Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
Confidently Beautiful with Ciera
Mom's Panel: How Three Moms Approach Health and Wellness
Wellness looks different in every season of motherhood. In this empowering episode, we uncover the authentic health journeys of three mothers at distinctly different stages of parenthood, proving there's no single "right way" to take care of yourself while raising children.
Nicki, a mother of six ranging from 11 to 24, shares her balanced approach to wellness that includes daily walks, strength training, and purposeful nutrition that supports her changing body through perimenopause. Her thoughtful morning and evening routines provide structure while acknowledging imperfection.
Connect with Nicki on Instagram @review.momma
Listen to Nicki's previous episode
Emilee reveals her remarkable transformation from struggling with postpartum immobility after her fourth child to now training for the Boston Marathon. Her journey wasn't overnight but built through small, consistent actions over five years. Her disciplined 5am "Miracle Morning" routine gives her purpose and control before her four children (ages 4-11) wake up.
Connect with Emilee on Instagram @emileeroberts11
Listen to Emilee's previous episode
Then there's Alexis, deep in the trenches with two children under two, who bravely discusses her postpartum depression and the wellness routine centered on therapy, medication, and scheduled alone time that keeps her mental health a priority.
The conversation explores how wellness evolves through different life stages and circumstances. These mothers demonstrate that whether you're measuring success through cottage cheese recipes, marathon training, or simply making it through the day with your mental health intact, the "right" wellness routine is whatever works for you.
Take one small step today for your health—whether physical, mental, or emotional. What's your wellness routine look like right now? Text me through the link in the show notes or follow me on Instagram @ConfidentlyBeautifulPodcast to join the conversation!
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Connect with Ciera on Instagram @confidentlybeautifulpodcast
You're listening to Confidently Beautiful with Ciera, a podcast to help you stay confidently beautiful, because we all have confidence inside us. We just need to bring it out and I'm here to show you how Body image, dreams, parenting, style, personality and more here we cover it all. Get ready to stay confidently beautiful. Hello, and welcome back to another episode. I am so happy you are here joining in and listening. Thank you for taking some time to spend some time with me as we talk. All things confidence.
Ciera:My goal is to hopefully inspire and uplift you to become a more confident person in whatever stage in life you are, and I am so excited for today's episode. Today I am going to be sharing a panel that I did with three special moms and they are three moms that are in different stages in motherhood, and we're going to be talking all things health and exercise, wellness and we're going to be talking about how there is no right or wrong way to do something. Did you know that? I finally did it? I finally have an email newsletter and I'm so excited. I have put together a brand new website, confidentlybeautifulwithciera. com C-I-E-R-A. com, and you can sign up for my newsletter there. I will have a newsletter full of my favorite things, podcast episodes that maybe you have missed. Anything beauty and self-care related is going to be there. It's going to be full of things that I hope bring some value to you. So if this is something that you are interested in signing up for, head on to my website confidentlybeautifulwithciera. com and sign up for the newsletter, or you can click the link in my bio or in the show notes and it will take you directly there, and I can't wait to be in your inbox. All right, and we're back.
Ciera:There are so many things out there on the social media world, on TV shows, on movies Everything can tell us how a certain health or wellness routine should look. Influencers, celebrities they're always sharing their health and wellness routines, so it can be really overwhelming on which one is the right one. It can also be very shaming on oh, I'm not doing enough or I should be doing this. I should be waking up earlier. There's a lot of pressure to feel like we're doing what is right or enough I'm saying those in quotation marks what really is the right routine or something that is enough for you? Everyone is in different stages of life, everyone is in different stages of motherhood, and there is no one size fits all approach.
Ciera:When I wanted to do this episode, I really wanted to talk about how there are different stages in life where we can do different things for our health and wellness. Our health and wellness journey is about taking care of ourselves and not following someone else's blueprint. So I'm going to be sharing a little from three special moms, all in different stages of motherhood, and they're going to share their unique perspectives on health and wellness. Progress is better than perfection. Something is always better than nothing. Find what works for you and build on that.
