SKo-Fit

It’s been a hot minute since I posted to this page, as I’m rebranding my name thanks to my SKo-Fit Instagram account getting heavily censored and shadowbanned. 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄

So I thought I would get in on the Spirit Halloween meme. 🤣

It was a beautiful day to ground my feet.

Do you know the benefits of grounding?

I’ve been just pushing the sled when I go to the gym but yesterday I decided I wanted to finish with some sprints after heavy pushes. I wanted to test if I would leak. And I surprised myself! I got through several rounds leak-feee, until the end when I needed to use the bathroom. But I took it as a win.

The last time I really consistently ran leak-feee was after finishing PFPT in September 2017. Since my pregnancy with Izzy, I struggled again with incontinence. The thought of running felt defeating.

When I took Katie St. Clair’s Empowered Performance program a year ago, she programmed plyometrics and I immediately thought it would be an uphill battle.

But all the work paid off and here I am! It’s a step in the right direction. Now if I can finally figure out why I’m still leaking when I sneeze in standing, I would be happy. 😩

I found out that my friend Billy Witte was diagnosed with ALS.
I met Billy years ago when I first started out in the fitness industry in Chicago. He always had a just a positive outlook on life. I watched him help many clients improve their health, especially helping kids start on their fitness journey early. He always stopped to say hello and chat with me, especially asking how I was doing during my pregnancy with my second daughter Izzy.
It came as a shock to me when I heard the news, so that’s why I’m helping out with a Cards for a Cause fundraiser! 🎉
If you’d like to participate, my goal is 60 boxes of 30 beautifully embellished cards for just 💲30 a box!! 1/2 of the proceeds will go to Billy to help with medical expenses.
Put BOX below to check out all the options or DONATE to contribute what you can via PayPal.
Thank you friends!
If you can’t participate, consider letting a friend know who might like to join in on the fundraiser. ❤️

I was so excited to win the June box from Cater to Mom last month! I don’t win a lot of giveaways, so i was so happy! The theme of the box was breathing which made me even more excited. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I’m all about teaching the importance of breathing!

I discovered Cater to Mom through Nyssa and it’s a brilliant concept. Their monthly boxes support pregnant and postpartum mamas. The even have boxes for dads too!

The boxes are beautifully made and I want to share the amazing items from the box:

✅ Leto Collection ocean kimono
✅ The Bathologist sleep bath soak
✅ Breathe Mama Breathe by Shonda Moralis, LCSW
✅ My face factory Dream Garden chamomile facial
✅ The Bella Bars cinnamon roll bar
✅ Mindful Mamas Club breathwork tips

My sleep 💤 🛏 quality has hit the rank thanks to co-sleeping and nursing a toddler, so I’m grateful for this box.

This box makes a great gift for a new or expecting mama. ❤️

This is a post that is partly exercise related as it relates to parenting. I hope that by sharing, it can help others going through the same struggles.

See that last spike in my heart rate? I had already done a long walk and strength training session, but my third mini workout was courtesy of my 5-year old daughter Gaby.

She was disregulated because I said it was time to give me my iPad back. As I was doing dedicated time with her younger sister Izzy, she started hitting and kicking me. I told her that hands were not for hitting, but only hi-fives and hugging (a tip I learned today). She didn’t understand the boundary, but I stuck to it and decided to hug her while spinning around. When she continued to hit, I grabbed her hands to start dancing and twirling her. She started laughing.

When she started to kick me, I said legs are not for kicking, but stomping or dancing. She didn’t understand the boundary and continued to kick. I grabbed her hands and started jumping and squat jumping with her. Every time she hit or kick I repeated my boundaries. My heart rate shot up to 117 bpm, but she enjoyed the interaction and my heart rate didn’t raise from me yelling. I was tired though.

But guess what? She calmed down because I was able to help her calm down by co-regulating (through regulating my own emotions). Trust me, it was hard and I didn’t think it was going to work, but I held my boundaries. She also “cooperated” in finishing getting ready for bed. It wasn’t a fight.

It has taken me a long time to get to this place. They don’t teach you this in parenting books. Gaby’s meltdowns and tantrums trigger me but I realized it triggered me from memories of my childhood. I was never seen or heard. I was told not to cry or express emotions. My parents couldn’t regulate their own emotions, so they couldn’t help me learn to regulate mine.

