Fitspo Friday – Stephanie Hamm – Fit Mom in Training

Today’s Fitspo Friday feature is Stephanie Hamm, a/k/a Fit Mom in Training!

Q: Have you always lived a healthy fit lifestyle?
Quite the opposite. Growing up as a naturally thin, very small framed person, I really didn’t feel the pull to examine my eating or exercise habits. I could eat what I wanted and maintain a steady weight. What I didn’t realize until in my twenties was not only was this completely nuts but that I was also killing myself from the inside out through poor nutrition, no exercise and binge-eating disorder that had plagued me for years. As I started to put the pieces together, I was determined not to become a statistic and to live a long, happy, healthy life. I educated myself on proper nutrition, exercise and was amazed at how good I felt.

Q: What keeps you going, motivated?
It’s ironic that I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I discovered how good I could food by taking better care of myself. The extra energy, the feeling I get after a good workout and the boost good, whole foods give my body is motivation enough. All it ever takes is a day or two of poor choices to remind me why I live the lifestyle I do now.

Q: What is your favorite workout?
I’m lucky in that I enjoy working out and the variety of different ways I can. I love running and strength training. More recently, I finally took the plunge (literally) and learned how to swim and have found that to be an amazing workout. I just love it. With running, I love that I can include my son. Right now, he’s a year and a half and still loves to be in the jogging stroller and I can’t wait until he’s old enough to participate in a race with me (he’ll probably kick my butt).

Q: What are some of your goals?
Right now, I’m pregnant so my goal has always been to stay as active as I possibly can and not repeat the same pattern of inactivity and bad eating that I held to with my last pregnancy. I have set a goal of achieving 500km of movement this year through running, walking, biking or swimming and even though severe morning sickness and a car accident kept me off my feet for a few weeks, I’m very proud to say that I have less than 50km to go to reach that goal and 6 weeks left to do it in.

Next year, my plan is to lose the pregnancy weight through doctor-approved exercise and good nutrition. I have my sights set on a half marathon for the fall and hope to do a 10k walk in June with the kids in the stroller. It will be a challenge to resume an active lifestyle with two young children but I’m determined to fit it all in.

Q: What are some of your accomplishments or things you’re proud of?
Aside from learning how to swim last year, I ran my first half marathon in May of this year, participated in a marathon relay with 4 other awesome friends (including my hubby!) and managed to shave 14 minutes off my time from the previous year. Mostly, I’m really just proud that I’ve made this lifestyle change, stuck to it and am able to model it for my family.

Q: What is one random fact we should know about you?
I’m hopelessly addicted to cooking and home improvement shows. I could get lost for days in them.

Q: What words of advice would you like to leave the readers?
Start slow and build. Success isn’t measured by how big your steps are. When I started running, I could barely run for 2 minutes. When I’m cleared to start running again, I will be doing a couch to 5k program and will slowly build back up to a half marathon. Set simple, achievable goals. Find a support system whether it be friends, family, or an online community that will support you when things get tough and cheer with you with each accomplishment you achieve. Most importantly: never, ever, ever give up on yourself no matter how tough it gets (and it will, believe me) because it will be so worth it in the end.

You can find Stephanie:
@fitmomtraining on Twitter
as well as @MomNeedsWorkout on Twitter
FitMomInTraining on Facebook
and make sure to like Mommy Needs A Workout on Facebook
Visit her FitMomInTraining.com site and MommyNeedsAWorkout.com