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home workout

Becoming A Fit Mom: A Conversation with Sia Cooper From Diary of a Fit Mommy

by Karly Wood December 13, 2017

As moms, we often put ourselves last. Our kids always come first, and we are pretty ok with that! But as we all know, there comes a time when we are physically and mentally exhausted and ready to make changes that put our health back on track. And I don’t know about you, but I really love taking my inspiration from real moms. That’s why we are so happy to have Sia Cooper, of Diary of a Fit Mommy join us today on Life As Mama! Sia has helped women all over the world through her workouts and encouraging content. She’s here today to tell us a little more about how she came to be the fit mom that she is today, and how you can be too.

Sia Cooper

1. You’ve helped thousands of women get fit and strong with your workout guides, you run a popular blog, and currently have over 670,000 followers on Instagram. How did this journey begin for you?

It all started in 2010 when I was overweight and in a deep depression. I was surviving off junk food, alcohol, sugar, and cigarettes. My weight began to climb and I knew I had to change; I was twenty-one years old but had the energy of a hundred-year-old! After watching the documentary FOOD INC—an exposé about our country’s corporate-controlled food industry—a lightbulb went off for me. I immediately went to my pantry and threw out all of my junk food and made a clean eating list to grocery shop with. I turned my life around, and started dropping all of my bad habits. That year I started a blog to document my new lifestyle and keep myself motivated. I started gaining followers, and more and more of them were asking me if I would share my personal plan. Over the next few years, I decided to become a personal trainer and to create a tailored fitness plan based on the strategies that had helped me transform my life. And that’s how Diary of a Fit Mommy began.

2. How does your background as both a nurse and personal trainer influence the fitness and nutrition programs you create and the advice you give to clients?

There are so many “fitness experts” out there who have little to no actual training, which is like playing with fire because they could truly hurt someone. My nursing license comes in handy because I feel comfortable working with people who have various health issues because I’m able to understand their conditions and respect their limits. But having a certification in personal training is a must when creating workout programs because it’s not as simple as just outlining a bunch of exercises. Putting together a safe and effective workout plan is painstaking, it has to be carefully planned and take into account the way our bodies work.

3. In addition to being a fitness entrepreneur who maintains a huge presence on social media, you’re a mother of two young kids. How do you find the time to work out?

I make time whenever I can. The whole purpose of my program is to cater to busy moms and other busy woman trying to balance work, life, and wellness. I’m the expert at squeezing in workouts wherever I can: while doing chores around the house, when my children go down for a nap or after I drop them off at daycare.

4. What does a typical day look like for you?

I wake up when my kids decide it’s time! My husband is retired Air Force and he now works for me—helping manage finances and the website, as well as taking the lion’s share of the photos—so it’s a team effort! He helps me get the kids fed and dressed. My son is in daycare, which is great because we want him to have social interaction and to learn new things every day. My daughter is home with us for the moment but will be joining him soon. After breakfast, I answer emails, work on blog posts, curate my Instagram, and do other DOAFM stuff. After that, I get my workout in and I go to town to run any errands that I need to. After lunch, I grab my son from daycare and go take him to do something fun or bring him home. I’m blessed that my husband is now home with me because for the first three years I was running my business, this wasn’t the case. I was alone running a business and watching two kids.

5. What’s your advice for moms who are exhausted, stressed out, and struggling to find any time for themselves? How can they make their health a priority?

It’s all about having the right mindset and giving yourself permission. So many moms don’t allow for the time they need to take care of themselves because they feel they’re being selfish if they do so. I ask my husband to take the kids if I need some time to myself, or take some time after they go to daycare. Sometimes, I will put on a movie for them and take a bath. You have to learn to put yourself first sometimes to keep harmony in the home.

6. You’ve gotten a bit of backlash in the past for posting pictures of yourself looking super fit during and just after pregnancy. Do you feel social media can increase pressure on women to look perfect at all times? And what would you say to those folks that respond negatively to seeing super fit moms?

Of course it can, but my intention is never to make anyone feel bad; rather my hope is to inspire people. As a trainer, being in good shape and looking fit is my job, if I wasn’t, people probably wouldn’t come to me for advice! The number one misconception I deal with is that it’s somehow vain or selfish to be a fit mom, but I think it’s the opposite. It’s a joy to be able to take care of yourself and to value your own health. And when you’re healthy you set a great example for your kids and your friends and family.

