She reached her goal weight (after losing 137 pounds)!

It is time for another installment of “One Fit Mommy”! As I surf around the blogosphere, I come across fit moms (and dads too!) who inspire me to fitness.

Today’s fit mommy is Becky, who blogs over at Skinny Dreaming. Becky is a busy mommy of SEVEN—who has recently lost 137.5 pounds to reach her goal weight.

Yes, she has seven kids and still manages to make time for health and fitness! Becky deserves a huge round of applause for all that she has accomplished, don’t you agree?

Please read on for more about Becky and why she is definitely “One Fit Mommy”:

Q: Have you always been fit? What inspired you to live a fit lifestyle?

I was not fit as a teenager, but I wasn’t more than about ten pounds overweight back then.

After I had my first child, I began putting on weight, a bit more each year. My eating habits were horrible! I spent the age of 20 through the age of 36 going up and up in weight. At my highest weight, I was 272.5 pounds. I now weigh 135 pounds.

With my fifth and sixth pregnancies, I had developed high blood pressure and been admitted to the hospital before they were born. During the fifth pregnancy’s labor, it became truly life-threatening. When I found out I was pregnant for the seventh time (and still unfit and morbidly obese), I knew I had to do something about my health. I waited until I was past the first trimester (and past the risk of an early miscarriage) and then I joined Slimming World. I knew someone who went to Slimming World and had lost over 60 pounds, s I decided to give it a try. I had thought about joining Weight Watcher’s, but Weight Watcher’s did not have a plan for pregnant women and Slimming World did.

I also started walking a lot. It was painful while I was pregnant because I had really painful pain in my hips and pelvic area caused by the pregnancy, and I also had a condition known as plantar fasciitis (inflamed heels) which made walking excruciatingly painful, but I knew it was good for me, so I walked anyway. After a few weeks, my husband bought us an elliptical crosstrainer and I started using it more and more. (The plantar fasciitis went away completely after my weight started dropping.)

Q: What advice do you have for moms who claim they don’t have time for exercise?

Everyone has time for exercise, even if it doesn’t always feel like it. It’s just a matter of making exercise a priority in your life. Sometimes I get up before the kids do (which isn’t easy as they are early risers) to fit in some exercise if I know I am going to have a busy day. Other times, I exercise when the baby is napping. If I’ve procrastinated, I end up having to do my exercise late at night after the kids have gone to bed, but I try not to wait that long to do it.

It’s not always easy, and the kids can sometimes cause lots of interruptions in my workout, but I still get it done.

Q: What is your favorite exercise and why?

I don’t really have a favorite. I am not an exercise lover. I use the Wii Fit (and Wii Fit Plus) and I like that I can add hand weights in when using the step exercises on

it. I like that using the elliptical crosstrainer really makes me break out into a sweat and feel like I am really burning calories. I also enjoy the time I spend with my husband when we take the dog for long walks together.

Q: Are you more of a cardio mommy or strength training mommy?

I do both, but I have to admit I do more cardio at the moment. I am pretty much ata healthy weight now after losing more than half my starting body weight, so I am thinking about selling my crosstrainer and buying a rowing machine. I’m looking to tone up now that I’ve lost 137 pounds.

Q: Do you have any mental tricks that you use when you just don’t feel like working out?

I just make myself do it. I tell myself I’ll feel good about it when it’s done. I tell myself that it’s better to just get it over with so I stop worrying about it for the rest of the day. If I don’t do it early in the day, I really do spend the rest of the day worrying that I won’t manage to do it. I’ve just made it a part of my daily routine.

Q: Random question: What is your favorite snack food?

I love making up a big bowl of chopped fruit such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and melon and then pouring a fat-free vanilla yogurt over it. It’s filling, full of fiber and nutrients and really helps when I
need something sweet.

Thank you Becky for being an inspiration to all of us!