Fit Mamas: Real moms reveal their fitness secrets (2024)

For busy moms, jump-starting an exercise routine can be daunting no matter how motivated you are. But physical fitness is good for you. Exercise has been linked to everything from cancer and diabetes prevention to improved energy and mood.

If you're a new mom, getting in shape can help you regain a sense of control over your body and your life. And in the years to come, exercise can help you deal with ongoing pressures of parenthood.

Need motivation? Dip into these stories of real moms who are getting in shape and making it work.

Meet the Fit Mamas

The at-home fitness mom
Anne Hengen
Age: 27
Home: Montreal, Canada
Child: Elliot, 5 months

During her pregnancy, Anne admits, "I did all the wrong things." She didn't exercise, and made bad food choices. After her son was born Anne was horrified to discover that she'd put on 66 pounds during her pregnancy. "Everyone was sure I would have a huge baby," she recalls, "But he was 7 pounds, 13 ounces. I was the big one!"

As soon as she could, Anne began exercising: She works out on an elliptical trainer and does Pilates at home. Today, she reports, "I've lost 21 pounds, and I can do a full sit-up again!"

Kira Dickson
Age: 28
Home: Baltimore
Child: Tyler, 11 months

A committed athlete, Kira was eager to begin working out as soon as she could after she gave birth to her daughter, Tyler. But how to exercise with a new baby? After doing some research, Kira found a workout that moms can do with their babies and strollers in tow.

Kira says Tyler enjoys the fresh air and the fellowship – and so does she. Today, Kira is a high school soccer and lacrosse coach, and is also training to become an instructor for the baby stroller workout program.

Janette Neves-Rivera
Age: 37
Home: San Francisco
Child: Kaliko, 16 months

Janette is a San Francisco firefighter, so she has to stay in shape, and one of the ways she does that is by hula dancing. For Janette, hula represents much more than a good workout– it provides a community, and a way to learn about and celebrate her Hawaiian heritage.

It's also a family affair: Her husband, also a firefighter, has taken up hula dancing too. They bring their baby, Kaliko, along to their weekly hula practice, and they hope he'll start dancing as soon as he's old enough.

The biker mom
Nicole Ringgold
Age: 33
Home: Bainbridge Island, Washington
Child: Cymone, 3 years old

Instead of jumping in the car every day to commute, Nicole straps on her bicycle helmet. She and her husband ride 4 miles with their daughter in the bike trailer (they drop the 3-year-old off at daycare along the way). "Every day, I push through my initial dread to step outside into the dark morning, inhale deeply, and plunge forward," says Nicole. "But I'm always glad I did – when I don't exercise for a few days, I feel lethargic and enter a couch potato state."

This summer the family is planning a two-week bike holiday, from Newport, Oregon, to Humboldt, California (about 300 miles).

The tennis mom
Karen Ritter
Age: 36
Home: Vallejo, California
Children: Natalie, 4 years old, and Rachel, 3 years old

Karen is a stay-at-home mother with two small daughters and a husband in graduate school, so time and money are both factors when choosing a fitness plan. Karen and her husband started playing tennis again after not playing since college.

"I'd love to take tennis lessons, but financially and timewise, that just isn't possible. So for now, we have our inexpensive tennis rackets and a couple of tennis balls, and we have a great time."

The marathon mom
Susan Motte
Age: 40
Home: Seattle
Children: Zach, 8 years old, and Gabe, 5 years old

Before having kids, Susan jogged occasionally, but not very far. After her second son was born, she decided she wanted to run again. "I was consistently 10 to 15 pounds overweight, and I just didn't feel good," she recalls. Susan started out slowly: First she signed up for a fun run – a 5k St. Paddy's Day dash. Next, she tackled a 10k, and then she signed up to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) about six months later.

Once that was under her belt, she decided to set the bar higher and ran a full marathon (26.2 miles), after a few months of training with friends. Today running is a regular part of her life. "I don't consider myself an über athlete, but I'm now a lot more confident to take on new challenges," she says. "I know I can push myself and succeed."

7 mom-friendly ways to get in shape

Keep it simple

If your exercise regime is too complicated, time-consuming, or expensive, you won't stick to it.

Nicole: My hectic work schedule prevented me from exercising regularly. Biking to work is the easiest way for me to integrate exercise into my daily routine. It's become my main mode of transportation. Not everyone can bike to work, of course, but you can do other things, like walking to the store or to school instead of always taking the car.

Anne: It's important to have a workout program that isn't too intimidating. I do the elliptical trainer for cardiovascular exercise, 20 minutes five times a week, and Pilates for 20 minutes five times a week. I have to be honest– I don't love working out, and I can't say I look forward to it, but it's doable and I've been able to stick with it.

Susan: The great thing about running is that you can just put on your shoes and go. I run three or four times a week, but the distance really varies, depending on my time. Sometimes I only run 2 miles (about 20 minutes). On a weekend when there's more time, I might do a 6- or a 9-mile run (about an hour to an hour and a half).

Take the kids

Anne: I take walks with the baby in the front pack whenever I can. We'll run an errand to the grocery store or post office. Elliot loves being in his carrier– he enjoys being in motion and being upright and seeing what's going on.

Janette: We bring the baby with us to hula practice every Sunday. My husband and I want the baby to be exposed to the Hawaiian culture, language, and music. He already knows some words. And he likes just being there and watching us dance.

Kira: After I had Tyler, I got some exercise DVDs, but they didn't include the baby. I had this infant who wanted to be held all the time: I couldn't just let her cry while I worked out. Then I discovered the baby buggy workout program. It's completely baby-friendly: We incorporate the kids into the routines.