Ciera:The first mom that we're going to hear from is Nikki. Nikki is actually someone who has been on the podcast before. She is someone who I really admire. She is in definitely a very different stage of motherhood than I am. She has six kids and she definitely knows a lot about how to mother in all the stages. I can learn a lot from her. I always love her advice. She did a back to school episode with me a long time ago and she always has really good things to share. Here is Nikki's advice for health and wellness.
Nicki:Hi, my name is Nicki Wintch. I have six children and they range in age from 11 to 24. I have three boys and three girls. We live 25 miles from town, so my kids need to leave for school by about 7 15. So we get up at six. They don't like a big breakfast, but we usually do cinnamon toast or maybe some cereal or some yogurt. They're big enough that they all can get themselves dressed and hair combed and ready to go and out the door.
Nicki:After that I take my vitamins. I take a liquid collagen supplement, I try to drink a couple glasses of water and then I go walk on the treadmill in my basement or, if it's nice, I walk outside. I try to drink a protein drink every morning and then I try to focus on eating high protein meals throughout the day. Nighttime I'm a bit of a night owl, so I struggle with getting to bed at a decent time. Nighttime I'm a bit of a night owl, so I struggle with getting to bed at a decent time. But the older I'm getting, the more inclined I am to go to bed at a good time. My kids are usually headed to bed before 9, even if they're just in their rooms reading or something. I try to get them all to their beds at least by 9. And then I usually try to start getting ready for bed. My bedtime routine is extensive. I take a lot of vitamins and supplements at night. I have an extensive skincare routine brushing my teeth, flossing my teeth, I lotion my hands and feet, I put stuff on my lips. It's quite a routine, but I try to start doing that around nine so that hopefully by about 10, I'm actually ready to go to bed and then hopefully be asleep by about 1030.
Nicki:Perimenopause has made it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, so it's a bit of a struggle, but I feel like starting earlier gives me a better chance at actually falling asleep at a decent time and getting a good night's sleep. I feel like that makes a big difference in what the next day looks like for me if I get a good night's sleep. I try to walk 30 minutes every single day. Well, at least five days a week I do some free weights. Most days I try to do it like three to four times a week and it's a pretty basic weights routine that I do just to work every muscle group you know. And then I just recently added a vibration plate to my workout. I do that at the end while I kind of cool down, and it just helps with bone density, it helps with muscle tone, it helps with lymphatic drainage, which I feel like is rough when you're in perimenopause. So by the time all is said and done, I'm usually downstairs for about an hour.
Nicki:Now that it's getting warm, I'm looking forward to walking outside again, though that is something that I feel like is so crucial to my mental health is getting outside in nature, feeling the sunshine on my face, breathing in the fresh air. It does wonders for me to get outside, and I've really missed that this winter. So I'm excited to start getting outside again. It just helps me clear my head, and walking is such an underrated form of exercise whether you're on a treadmill or outside, I feel like it's just. It's so great for your entire body, it's great for your heart, it's great for your lung. It doesn't have to be crazy intense cardio, but I do, you know, try to get my heart rate up.
Nicki:Eating healthy is something that we really try to do with our kids. We try to eat a lot of home cooked meals. We do live far from everywhere, so anytime we have to go somewhere. Meals. We do live far from everywhere, so anytime we have to go somewhere, it seems like we do eat out, but for the most part during the week, when we're home and the kids are in school, I cook. I try to make almost everything from scratch. We try to always have a vegetable or a salad with dinner and then, like I said, me personally, I try to really focus on eating high protein at every meal and getting a lot of protein. That's so important for women and it's so important the older we get, once you're in your 30s and your 40s, you start to lose muscle mass. It just starts to basically dissolve, and so it's important to eat high protein meals to try to maintain that muscle mass. So some of my favorite things to do to take care of myself mentally, physically, emotionally walking for sure is good.
