WATCH - Fitness Training for the Real Life Demands of Motherhood

This should help alleviate back pain during bath time, feeding time, carrying groceries time, and the millllllionzzzz of times we bend over each day for our little ones.

Having babies and toddlers is a VERY physical job. As fitness trainers I believe we need to train pre/postnatal women for our activities of daily living... Not to just 'get your abs back'.... which is nice too! LOL...

I had the honor to chat with @pronatalfitness about how to prepare our bodies for the athletic event that we call pregnancy, labor, and motherhood. Pronatal Fitness is who I have my Pre/Postnatal Performance Training certification through.

We have some exercise ideas to help you save your back from pain during bath time... carrying around our toddlers... bending over the crib... lugging around groceries andddd our kids.... awkward positions we get in to take care of our little ones.

Brittany Citron is a real thought leader in this space. #pronatal also has a recent IGTV about core changes during pre/postnatal that is worth a watch!

Motherhood has created the biggest identity shift of my life. Can you relate?

Between our new responsibilities, the hormone shifts, the body changes, and on and on and on.

I also had a major identity shift going from successful television host in New York City to mamma, entrepreneur, and women’s fitness trainer.

It has NOT been an easy transition. But it feels like the right one.

If you would like to hear about what this transition has been like for me - and why my work is enriching my life - please listen to my guest appearance on Michelle Boyde’s Floetic podcast, The WEL. I hope it inspires you to follow your heart.

You can listen here on the Floetic website. Or on Spotify or Apple Music

Here's to snuggles, cuddles, Christmas movies and yummy food with the ones we love.

🇺🇸❤️🇦🇺 As an American living in Sydney with my Aussie husband - I still can't get used to the hot weather compared to my New York City snow! Instead of egg nog and spiced apple pie it's all about champagne, mango, and prawns... AKA shrimp! LOL

🎁 My gift to you this Christmas is 50% off Strong Sexy Mammas memberships. Tell your girlfriends!

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BONUS: In addition to the 100+ videos in your on-demand library, We will also have LIVE Zoom classes we're fondly calling 2021 Mamma Reset (replays will be in your Gold Member Library). Bonus LIVE classes start January 1st/2nd so sign-up for the Gold Membership if you haven't. WATCH your email for the Zoom link.

Mamma, I know you wanna enjoy the holiday season. I am all about helping you stay active and remembering to nourish our bodies so we can be the best version of ourselves. But that does not mean not enjoying yummy holiday food!

Watch this video to see a couple of my hacks for cookie making…

Here are a few extra tips:

1. Make the cookies smaller! That way you can go back for a second or even third and you haven’t scrapped your healthy eating for the day!

2. Replace the oil in brownie and cake recipes with applesauce. Yes applesauce! You will get the same consistency and cut the unnecessary fat.

3. Here’s one I love… Save time so you can actually get in a workout! Grab a pre-made cookie dough log from your local bakery. You’ll still get yummy cookies and have a fun experience making them with the kids… but save time so you can still squeeze in that 20-30 minute workout.

ALSO! If you haven’t REGISTERED for our FREE ZOOM home fitness class - reserve your spot HERE. Less than 24 hours from now!! This will be holiday theme — 12 Days of Christmas! 12 different exercises. Yassss! 🎄 See you there. Sign-up!

Hi Girls!

Do you have those days where you just feel like you’re absolutely ‘killing it’ at motherhood? And others where you feel like it’s totally taking you for a ride!? LOL I definitely do. And a lot of that hinges on how much sleep Annabel and Brooks have let me get the night before.

Here are a few things that energize me. Hope they help you. If they do… gimme a shout on Instragram. I love to hear from you.

xoxo Anna

5 Tips for Sleep Deprived Mammas.... Here's How to Gain Energy!

1. Drink 2-3 Liters of Water a Day

2. Eat Vegetables at EVERY Meal

3. Eat Lean Protein at EVERY Meal

4. Train with 'Strong Sexy Mammas' - home fitness for women

5. Embrace the Chaos and Give Yourself a Break!

Here are some of my experiences breastfeeding my babies… good and bad. I’ll talk about the emotional rollercoaster in a bit… but first… As I get ready for my Strong Sexy Mammas fitness & nutrition challenge celebrating my return to exercise… I have had several people ask me about breastmilk supply and how exercise can impact it.

