2015: What a Great Year!

2015 has been such a fun and rewarding year and I've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with all of the women who participated in the FITMOM 2B, FITMOM & Baby, FITMOM Stroller Strength and FITWOMAN classes. It has been my pleasure to offer a variety of workouts, both indoors and outdoors and to see so many of you achieve or surpass your fitness goals, becoming stronger and healthier each week.

Here are a few of the highlights from 2015, a year that saw me celebrate 5 years as FITMOM Ottawa's owner, 10 years of FITMOM in Ottawa and 15 years since FITMOM's inception!

I started the outdoor season with a new location - Brewer Park! As it turns out, this was a terrific choice and the classes there were very popular! All of the moms seemed to really love the fact that it was so central, there was a large, shady area and of course, there was great camaraderie among both women and babies. There was plenty of space and lots of moms and babies, making it easy to find new friends at every class! As a bonus, there was a large covered area that we were able to use when Mother Nature decided not to cooperate with us!

The other change for the outdoor season was a new FITMOM Stroller Strength class on Friday mornings at Brewer Park. This was a great addition to the schedule and lots of moms were happy to add a Friday workout to their weekly fitness sessions.

Outdoor FITMOM 2B, FITMOM Stroller Strength & FITWOMAN classes

2015 saw social media explode and I took the opportunity to learn how to better use various platforms to help spread awareness about the FITMOM program, so that more women could benefit from safe and effective exercise during their prenatal and postnatal years. I was overwhelmed with the response when so many of you began sharing information, photos, blog posts and newsletters and as a result, all of the FITMOM classes were quite full for the entire year. In fact, this year, I had some of my largest classes ever - with over 30 moms, babies and sometimes toddlers! Thank you so much for believing in FITMOM and spreading the word to your friends, colleagues and family!

Indoor FITMOM & Baby and FITWOMAN classes

For the past few summers, I've run an unlimited promotion for the spring and summer time. This summer saw the most women participate in the promotion and with four FITMOM Stroller classes and three FITWOMAN classes to choose from, the level of commitment and dedication was terrific! I was lucky to see a number of moms at least twice a week, if not three times a week! The best part? Watching their babies get bigger while they were getting stronger and leaner! Despite often being sleep deprived, it was amazing to see them all leaving with smiles on their faces! Be sure to keep on the look out for the Get Fit promotion in 2016!!

In March 2015, I joined the Ladies of Old Ottawa South to Bust a Move for Breast Cancer. As part of our fundraising, I taught three FITMOM classes over the March Break where the only cost was a donation to Bust a Move. I was very grateful that you all helped me raise over $600 for the cause! Our last FITMOM and Baby class in December was an extra class that was used to support the Food Bank. Thank you so much to everyone who donated to these two wonderful causes.

Ladies of Old Ottawa South Bust a Move Team!

For four years, I have been so fortunate to have Lindsay teaching the Monday night FITWOMAN class for me. I can't thank her enough for continuing to bring fun and interesting workouts for the Monday night FITWOMEN each week. It makes my life so much better, knowing I can rely on her to teach a great class week after week.

I've also been lucky to have had three new teachers help me out this year - Candace (who has sadly moved to Texas), Tonya and Jenn. You may recall that Tonya taught the Monday night FITWOMAN class this summer and Jenn taught the FITMOM 2B and FITWOMAN class in the fall. I'm looking forward to working with Tonya and Jenn again in 2016!

Lindsay teaching FITWOMAN & Candace teaching FITMOM & Baby

So many great things happened at FITMOM in 2015! But the best part has definitely been seeing so many amazing women week after week and watching them work hard to become stronger, leaner and happier. So, thank you to all who continue to support FITMOM, whether it's coming to classes every week, returning to classes after a hiatus or telling your friends about me. I am truly grateful to have you in my life!

From my family to yours... I wish you all the best for a healthy and happy 2016. May all of your wishes come true:)

From our family to yours... Happy New Year!!

FITMOM's Top 5 Tips to Help You Live Your Healthiest Life in 2016

As we approach the end of another year, we will reflect on how our year has gone and begin plans for making our next year even better. Often our plans might include some high level fitness related goals, such as:

• I want to be stronger in 2016
• I want to be more fit in 2016
• I want to run up stairs 2016
• I want to walk taller in 2016
• I want to touch my toes in 2016
• I want to run my first 5K race in 2016

Whatever your own goals may be, you'll need a solid plan to reach them! 

Here are FITMOM's top FIVE tips that you can use to help you live your healthiest life in 2016:

1. Find Something you LOVE

One of the most important gifts you can give to yourself is doing something you LOVE. If you don't love it, you won't do it. It's as simple as that. 

2. Schedule it and Book a Babysitter

Whether it's a weekly class that you love or an evening run with friends, you need to put it in your calendar and block off the time. It can be really hard when you have small children to get out of the house in the evening, especially if your partner travels or is a shift worker. One of the best things you can invest in is a neighbourhood babysitter. Ask around and you'll find lots of teenagers looking to earn some extra money through babysitting. Teach them the routine and have them try it out with you there first. You'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

3. Make it Social

Find some friends and join a fitness class together. It's a great way to stay in shape and keep up with each other! One of the biggest benefits of a FITMOM class is that, even if you join with a friend, you will always leave with many more. Knowing that you're meeting a friend helps keep you accountable and gives you incentive to get out the door, even when you don't want to.

4. Track your Progress

There are many ways you can measure your progress. If you're running you can track how far you're going and how fast you're going. If you're doing a bootcamp class, you can track how often you're attending and how long it takes to recover each week. If you're doing a yoga class, you can track how hard it is to do certain poses each week. You can also take measurements periodically. If you've set a goal that you would like to work out twice a week, writing it down in your calendar will help you identify whether you've met your goal or not.

5. Make it Achievable

It's never fun to fail at something, so when you set your fitness goals, keep in mind how your life is currently working. If your goal is to get out 5 times per week for 1 hour each day, but your job is very demanding and you tend to work many extra hours, this may not be realistic. Start by thinking about what you can realistically commit to. If it's only once per week for 45 minutes, that's a great start. It's always easier to add things one at a time than to add many chunks all at once without a good plan to achieve it.

We hope you find these tips helpful in developing your own fitness plan for 2016! Leave us a note on our Facebook page to let us know how you're planning to accomplish your fitness goals next year! And check out the FITMOM schedule to see if one of our classes fits your needs. We'd love to see you there!

FITMOMs are the best!

Why I Work Hard to be Fit and Healthy

Yesterday, we had two Anniversaries in our house. On July 15th, 23 years ago before we ever knew one another, my husband's family happily celebrated the 25th Anniversary of his parents marriage, while not very far away, my family was devastated when my father died after his second bypass surgery. 

This year, the Anniversary of my father's death marks the year where I have officially lived longer without my dad than with him. This year, I am the same age my dad was when he had his first quadruple bypass surgery. 

I miss my dad often. I miss the relationship we could have had as adults. I miss the relationship he could have had with his grandchildren and sons-in-law. I'm sad that he missed so much of our lives and I wish that he had learned to take better care of himself.

Why do I work so hard at staying fit? Because I REFUSE to live the life my dad lived. I REFUSE to miss out on what my kids will grow up to be. I REFUSE to miss the important milestones in our lives. And I absolutely REFUSE to let heart disease take me down also, because I know this is something I have control over.

So, yesterday was a sad day for me. While I miss my dad terribly, I know that he is one of the reasons that I work so hard to lead a healthy life. There is so much more information about heart disease available these days and my family plans to do all we can to improve our chances of living a long and healthy life.

Our last family photo at my parent's 25th Anniversary - October 1991