taking inventory on ourselves helps us realize the places where perhaps our choices aren’t paying off. Being a fit mom isn’t as hard as it seems. Choices can make life efficient, and there are plenty of choices that help in streamlining our efforts for living the fit life and being a mom. I made the following adjustments in my life, and adapted to not only being a single mom, but also a mom who was more fit than ever!
1) Avoid nights out at the bars and happy hours. Why? Because for one, alcohol makes you fat, whether people want to admit it to themselves or not, and two, that time spent would cost me more time in the gym and it was already taking time away, so it’s a double-whammy.
2) Take the kids to the track or the park instead of to the movies and McFastFood. Being active at these places helps make life the fit mom more fit, the kids get more fit, and when they see you doing sprints or even racing with them, they are not only with witnessing that their mom totally rocks, but they are gaining a totally different type of bond with us if they grow up with that image instead of the images of sitting around a TV eating junk food. How do we fit moms really want our kids to remember their childhood? Let them go to the gym with you, if you have that ability, or go for walks or bike rides. Fit mom time made family time creates a completely different bond with us to our children.
3) Cook foods and meals that are fast and easy AND fit! It’s possible. I started coming up with these quirky little quickie recipes because I never liked cooking in the first place. I was more of a salad and sandwich mom when I was married. However, I did have a Foreman Grill. With that thing, I can cook meats from the frozen state , and have a meal in less than ten minutes, with only a couple of minutes of prep time. I have begun posting some of those recipes that my children like and I benefit from the healthiness of because everything I make in my 3-minute-or-less prep time recipes is low-sodium, low-fat, low-carb, and high-protein. This is great because all of these recipes are already tasty and the taste can be even more enhanced with your favorite spices, sauces, yet still stimulate your metabolism (your body’s ability to burn fat).
You can find some of my 3-minute-or-less prep time recipes on my YouTube channel, fitnita.
One sacrifice you do NOT have to make in living the fitness lifestyle is family. There are a lot of Fit Moms out there who have learned to maintain their fitness lifestyles while still managing to keep the family first. Learn more about family-first fitness here at www.NitasWorld.com and we now have a group of moms who have come together to support each other. Find out about joining the group at the America’s Hottest Fit Moms site page.
Here are some links to my yummie (but slightly cheesy) Fit Mom 3-Minutes-or-Less prep time recipes:
Tilapia Tacos Part 1 (you could use chicken in this process as well!)
Lentils (My son Quinn is in this video too! Funny!)
There you have it America’s Hottest Fit Moms and friends, fitness lifestyle made easy. Don’t forget to comment on this blog so I know how helpful it is for you! I will always adhere to the readers interests, so keep me updated on what YOU want!
Be well. Be You. Be PHENOMENAL! You are Worth the Work!
-Nita Lee Marquez
