Newsletter
sending...welcome to MommyMoves!
At MommyMoves™ our mission is to provide top-quality Pre & PostNatal fitness programming to new & expectant mothers.Our programs have been developed by Leah Esplen, a Registered Kinesiologist, Fitness Instructor and certified Pre & PostNatal Instructor
All postnatal classes focus on interaction between mother and child, while providing a fun and safe fitness experience. The goals of our prenatal classes are to maintain and possibly gently increase fitness levels in preparation for labour & delivery and the demands of motherhood.
Revisiting your New Years Resolutions
It’s time to check in with your New Year’s Resolutions. When was the last time you thought of them? Most resolutions fail within 1-2 months (some within 1-2 days). That’s because a resolution is simply a promise to yourself – and when was the last time you kept a promise to yourself? Here are a few tips you can use to help support you in sticking it out and successfully keeping your resolutions:
1. Instead of resolutions, set goals. Try setting S.M.A.R.T. goals. We all know about them, we all know we should do it but most of us don’t invest the time into this integral step. For those of you aren’t familiar with S.M.A.R.T. goals, they are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and involve a Timeline.
2. Map out a plan to achieve your goals. You would use a map to plan out a journey such as a road trip or a vacation to Europe. Why wouldn’t you map out your journey to success?
3. Reward yourself for achieving landmarks/mini-goals that you have set along the way (external motivation). Obviously, if your goal is fat loss you aren’t going to reward yourself with a large sundae!
4. Baby steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day. How long did it take you to get to the state you are in? If it took you 15 years to put on those 50 lbs then why do you think it will take you 2 weeks to take them off? Do you really think that you can stop being a work-aholic by just saying that you want to stop? It takes time and failure. The key is to learn from the failures instead of just giving up.
5. Find a community to support you in your endeavors. Having the support of teammates contributes to your success. You can share what works and what doesn’t work, celebrate the achievements and lament the failures together. There are a lot of community groups that are free to join: T.O.P.S. (Take off pounds sensibly), smoking cessation clinics, Meetup groups (www.meetups.com), facebook pages, etc.
So revisit your resolution without shame. Rephrase it as a SMART goal, make yourself a roadmap and reward yourself at pre-determined ‘mile-markers’ along the way. Set up your support system at the outset and be prepared to deal with failure. If it’s not working for you then perhaps it is the wrong time for that particular goal. Set it aside and work on it again when you are ready to put in some hard work. For more information on your readiness to change you can look up “Stages of Change”, “Transtheoretical Model” or “Prochaska.”
5 Calorie-free Ways to Beat the Heat
The summer came late to the West Coast this year but it is now in full swing. While the idea of ‘popping a cold one’ may sound appealing during the heat of summer, it’s just not an option for pregnant women. Even non-alcoholic beverages contain unnecessary calories or artificial sweeteners. So how can the expectant mother (or anyone for that matter) beat the heat this summer?
Here are our favourite calorie-free tricks:
1. Put your hands and feet in cool water. It may sound like a funny tip, but a pregnant woman’s circulation can increase by up to 50%! In the latter stages of pregnancy the tone of the muscles around the blood vessels relax and vasodilation occurs so more blood flows to the skin. The cool water lowers the temperature of the blood in the hands and feet and this cooler blood returns to your core. But that’s not all – the water pressure reduces the edema (swelling that doesn’t go away) in your hands and feet.
2. Drink cool water or home-made unsweetened iced tea. Cooler drinks are absorbed more quickly than those at room temperature and tea (especially green and white tea) contains an antioxidant called catechins.
3. Buy a spray fan and use it liberally! Have you seen these things? They have a hand trigger so you can spray yourself and then the fan will cool you off even more. Lovely!
4. Use a cool pack or frozen veggies on your torso or the back of your knees. Again, the blood will cool and return to your core, reducing your core temperature.
5. Go to a MommyMoves® PreNatal Aquafit class. Okay, I’m being a bit biased – any low to moderate intensity prenatal aquafit class will do. Aquafit will cool you down, decrease your edema (swelling), help prevent/manage gestational diabetes, strengthen muscles and joints and ease your low back pain. If you are feeling like a tank then this is the place for you. In the water you feel light and graceful. Seriously! And don’t be afraid to ask to see an instructor’s qualifications before signing up for a class.
Have a great rest of your summer and may this glorious weather last a wee bit longer!