Check out more of our mom-friendly workouts posts!

How I Got Rid Of Arm Flab In Time For Summer

How To Create A Fitness Routine You Won’t Quit

How To Love Your Body After Baby

I Did 6 Weeks Of Ab Workouts And This Is What Happened

How I Learned To Let Go Of The Number On The Scale And Enjoy Life

Sia Cooper

Fitness

How To Create A Fitness Routine You Won’t Quit

by Guest Post September 4, 2017

written by Guest Post

Life As Mama is so excited to partner with Katie Dunlop of Love Sweat Fitness to bring you some amazing fitness tips. As moms, our health can sometimes take a back seat to our kids, schedules and overall busy lives. We can come up with tons of reasons why we can’t exercise, but our families need us and they need us for years to come. Katie is going to share a little bit about her journey and ways you can start an easy fitness routine, but more importantly, how to stick to it!

Without further adieu, we welcome Katie!

fitness routine

Taking the first step is the hardest part. Whether you’re a new mom, starting a new career or just busy with life, finding time to workout can feel like one more thing you need to add to your “to do” list.

Most people think that working out means spending hours in the gym doing boring exercises or cardio. That’s precious time you don’t want to give up and I guarantee you, you don’t need to see results.

Starting a new fitness routine is much easier than it may seem. Spending even just a few minutes each day day getting your sweat on will relive stress, increase energy and help you feel stronger and more motivated to take on life’s toughest challenges.

Getting Started

Love Sweat Fitness is all about sharing workouts that are FUN, fast and super effective. There is no magic workout routine that is a must to get results. It truly comes down to finding activities you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t stick with it. The goal is to find things that you can do consistently over time that challenge you, but also allow you to feel confidant in doing so.

Even if you only have 5 minutes to workout, it IS worth it! Find ways to add exercises into your day where and when you can…every little bit makes a difference if you stick to it. Once you start to feel and see the impact those 5 minutes are having, you’ll easily want to make it 10 or 20.

Easy Ways to Add in Exercises:

Squats or lunges while you cook dinner
5 minute ab workout before bed
Seated exercises like these at your desk

One of the hardest parts for most women is getting motivated to start a new routine. I know it can be challenging, but I have a few simple tips to help you get, and stay, motivated so that your new healthy habits will last.

Set Your Goals

It’s important to have big goals that you will achieve over time, but creating smaller goals is even more motivational. Those small goals are what keeps you going and allows you to enjoy the journey. Put together a list with your #1 goal at the top, followed by a bunch of smaller goals below.

For example:

Big Goal: Change my lifestyle to be more active and each healthy and to Lose 15-20 lbs.

Smaller Goals: Work out 5 times each week consistently, Do a sugar detox, Replace all the junk food in your cabinets with healthy nutritious snacks. Cut down on the cocktails, etc.

Having smaller goals that help you achieve your big ones will give you reasons to celebrate along the way which gives you motivation to keep going!

Have a plan

Goals are great, but having a plan will keep you motivated to make them happen! You can 100% find ways to incorporate exercise and healthy eating into your day, but sometimes figure out how to do that can be just as much work. The Love Sweat Fitness Hot Body Sweat Guide & Meal Plan takes all the guess work out of improving your lifestyle. With 30 minute at-home workouts and delicious daily meals all laid out, you can’t go wrong! I created the Hot Body Guides to make is easy for ANYONE to do ANYWHERE. The guides are simple, straight-forward and perfect for anyone who wants to create a healthier lifestyle, see results and still enjoy life.

Having gone through my own 45lb weight loss transformation, I know that if you want it to truly be a lifestyle change, you need to find workouts and meals that work for YOU! The best exercises in the world won’t make a difference if you don’t do them. The LSF plan makes it so you can easily incorporate these new healthy habits into your day and see serious change.

fitness routine

If you’re ready to dive into a new, healthier version of you, write down your goals, have a plan and remember, good things come to those who sweat!

