momsinthongs’s BodyBlog

The People’s Chemist: Can you please tell us how old you are, how tall and how much you weigh? How many kids? Their ages?

Amy: I am 39 years old, 5′7″ and weigh 137 pounds currently. I have six children ages 21, 19, 17, 13, 7 and 6.

Have you always been fit?

I danced for most of my childhood up until age 16. I studied ballet, tap, lyrical and acrobat. My fitness baseline developed from these years I believe. I was never involved with sports though. I exercised on and off for the next 20 years, typically aerobics when I had the time. I did not lift weights or eat healthy. It wasn’t until I was about 36-37 years old that I started lifting. But I still did not have proper nutrition so the results were minimal.

For the past six months I have been working with personal trainers. It has made a tremendous difference in my progress. I receive workouts and nutrition plans. I recommend investing in an experienced trainer if you are able to.

How much weight did you gain from being pregnant?

After having the six children I lost a total of about 255-260 pounds combined over the past 21 years! My heaviest weight was 209 pounds with my first pregnancy…my least gain was to 176 pounds with my fourth .

Most people insist they have no time to exercise. People are always trying to come up with some BS excuse for not having enough time to exercise. How do you find time? Can you offer any tips on saving time in or out of the gym? I decided that my health was more important than say, watching television at night. I made a commitment to myself that I would devote at least 1/2 hour everyday to exercise. It was a realistic goal that I did stick to.

Once I realized I truly enjoyed all the aspects of fitness, I began reading health/fitness magazines every night. It motivated me for the next day.

Keeping things new every so often helps me avoid getting bored. My tips to saving time would be to choose activities that raise your heart rate and help burn calories. I also think nutrition is so important. There are tons of healthy recipe ideas and eating plans in the magazines also. But you need to prepare food in advance regularly. This saves time because you have proper foods ready.

How supportive is your family?

My family is very supportive. My husband has purchased me various exercise equipment to add to my basement gym, little by little. My children are very active and workout with or alongside me often. I believe they all see how happy I have become since I discovered my true passion for health and fitness.

Women need to lift heavy weights if they want a lean sexy look. Yet, most are too busy jogging, walking or doing some other activity that fails to yield solid results. What do you tell women who are afraid to lift heavy?

I tell women that the more muscle you have, the more calories your body will burn at rest. Also, the fact that muscle is denser and takes up less space than fat, so you get tighter and leaner. Finding a program that progressively increases the amount of weight to where you are actually lifting heavy will firm you better than running.

Thong or no thong?

Proud, fit moms love thongs!! I choose thongs!

What’s one thing you would want to tell women who are overweight, lethargic and fear not being successful in their fitness endeavors?

I want to tell all the ladies that anything is possible if enough effort is put forth!!

More about Amy:

IronMan magazine February 2009, BodySpace Physique of the Month, Scivation sponsored athlete http://www.scivation.com. Her personal site is http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/amysuds.