Momma Joe's Fitness & Nutrition

Sometimes you have to stop and acknowledge that maybe you’re actually doing life kinda okay-ish. ❤️

Today I looked around our cottage and had one of those moments.

Our best friends are here, giving up their time to help us tackle what can only be described as a phenomenally difficult deck project. 😂 Our two boys who are here are right alongside them, working and giving their time too.

Meanwhile, our other two kids aren’t here because they had shifts at work. And as much as we’d love to have them here, they made commitments and understand that those commitments need to be honoured.

And I just thought…

This is pretty fu***ng great.

Not necessarily the deck. I’m currently undecided on my feelings toward the deck. 😂

But this life.

Friends who show up. Not just for the fun weekends, dinners and celebrations, but with work gloves on when there’s actual work to be done.

Kids who are growing into young adults who understand both the value of helping their family and the importance of showing up for the commitments they’ve made.

People we genuinely love doing life with.

I spend a lot of time thinking about what I could be doing better. Where I need to grow. What needs fixing. What I’m dropping. What I should be prioritizing differently.

There’s value in that.

But there’s also value in occasionally looking around at the people you’ve surrounded yourself with, the people you’re raising, and the relationships you’ve built and thinking…

You know what? Maybe we’re doing this life thing okay-ish.

Because I’m starting to think one of the best measures of the life you’re building is the people standing beside you while you’re building it.

And apparently sometimes they’re literally standing beside you building a deck. 😂❤️

Surround yourself with good people.

Raise good people.

Be a good person to your people.

And every once in a while, remember to stop and appreciate what you’ve already built. ❤️

Apparently our life wasn’t quite chaotic enough. 😂

So… meet Dexter. 🐾❤️

On August 23rd, this little guy officially joins our family and, because we are clearly people who enjoy testing the outer limits of our available time, energy and sanity, we will officially become a two-dog household.

Was this necessary? No.

Was this sensible? Debatable.

Did we fall in love with him anyway? Obviously.

Pippa has not yet been consulted on the long-term implications of this decision, but we’re optimistic she’s going to love having a partner in crime… eventually. 😂

Welcome to the chaos, Dexter. ❤️🐾

Sweet boy, you have absolutely NO idea what you’ve signed up for. 😂

Over the past year, I’ve realized something that has completely changed the way I coach.

For a long time, I thought my role was to help women change their bodies by improving their nutrition, losing weight, building muscle, or staying consistent with exercise.

And honestly, I thought that because that’s what women told me they wanted.

Those things still matter.

But I’ve come to believe they aren’t what most women are truly searching for.

I think what they’re really asking is:

“Can you help me trust myself again?”

I know that because I’ve had to intentionally coach myself through that exact process.

Not because I didn’t know what to eat or how to exercise.

But because somewhere along the way, I stopped trusting myself to make decisions that honoured my own needs.

I overcommitted.

I ignored my own boundaries.

I convinced myself I could carry just one more responsibility.

I put everyone else’s needs ahead of my own and wondered why I felt disconnected from myself.

Rebuilding self-trust didn’t happen through one big decision.

It happened by keeping small promises.

Saying no when I meant no.

Protecting time that mattered to me.

Following through on the commitments I made to myself—not just the ones I made to everyone else.

As coaches, we spend so much time talking about workouts, meal plans, discipline, habits, and consistency.

Those things absolutely matter.

But I’m starting to believe they’re not where the journey begins.

They’re what comes after a woman starts trusting herself again.

The healthier choices become more sustainable.

The boundaries become clearer.

The consistency becomes more natural.

Not because she suddenly has more willpower…

…but because she believes herself again.

The more I sit with this, the more I believe that changing someone’s body is rarely the real transformation.

Helping a woman trust herself again…

Now that has the power to change everything.

❤️

“Well… that f*ing sucked.” 🥵

The only time I could fit my HYROX workout in today was 12:30 p.m., in the hottest part of the day. It felt way harder than it should have.

(For my Wednesday HYROX crew… today’s little hint is mine was 4:47. You’ll know what that means tonight. 😉)

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned—after making this mistake over and over—is that I simply can’t do everything in one day.

Every morning, I actually have a conversation with my ChatGPT journal. Together, we figure out my top three non-negotiables for the day. It keeps me realistic, focused, and reminds me that I don’t have to do everything to have a successful day.

My priority list usually looks something like this:

1️⃣ Dog & kid responsibilities.
2️⃣ Nutrition & hydration.
3️⃣ Home non-negotiables (banking, doctor’s appointments, groceries, car issues, etc.).
4️⃣ Booked work commitments (clients, classes, consults, deadlines).
5️⃣ My planned workout.

