Strong Heart, Stronger Mom Bod: My Postpartum Fitness Journey

My Fitness Backstory

I started playing soccer at age four and continued all the way through college. For nearly two decades, my workouts (and life) revolved around practices, off-season training, and anything that built endurance. So you’d think I love long-distance running—but nope! I never minded sprints and I enjoyed endurance work, as long as something distracted me from the actual running.

After graduation, I played a few seasons in an adult recreational league. But once my husband and I got married and quickly started our family, soccer faded into the background. Our first baby arrived, and when she was just seven months old, we found out we were expecting twins. Needless to say, working out was not the priority for nearly two years.

It wasn’t until the twins were over a year old that I started to “feel like myself” again. Honestly, it took closer to 15 months before I actually wanted to exercise or play soccer again. But my goals are different now—I’m not chasing my college-athlete body or even my pre-pregnancy self.

I share this because I know many moms are on the same postpartum fitness journey, trying to reconcile how different we look and feel after babies.

Shifting Goals: From College Bod to Toddler-Chasing

The truth is, the older we get, the harder it becomes to make big changes to our physique. In my opinion, the biggest hurdle is consistency—which is such a challenge when every day as a mom looks so different (i.e. one day your child wakes up at 7 and the next they’re up at 5:30…). On top of that, it takes both food and exercise. And honestly? Finding options that are healthy, relatively easy to prepare, and that me and all three of my toddlers will actually eat is rare. And that’s okay. This season of life is challenging, and there’s grace for us mamas who work hard to get our kids to eat most of the food groups each day—even when our own meal ends up being an afterthought.

My goal these days isn’t to get “back” to where I was, but to move forward. I want a healthy body that lets me chase my kids, sit on the floor with them, and jump right back up when they inevitably run off again after 30 seconds. I want to hold my 98th-percentile toddler during our dance parties, fit into my clothes comfortably, and accept that a little extra fluff is part of the journey. I want to take care of this body God gave me so I can serve my family and be present for the life He’s entrusted to me.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” — 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

Mom Hacks for Motivation

I’m still very much on this journey, but here’s what I’ve learned: success comes from positive motivation and having the right systems in place.

Here are a few things that help me (and might help you, too):

1. Accountability. We all hear this one, but it’s true. Find the person or group that pushes you not to back out. My husband and I love to work out together, but sometimes I need him more as my encourager rather than my motivator. With a workout buddy or class, there’s more incentive not to miss.

   
   

2. Positive self-talk. Change the script in your head. Instead of “I can’t eat that—it’s bad,” try, “I want to choose something healthier so I feel better.” Instead of “I have to work out to lose weight,” try, “I want to exercise so I can be strong for my kids.” At one point, I even made myself do ten squats every time I craved ice cream—and it worked! I replaced “I want ice cream” with “I want a healthy body” and I felt myself responding to that transformation.

   
   

3. Find your real motivation. For me, it’s being healthy and strong so I can be active with my kids—and be an example to them. When I focus on that, skipping a workout or eating junk food feels less tempting.

   
   

4. Set realistic goals. I must admit, with three toddlers, housework, quiet time, and managing our businesses, working out every single day isn’t realistic for me right now. My goal is four days a week. But here’s the cool part—if I hit three, that’s still progress! Dream big, but give yourself grace and create a goal that is attainable.

   
   

5. Plan ahead. Something new we have started doing is on Sunday nights, we write out our workouts for the week. Having a plan eliminates hesitation and excuses—when the time comes. We don’t have to think about it, we just do it.

Cute Distractions

Yes, I have tried working out with the kids awake. Sometimes they just sit and watch me (effective), sometimes they copy me (adorable), and sometimes they climb on me (funny but not efficient). I’m sure it’ll get easier as they grow, but for now, it requires a special mindset to try and workout with them.

Workouts, Tabatas, and Templates: Mom-Approved Tools for You

To make this easier, I’ve created a few resources:

• An example weekly workout schedule I’ve actually done:

Weekly Workout Schedule Example - Rooted&Running.pdf

Download PDF • 87KB

• A blank template you can fill with your own workouts:

Weekly Workout Schedule Template - Rooted&Running.pdf

Download PDF • 75KB

This is what they will look like:

Keep some variety, stretch yourself, but most of all—choose exercises that excite you so you’ll actually finish them! When we focus on creating good habits for the right reasons, the results will come.

Small ideas that could prove helpful: make it a challenge or game with someone, give yourself “rewards” for each week or month you fulfill your workout goals, or throw in a dance cardio workout with your kids. Sometimes, my workout is a revised Tabata (22 seconds on, 8 seconds rest) where I just throw in whatever exercise I think of. I set the timer for 15 minutes and just choose the exercises as I go. The important thing is to keep our bodies moving!

Final Encouragement

Take a minute to write down your motivational statement, share your goals with someone, and go crush it. You are beautiful, strong, capable, and wonderfully made by God! I’m rooting for you!

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” — 2 Timothy 1:7

What about you?! I’d love to hear how you stay motivated or what your favorite ‘mom-friendly’ workouts are—share in the comments so we can cheer each other on!