When LISA FONG started what became virtual fitness platform Move It Mama, she was a mother of four boys under five, squeezing workouts into the chaos of early parenthood. More recently, her family has been navigating her husband’s severe health issues. Yet she’s still found ways to keep moving. She shares how to stay motivated through the overwhelm.
Even just thinking about finding time to exercise can seem like a step too far for many parents as they navigate the maze of parenthood, jobs and a laundry-sized pile of other responsibilities.
But as Lisa explains, energy doesn’t magically appear. It grows from small, simple actions, and exercise can be a great way to help navigate the parenting mayhem.
Mindset
Mindset can be one of the biggest barriers to exercise, Lisa says. Parents believe they need to carve out an hour, that they can’t work out from home, they need to push themselves hard or get straight back to their old fitness level. But that pressure creates paralysis.
“People think they’ve got to do so much,” she says. “But anything is better than nothing.”
And it can easily be done from home. That’s what Move it Mama was created for, as Lisa worked to fit exercise in alongside her boys. Now Move it Mama has released a new app aimed at making it easier for busy people to “move, connect and grow together”.
Exercise is not just about getting your old jeans to fit again or hitting previous personal bests. It’s about feeling better today – having more patience, more energy for the evening routine, or simply a moment of mental space. “When you focus on how it makes you feel, you want to keep doing it,” Lisa says.
Exercise as a tool to cope
“Exercise is proven, hands down, to change your attitude to things and give you space and clarity and endorphins,” Lisa says.
“I feel like I’m very equipped to speak about challenges now because of my husband’s health diagnosis, but you need a box of tools in your brain to pluck from, because you never know what’s around the corner.
“My husband was a very fit, active man, and at the age of 39, he got really, really sick with cancer, and he was in a wheelchair. And I am grieving the life we had. Instead of me wishing that we could go back to those (old) days, I have to live my life as it is now, reframe and live this new life as best I can.”
She says many parents have to grieve for their old selves and physical abilities before having kids. But it’s not all over.
“I’m stronger than I ever was before children. And before children, I worked at a gym,” Lisa says.
“I didn’t have the muscles I’ve got now, the strength and the mental power. Or the toughness and the resilience.”
Exercise has been a real anchor for Lisa: “It gave me a sense of strength when everything else was out of my control.”
Not because it erased stress, but because it created clarity, confidence, and small wins on hard days.
Movement is a privilege
Bodies that can move, even a little, are worth celebrating. So start tiny, let go of the ‘old you’ and build small habits that support the life you have now. And remember – the motivation comes after you begin – not before.
Lisa’s top 10 tips for finding the time and energy to exercise
1. Lower your expectations and stop the comparison trap.
Choose workouts that will leave you feeling good. Don’t try the most intense ones when you’re just beginning your workout journey. You want to feel successful! A beneficial workout doesn’t need an hour of your time.
2. Don’t schedule exercise like an appointment; think of it as a necessity
Think of it like brushing your teeth! This doesn’t mean you have to do something every day but if it helps to, just lower your load, take rest and…
3. Press play (or start) before overthinking it
Don’t think, just do!
4. Build the habit at home
Getting yourself to the gym means extra barriers. It requires more organisation and adds travel time, expense, can add questions like: what am I doing in the gym today? Try working out from home, this will save you time and often money!
5. Accept imperfect workouts
And accept that imperfect workouts are much better than workouts that don’t happen.
6. Reduce decision fatigue and pick a program.
Choosing a program that takes you through several workouts (or just a few) removes the guesswork about what you’ll do each day.
7. Focus on performance over aesthetics.
Remember why you started. Having goals beyond aesthetics is not only hugely beneficial for building a sustainable fitness routine, but also for building a more positive relationship with exercise and your body. Performance-based goals help keep you going. For instance, ‘I want to be able to do six pull-ups and 10 press-ups’.
8. Ignore the advice on when/what time is best to train
The best time for you to train is the time that is most achievable and most sustainable. Early morning 6am? Great. Late at night 8pm? Fine. Does that time change on any given day? Also fine. Just lock it in.
9. Get rid of the all-or-nothing thinking.
Much like point five, progress over perfection wins every time. You don’t have to do five workouts a week, and those workouts might not be perfect. Don’t sabotage yourself just because you didn’t complete something perfectly. Move on and keep going.
10. Surround yourself with community.
Support makes consistency far, far easier. If you’re too busy to get involved in a community in your area, many online spaces are inclusive, inspiring and make working out a shared experience (enter @moveitmamatheapp).
Bonus: You do you
Ignore the noise. Social media is rife with advice. Find what you enjoy. Do it consistently. Share your challenges and successes with like-minded people.
Read more: Keeping girls in sport >>