Everything else can wait.

Ironically, giving myself permission not to get everything done usually means I get my workout in anyway. Maybe not at the perfect time (like today 😅), but it gets done.

I’ve also stopped expecting every workout to be a personal best.

Before I train, I ask myself:
✔️ How did I sleep?
✔️ Have I eaten enough?
✔️ Am I hydrated?
✔️ What does my body realistically have today?

Some days that means pushing hard.
Some days it means maintaining.
Some days my Border Collie walks are enough Zone 2 to check that box.

Perimenopause has also taught me that recovery deserves as much respect as intensity. I used to stack hard training days without thinking twice. Now I know my body performs better when I work with it instead of against it. Sometimes I train hard five days in a row because life demands it. Other weeks I can space those sessions out. The goal is adapting—not quitting.

If there’s one thing I hope people learn from following my journey, it’s this:

Missing the “perfect” workout doesn’t stop progress. Missing one workout doesn’t stop progress. Waiting for the perfect time to start usually does.

Show up with the capacity you have today, then do it again tomorrow. That’s where the magic is. 💙

The last few months have been very full.

Some of it has been incredible. A family trip to Punta Cana. Three unforgettable weeks in Greece and Italy with my sister, honouring my mom. Watching Amalia through two proms and her graduation. Helping the kids find jobs. Time with family and friends. Memories I’ll treasure forever.

Some of it has also been really challenging.

I’m navigating perimenopause myself now, and while I’ve spent years helping other women through it, living it is an entirely different experience. The cottage continues to be a place that brings me both joy and internal struggle. And being the one helping hold everything together through graduations, celebrations, jobs, travel and all the moving pieces of family life has been more emotionally draining than I realized.

Whether the experiences were wonderful or difficult, they all had one thing in common…

They pulled me away from the routines that usually help me feel like myself.

Today I don’t feel as strong. I don’t feel like myself. I don’t feel as grounded. And as someone who coaches health and fitness for a living, it’s tempting to feel like I should have done better.

But maybe this is exactly why I love what I do.

Because I don’t coach from perfection.

I coach from experience.

I know what it feels like to lose your rhythm. I know how hard it is to find your way back when life gets wonderfully… and sometimes painfully… full.

So today isn’t about chasing a number on the scale or punishing myself for the last few months.

It’s about coming home to myself.

One workout. One meal. One good night’s sleep. One day at a time. ❤️

Happy Father’s Day, Dan.

One of the things I admire most about you is how seriously you take being a dad.

You care so much about the kids and their future. You want them to be happy, successful, capable, good people. You want them to have opportunities, confidence, and experiences that help them build a great life for themselves.

And that’s a lot to carry.

The older the kids get, the more I see how much thought, energy, and heart you put into helping guide them there. Not because anyone asks you to, but because that’s who you are.

You never stop thinking about them, cheering for them, worrying about them, believing in them, and wanting the best for them.

And then there are moments like this one, where it all looks easy and happy and full of light — but I know how much of you is behind it.

Not everyone gets to see how much you carry for the people you love, but I do.

Happy Father’s Day ❤️

Lately, I’ve been hearing the same thing from a lot of clients and members:

“Between restaurants, takeout, and social events, I just can’t stay on track.”

And while I completely understand the frustration, I think we’re often blaming the wrong thing.

The restaurant isn’t what’s determining your results.

Your choices are.

Because most restaurants offer options that can support your goals.

The challenge isn’t that healthy choices aren’t available.

The challenge is choosing them when the burger, fries, dessert, extra drinks, and oversized portions sound more appealing.

That’s not a restaurant problem.

That’s a decision-making skill.

And here’s the good news:

You don’t need to eat like an athlete to change your body.

You don’t need perfectly prepared meals every day.

You simply need to make reasonably good choices, consistently enough, for long enough.

The restaurant isn’t in control.

You are.

Love-hate relationships aren’t always meant to be fixed.
Mine is the cottage.
Some days it feels like a dream. Family. Friends. Traditions. Memories that will outlast all of us.
Other days, like today, it feels like six hours of physical labour, endless maintenance, and the realization that no matter how much you accomplish, there’s always more to do.
But maybe that’s the lesson.
The work is never going to be done.
Not on the cottage.
Not on the house.
Not on your body.
Not on your career.
Not on your life.
At some point, we have to stop waiting for everything to be finished before we allow ourselves to enjoy what we’ve already built.
Do the work. Take pride in the effort. Improve what you can.
Then stop.
Sit down. Look around.
And enjoy your perfectly imperfect life.