We are joined today by one of our awesome ambassadors Jesika Mullins of House of Jes who gives us a little insight into her life up until now and how she incorporates exercise into her daily routine with little ones in tow!
I became a qualified personal trainer at the age of 18, I had found a love of the gym and wanted to help people achieve their weight and fitness goals. Around this time I made a huge life change and moved from Canberra to Perth - I had two older siblings in Perth so I lived with them while studying to be a Personal Trainer. Once qualified I worked in a variety of roles within the industry and I was then accepted as a Personal Trainer for Steiner Cruise Ships, I thought this was my dream job! I purchased my plane tickets to the UK to attend the training academy before being posted onto a cruise ship for 8 months at a time. Little did I know the role actually consisted of teaching up to 3 fitness classes a day, 12hr days and your only wage comes from selling detox products. I knew then and there that it wasn't for me. So I decided to take a different path and became an au pair which was amazing!
Once I returned to Australia I was dead broke and of course needed a regular, decent paying job so I decided to accept a receptionist and administration all-rounder role, which after a few years actually lead me to my job as an Executive Assistant within the government. Then came a relationship and motherhood - the most important job of all. Throughout this time I still trained the odd client or ran outside classes on the side. Fitness has always been a big passion of mine but since becoming a mum being an instructor has taken a backseat. I was an instructor for an amazing business called Mums With Bubs Fitness who built her brand around working out with your baby/children. Since then I've had some amazing opportunities which have lead us to where we are now, and that is showcasing our lifestyle online as an influencer.
I now don't exercise to maintain my body weight or tone, I do it to keep my sanity. For me being active isn't about weight or strength/tone it is about my mental health, it is about doing something for myself in the midst of the chaos with two young children and being a mother in high demand 7 days a week. My goal now is to help inspire other women to fit in incidental exercise into their daily life, to enjoy their children and exercise together while raising the next generation and showing them that fit and healthy is lifestyle choice and not a short-term goal.
In our day to day life I fit in exercise when and wherever I can. There is so many great exercises that are super simple to incorporate into your daily life – here is just some of the things we get up to!
- I do 40 min walk each day - which in reality is actually the 10 min walk to my daughter’s school.
- I do squats while unpacking the dishwasher.
- I do walking lunges while packing away after breakfast.
- I do tricep dips on the edge of the bath at bath-time.
- Whenever I'm on the ground with the kids I'll do push-ups and sit-ups.
- We often play 'animal walks', where the kids pick an animal and we have to walk like it (spider walk, frog jumps, bear crawl, crab walk)
- As for repetitions and sets, I do them for as long as my kids allow me to or when my body says enough.
- Also another great 'game' we do every few days is the 'playroom workout', where I do squat jumps, walking lunges, pulse squats while putting away all the kids toys (the kids play along too, I usually make it into 'Simon says'). At the end we do yoga – or in other words - I lay on the floor dying from burning legs so we 'stretch it out' which then always leads to me doing push-ups with them on my back.
When we go to our local park it is right near a set of stairs to the beach, so I do a circuit;
- Run the stairs x 1
- Step ups on the ledge looking into the playground x 20
- Tricep dips on same ledge x 20
- Push-ups on same ledge x 20
I repeat this circuit as many times as I can, sometimes I only get half way through 1 round other times I can do 5 rounds. I honestly actually get quite shy when at the playground and don't like people watching me exercise so some days if the playground is busy we will just go to the oval and do some running races.
For me exercise isn't about a gym or breaking weight records, it is about being outside and active with my children and leading by example. Just remember any exercise is better than nothing.
Jes xx
You can find Jes on her Instagram, Facebook and her blog Resilient Mums.