Nicki:Usually in the morning, after I finish my exercise, I sit down and have a good breakfast and drink my perk energy drink, which is just a great part of my routine that I look forward to. That's usually when I try to do some scripture study and learn more about, you know, jesus Christ and the church that I belong to, and it's quiet in my house because my kids are all gone to school, my husband's usually outside working on the ranch, and I feel like that gives me a lot of time to just reflect, not necessarily meditate, but just time to that quiet time. I feel like that gives me a lot of time to just reflect, not necessarily meditate, but just time to that quiet time I feel like is so important for moms, and it's hard when your kids are little, but having just even a few minutes of time to ponder and pray and think and meditate just sort of reconnects us with our spirit, and for me it just kind of reminds me to slow down and think about what's important. It's not social media, it's not, you know, making a lot of money, it's not things, it's family and it's my relationship with my savior. And those things are come to my mind when I take the time to just sit quietly and think. So, doing that, walking, and then doing something that I love, which is, uh, reading, traveling, cooking, all of those things which I didn't do, a lot of things that I loved when I had little kids. It was hard because there wasn't a lot of time, and so it's been sort of fun to rediscover the things that I enjoy now that my kids are bigger and to make time for those things to sort of feed my soul in another way.
Nicki:A favorite thing that I would love to share I hope people are into cottage cheese as much as I am. I don't know how cottage cheese is having its moment, but I'm telling you what I go through so much cottage cheese. I like cottage cheese just on its own, but, man, I make you blend that stuff. You can make so much stuff with it. I have a delicious ranch dip that I mean. Then it's creamy and but it's high in protein and you can dip your vegetables in it or crackers in it or put it on top of stuff.
Nicki:Um, you can bake with cottage cheese. I make a, a really great, like a thin, uh, hamburger bun type thing, or bagels with cottage cheese. I mean, cottage cheese is just really having a moment and and I love sharing that with everybody the cottage cheese bagels I started making and my sisters were like that sounds disgusting and I talked them all into baking it and every one of them were like these are amazing. So that's what I would share with anyone that asked is some of my cottage cheese recipes, because it's it's really. It's really living its best life right now. Anyway, I'm not perfect, I'm never going to be perfect, and I think the older I get, I've learned to just be grateful for the body I have. It's far from perfect, but it's brought me six beautiful kids and it's helped me work alongside my husband on our cattle ranch, and it's healthy and it's healthy. I'm learning to just love myself for who I am and what I am even if that's not perfect.
Ciera:Next we're going to hear from Emilee. Emilee is also a previous podcast interview guest. Emilee is out of the baby stage of motherhood and she has four awesome kids and I love everything that she has. She's very motivational. She actually talks a lot about health and wellness on her Instagram. So if you want to go and check out her Instagram, then you will definitely be uplifted and motivated there for your health and your wellness. So let's hear what Emily has to say.
Emilee:My name is Emilee Roberts. I have four kids. My oldest is 11 and the next is nine, six and four. They keep me very busy, but I love that and they are really one of the reasons that I started to become more active in my everyday life and changing some of my habits.
Emilee:I, when my fourth baby was born, I had this moment where I finally started feeling like my body was was given back to me, because at the end of the pregnancy that I had with my fourth baby, I really became quite immobile. I couldn't move without hurting and aching and my body just felt so foreign to me. And several weeks after he was born, I just had this moment where I realized my body I mean it wasn't back by any means, but in a way my body was back because it was my own again and I started getting some of my mobility back and a desire to move. And that desire started with just taking little walks and when I say little I'm meaning to the stop sign back, just to like have five minutes outside in the sunshine where I was moving just a little bit, and eventually that grew into a little bit more. And I was moving just a little bit and eventually that grew into a little bit more. And eventually that grew into a little bit more. Eventually those walks changed into high fitness. I have a really good friend in town who started teaching high fitness and I wanted to go try and I went and I would jump and I would pee my pants every single time. I was pretty newly postpartum and it was horrible but also wonderful because I really kind of embraced the idea of this group fitness mentality where everybody was there having fun, looking silly, not caring about how the other people looked, and so I realized nobody cared how I looked, I wasn't worried about them, they weren't worried about me and it was. We were all just there to have fun and have a good time together. And that became a very fun way for me to move my body, for me to get out of my house and to be around friends and people and to laugh and to have some adult interaction. And after I kind of got into high fitness I started getting into a little bit more of walking, just a little bit further, and eventually that led into a little bit of, I want to say running, but it was also kind of like run, walk, run, walk, run, walk and eventually that built into a little bit more running. Sometime later it happened to be weightlifting and it just all kind of built on itself, but it really happened very gradually over time.