For example, we'll all sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" while we're doing sit-ups, and we keep going until the song is over. It's great: I get the exercise I need to keep me sane, Tyler gets fresh air and entertainment, and I have the opportunity to make new friends and playmates for the baby.

Find a fitness buddy – or two

Susan: When I decided to do a half marathon, I trained with two other moms. We kept each other motivated, and when we finished, we decided to train for a full marathon. It was a very supportive way to do it. We'd take long runs every week and chat about our lives, kids, and work as we logged miles together.

Karen: I started getting back in shape with a couple of other friends, when my youngest was a year old. We formed a moms exercise club. We'd get together to walk or run for a half-hour a few times a week. Some days that was the only thing that got me out there– I'd have found an excuse not to go if there wasn't someone waiting for me."

Nicole: My friend talked me into doing a mini-triathlon. I'd never done anything like it before. I was biking on my own, but we would get together to run or swim, two or three times a week. That made it really fun and doable.

Set a goal

Janette: After Kaliko was born, I had a personal goal: I wanted to be able to fit into my firefighter uniform pants when I went back to work. I took six months off, and when it was time for me to go back, the pants actually fit!

Anne: It helped me to have a visual record of my progress, and a goal I was working toward. I made a simple chart of my weight loss over time and hung it up in the kitchen. I learned it was a mistake to weigh myself every day, because I got discouraged if there was no change in the scale. Now I weigh myself every Monday, and it's encouraging to see that I've dropped a pound or two.

Susan: When I first began running, it helped to have a goal: a race I'd signed up for. That gave me the motivation to schedule time away from the kids to train. I think my friends felt the same: We needed the intensity of a goal to motivate us and get us out there. Even now, if I don't find myself doing my three to four weekly runs, I look around to see if any events are coming up, because I know that will get me back on track.

Nicole: When I was training for the mini-triathlon and I was sure I would be able to finish, I set a different goal: I wanted to fit into a new outfit I'd bought. Halfway through the training, the outfit was too big. So I changed my goal: I was determined to finish in the top 100. I came in the top 50!

Keep it fun

Kira: For me, working out needs to be fun. That's why I like team sports – the interaction with other people. But being a stay-at-home mom gives me much less time for scheduled group exercise, unless I pay for a babysitter or wait until my husband comes home. So the baby stroller workout program has been the perfect, fun fitness solution for me.

Susan: Running with friends is fun. It's great getting a chance to have a long, uninterrupted conversation with adults – a rarity when you're the mom of two rambunctious boys!

Karen: My husband and I haven't played tennis in years, and we're both terrible. We mostly run around and chase after balls. But it's fun to be outside and it's fun to be together.

You don't have to be a jock

Susan: When I crossed the finish line of the marathon, I had an incredible sense of accomplishment. I have an image of a marathon runner: someone built like a gazelle, born to run– and that's not me. But I did it, and it felt great.

Nicole: I think it's so important to find an exercise program that works for you. It isn't about losing weight– it's about feeling better and more in control of your life again. Exercise will put you in a healthier space, whatever your fitness level may be.

Janette: For me that old saying was true: It took me nine months to gain the weight, and nine months to take it off again. I lost patience with that, but I also realized that losing weight wasn't the point. It's not about having flatter abs, because I certainly don't have those. It's about being healthy and feeling good about yourself.

It takes a village

Karen: When I play tennis with my friend Julie, my husband watches the kids. He likes me to exercise whenever I can, because he knows how good it makes me feel, so he's happy to watch the kids whenever I get the chance to work out.

Susan: When we were training for the marathon, some of the mothers we knew would watch our kids while we ran. And we all have really supportive husbands. They watched the kids on Saturday mornings when we did our long runs. We'd go early– at 5 or 6 a.m., and be back by 10. Sometimes we'd all get together for coffee after our training runs.

Nicole: On weekends my husband and I take turns. My husband exercises one day, and I exercise the other. He usually goes running, and I take a bike ride.

1. A better mood
   Kira: To me, exercise is as necessary as breathing. On the days when I don't get some kind of fitness activity, I feel like a lump: I crave that physical release of a hard soccer game or a relaxing walk. Getting some fresh air and physical activity makes me feel happier and lighter.
2. Kudos from your kids
   Nicole: I want to set a good example for my daughter, to show her that exercise and healthy eating are important aspects of life. The other day my husband biked with her back from daycare, and he took a route with lots of hills. He told her he might have to walk her up one large hill, and when he got to the top without having to get off his bike, she said, "Daddy, I'm so proud of you!"
3. Time for yourself
   Janette: After having a baby, I quickly learned that exercise was important for all of us. If I didn't put myself high on my list of priorities (and for me that means staying in shape), then I couldn't be a good mother to my baby.
4. More energy
   Karen: When I have the opportunity to exercise I think of all the other things I need to get done, and it's easy to talk myself out of it. I'll tell myself I'm too tired– but the fact is that exercise actually gives me more energy.
5. An expanded social circle
   Janette: I'm not a mom's group type of gal, but when I started working out, I met a great circle of moms. And we still get together and do things besides exercise.
6. A sense of control
   Nicole: When you have a baby, you feel completely out of control of your life. Everything changes overnight. For me, beginning to exercise and getting back in shape helped me regain a sense of self.
7. Peace of mind
   Susan: I'm an analytical person, and my head is often full of thoughts and issues. When I go on my runs, the spaghetti untangles and I'll have an idea about work, or about a problem one of the kids is having. Running is my meditation.