Active Mom Life and Sewing Mommy and Me

10  years ago, I accepted the biggest role of my life — that of mom. At the time, I really had no clue what I was in store for, and it really has become the biggest pleasure of my life. I do my best every day to be someone that her and her siblings can look up to. One of the ways I do that is by being active with them.

For today’s post, I am going to chat with you about how my fitness routine has changed with having 5 kids as well as this sweet mommy and me workout set we are wearing!

Confession

My husband cancelled my gym membership last month. I had not gone all summer, and I really had no plans of going anytime in the next year, so it made sense. My 20 year old self would have gasped, though, and I really didn’t have the courage to walk in and do it myself. I would have walked in, worked out, and left.

Why the change? Especially since I am the person who sews and wears all the athletics?? Well, it began around the beginning of this year, every time I wanted to go to the gym, my oldest daughter would protest, saying “It is not fair that you get to move and be active, and I am supposed to sit in kid’s club and watch a movie or play a video game. I want to work out too.”

So, I inquired at the gym about her working out with me, and they informed me that she cannot work out until she is 12. I called around and checked a few other gyms that are within a reasonable distance to my house, and they all agreed – not until 12. The only exception to this was our city gym, which has one group exercise class once a week that is open to the entire family. UGH. I understand their rule, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

So, every time she protested, I stayed home and did something with her from home. We have gone on walks together, ran together, done lots of YouTube Fitness Blender and Chris Heria. Chris has a few workouts he has done with his son.

I read a lot of Katy Bowman’s blog a few years ago, and everything I read came rushing back to me. To put it in a nutshell: do not compartmentalize exercise. You don’t go to the gym and go crazy for one hour, and then sit around the rest of the day. You need to move your DNA throughout the day. I am so guilty of this, ESPECIALLY before I had kids. I did my duty at the gym and then relaxed the rest of the day. You know those people who vie for the closest parking spot at the gym just so they can get to the treadmill to run. Guilty.

Let’s talk about how and what I changed. I noticed that she really only has the attention span or desire to do about 20 minutes of exercise when doing it at home (sometimes, just 10), and since I am at home, someone comes and jumps on me or does something to distract me almost every single time. So, I really only started getting short bursts here and there.

The exception to this is we regularly go on long walks because our neighborhood and area have wonderful walking and biking trails. I also like to do something active right when I wake up. My little brother (well, he is not so little anymore) tells me that I really should do something first thing to get my day going, even if it is just small.

I knew this was a serious cut back to what I was doing in the gym, though, so I began incorporating movement into small areas throughout my day. So, when I cook, I am doing squats and lunges. When I bathe the baby, I am watching her play and doing squats or something. I have a pair of hand weights that I grab and will do reps of something for my shoulders, arms, or back every time I walk by them. When I pick up the baby, I am lifting her all around and using her as a human weight. She absolutely is thrilled by it, and by the end of the day, I have done at least a full workout.

Is it working? I think so. To be honest, I think this is the most “fit” I have been in my entire life. I don’t run long distance anymore like I did in college so you would definitely beat me in a foot race. I lost my desire for marathon training about 7 years ago. I expect it will come back one day, but for now, I am keeping at my kids’ pace and loving every moment of it.

Let them Help

I learned in her toddler days that kids want to be part of what you are doing. If you tell them to go sit down while you clean, you will never teach them to help you. Yes, it is slower to let them do a job with you, but the rewards of having them have a work ethic from a young age are immense. I am just now applying this same principle to my workouts. I am sure it is just a season, but I am trying to savor it because before I know it, we will be on to the next.

Patterns

Yes, this is a sewing blog. I didn’t forget! So, I made us some tights to run around in together! I was so excited that she wanted to twin with me. Ya know, being 10 comes with its own attitudes so when she said yes, I think I about fell over.

I made her a size 12 in the Greenstyle Girl’s Stride Tights pattern and took 1.5 inches out of the front rise for her particular shape. I also removed 2 inches of length to account for her shorter height.

I made myself the Greenstyle Stride tights in a size XS for hips and a size S for legs. I also removed length from the legs to account for my shorter height! I make the exact same adjustments to the Stride tights that I do to the Inspire tights. You can read my last post on fitting the Inspire tights here.

Fabric

I used the Blue Grey Abstract Yoga Flex for the main part of our tights. For the accents I used this black on mine and this white on hers.

I wanted our accents to be different so it was easier to differentiate them in the laundry. It didn’t work, though, because when I went to put my tights on, I accidentally put hers on and it took me about 10 minutes to figure out I was wearing the wrong pair of tights. I kept thinking, why did I make my pants too short, and why do I feel like my legs can’t breathe. Then, I looked at her pants and thought, why did I make hers so big and long. haha!!

I really love how all three of these fabrics feel and breathe. It really says something to the stretch of a fabric (and to how well my serger seams hold up!!) that I put her pants on and wore them around without popping anything. I also made myself a pair of Super G tights out of the white. It is a brushed tricot and feels super good. I plan to share those with you this week. 

Resources

• You can find the Women’s Stride Tights pattern here. The girls pattern is available here. You can also purchase them as a bundle!
• The blue grey abstract fabric can be found here. The black accent fabric can be found here. The white accent fabric can be found here.
• My top is the Greenstyle Staple tank in cotton lycra, and my daughter’s top is the FREE Greenstyle Kids Slope tank in cotton lycra. I have a full video tutorial of me sewing the slope tank here, and a full video tutorial of me sewing bindings and the staple tank here. I bought both cotton lycra fabrics from Made Whimsy.

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Disclosures

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small compensation when you purchase via my link. This does not cost you anything, and I genuinely appreciate the support. Any and all opinions expressed are still my own.

XO