Emilee:I started making these changes in my life almost five years ago. My baby will be five in May and I didn't really start doing any of these things until probably the July after he was born. So almost five years into these lifestyle and habit changes, I've really come to rely on my morning routine. These lifestyle and habit changes, I've really come to rely on my morning routine. My morning routine is the thing that sets the tone for the rest of my day. It gets my attitude right. It gets my mindset right. It helps me to really align my perspective with who I want to be the mother. I want to be the wife. I want to be the business owner. I want to be the person, the individual, emily, that I want to be really kind of starts first thing in the morning. Um, I've learned for me that it needs to start before my kids get going. I want to be in control of how my day starts. I don't want my kids to start my day for me. So that means my alarm goes off at 5am.
Emilee:Um, I get up, I hurry like brush my teeth. Um, I get up, I hurry like brush my teeth, splash, splash some cold water on my face, and then I go into a little bit of a morning routine that follows the basic outline from the book called Miracle Morning, and this Miracle Morning goes over the lifesavers S-A-V-E-R-S. It starts with S for silence, a for affirmations, v for visualization, e for exercise, r for read and S for scribe. Now, I do kind of my own version of all of those things, but I don't do it in that order. I will start by, you know, just getting up, getting dressed. I will spend some time on my knees just talking to my father in heaven where I'm praying, and then I come into my office, where I still have a good quiet space, and I in heaven where I'm praying, and then I come into my office, where I still have a good quiet space, and I will read where I like to study my scriptures.
Emilee:Um, I will go through some positive and personal affirmations. I will visualize some of the things that I'm really wanting to make happen, the goals that I'm working on and focusing on at that time. Um, and and I just really try to think about what version of me needs to show up today in order for me to get closer to the life that I am envisioning for my family. And then I will sit and write in my gratitude journal, and most of the time that's just me jotting down three things that I'm grateful for. It could be Diet Coke, it could be protein ice cream, which I might tell you about later, it could be just a hug from my kids, and I repeat those things that I'm grateful for all the time, but it really does help me to keep more of a glass half full perspective, um. And then I will go and finish that all up with some exercise, which sometimes I'm lifting weights, sometimes I'm running, sometimes I'm doing both in in a day, um, but when I wake up at that 5 AM time I'm running. Sometimes I'm doing both in a day, but when I wake up at that 5 am time, I'm good to start helping my kids get ready for school by 7 o'clock so that I can get them out the door and where they need to be on time.
Emilee:In order for my morning routine to work out the way that I want it to, it really needs to start with me prioritizing my nighttime routine. So at nighttime I, you know, I do all of my skincare, my self care. I wash my face, I put on my favorite pajamas, I will get into bed and when I'm in bed I put my phone away. If my screen is in my face, I never go to bed, so that that is a rule that I have for myself. My phone has to be plugged in away from my bed Well like farther than my arm can reach. I also put it on sleep mode so that I'm not getting. You know, my interest isn't being peaked by notifications or my sleep isn't disrupted by notifications at night. It's on sleep mode and it's away from my bed. I do allow myself to read at night and I will have my Kindle and I set like a time for that and I make sure that I'm setting it down at a reasonable time so that I can go to sleep, because I can't perform as a mom the way I want to and, dare I say, as an athlete, the way that I want to, unless I'm getting adequate amount of sleep every night. So I do have time limits on that. My kids are pretty good sleepers and that helps me to have a good, solid and consistent nighttime routine and I know that as I embrace that and as I prioritize it, the rest of my day is so much better because I'm able to start my day the next day with my morning routine the way I want to.
Emilee:I did start just by going for walks. That that's kind of how my physical activities just started, and right now I am in the middle of training to race my first Boston Marathon and that's really cool and I sometimes will get emotional, even now, when I think about like how far I've come from just walking to that stop sign and back to now I am training to run the Boston Marathon. And it's not just a marathon, like I had to qualify by getting fast enough in order to be eligible to run there and and that's really cool. Now I did not go just one day overnight like walking to marathoning, but that is absolutely not how it happened. So I just really would want to make it clear that you don't have to change your whole life in a day. You know it. That's not how it works. It happens in baby steps, it happens over time and as you can do like small things, small and simple things over time, consistently, that's enough. That is enough.
