How To ACTUALLY Start Your Fitness Journey as a Busy Mom
How to Prioritize Fitness as a Working Mom: 5 Actionable Tips
Fitness doesn’t have to be another thing you “fail” at. This solo episode breaks down why workouts slip for working moms (time pressure, guilt, and unrealistic expectations) and reframes movement as an investment that makes you a more energized, present version of yourself. The key is to stop relying on motivation and start relying on structure.
The simplest approach is five small shifts: schedule workouts like real appointments, involve your family so it doesn’t feel like you’re choosing fitness over them, start small and stay consistent, reframe exercise as self-care (not selfish), and lean on tools that make it easier, like quick online classes or apps. When you build a routine that fits your life, fitness stops being “extra” and becomes part of how you stay well.
HERE ARE THE 3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:
1️⃣ Put workouts on the calendar.
2️⃣ Start small, stay consistent.
3️⃣ Fitness is self-care, not selfish.
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“Consistency is the hidden lever for sustainable change. Focusing solely on motivation is a trap; sustainable progress relies on creating routines that prioritize consistency over fleeting inspiration.”
Full Transcript
Tia Graham (00:02.862)
You can absolutely have a fitness journey as a working mom that helps you feel strong, healthy, positive, and optimistic, even when you feel like you don't have the time for fitness. 39 % of working moms in the United States do not exercise.
Weekly, do not exercise regularly. And that number is way too high. The problem that you and so many other working moms face is that you just don't feel like you have the time. You have a big career, taking care of your kids takes so much time, plus you need to sleep.
You're running the house. Maybe you want to go on date nights. Maybe you want to relax a little bit. Maybe you want to see girlfriends. Maybe you also have other family members that you care for or see your plate is so full. And as working moms, it's really, really common for working moms, and you might feel this way, that
You feel guilt. You are already spending time away from your kids working. And so you feel guilty taking more time to take care of yourself. It's really, really common. And plus you need sleep and you might need to also take care of the dogs. And like I said, there's so many other things and
we don't feel like we have a lot of time. Maybe time poor, even time famished. Maybe there's people in our house like our spouse or our kids that make us feel guilty. I was just at a conference and one of the speakers said that her son says, you like running more than you like us. Because instead of walking our kids to school, she goes running and it's like,
Tia Graham (02:27.262)
a dagger in the heart, right? You're like, my God, the guilt, the shame, I'm the worst. How can I possibly make sure that my fitness journey is consistent and works when my career and my kids and all else are so big? Let me tell you a story about one of the members of
my community, my membership, the Feel Good Club. Her name is Hillary. So when Hillary joined, she did not feel like she was prioritizing exercise and wellbeing enough. Her husband worked way more hours than her. She had just launched her new business and she also sat on boards and
volunteered a lot. So she's very, very busy and has two young kids and she spends a lot of time with her kids. And by the end of the day, she did not have enough energy. She also just felt like different changes going on with her body. And she just, you know, did not have the energy and did not feel or think that she had the time to exercise.
What I did is through my feel good framework, I taught her as well as other members about the impact that exercise has on your happiness, on your mindset, on how positive or negative you feel. And I showed her the difference that
her life would have and the difference that her brain would feel and the difference it would make to her marriage and the different way that exercising just two or three times a week, the different ways that she would show up as a mom. And Hillary took all this to heart and she made a decision. She made a choice to put
Tia Graham (04:51.128)
fitness and put exercise in her calendar and to just make it happen. And this, you know, was, also, you know, in conversations with her husband because guess what? Your spouse wants you to be happier. They don't want you to be negative all the time. Guarantee. And so she made a plan with walking and wanted to do, wanted to do some strength training. And I told her, you don't need to go to an hour Peloton class.
You can do things at home. You can do things with everything that you have without spending any more money. This doesn't have to be complicated. It just needs to be consistent. And Hillary put a stake in the sand and said, okay, I'm going to do it. And it was hard. You know, it wasn't like perfection right out of the gate. She did a few weeks and then, I only did one this week, but she kept going.