My experience with Brooks and what I have heard from the ladies who take my classes and a doctor friend… as long as we are A… getting enough water…. and B…. losing weight at a healthy rate (not too fast) or supply should (knock on wood) be totally fine! I will say finding a comfortable nursing sports bra is key.

My husband Tim and I would like to say....

Please welcome to the world - Annabel Kooiman Stuckey.

8.3 lbs - May 23, 2020

We took these pics minutes after she was born.

Annabel and I are still covered in blood enjoying our baby bliss hormones as they set in!

Thank you so much for all the well wishes on Instagram!

I can't wait to share more about my experience. But first.... a quick note...

Reasons we practice diaphragmatic breathing, pelvic floor and TVA activations in my Strong Sexy Mammas women’s online fitness classes:

-Improve Back Pain

-Make Labor & Delivery Easier

-Flatten Post Baby Belly

-Reduce Incontinence Issues

- Decrease Stress

-Lower Risk of Abs Separation (AKA Diastasis Recti)

-Reverse Muscle Imbalances

-Release Toxins

-Encourage Body to Rest, Rebuild, Restore

-Set Foundation for More Difficult Core Exercises

WATCH: I hope my ultrasound helps YOU! It can be hard to know if we are activating our pelvic floor and TVA correctly. I think this video will help! I just went to a 37 week pregnancy appointment with Anna Scammel, a women’s health physical therapist practicing in Bondi Beach, Australia.

At the hospital yesterday, I found out Baby Girl is head down, which is good, but she is on the right side of my belly, facing sideways... which apparently means I may have another posterior delivery. OUCH!

And no, unfortunately belly dancing or figure 8’s may feel good, but below you’ll see I’m learning more ‘sophisticated’ moves to get bub in an optimal position.

Brooks was posterior and the back labor was atrocious. I was able to get through with out an epidural, and escape an unplanned c-section, but in the end it was a bit traumatic. His heart rate dropped big time and the doctor had to give me an episiotomy and suction him out. Brooks was healthy and that was all that mattered at the time. But of course it made recovery less than ideal.

For the record, I'm not whinging. I know we all have crazy birth, newborn, or other wild scenarios we wish had been a bit different.While at my appointment yesterday, my midwife recommended I go to the 'Spinning Babies' website for exercise ideas to get bub in an optimal birthing position. Their exercises, stretches, and a few partner led (rather unconventional) strategies are meant to help restore balance to mothers and get the pelvis in proper alignment.

The top of their site says, “Easier birth with fetal positioning. Use this site and videos to improve fetal position (breech, transverse, posterior) and birth. Reduce the chance of cesarean.”

I reached out to the founder (Gail Tully, a midwife living in Minneapolis, USA) if she would do an interview to share with all of you, my Strong Sexy Mammas! She agreed.

I really enjoyed the chat. She also coached through a few exercises you may find useful yourself.

By the way! Gail says, 'belly dancing' isn't a bad idea... but she shows me how to take those moves up a gear... to hopefully get Baby Girl in a good position.

After having a bit of anxiety about birthing during this pandemic, I have forced myself to have a mindset shift. And it's working. The mind is a powerful thing, hey?

Lots of ladies from my Strong Sexy Mammas fitness classes have been sharing similar emotional struggles with me.

Watch this IGTV LIVE chat I did with Nadine Richardson, She Births founder, doula, prenatal yoga teacher, mother, and Strong Sexy Mammas participant.

I was having recurring stress dreams about Tim and Brooks dropping me off at the hospital doors while I wailed in pain. Bizarre I know. But another pregnant friend was just telling me she had been having the same dream! (Probably due to the headlines of women in NYC for a time being forced to give birth with out their partners present.)

I've just started getting back into my She Births, holistic, childbirth education training. It is giving me even more confidence that I can once again have a beautiful birth, even if circumstances change.

I was able to deliver Brooks without an epidural and I am hoping to have a natural birth in a few weeks with baby girl. We obviously can't script these things though, so I will cross my fingers for the best!

So much to think about. And so much to chat with Nadine about in our IGTV LIVE interview!

Here's a little insight for all my preggo Strong Sexy Mammas from Nadine,

"YOU CAN DO IT - you were made for this, designed to birth, designed to love. And despite all the craziness going on birth is still a normal physiological event. Remember that your baby doesn't know the difference between you in a pandemic or not, both in pregnancy, birth or afterwards. They simply want to be with you, hear you, smell you, see you and work with you during labour to come into this amazing world we all share."

We will put the replay in the Strong Sexy Mammas Free Women's Fitness Guide in your library.