My hunch is, if you've been a fit mom from the start or began this fit mom journey when your kids were old enough to give you dirty looks, there's been another mom in your life who inspired you.
Just a hunch.
The fit mom mentor is slightly different from a fitness mentor, the obvious being she is a mom. Like a fitness mentor, she shows you the ropes (directly or indirectly) for a particular activity, motivates you to get out the door, or inspires you to take your fitness further than you otherwise would (even if it's not as far as she goes). The added layer for the fit mom mentor is that she does all this with kids on the side (or along with her) so that you see having children is no excuse to forgo working up a sweat or setting personal goals. You love her for this and, perhaps, sometimes curse her because this means, of course, you can and should do it, too.
In the Balancing Motherhood and Fitness survey from last month, the majority of respondents had someone who kept them going, if not with their physical presence--usually a training partner--then merely as an example; someone they aspire to be like. It thrills me to no end that many of the fit moms who took the survey sited their own mom as their fit mom mentor. I am certain that my own road to fitness began that day my mom took me to the gym for the first time (my mom has some serious guns).
Who knows whether or not I will inspire my own children as a fitness mentor. When I read about people like Mary Stroebe, a 92-year-old who competed in last weekend's Life Time Fitness Triathlon along side her granddaughter, I'd like to think I will.
And you? Do you have a fit mom mentor? Or, as a few of our respondents said, do you aspire to be one for someone else?
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I don't have a fit mom mentor - none of my family have ever been remotely interested in exercise! They all think I am mad, as do my friends. My 'mentor'(inspirer?) indirectly and the reason I took up triathlon was Jane Tomlinson, an amazing lady from Leeds who, despite having terminal cancer ran marathons, did an Ironman and cycled across America. She had three chidren and at the same time held down a job as a radiographer, all around having treatment. Reading her books made me realise nothing is impossible and if ever I am struggling to train (with my M.E.) I just think of her and get my arse out of the door! She was one hell of a fighter who sadly died in 2007, but she has stayed with me ever since. RIP Jane x
Mom and I went to aerobics class together, always fun!
And Mary Stroebe was my next-door neighbor for 8 years in Madison (we now live in a suburb). She is a true character! It turns out she was my grandma's big sis at Lawrence -- they met by chance at my son's 2nd bithday party. Can you imagine?!
Read more about Mary, her documentary and a film clip. http://ironmakeover.blogspot.com/2009/07/mary-and-bill-film-meet-my-frie... *She flexes near the end, don't want to miss it!
Good topic!
:-) Sara