Who's In?

Or any weight, or forget the weight loss and improve your health and fitness. I had the pleasure to work with two cool women, who are also fitness experts and writers/presenters, to create a 12-week plan for regaining or improving fitness while dropping some of the pounds leftover from a pregnancy (even if the blessed event was long ago).

Deborah Bohn and Amy Cotta guide you through 12 weeks of “assignments” for your diet, your exercise, and your attitude. They say success is tougher if you don’t work on all three together. They bring a great sisterly and realistic approach to the project, understanding the challenges of limited time, money, or energy that plague most women. Their program and the style of their message brings you to the realization that although they offer 12 weeks of suggested workouts (with videos) and diet tips and advice, what they’re really setting you up for is a life of healthier choices. Not perfection, and not deprivation (one article is called “Hooray for Pizza, Beer, and Chocolate”), but a sustainable, informed way of living.

There are probably other things out there in this line, but this is a charming antidote to tabloid headlines and shouting adverts for the latest nutrition/diet “breakthrough,” or … even … NPR conversations on yo-yo dieting (not the name of a Chinese musician).

Here’s a link to the index page of the website where the Lose the Baby Weight Challenge lives. But as it’s a bit out of chronological order, here’s an overview of the 12 weeks, with links to the weekly content. Check it out.

Here's a shout out to the many mothers who model strength, determination, discipline, joy in life, self respect, and healthy habits for their daughters and sons by not giving up their athletic life or pursuits when they have children.

I think either there are more mothers competing at the Olympics in 2008, or else it's they're more public about it. On the American team alone there are 20 or so moms. You can read about them in lots of places--here's one collection of mini-bios.

We've all heard of Dara Torres, a five-time Olympian and now mother of a two-year old at age 41. The American swam to three silver medals in Beijing. 

But I was also impressed with the less well-know (and photographed) Stepanka Hilgertova, another five-time Olympian from the Czech Republic, competing in white water kayak. She too is 41 and has a child. Only he is 20 years old, and also competes on the Czech national kayak team! Hilgertova came in 9th out of 21 in Beijing; she already has two gold medals from previous Olympics at home.

I love the span of choices these women illustrate. Have a child at 20, have a child at 39 ... you can still succeed at other passions alongside mothering.