Mom-Writers

Being a Mom-Writer means hours of sitting at a computer—and consequently, few hours moving. To top it off, most Mom-Writers also work out of their homes, providing many forms of temptation, and little in the way of accountability.

While you may have chosen to be a Mom-Writer to add to your family’s bottom line, it doesn’t have to bankrupt your health. With a little planning and preparation, you can prevent writer’s blocked arteries and that ominous writer’s spread. Here are a few ideas:

• Make your office space a healthy space. While it can get expensive to totally set your office up so that it’s ergonomically correct, there are a few things you can do. For starters, your computer screen should be as close to eye-level as possible, so that you don’t have to hunch forward to look at it. There are ergonomically correct keyboards and other tools that will help you place your hands in a better position. Two great sites to visit for more information are University’s Ergonomics Web Site and Healthy Computing’s site. Both have tons of great information, including links to other sites.

  You can also help create a healthy space by including fitness equipment within your space. Try using a stability ball (you know – those big balls you see people working out on) as your chair. Trust me – you’ll realize you have muscles you didn’t know you had until you sit on one for a day! Stick exercise tubing or a set of dumbbells in your desk drawer or drape them over a corner of your desk. Schedule in a set of exercises every hour throughout the day and by the end, you’ll have yourself an all-body strength training workout.

• Make your home a temptation-free zone. As the woman of the household, you are the gatekeeper. You get to decide what comes in for food. You also know what foods you just can’t resist or eat in moderation. Rather than bring these foods into your home and then hope for the best, why tempt yourself in the first place? Go out for an ice cream cone, for instance, rather than bring the whole half-gallon in and risk having a freezer fest (and then try to justify it by saying you were trying to cure your writer’s block).

• Be accountable. Perhaps one of the most difficult things about working from home is that you can eat whatever you want or skip your morning walk and no one will know. The problem is, you know. Find at least one person (two or three is better) to be your accountability partner. An ideal accountability partner is someone who knows you well enough to know what excuses you’re likely to pull out, and is honest enough to tell you when you’re using them. It’s got to be someone who isn’t afraid of hurting your feelings, who won’t try to sabotage your efforts (we all know “friends” who are just little green monsters in disguise), and who is supportive of what you’re doing.

• Keep track. Many women find it helpful to keep track of what they’re eating and what they’re doing for exercise. Because as writers, we do tend to sit so much, it is imperative that we squeeze in exercise time. Schedule your workouts into your planner as though they were an important meeting. Then keep these meetings! Ditto with eating. Plan ahead what you’re going to eat for the day and write down what you actually eat. Include how much you eat, when you eat, and how you feel when you eat (i.e. were you hungry or were you bored, angry, stressed out, etc?). This task can be very eye-opening, especially when you’re just starting to change your eating habits. After all, we all know how easy it is to forget that extra slice of pizza…and broken cookies or licks off the frosting spatula don’t count. Do they?

Email Carrie at CarrieMyersSmith@aol.com and ask for a copy of her seven-day food diary.

Carrie Myers Smith, has a degree in exercise science and health education, is an ACSM-certified personal trainer, licensed corporate Wellcoach^®, co-founder and president of Women in Wellness^TM, and the fitness editor for Fit Body magazine. Her work has appeared in many publications including Shape, Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Cooking Light, Health, Muscle & Fitness HERS, and Energy for Women, for whom she was a contributing editor and "Body Shoppe" columnist. In addition, she writes frequently for health and fitness trade journals, including both ACE and IDEA publications, and is becoming increasingly more well-known as a respected expert in the fitness industry. Her first book, Squeezing Your Size 14 Self into a Size 6 World: A Real Woman's Guide to Food, Fitness, and Self-Acceptance (Champion Press, 2004), has won acclaim from real women and experts alike, and received one of Independent Publishers’ highest ratings. "I love playing a role in helping women change their lives!" says Smith. "While I may be considered an 'expert,' I really relate to the average woman, having the same struggles and life challenges." Part of these challenges includes raising and homeschooling four sons with her husband, about which she quips, "Let's just say they give me plenty of opportunities to practice my coaching skills!"

In addition to her first book and workbook, Carrie also has the following books coming out in 2005 and 2006. Small Steps, Big Changes: A Day-by-Day Calendar and Coaching System for Total Wellness (Champion Press, 2006), Fit to be Mommy, co-authored with Bonne Marano, Fitastic Kids! (Champion Press 2006), Downsizing: Shaping Up Your Body by Slimming Down Your Life (2006). Carrie’s books are available through local and chain bookstores, online bookstores, and the publisher at www.championpress.com/books/squeeze.htm.

You can visit Carrie through her site (currently under reconstruction): womeninwellness.com or email her at CarrieMyersSmith@aol.com.