Author Bio

Katie Dunlop is a Certified Personal Trainer (NCCPT), group fitness instructor and entrepreneur based in Orange County, California. She is the creator of Love Sweat Fitness, a health and fitness community that inspires women around the world to find their happy, healthy hot body! The LSF YouTube channel has over 4 million views and 100,000+ subscribers.

fitness routine

Fitness Videos

8 Ab Workouts To Get You Toned In 10 Minutes – Or Less!

by Karly Wood June 22, 2017

written by Karly Wood

Close crop of an athletic young woman showing her toned abs and sweating at the gym

I’ve always hated ab workouts, and that’s why I’ve always had a jiggly mid section. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I don’t like the massive amounts of sweating that come with an ab workout, the sore stomach muscles for days after and the all around excruciating pain during the actual exercises. But times, they are a changing. Now that I’m done having kids, I figure there’s no time like the present to try and regain at least a few of my abs before everything gravity completely takes over my body. I’ve found some of the most popular YouTube videos for taking back your belly, and they’re all less than 10 minutes.

1. 10 Minute Ab Workout: How To Get A Six Pack with Rebecca Louise

WIth over 21 MILLION views, Rebecca Louise’s six pack workout is NO JOKE. This is my newest workout video I’m using and it’s left me sore over my ENTIRE body. Rebecca takes you on a journey of ten exercises that target every ab muscle you own (and plenty that you didn’t even know existed) and it’s all done in 10 minutes. No excuses not to squeeze this in a few times a week!

2. Fitness Blender’s 10 Minute Abs Workout

This is a great workout if you need a lot of help in making sure you doing all the moves right. Unlike other videos, this particular version by Fitness Blender uses a voice over to coach you through each workout, while you watch a different person perform the moves. You’ll be doing 10 different exercises for 45 seconds each and feeling the burn in no time.

3. Intense 10 Minutes Abs Workout

Chloe Ting leads you through this stomach burning routine for a non-stop workout in just 10 minutes. Don’t be fooled by how easy she makes it look- this workout is HARD. You’ll be treated to some fun music as you sweat it out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7IVC2Eqr_k

4. Tony Horton’s Accelerated Series: Core Workout

If you like a little jocularity in your workout, then you’ll love Tony Horton’s core workout. Horton is known in the Beachbody world but he’s also branched out into his own fitness channel and brand. He will talk you through all the moves, pointing out common form issues people have when performing them.

5. Bikini Model Fitness 10 Minute Abs Workout

This is a no frills workout but don’t let that fool you, because you’ll be huffing and puffing by the second exercise. The model makes some pretty difficult moves look really easy, but trust me- you’ll get rock hard abs in no time if you keep this workout up. Even though the video is technically 11 minutes, the exercises come in just at 10 minutes flat.

6. 10 Minute Intense Ab Workout With Pamela RF

Pamela from the fitness program PamStrong leads you through this INTENSE ab workout in less than 10 minutes. You know it’s a good workout when even the instructor looks a little uncomfortable! Once you master this workout, be sure to check out the rest of the PamStrong program.

7. 10 Minute Abs & Core Workout Without Crunches With Popsugar

Raise your hand if you hate crunches! You’ll get a thorough ab workout with this video and avoid the worst ab exercise on the planet at the same time. Plus, the ladies on this video are just so darn pleasant!

8. 10 Minute Flat Tummy With Love Sweat Fitness

This is my new favorite fitness channel. I love all the fun and short workouts brought to us by Katie, the channel owner. She has a wonderfully inspiring personal story that will make you love her all the more.

ab workouts

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Karly Wood

Editor at Red Tricycle

I'm a born and bred Southern California native and currently the managing editor at Red Tri. I get to share my life with my husband of 13 years and our beautiful, 5-year old daughter. In my free time you'll catch me cheering for the Dodgers, cooking, baking, reading, crafting and probably watching a little HGTV!

Latest posts by Karly Wood (see all)

15 Wonderful White Kitchens - January 14, 2019
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Karly Wood

Fitness

How I Got Rid Of Arm Flab In Time For Summer

by Karly Wood June 9, 2017

written by Karly Wood

I’ve never been a woman who wanted a rock hard body worthy of fitness competitions. To me, so long as everything doesn’t flap too long after I stop walking, I’m happy. As I’ve gotten older, things definitely aren’t as trim as they used to be, and after having my daughter? Forget about it. But just because I no longer care what others think of my less than toned abs, doesn’t mean I don’t care about my body and that I don’t want to feel good about myself. My personal hurdle has always been my arms. While I’m a naturally thin and petite person, my arms have always been a little extra fleshy. I don’t have spindly arms, and I often have to size up in T-shirts because they aren’t as thin as the rest of my body and the arms are too tight on me! So, I set out to tone my arms and I did it just in time for summer. Even though we are already there, you can still start this arm workout and start seeing results almost immediately, I promise! So how did I do it?