Emilee:Because, as I started walking, it turned eventually into high fitness, which turned into running, turned eventually into high fitness, which turned into running, which turned into weightlifting, which turned into wow, I'm stronger than I ever knew that I was, I'm faster than I ever knew I could be, and. And not just that, but I realized I could still get more if I continued to show up and work for it. So those are the things I have found that I love. They're the things that bring me joy. It I feel confident when I am moving my body, and not because I'm winning races, because I'm not, not because I'm lifting the heaviest of anybody in the world, because I am not, but it's because I am doing what I said I was going to do. And I'm staying.
Emilee:Um, I'm keeping integrity to myself because I'm staying true to the word that I gave me. I am having self integrity, and that boosts my confidence. So I've come to love running. Yes, I've come to love lifting weights yes, they bring me joy. They they fill me with, with this sense of of enoughness, because it allows me to kind of disconnect from the things that are stressing me out and embrace the things that help me to feel confident, help me to feel like I'm progressing as an individual, so that I have the capacity to also progress as a mom, which is one of the things that's most important to me. Something that's helped me to make these lifestyle switches and these lifestyle shifts is to kind of create systems that are quite simple, that all I have to do is plug into them each day. So, for example, I I eat kind of boring sometimes, like my breakfasts, lunches and snacks. I will often repeat the same thing for a couple of weeks, or maybe I'll have like two or three options for breakfast, lunch and snacks that I kind of rotate through for a few weeks. I change my dinners we eat something different for dinner every night but those systems just kind of helped me to stay on track with my nutrition, with the things making sure I'm getting enough protein, making sure that I am eating well and I'm getting enough like micronutrients on top of the right balance of macronutrients that I enjoy. Just plugging into systems, that really has helped me. Um, the systems are where my habits have been built. I I've been able to maintain and to build on more healthy habits because I have systems to fall back on. So a lot of times, you know, when I have a really stressful week or my family and my kids and I have a lot going on at a certain time, I I'm kind of able to put myself on autopilot and I just plug into the systems because I know these are the things that keep me sane, these are the things that keep my wheels turning, and all I have to do is plug in every day and if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other, doing the things that I know work for me, everything will work. Some of my favorite products and things that have helped my health and fitness journey to be more enjoyable Number one MFF, which stands for macro-friendly foods.
Emilee:It's my recipe subscription that I, um, I purchase every month. I actually have mine set up quarterly. So it I get new recipes every month. It comes with dinners, snacks, lunches, breakfast treats, desserts, side dishes, all of those things and and I get new recipes from it every month. It has a meal planning web-based app so that I'm able to go and plan my meals. I do that every Sunday. That's another one of my simple systems that I just plug into every week.
Emilee:So macro-friendly foods it's. It's delicious. My whole family loves it. I do not make multiple dinners for all of the people in my household. I make one thing for me and for everybody else, so it's family friendly, it's budget friendly, it's delicious. It's like normal food. It's pasta and casseroles and and like the normal stuff that my mom grew up, or I grew up with my mom making for me, but it's just tweaked so that it's more macro friendly and more balanced in the nutrition and the ingredients that are being used inside these dishes.
Emilee:Another thing that I love every single day I am obsessed with perk energy. It is like a warm drink. You can get it caffeinated or without caffeine. It has collagen, it has protein and they call it hug in a mug because like it is it just it's this whole experience that allows me to kind of slow down. It goes back to my gratitude. I have a moment to reflect. It's this quiet, peaceful moment that I give myself every day. I love it so much and it's also just one of those things that I'm like oh hey, I'm also getting protein in with this.
Emilee:And one more thing is my Ninja Creamy Machine. I did not think I needed one. In fact, I resisted it for a long time because I did not want another thing on my counter. It is now one of my favorite and most used kitchen appliances in my entire house. I love it.
