We want to hear from you! If you've jumped on the bandwagon, you can inspire others to do the same. Whether you're a personal trainer or play Wii Fit with your kids, you're part of the family fitness revolution. If you've made fitness a priority for you and your family, we want to know about it. I want to feature your story, your successes, challenges, and tips.
All you have to do is answer these questions and email the answers to jennys@macaronikid.com. Please send a photo we can use, too.
Can't wait to hear from you and be inspired by YOUR story!
What is your name and what town are you from?
My name is Eileen Turner. I live in Pennsburg, PA. I am clinical social worker, personal trainer, yoga instructor, and BeachBody coach.
Who makes up your family?
My family includes myself, my husband and our daughter who is 15 months old.
Briefly, tell us your struggles.
I have always been into fitness and active. It wasn't until I had my daughter that I needed to actually lose weight. I found it a struggle to work around being a new mom with an infant (especially one who would only sleep if being held). It was also mentally challenging to have weight to lose and not see it happen over night!
What was the turning point that made you change the way you care for yourself?
My turning point happened about 4 months after I delivered. By then I had fully established my breastfeeding relationship. I just got to a point where I realized that I need to be creative in how I work out (meaning holding her while I work out and considering her resistance rather than weights). I slowly started educating myself and doing mommy and me workouts from YouTube. Then I found a fellow mom on Instagram who turned me on to Beach Body. I learned more about the program and the importance of having accountability. Through this mom, I made some other mom connections who were personal trainers and I decided to become one myself. I was experiencing how powerful exercise and nutrition were on stress and overall health. I got motivated to help other moms!
What actions did you take to become healthier?
To become healthier, I started working out daily and educating myself. Workouts included my kiddo and had to be time efficient, I got creative and learned to workout more intensely in a shorter period of time. I also started focusing on nutrition. While I was trying to get my body back after baby... I also needed to still keep up my milk supply. I got hooked on Shakeology and made this protein shake a part of my daily routine. I added heavier weights to my workout regime and got into PiYo... this combination is how I have toned up!
How have you implemented (or plan to) your new habits with your family?
I implement these healthy actions with my family by sharing my shakes with my daughter... sometimes that is the only way I can get veggies into her. Now she does not need to be held all of the time but I work out while she plays b/c I think it sets a good example for her. My husband is also super helpful and will take over so that I can get out of the house and go to a yoga class. We think it is a good example for our daughter to see that mommy needs some time to take care of herself as well.