Getting Rid Of Arm Flab

First off, I took a starting picture of myself because I wanted to see if the video workout I found really worked. There’s nothing worse than suffering through a painful workout, only to see no results, right? Here is my starting point and I took this photo on March 17:

arm flab

Next I started implementing the video I found immediately. How did I find the video? Oh, a skilled research. In other words, I found one on Pinterest, watched the video and determined I loved the instructor’s British accent. It also didn’t hurt that the video was around 12 minutes and I didn’t feel like I was about to die while doing it.

I started doing this workout with only 5lb weights because my goal was to slim down and tone. You are more than welcome to use bigger weights if you don’t feel enough resistance, but I highly suggest starting with 5lbs because some of these exercises use muscles you may not normally use and you’ll find that 5lbs is plenty.

I also did this workout no less than 4 times per week. Mamas- I’m a work from home (two jobs) mom and wife. I made it through a 3 month home construction project, preschool drop offs and pickups, swim lessons and a mom group during the time I did this workout. YOU CAN DO IT. DON’T make excuses! It’s only 15 minutes out of your day! You can do this while you’re waiting for dinner to come out of the oven, while you’re vegging and watching TV. If you want toned arms, you have to work for it!

The workout I used was XHIT Daily’s “How To Lose Arm Fat” and is found on YouTube. It has over 22 MILLION views, only takes TWELVE MINUTES and I’ve pasted it for you below!

Now, the reason I’m sure you’re all here is because you probably want to see if it really worked right? IT DOES! I’ve NEVER been so diligent with both doing this workout and taking progress pictures along the way. They make all the difference. If you feel like you are losing steam or motivation, start taking progress photos. You will see any change as a positive reason to keep going. About halfway through my goal, I picked up a bad case of the flu that lasted almost two weeks. I didn’t work out at all during that time, but looking at my progress pics helped me pick up where I left off.

CLICK TO THE NEXT PAGE TO SEE MY INCREDIBLE RESULTS—AND REMEMBER, THIS CAN BE YOU, TOO! 💪🏼

Fitness

9 Of The Best Home Workout Videos

by Karly Wood February 25, 2016

written by Karly Wood

If you are trying to get in shape, working out at home is a great way to do it. There is absolutely no reason you need to have a gym membership to be healthy and look awesome. Nowadays, you pretty much have no excuse because you can get a great workout video anywhere- DVDs, subscribe to streaming fitness channels or even just watch free videos on YouTube. If you’re looking for some great way to get an awesome workout from the privacy of your own home, then check out this great list!

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Source: Amazon

1. Core Fusion Barre Basics For Beginners

If you’ve never tried Barre, you are missing out. This video is perfect for introductory and beginning barre students, with its compact workouts. You will work on increasing your flexibility, strength and toning arms, butt and stomach. This is also a great workout option if you prefer a more toned-down version of working out, such as yoga or pilates.

Source: Amazon

2. Lindsay Brin’s Bootcamp 2 With Moms Into Fitness

Lindsay Brin is a mom of 3 and fitness guru. She created Moms Into Fitness, which specifically focuses on pre and postnatal moms who want to get fit and stay there. She has tons of videos but I personally have Bootcamp 2 and love it. Brin has customizable warmup, abs, cardio, toning and cool down workouts that are perfect from beginner through advanced. The best part? You can get your entire workout in under 30 minutes. This is an affordable DVD

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Source: Amazon

3. Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred

Jillian is one of the most well known trainers out there and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about her 30-Day Shred program. This DVD has 3-twenty minute workouts that will have you sweating and toning, all without breaks. You’ll get the full package with this video, from cardio to abs. And if you stick with it, you’ll see results in just one month! You can purchase in DVD format or each workout separately on Amazon Prime.