And she said, I am going to prioritize myself. I've been giving so much to so many people and to my work for so long. It is time for me. And did she become a horrible mom? No. Did she not take care of her clients or not teach her classes or not support the boards that she was on? No. But she figured out how to have three times a week of 30 minutes of movement. And
What I want you to shift is this thinking of fitness and exercise is self-care for me. This is selfish, this is for me. I'm taking care of myself. And the reframe I want you to have is that when you...
Move and exercise regularly. My recommendation is four times a week for 30 minutes and you could do everything in your home, in your neighborhood. You do not have to get in your car. Is that this is an investment in your business, in your career, in your marriage and in your children. And it's an investment in you. When you move, you are gonna be more positive.
Tia Graham (07:12.002)
more optimistic, more creative, and more innovative. When you are happier, you're going to be more productive at work, which means you're gonna work faster and work smarter, and you're gonna be more creative in your work. When you exercise regularly and have this consistent fitness journey as a working mom, you are going to have a stronger marriage.
because your emotions are contagious, it's going to be more positive and you are just gonna be in a better mood, right? You're gonna feel better. So it's also that. Plus your energy, your positivity, your optimism, feeling good, feeling better is going to transfer into your parenting and to your kids.
So don't see it as you're taking time away from your kids. Think about it as investing in a happier mom and your kids would rather have you happier and 30 minutes less than not feeling great but around for that 30 minutes. I guarantee it, okay? So think about looking at your calendar, have a planning session with yourself on
Fridays or maybe Saturday or Sundays where you look at your calendar and you go, okay I'm gonna put in four 30-minute blocks and maybe don't call it working out call it investment in career parenting and marriage if you don't want it to feel selfish selfish because it's not and I want you to have I want you to mix it up find things that you like for me
I like to have one 30 minutes of yoga, one 30 minutes of a full body lifting weights. And I use, you know, I use the Lululemon app on my phone and then have two cardio sessions. So, and if you can't do 30 minutes, that's okay. If you can only do 10, if you can do 15, if you can do 20, all movement counts, all movement counts. So,
Tia Graham (09:33.865)
I study the science of happiness. I study the science of well-being. And I want you to remember that your mind and your body are never, ever disconnected. Every single thing that you think affects your physical body, everything you put into your mind, the content you consume or the content you don't consume affects your body. And everything you do with your body
affects how you think and how you feel. It's one system. It's one complete living organism. And this is such a powerful way to have a stronger psychological immune system. Of course, you're going to have a stronger physical immune system. You're going to feel better. You're to look better. But like, honestly, for me, that's the back burner. I care.
about my psychological, emotional immune system. Because being a working mom is flipping hard, high achieving, doing a lot, juggling so much, and you and I need every tool in our toolbox to make us stay sane and on some days feel happy, right? So it is a...
Guaranteed, I almost want to use the word like insurance. It's insurance that you're going to have more positive emotions, all right? The problem is that working moms don't feel like they have time. And the problem also is that they don't feel like they have the energy. The problem is that they feel guilt for taking time away from the kids or away from the house, but it's a flip.
By doing this, it's actually a gift. You are giving more to them. You can absolutely do this. If I can do it, you can too. And I'll leave you with, you can do this with your kids around. Sometimes maybe my daughter's watching a show on the couch or she's doing some arts and crafts. I will do my weight workout near her, right?
Tia Graham (11:54.694)
Or maybe my kids are playing outside and I'm going to do a stationary bike near them. It doesn't have to be separate. They sometimes do just dance videos and I join them and I'm like, my God, great movement. Okay, so all movement counts. You're amazing. You can make it happen. And if you're having trouble, just shoot me an email, tia at the feelgoodclub.com.
If something's getting in the way, ask me a question.
I have created 30 self-care practices that you can do in five minutes or less. So these are other things based on the Science of Happiness that are going to help you feel better based on research. And all you need to do is go to tiagram.com forward slash self care. And you're going to get these 30 super simple self-care practices. Print them out, share this.
With all your working mom girlfriends and colleagues and family members, they're simple and easy.
Your fitness journey is yours and I never want you to feel like you are not doing enough because you are. I want you to prioritize your well-being, prioritize your happiness. This is what we are doing inside my membership, the Feel Good Club for Working Moms. See you on the next episode.