A Guide to Navigating Life As a Fit Mom

“How can she be so foolish?! Doesn’t she know running during pregnancy will hurt the baby?” “Excuse me mam, you should really take it easy. Lifting weights isn’t good for pregnant women”. “Wow, doesn’t she know that drinking coffee could cause her a miscarriage?!” “What a selfish woman, putting her vanity before the baby.” “I know a man who is a doctor and he said that what you’re doing is not healthy for you or your baby.”

Are you cringing yet? Then I suspect you are a mom and you’ve been bombarded with commentary such as this at least a dozen times before.

No matter what you do, if you’re a woman (especially a mother), you’re doing it wrong. “It” being anything at all, of course. If you’re overweight you’re doing it wrong. If you’re thin, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re not exercising during pregnancy, you’re hurting your unborn child. If you exercise during pregnancy, you’re hurting your unborn child. If you’re a mother, you find yourself questioning every single decision you make, not because you doubt yourself, but because you know the piranhas are out there waiting to shred your ideas and practices into bits and pieces. Rather than following her maternal instincts, a mother weighs her choices against the critics’ opinions – those critics being just about everyone, from close acquaintances to complete strangers.

So what is a mother to do? I actually have an answer for this in my three simple fit mom rules to live by.

1. Do WHATEVER it is that makes YOU feel good.  

You must be brave enough to follow your gut and make your own decisions based on what you know is right, because no matter what choices you make, they will always be wrong in the eyes of someone else. Learning to hold your ground is a giant step toward living a free life.

2. Ignore the OPINIONATERS 

If you’re always looking to do “the right thing”and win majority opinion, you will lose your SELF and be eaten up by the “opinionaters” (my term for those who will kill your spirit with their opinions if you let them).

During my first pregnancy, I maintained a fitness routine that included at least 4 days of spin classes per week, which I partnered with some light weight lifting, body weight training and stretching up until about four weeks before my daughter was born, at which point my body just told me to slow down. In exchange, I took 5+ mile walks with my husband, followed by a short series of lunges and squats, right up until delivery day. I didn’t have a single complication during my pregnancy, and I vaginally delivered a strong and healthy nine pound baby, who is today a toddler genius (if you ask her mom and dad  ).