Fit Mom Diet- Interview with Shannon and Kim
Shannon Dougherty and Kim Miller want you to love your body. Both are public speakers, writers and models and love to cook and feel great. They have developed Fit Mom Diet, a website and book full of yummy recipes, coaching, tips and helpful hints. Thebabyspot.ca sat down with Kim and Shannon to hear their story of this fantastic empire that they are building and how we all can get fit after our post baby bodies.
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Shannon and Kim, how did you both meet?
We met at a photo shoot some time ago and quickly became friends. Our interests are very similar and at the time we were both beginning to work in the health and fitness industry with a vision to inspire other women to live balanced, healthy lives.
How did you two come up with the concept of Fit Mom Diet?
The birth of Fit Mom Diet came after a year of working independently developing our own brands. We were both involved in modeling, writing, public speaking and shared a passion for cooking. One of the things we both recognize is the importance of support communities. Whatever our goal one might have they are much more likely to be successful when surrounded by others with shared interests and positive outlooks. We are both moms with four children between us ranging from age 3-11 so we understand the challenge balancing motherhood can be with taking care of oneself. In addition to our many shared interests, we both transformed our bodies after having children loosing over 100 lbs. between the two of us. With that in mind and a love for clean eating and living fit, we set out to do whatever we could to inspire women to eat clean and live fit.
Your website is so easy to manage. From meal plans to coaching, it has it all! How did you come up with such a great “all in one” website?
Honestly, we just started building something we thought would inspire people. Our website is a combination of all the things we believe in. It was very important to us for is to not be one-dimensional because as moms, our lives are not that. Its very easy to tell someone just to eat healthy or to exercise daily but as we know, life sometimes gets in the way of that. We try to help moms by offering a variety of things from easy recipes to support to inspiration. What’s most important to us is that people feel welcome when they visit our site and recognize that we are very real people with real challenges. Our ultimate goal is to be as transparent about that as possible while helping each person realize they can do whatever it is they set their mind to whether it be.
Why do you find so many mothers do not take care of themselves?
Mothers are givers and often put others needs in front of their own. In addition, motherhood changes you in so many aspects. You realize the world is greater than just you. Eventually women get to the point that they want to do something positive for themselves. We believe that taking care of yourself, whether it be through healthy eating, exercise, making yourself feel pretty or just setting goals in general in whatever area of life they might be, makes you a better mom. We aim to help women learn strategies to that and be role models for women in that respect.
Tell us about your introductory book: Fit Moms Guide To The Body You Love
We were flooded with questions about body transformation and how to get started. That’s usually the most difficult part of weight loss, body transformation and changing your habits. Fit Mom Guide to the Body You Love contains a body assessment overview, helpful eating tips, shopping lists and a meal planning guide to help jumpstart you journey. While it specifically lists what to eat and when, we also offer alternatives so that there is flexibility making it valuable for a wide range of people. Our goal is not to suggest people go on a rigid diet plan overnight with the goal of weight loss; rather, we hope to teach women how to gradually change their habits to develop a healthier lifestyle they can sustain long term. Our guide outlines exactly how to do that.
We love that Fit Mom diet has such yummy recipes for the whole family. How important is it to pass down good eating habits and healthy exercise to children?
Healthy living for the entire family is paramount! It goes without saying the important of keeping kids healthy and active; however, when the entire family sets goals to live healthy lifestyles the chance of success is tremendously improved. Children grow up and mimic the patterns they were raised with, so if you want them to make good choices ten you have to be a role model in that respect. We don’t advocate that moms never give their children treats and we also recognize that children’s needs are different than our own. We do try and offer great ways to offer kids healthier options that the entire family can enjoy and strive to help women find ways to stay active with their little ones.
What is the importance of coaching mothers as they begin their weight loss journey?
The best thing one can have when embarking on a goal is a mentor and coach. Body transformation is a hard thing to do alone and most women have a lot of questions. Having someone who holds you accountable and offers you a balance of both challenge and support can be invaluable.
Photo credit: Natalie Minh
The Baby Spot likes that you feature real Moms who are losing weight the healthy way.Tell us about the Momspiration portion of your website.
We are all about realness at Fit Mom Diet and it excites and motivates us when we meet moms that are taking charge of their health. Some of their stories are so amazing and touching that we think they absolutely must be shared. In addition, many of the moms we feature have excellent advice and tips of their own we think women can benefit from hearing. Our momspiration section of our website is something we love working on and we hope that it inspires others in the same we it does us.
What is next for Fit Mom Diet?
We are about to launch our newest Ebook which is a clean eating cookbook filled with easy to make recipes we love. In addition, we are currently filming segments for Baseball Player University which will air on Fox Sports this summer. We are really excited about that because while women enjoy reading, being able to watch short clips with helpful tips is so easy. We think a lot of our followers will enjoy them. Finally, we are currently partnering with some larger companies that we truly believe in because they not only have great products but the things they do in addition including community involvement and being advocates for health. Finally, we intend to build out website to offer more content, articles, recipes and resources so there is something for everyone who visits!
What does your next year look like?
Busy! We love what we do and we hope to stay open to new possibilities. We mostly want to connect with people whether it is through writing, hosting, sponsoring events, coaching or speaking. At the end of the say we decide what opportunities to take by asking this question. Will this empower women? Will this help them realize they are not alone in this world? Will this help them find their way to a healthier lifestyle and will it leave a lasting impact that is much greater than us. That’s the key for us!