Emilee:I am able to make high protein ice cream that is low calorie. I eat the whole pint. I do not share. I don't share, it's it's I, it's when I make it, it's just for me I. It tastes delicious. You know I I'll make them with like 30 to 40 grams of protein per pint. I have recipes on my Instagram page that you're welcome to come and look at. Um, I have a highlight bubble there. In fact, all of my Instagram has stuff for macro friendly foods and stuff for perk and stuff for my ninja creamies and and just other meals and recipes that I have found that I love, that are high in protein that support my nutrition and support my fitness and support my, my racing, my lifting and all of these things my recovery, but also feeds and fuels my family. So those are some of the things that I have learned that I love, that have made this process and this journey much more enjoyable for me.
Ciera:And the third mom that wanted to share something is Alexis. Alexis is a warrior because she is in the thick of it. She has two kids, I believe they are both under the age of two, so she is in with all the diapers, all the sleepless nights, all the nap time schedules and she is in with a lot of it. I loved what Alexis had to say when she gave her two cents on being in the thick of motherhood but also taking care of her health and her wellness. She says postpartum depression has hit harder. With this pregnancy I was in such a dark place. It took creating a routine which included therapy, medication and alone time doing whatever it is I wanted or needed to that week to help me keep my sanity in those first few months. It's still something I do now, seven months postpartum with my son, and I'll probably continue with it, hopefully without medication, to make sure my emotions and mental health are at their best so I can be my best for my babies. I love that because we talked back and forth a little bit about how we feel like mental health needs to be talked about more openly, especially with postpartum mental health, and I think as moms, we feel like we just want to like bounce back to what we were before. We want to be able to feel like we can just do things without being tired. We want to feel like we, physically, can do things. We want to feel like our emotions are leveled out and that we aren't anxious or depressed and can just live life and sometimes it can be really, really tricky with those hormones and everything that comes along with postpartum. So I loved what she had to say and I loved that she talked about having alone time doing whatever it is that she wanted to do or sometimes what she needed to do. Being alone, like as a mom, can sometimes be very needed to do. Being alone, like as a mom, can sometimes be very difficult to achieve, but it can have a huge benefit on your well-being and your wellness. So I loved everything that she said, the therapy and medication, everything that she is doing, and I am so glad that it is working for her. I love the reminder that it is okay to just focus on more of the mental and emotional side of wellness and it doesn't necessarily have to be all the physical.
Ciera:I think a lot of times when we think of health and wellness and improving our health and wellness, we immediately go to exercise, but I think there is a huge benefit of taking care of our emotional and mental health as well. I hope you can find something from all of these different perspectives of health and wellness that you can take and put into your life, depending on what season you are in. Wellness is personal. It evolves as life and motherhood changes. What I am doing today is not what I was doing when I before I had kids, or even when I only had two kids. It is going to change as you go on, and it's not even dependent on your child's situation, but sometimes just your life situation, the weather where you're living, what your finances are like and what you're able to do. Maybe you love to go to the gym, but maybe you're not able to go to the gym for a while, so it's going to be switched around to taking a walk instead, and I think that it is important to know that we don't have to follow the script of what other people are doing.
Ciera:Ditch your comparison and focus on what works for you. Do one small thing today for your health, whether it's a short walk, a glass of water, stretching before bed, calling and making that doctor's appointment that you've been putting off. Just try and do something that is for you and to better your mental and physical or emotional health. I would love to hear your own routines on Instagram. Dm me on Instagram at Confidently Beautiful Podcast. I'd love to hear your routines. It's always interesting to me to hear other people's routines and it inspires me to change things up and maybe what's not working for me to be able to try something that is working for someone else and see if it will work for me. Because, again, we're not trying to be like that someone else, but we're just trying to find what works for us.
Ciera:You can also text me. There is a link at the top of the show notes description and you can just click on that and it is an actual text message. It will text me and you can tell me your routines. You can give me feedback on any podcast episodes. You can ask for requests on what you want to hear. Just, I would love to hear from you. So, yeah, make sure you click on that link and text me. Thank you for joining and thank you to the three moms that shared their experiences, and I hope that you can find them helpful. Remember to subscribe, leave a review and follow along for more confidence boosting content, and I will talk to you next week. Stay confidently beautiful. Thanks for listening. Connect with me on Instagram at confidently beautiful podcast and share this episode with someone in your life who could use a little reminder of just how amazing they already are. Stay confidently beautiful.