What I Wish I Had Known About Fitness As A Working Mom

The words fitness and working mom do not often mix well. It’s literally a life pace of non-stop service for your family and then whomever you work for, even if it’s yourself. Making the time to think about what you are going to eat or wear is a chore in itself.

Since I can easily empathize with where you are I wanted to put together a list of what I wish I would have known about fitness as a working mom. Now that I have experience on both sides, working for someone and working for myself, I can see the mistakes I made in neglecting my fitness and how I could have done things differently.

Here’s what I wish I would have known.

1. I wish I would’ve known how to simplify meal prepping.

As a working mom, I TRIED AND TRIED AND TRIED meal prepping on the weekend. Some weeks I got it right, and those were ABSOLUTELY the weeks that made a difference on my weight and my overall feeling of health. But this didn’t happen consistently, so my goals were always a struggle to maintain. When I didn’t meal prep I easily gave into hunger when I had no food and ate whatever I could get my hands on (including candy and sodas)!

The problem I found was that I tried to DO IT ALL at one time!

Let me explain how to simplify. Stop doing everything all at once. For some of us, this is the only way we can function, but as a working mom with a 9-5 job or a job that never seems to have cut off hours, IT DOES NOT WORK.

Here’s the trick. Cook and prep your food progressively. With every meal you make, double or triple the portions. If you can only cook one meal on the weekend, double it, and eat it for lunch or dinner for the next two days. Then every weeknight that you choose to cook, do the same.

Here’s an example. We eat a lot of grilled meat…simply because we like it but it also keeps the calories low and gives us the protein we need (read My Macro Story here for why we eat like we do). So a few nights out of the week, when I grill chicken for dinner, I triple my recipe and grill it all. At the same time, I have my Instapot going with my rice in it and this amount is also tripled. While these things are cooking, I am managing some kind of vegetable either on the stove top or in the oven. After all the cooking is done, when I am packing the kid’s lunches, I also pack our lunches with the food I just prepared.

This works the same if you like to cook one-pot dishes or make salads. Double or triple the portions, eat your dinner, and then prep your food. When you have these meals on hand during the week, you are less likely to get into starvation mode and grab junk food.

Snacks too!

The same goes for snacks. When you buy a bag of almonds, don’t simply plan on packing portion sized bags later. It won’t happen and you will run out the door with the whole bag. And then when you get hungry, you will grab a handful and chow down, which is probably going to end up being way too many fat calories than you need for the day.

As you unpack your groceries, immediately bag up your portion sizes and have them stashed and ready to go.

2. I wish I would’ve known how to work with a partner.

The idea of being fit and healthy is a desire of everyone. So why not do it together? Only a few times, did I actually find a partner to hold me accountable, to workout with, and to share in meal prepping. And every time I did, it made a difference.

The problem was, I never really set a plan with that partner. It was either show up if I could and make it when I wanted to. There wasn’t any true accountably or definite plan of action. And there was definitely no goal setting going around.

Choose that friend or co-worker that is near you in proximity. It’s great to have a friend to hold you accountable, even if it’s just over text or the phone, but for this to work, you need someone close by.

Choose a workout time or a workout plan that is good for you both and do this together, either at the same time or the same plan so you stay on track. Then plan your meals together and share the meal prepping.

You take a meal and let your friend take a different meal and share the load. You can do this for meals you will eat for lunch rather than cooking dinners for each others families (although this is possible too depending on the size of the families). This gives you variety and accountability to make sure you are planning and cooking food that is healthy and ready to go.

3. I wish I would’ve set realistic goals as a working mom.

I have to admit that when it came to setting fitness goals, instagram did not help! For some reason, we look at these posts of fitness models or people that dedicate their life to training and think that we can fit all that in within the 45 minutes of “exercise crunch time” that we have each day. Somehow, this is what I believed…or at least thought I could achieve.

The problem was that I never allowed myself to celebrate my small accomplishments. No matter what I did, it still wasn’t “good enough” to me and this killed my motivation to keep moving forward.

Looking back, I would set realistic goals, stay off of social media in regards to comparing myself to other’s fitness journeys and then celebrate, celebrate, celebrate my wins! Those wins would be meal prepping, working out 4 days in one week, staying away from ice cream for 2 days. Anything that is a challenge and I beat it is a win! Even if it was just for one day.

Another way to set realistic goals that you can achieve is to work with a personal trainer. This is probably one of my biggest regrets because the accountability and motivation would have been the push I needed. A personal trainer can develop a specific plan for you that fits your life while also keeping you grounded with what would be realistic progress. I highly recommend finding an expert to help guide your individual journey.

4. I wish I would’ve dressed the part.

I took no pride in dressing for my workouts! Not one bit. I shopped, planned, and spent time on clothes for work or going out, but always left out gym attire saying that I didn’t need it or I would use old stuff.

The problem was that at some point, I convinced myself that I wouldn’t buy new gym clothes until I lost weight or felt better about myself. THAT WAS ALL WRONG!

Just like a new dress, or new outfit makes a women feel beautiful, so goes the same for gym clothes, yoga clothes, or athleisure wear. Having a new outfit that FITS in all the right places makes a huge difference on your motivation to get to the gym and do what you need to do.

And I do have to add that sometimes the cheaper gym clothes don’t cut it for what you need. If you would invest in capsule pieces for your wardrobe choose a few pieces like this for your gym bag.

Leggings and shorts are something I would highly recommend that you spend money on. You want something to hold that baby pooch in and suck you up in places we know need sucking up. Some of my favorite brands (especially for petite women) are Nike, Spanx, Under Armour and of course Lululemon. All of these brands are great for regular and plus sizes.

For tops, I get these almost anywhere. TJMaxx and Target, and I love to cut up t-shirts with cute sayings on them. I find these almost anywhere for super cheap (Amazon, Lft Company, Shein).

What matters the most as a working mom…

Acceptance. NOT AT ALL BY OTHERS! Literally…who cares. If you allow others to break who you are (whether or not their judgement of you is even true), then you will never reach your goals and enjoy your life.

I share my regrets with you to motivate you and learn some truths I have found along the way. Every change you make for yourself comes from discipline and a decision to accept yourself. This is what matters the most. Push past your shame, regrets, and perceived flaws and look at the gorgeous girl you are. She is there…trust me. I see it everyday in every girl I meet!