Mission: Get Mom back in the Picture

There I am, posing with the family for our Easter picture this year.  Like many moms I know, I think that the kids are the cute ones, the ones that people really want to see.  I am tucked behind my little girls because, well, I am not in as great shape as I would like to be.  In every photoshoot I do for children I try to offer for the moms (or grandmothers) to jump in and join the children for some portraits.  All too often I hear “No, I didn’t fix my hair,” “No, I need to touch up my roots,” “No, I didn’t dress in the right clothes,” or most frequently, “No, I need to lose some weight and then I will schedule a portrait for the whole family.”

Now think back to your old family photos from when you were a kid.  Do you care how mom looked, or are you just happy that mom with in the picture with you?   When you find photos of your great-grandmother, do you care is she had grey hair and aged skin, or are you comforted that you have photos of her?   As women, we want to look good in the photos we leave for our families, but we need to do our best to jump in the photos for the sake of ours kids.  So I try to practice what I preach, but if I’m going to commit to being in the portraits, I too would like to try to look my best.

As a mom with my own business and two girls who dance, play soccer, swim, and play violin, finding time for myself in our busy schedule is difficult.  I have a long-standing gym membership which some months goes completely unused.   I spend hours watching my kids exercise but do little myself.  I feed them fruit and yogurt for snacks and I eat their Easter candy.   I know there are simple adjustments to my routine I can make to help make a change in the right direction, like walking with other moms while the kids are at soccer practice, and walking the kids to school rather than driving.  But it was too easy to continue with the status quo and put those changes off until another day.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I went to a trial Custom Fitness Concepts bootcamp class with a friend, and I entered an essay contest to win a free month of their fitness and food program.  It took a lot for me to enter an essay contest, because those who know me know that writing is not really my thing.  My dad is an author, my brother is an English teacher, but I am more of a picture person, and writing doesn’t come easily to me.  Even looking at this blog you’ll see I mostly let the photos speak for themselves.  But in the essay I described how I would use the prize as an kickstart to making some positive changes and making healthier choices, and much to my surprise, I won!  And now I have have no excuse not to lose.

Last week I started making a few changes to my routine to try to get more exercise doing the things I would have to anyway.  The girls and I walked to school rather than driving.  This an easy way for both me and my little dog to get some much-needed exercise.   Then I recruited another mom to take a walk with me while our girls were at soccer practice.   I also managed to take some time to go to Zumba classes with a neighbor at our gym while the girls were at school, and went for a family bike ride over the weekend.

This was a good start, but the hard work will start this week.  I will start working hard with my trainer Tina at the CFC Bootcamp, and will be watching what I eat with their meal plan.   My goal is to be in much better shape, and maybe lose a few pounds as well, by the end of the month.  And then I can try to continue what I’ve started and get myself feeling more confident for family beach portraits this summer.

So there it is, my plan to get mom in the picture.  I challenge my clients to make their plan to get on track to do what they need to do to get themselves feeling comfortable to be back in the family pictures as well.  Whether it’s getting fit, or getting our hair done, or just finding the right outfit, we moms owe it to our kids to be confident enough to join our families in the photos.

 

 

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