Mama On The Run - September

By: Abby Falconer

 

Welcome back, Mama! Thanks for joining me again! I want to introduce you to someone in our community who I admire and I think you should meet. Her name is Jenn Murphy. I met her while I was working as a Pediatric RN at Upstate. Jenn is a Pediatric Critical Care nurse. She has years of experience working as an RN in the Pediatric ICU and she currently works as a Pediatric SWAT nurse, which is an RN who is trained to respond to all pediatric emergencies in the hospital and is also an educational resource for all staff members. 

 

There are many health care workers who work eight and twelve hour shifts, who work with critically ill patients, who commute 45 minutes one-way to work each shift, just like Jenn. So why do I want to highlight Jenn as a “Mama in the Spotlight” this month? Quite simply, she has a remarkable story that she has shared with me, and she wants to share it with other women too.

 

I asked Jenn, “What were some motivators for you to start your fitness journey and what were some challenges you faced in the beginning of your fitness journey?” Jenn states she started her fitness journey back in 2017 after losing her daughter at 40 weeks pregnant. She shares further, “Life was hard after that and with that came a lot of emotional eating. I was at my heaviest and was struggling to get pregnant again. We did not have a problem getting pregnant the first time, however, this time around I had several miscarriages. My OB-GYN (who I am close to) sat me down one day and said, ‘Jenn,…I really think it is your weight that might be causing the problem.’” Hearing these words coupled with losing her daughter, Jenn was at rock bottom. She explained to me that one of her friends convinced her to sign up for the Beachbody program and “that is where it all began.” 

 

Apart from Jenn’s openness about her journey towards a healthier life for herself, what really struck me when talking to her was when she said, “I started a workout routine and began to pay attention to my nutrition. After a few months, I was in a routine and losing weight. I felt great! I got pregnant with my now almost four year old daughter…. After I had her, she was my new motivation to get my body back in shape.”

 

She started a routine. That’s it. A routine. Sometimes it can be that simple. Not easy, but simple. Drink water. Go for a walk. Start a program that sparks joy! She found motivation. Motivation for herself. Motivation from her daughter. Jenn shared that it wasn’t a perfect process, that “it was hard to get into a routine and stick to it since I was still learning how to navigate life as a Mom. I had a great community of women who motivated me even when I fell off the wagon, which happened several times.” Jenn’s relatability here is what every Mom craves to hear - we are in this together. It isn’t perfect. It is challenging. It is a learning process. But alas, the wagon waits for us and we carry onwards towards our goals, whatever those may be. 

 

As Jenn says, “Consistency is key!…. You have to remember why you are doing this and know that you will feel good staying in your routine. I do give myself breaks, but I remember to get myself back on track. I look at progress photos to remind myself that I can do this and to see how far I have come….with each change that has come to my schedule, whether it be school, work, or home life, I still try to make it [fitness] a priority because I know I will regret not working out. In the same respect, I have learned to give myself grace when I just run out of time to get it done.” 

 

As I mentioned in last month’s writing, giving yourself grace is important. Jenn touches on that a bit more, adding that her journey into exercise and weight loss may be physical, but she has really gone through a mental and spiritual change as well. “I look at life completely different now,” Jenn says, “I’ve read a lot of motivational books and learned how to approach life differently. I think that has helped a lot too.” 

 

Talking with Jenn I really wanted to focus on who she is as a person, as Jenn, not Jenn the Mom, Jenn the Nurse, Jenn the student, or Jenn the wife. But as “Mama on the Run,” we must mention the cute little humans that give us the extra-special title of Mama! I asked Jenn about her daughter, and how she incorporates her into her exercises at home. Jenn shares with me that her daughter has three pound weights that she has learned to use and does some of the exercises with her! Jenn shared a little story with me, that “Just the other day I was struggling to finish an exercise and out of nowhere she came over to me and said, ‘Mommy! You can do this!’ And started cheering me on. It meant the world to me.” 

 

In these small moments as mothers, we move our bodies for our own health and healing and to teach our littles that there is so much power and strength in taking care of yourself. Jenn said it perfectly, “In that moment, I knew I was setting an example for her not to give up when it is hard, and I taught her to cheer others on.”

Jenn has been a huge inspiration for me personally as I have gotten myself back into moving my body and exercising as my body allows me to. She is such a light to those around her, whether she realizes it or not. In closing out our conversation, I wanted to give her the opportunity to reach out to those mothers who are hesitant to start exercising, whatever that might be (running, strength training, walking, yoga, etc). Jenn jumps right in and says: “Honestly, I would tell them to start with something they love and stick to it. Also, find a partner or group of people to do it with because that support and motivation is important. Lastly, you are going to have to push yourself in the first few weeks. It takes 21 days to build a routine and once you start feeling results, that will be all the motivation you need to continue.” 

 

I want to give Jenn a huge thank you for sharing her story with our community. She is one of the hardest working people I know and it was an honor to interview her for our Mama on the Run September writing for Fleet Feet! Thank you, Jenn!