My Fit Mama Friday today, Maricha Miles, was nominated by a friend to be featured and it’s not hard to see why. Maricha lives in New York with her partner Ed and three children – two boys aged 7 and 5, and a 2 year old daughter – and is about to begin training for the NYC Triathlon in August (among her many other races scheduled this year!). On top of all that, Maricha works full-time as an Executive Director at Only Make Believe, a non-profit that creates and performs interactive theatre for children in hospitals and care facilities. Maricha is also a fellow Aussie, so we bonded over our children’s funny accents (American!) and the fact that Vegemite is sorely underrated everywhere but Australia.

Meet Maricha.

Maricha, I know fitness is a big part of your life – were you fit prior to having kids? 

Yes, I’ve always been into health and fitness. Prior to having my first child I was actively racing in triathlons. I was a member of a tri squad and the training regime was pretty intense, so I was in good shape.

And what about your diet? I assume you were eating healthy before having kids, given you were very active and a member of a tri squad?

Prior to getting pregnant with my first child I was vegan. I had been vegan for 10 years – but as soon as I was pregnant I really felt the need to include meat and dairy back into my diet. And, I never went back to veganism. I’m much stronger and healthier now.

Did you work out through your pregnancies?

Yes, I did, but nowhere near the same level as pre-pregnancy. I did a little cardio and strength.

And what was it like, having kids pretty close in age – did you gain a lot of weight through your pregnancies? 

I gained about 25 pounds with each kid and never lost it….so by the third kid I was very heavy. This past year I really focused on my diet (I actually went to a nutritionist) and lost 80 pounds. So, I’m back to the weight I was when I got pregnant with my first baby.

On a side note, even when I was heavy I was still working out. I work out because it makes me feel great (I really enjoy it) and it helps to keep me in shape. It wasn’t until I went to my nutritionist that she explained how much pregnancy can screw up your hormones and make it difficult to shed weight. With her help and a revised eating plan I started dropping the weight immediately.

Basically, she explained that after each pregnancy my body built up an ‘insulin resistance’ making it really hard to lose weight and really easy to gain weight. In effect, my body would have major fluctuations from hyperglycemia to hypoglycemia throughout the course of the day. Once we identified my problem the goal was to bring my blood sugar levels to steady state. Initial changes in my diet included less sugar and carbohydrates. So no bread, no pasta, no rice and I cut way back on my fruit intake. The weight started dropping off immediately.

Congratulations! 🙂 Losing 80 pounds is a significant weight loss! How soon after each baby did you get back into racing? How did you feel, with this new post-baby body, competing? Was it frustrating? Or did you feel good to be doing something you loved that was familiar? 

I didn’t get back into racing until after my second baby. Soon after I had my first baby I got a new job. Being a new mom with a new job I found it really hard to find the time to workout, let alone train for a race. After my second child was born I felt ready and I signed up for a few 5K runs. Although I really enjoyed the races I definitely felt self-conscious being a heavy runner. But I kept telling myself it’s better to be fat and running than fat and sitting at home on the sofa. Now, after my third child, I’m ready for bigger challenges. First one for this year is the Empire State Building Run Up, and later this year the NYC Triathlon.

You’re doing the Empire State Building run-up?? That’s AWESOME!! Are you semi-professional? I didn’t think it was open to non-pro runners! How have you been training for that?

Hahaha NO! Nowhere near it. I wanted to sign up for fun and interesting races. For both the Empire State Building Run Up and the NYC Triathlon you have to enter via lottery. And I won for both! With the run up, my plan is to just take it slow and steady. I’m calling it the walk up – I don’t plan to run it at all. The winners can do it in about 12 minutes. If I make it to the top in under an hour I’ll be happy. I practice in the fire escape in the building I live in. I’m in a 20-floor building, so when I make it to the top I catch the elevator back down (and catch my breath at the same time) and do it all over again. I’m up to 60 flights so far. I also use the stairs at work. My office is on the 10th floor so I avoid the elevator at work to get in a little extra practice.

So that, along with increasing your training before the triathlon has to be a big time commitment. How do you schedule your workouts, given you’re a mum and you work full-time outside of the home?

I wish it was more consistent, but right now I work out alone about three times a week and once a week on strength with a personal trainer. Pretty soon I’ll be joining a tri squad to help prep for the NYC triathlon in August. Then my training regime will definitely be kicked up a notch. I also want to lose another 20 pounds to get into peak racing condition.

Is getting into racing condition your only reason for wanting to lose weight? You mentioned feeling unhappy with the way you looked and avoiding cameras when you were at your heaviest, I’m just curious if the way you feel about your body, or how you want to look, is part of your impetus as well.

Yes, I want to lose 20 pounds to not only help with racing, but to get to the point where I think I would be most happy with the way I look. I’m small on top and big on the bottom – I’d like both halves to be in better proportion.

And when are you training and working out? Before work?

Yes, my only time to work out is in the mornings before the kids wake up. If I go to bed late, or if I’m woken numerous times during the night by the kids I find it really hard to get to the gym. Sometimes I convince myself that an extra hour of sleep is more important than a workout. It’s easy to convince yourself of that at 5am on a winters morning.

Especially with this horrendous winter we’re having!! You get extra points for 5am in a polar vortex! 😉 What’s your favorite part of being a fit mama?

It’s that being fit gives me the energy to last through the day. It can be exhausting coming home to three kids after a full days work, but if you’re in good shape it makes it that much easier.

And are you a fit family? Do you feel like your commitment to your health and fitness have influenced your kids?

I wish my kids were better eaters. I often encourage them to try new things. I like to think that I’m providing them with a good example, and hopefully one day it will rub off. With exercise they’re all over it, they’re always asking if they can come to the gym with me and they’re always asking me to sign them up for running races.

Clearly, your fitness and goals are an important part of who you are – I love that you stayed active regardless of what weight you were, while you bounced back from having three children. 

I guess in a nutshell I’ve always been fit, but during my years of having babies, somewhat close to each other, I had gained so much weight. But I never let the weight gain get in the way of my fitness. And even though I was a healthy eater, my hormones were so screwed up that I just kept gaining weight and keeping it on. (It was highly frustrating.) Until the wonderful day I met my nutritionist and she explained how certain foods affected my body. And, that got me to where I am today. Phew!

Thanks so much for sharing your story on Fit Mama Friday today, Maricha! You look fabulous and healthy and I hope you have a ball competing in all your races this year!

Please check out the non profit Maricha works for, Only Make Believe! It’s an awesome organization, dedicated to making sick kids’ lives a little brighter. 🙂

Fit Mama Friday

Every Friday on Fine Fit Day I feature a Fit Mama story of how and why a fit and healthy mama ensures fitness is a priority in her life. You’ll read about all kinds of women and their fitness stories. Some are stay-at-home mothers, some are single mothers, some juggle more than one job on top of motherhood, but they are all committed to a fit and healthy lifestyle. As you’re getting ready for your weekend, I hope you’re inspired to be active after reading about these kick-ass mamas on Fit Mama Friday!

 

Do you want to be featured on Fit Mama Friday? Or do you know someone you’d like to see featured? Please contact me for details!