But I know now that I need to heal myself before I can help my children. Behavior is communication. We need to get to the root cause of the behavior and not the behavior itself. I couldn’t help my inner child but I can help my children be seen and heard - so that I can help their future generations. ❤️

Chris was watching a video of an animal chiropractor doing a home visit to help a dog. He noticed this Rogue Fitness pull-up bar in the dog owner’s apartment. He realized what it was when he noticed a bunch of bands attached to it. He went to Rogue’s website to look for it and asked me if I was familiar. I said definitely and I’ve been needing a pull-up bar to work my way back to getting my unassisted pull-up. The last time was right before I got pregnant with Gaby 6 years ago. And since I haven’t been back at the Y since last March, my home setup has been limited.

In the almost 20 years we’ve been together, he hasn’t shown interest in exercising. I offered to help him but he always was stressed out just running a business, cooking for us and taking care of his household chores. The most he could do was yoga, but after Gaby was born, he couldn’t make classes anymore. Then we moved to Indiana from Chicago and it was even harder.

But in the last few months he was feeling off and started testing his blood sugar. He realized he needed to start making changes. He made adjustments in his food. He bought a Fitbit to track steps and started walking in the morning on weekends. He borrowed my weights to do some strength training. I gave him suggestions on how to modify his push-up. He expressed interest in doing a pull-up and created a essentials backpack to do a loaded carry on his walks. He saw huge improvements and noticed his clothes getting too big for him.

He realized that as a parent he needed to be in good health for his kids. C0VID taught him that he needs to armor his immune system with exercise, good food and essential vitamins.

I learned that even though I possessed all the knowledge to help him, he needed to come to the conclusion on his own. Also, Chris notes that it was brilliant marketing for Rogue for this purchase. ❤️

Izzy, our 2.5 year old is starting Montessori school with her big sis this August, so we need to get her at least 85% potty trained (usually once they see their friends use the potty, they learn pretty quickly!). 😩

So what do bubbles have to do with potty training? Blowing bubbles can help relax a child’s pelvic floor while also making using the potty fun. Gaby wanted to use it when she saw me have Izzy try. Of course it helped her.
She fights me to p*e on the potty but her teacher thinks it’s the only thing she has control of these days.

Hey, I have enough power struggles with my kids. Do I need one more? Parenting is hard already. Can I get an AMEN?

It’s been awhile since I introduced myself, so if you’re new to following me, welcome!

Just a few facts about me:
✨ I’m a mom of two amazing girls - Gaby (5) and Izzy (2.5).
✨ I’m a personal trainer that started specializing in pelvic floor health after the traumatic birth of my daughter Gaby. I found out I had pelvic organ prolapse at 14 months postpartum. Since then, I’ve been on a mission to not only to help pregnant and postpartum moms, but anyone that wants to move better. We all have a pelvic floor.
✨ I’m also passionate about spreading literacy and getting books into as many kids’ hands as possible. You can follow my other account Suzanne's VIP Book Club to learn more!
✨I love good food and will support my local farmers and businesses. I was told that Chris and I eat like celebrities, but I think we should all have access to good food.
✨ I’m also passionate about seeking out the truth. Since we lost everything in the crash of 2008, we started to question everything going on. I think you should too.
✨ I love good music and used to play classical piano as a child. Later I learned East Coast Swing and competition-style ballroom. My love of both fueled me to teach group fitness, before going into personal training.

Whether you want help not p*eing in your pants (thanks to Dr. Jocelyn Connolly for the fab tank) or building your child’s library - I’m your gal! DM me to learn how.

Tell me about one fact about you!

I'm hosting an online event this Thursday night in my private VIP Usborne book group. The event is in celebration of Mother's Day, geared towards self care for moms. I'll be sharing self care tips, featuring businesses I support, as well as giving away free Mother's Day printables. Two people will walk away with $50 in books from me (books with moms in mind) or Fourthwear postpartum gear from Nyssa!

You don't have to attend live, but participation in posts are required to win the prizes. You just need to join the group here: https://bit.ly/SuzannesVIPBookClub.