Hot Mom, Here I Come!

I want to be a hot mom.  I don't mean skinny, let's get that straight.  I don't care about numbers on a scale.  I also don't mean I want to look good for someone that has three kids.  I want to get rid of that "for someone that has three kids" qualifier.  I mean I want to be HOT.  I want to be sleek and strong and fast.  I want my husband's jaw to drop when I get dolled up for a night out without the kids.  I want to be the kind of woman that other people look at and think, "Wow, she must work out."  I don't want to jiggle, I want to strut! I already know that my body is capable of amazing feats.  I have grown babies and birthed them all by myself.  So now, I want to be the best ME I can be.

Just to clarify, I am not completely shallow.  I also want to be able to keep up with my active boys, and set a great example for them, too.  But most of all, I want to do this for me.

When Caleb was born, I set a goal to be a hot mom by the time I turned 30 (14 months after his birth).  I knew this was a big, lofty goal, especially because I hate exercise and love eating.  However, I figured I had plenty of time. Well, having three kids has been a little more hectic than I anticipated, and I didn't really do much to meet that goal for the first nine months of his life.  I lost the baby belly and even a few extra pounds by walking and counting calories, but I was just back to my pre-baby self.  That was okay, but it wasn't fabulous.  It was NOT hot mom status, for sure.  I heard a great phrase on TV the other night - "sweat pants purgatory."  That pretty much sums up where I was - too caught up in the hustle and bustle of three kids to really devote much effort to my goals.  I also used the excuse that breastfeeding uses up about 5,000 calories a day, so I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted (this is not true, by the way, it was just what I told myself.  Breastfeeding does burn calories, but not that many!).  So life went on, and I stayed where I was physically, back in my pre-baby clothes as long as I did the "after-the-dryer jean stretches" before leaving my bedroom, but not jiggling any less.

When we found out we were moving to Jacksonville for a few months before heading to Japan, I immediately thought I should push back my goal.  I surely wouldn't be able to achieve hot mom status with our life so much up in the air.  I knew it was just an excuse, but then I reminded myself that I looked pretty good for having three kids.  I was walking Sammy to school a few days a week (a little over a mile round trip), so I was exercising, right?  I pretty much talked myself out of my goal.

Then I started reconnecting with Jacksonville friends.  I saw that they were all going to a class called Stroller Strength, and they were definitely hot moms.  After Gabriel (baby #2) was born, I went to a similar class called StrollerFit and got in pretty good shape, so I was intrigued.  Then I found out that there was an eight week fitness challenge through Stroller Strength that my friends were doing.  I thought that this was the perfect motivator to get me to work out twice a week to give me that little push I needed, and the timing was perfect.

That challenge started four weeks ago, and it has been lifestyle-changing.  This class is no joke, and it's much more involved than a simple stroller workout twice a week.  Here's a picture of our leader, Joan Dandeneau.

Yeah, she is hardcore to the core.  I should also mention that she has three kids who are not much older than mine.  Just the sight of this ultimate hot mom made me want to quit before I started.  I went to the registration and discovered that this was serious business, much more than an exercise class.  This was Biggest Loser meets bootcamp.  Here's how it works. All the moms are put into teams.  On Day 1, we would be weighed-in, measured, and then complete various fitness tests that we would re-test at the halfway and final testing days.  Clean eating would be emphasized and encouraged throughout the challenge, meaning you eat whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible.  You are also supposed to focus on eating 6 small meals a day.  Each member logs their food intake and exercise each day on a spreadsheet that the whole team shares.  Stop. Hold the phone.  That piece of the challenge really bugged me.  I couldn't do this!  Everyone was going to see how much I shovel into my mouth, and they were about to find out just how lazy I am??  There was something about prizes for teams and individuals at the end, but I couldn't get past the team logs part to really care about that.

Something in me decided to suck it up and try it out.  I went to the first day and was pretty disappointed to find out just how out of shape I was.  I just about died trying to keep up with the other moms, who were definitely hotties.  They were fast and strong and amazing to watch.  They were exactly what I wanted to be!

I continued going to class twice a week, which is at least an hour and a half of very intense cardio and strength training.  We run.  A lot.  Then we run some more, but this time we include lunges with weights and push ups and other really hard things in between laps.  I'm dead by the end of the warm up, but I know I need it.  I look around at the hot moms I'm working out with, and I make myself keep going so that someday I can look like them.

