I hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving and enjoyed their day off with family and friends! We had a lovely couple of days of family and good food and are headed home today. Since it’s a holiday week, I decided to do another Fit Mama Friday Round Up! This week I tried to select a few mamas who fit in with the ‘giving thanks’ theme of the holiday. The fit mamas in this week’s round up are all thankful for their bodies, and that they have the ability to work out and live a healthy lifestyle.
Having struggled with an eating disorder since her early teens, it was pregnancy that made Mara-Mon realize she wanted to respect her body for what it was capable of, instead of punishing it for what it wasn’t. She stayed active and healthy during pregnancy, then took up running just a year ago – yet has already run a marathon! She is thankful for pregnancy and running for helping her get past her disordered eating. Check out her story and I also highly recommend following her inspirational running page on Facebook!
Fit mama and professional photographer Jenica caused a stir on Facebook this year when she posted a raw self portrait of herself, proudly showing her ‘tiger stripe’ belly. That photo went viral, with over 1 millions views and tens of thousands of comments, the majority of which were supportive of the fact that Jenica had reached a point where she was thankful for her body – that she loved it, supposed ‘flaws’ and all. Also, since she is a photographer, her photos of her CrossFit workouts are pretty awesome! 😉
Next on the round up is Taylor – she is actually last week’s Fit Mama Friday, but just in case you missed it, hers is a compelling story. Four days after giving birth to her son, despite a perfect pregnancy and delivery, Taylor ended up in the ICU, having emergency surgery to remove a massive blood clot in her leg. She was diagnosed with May-Thurner syndrome, in which your iliac vein collapses – in Taylor’s case, due to the pressure from the weight of her uterus. Currently pregnant with her second son, due in February, she is running and staying active throughout her pregnancy, thankful that being fit is helping keep her healthy with her condition.
Fit mama Wendy was fit before she got married, then fell into unhealthy eating habits and gained a lot of weight when pregnant with her son. While she was suffering serious health problems linked to her weight, like compressed discs in her spine, gallbladder failure, constant heartburn, a hiatal hernia, and depression and anxiety, it was actually seeing a photo of herself on her son’s second birthday that made Wendy realize she needed to lose weight. Wendy is thankful that photo made her realize she needed to change her lifestyle, so she could be present in her son’s life instead of on the sidelines.
I am so thankful for all the amazing women who have shared their inspirational stories with me this year on Fit Mama Friday! You ALL rock. I know it hasn’t been easy for all of my fit mamas to be so honest and open about their struggles with weight, body image, pregnancy, and health, but I am so appreciative of all of you! You never know who you are inspiring. I’ve received many messages from readers to let me know how reading one of the Fit Mama Friday stories has inspired them to take control of their health by committing to fitness and a healthy lifestyle. So THANK YOU.
Right now I am scheduling Fit Mamas for late January 2014 and onwards – please get in touch with me if you are a fit mama, or if you know someone you’d like to be featured in the series! You can use the Contact Me tab above, or just email me at finefitday [at] gmail [dot] com.