I've even added a few extra workouts on my own during the week, mostly running a mile or two and doing some strength training with dumbbells.  If you know me at all, you probably think I'm lying here.  I don't run unless I'm being chased, and even then I hate it.  I swear that this time it's true.  I'm working out because I want to, and I want to be sure I keep up with my team.

I have also drastically changed how I eat.  I like this clean eating stuff!  I've been trying to eat organically for the last few years, but I've really cut out the amount of processed food and chemicals I've been eating.  Yes, the cupcake demon is still alive and well inside me, screaming at me to eat cookies and brownies and french fries.  I have been able to resist for the most part, and I've cleaned up my recipes.  And when this challenge is over, I'll allow a splurge here or there.  In the meantime, it feels so good to write that in my logs for my team to see and comment on.

Joan is a brilliant lady.  Her idea of putting us on teams and working so closely with them is genius.  I was afraid of this part of the challenge, but it is now my favorite aspect of it.  Being part of a team makes all the difference by holding me accountable and motivating me at the same time.  I saw great results at the halfway point, both in my measurements and on the fitness tests, and it feels amazing.  I look forward to testing again in a month.  

I think I can safely say that when I set the goal of becoming a hot mom, I had no intention of actually meeting it.  I would never have pushed myself out of my comfort zone and off of my couch without this class.  Now I know that by the time the big 3-0 rolls around in January, I'll be a hot mom.  I'm already on my way.  So watch out, Japan, hope you're ready for me!! 

To learn more about Joan and Stroller Strength, click here.

For great clean eating recipes and ideas, check out this blog.

On the road again...

This has been one crazy summer!  When it comes to life in the military, the only thing you can really plan on is not being able to plan on much.  The past few months have been a perfect example of this.  We left San Diego on really short notice and are temporarily in Jacksonville, Florida.  In January, we are moving to Japan, courtesy of the US Navy!  It’s a very exciting, although a little bit daunting, change in our lives.

Parenting is complicated enough, but adding an international move to the mix adds a whole new set of challenges.  Our movers came three days after my husband got his written orders for Japan, so our world was turned upside down pretty fast.  Our children watched their belongings get packed up and either sent to storage or across the Pacific, and we didn’t have much time to say farewells to our San Diego friends.  The past month has been filled with a lot of paperwork that has required our attention and time like passport applications and medical screenings, and the kids had to be dragged along for all of it.

I thought my kids would turn into wild hooligans in response to all the changes swirling around them, especially at the rushed circumstances, but they are handling the move surprisingly well.  We even survived a three-day drive from California to Florida!

My oldest son Sammy was starting kindergarten this year, and he is attending the neighborhood school in Jacksonville knowing that he’ll just be there for the first semester.  I was so proud of him on the first day, not just because my baby had grown into a big kid, but also because he gave me a hug then, with a smile on his face, walked right into his new school, with new kids and new teachers.  Gabriel, our two year old, started preschool with the same courageous, positive attitude.

My children’s resilience amazes me, but I still feel a little guilty knowing that they will be uprooted again in just a few months.  I cringed when Sammy mentioned his “best friend” from kindergarten today, knowing he’ll have to say goodbye to him in just a matter of weeks.  We were in San Diego for less than a year and a half, so my little boys have seen their fair share of moving trucks in their life already.  I worry about what kind of effect all the changes will have on them down the road.  Moving is hard on me, too, and I’m a grown up!  I’m always leaving my friends or getting left behind, but at least I’m a grown up and can understand what’s going on.

Just as it’s not healthy for a plant to be transplanted over and over again, I wonder sometimes if our kids will be able to withstand all of the moves they will experience in their childhood.  I hope they don’t resent us for never allowing them to put down roots and instead always having to be the new kid at school.

My wish is that my boys look at moving around a lot in a more positive light than my doom and gloom forecast.  I hope that they don’t feel like they were being uprooted their entire childhood, but instead they feel lucky that they got to see the world. They will have the opportunity to soak up other cultures and languages, become experts at meeting new people, and hopefully have empathy for the new kid in school someday.  I hope they appreciate and take advantage of the fact that no matter where we move, they will always have built-in best friends in their brothers.

Most importantly, I hope that Jesse and I can provide enough stability in their lives at home that they feel rooted to us, that we are their constant and their security, and that they’re okay as long as we stick together as a family.

I was also a “Navy brat”, and there was a little cross-stitched picture in my kitchen growing up that read, “Home is where the Navy sends you.”  My goal is to make us feel at home together no matter where in the world we land.

So stay tuned for blogs from Japan!