Friday, May 21, 2010

 

Jamie Crowe, Part I

All blogs need to start with an introduction...so without further ado:

Ms. Jamie Crowe.

Jamie brings a really unique perspective that I think a lot of mom's, entrepreneurs and women will appreciate. She lives and works with Ben Dearman, of KDR Fitness in Enfield, NH. You may all remember a previous blog where I wrote about KDR. I admire Jamie’s passion for what she does and thought it would be great to hear what it’s REALLY like for this young healthy, beautiful Mom☺ and how she came to be working in fitness.

So… let's get things rolling!

ACiM: Hi Jamie. What do you do and where do you work?

Jamie: Hello everyone.

I am a 30-year-old busy, working, healthy mom of a 6-year-old boy. I co-own and operate KDR Fitness out of our home in Enfield with my boyfriend, Ben Dearman. The most important thing to me is being a healthy and active role model for my son, Logan.

ACiM: Is it hard being a single mom, working at home and starting a business at the same time?

J: The hardest thing for me is balancing my time. Although I have more freedom with my schedule, I find myself struggling with time. Like most people, I need more of it. I spend most of my days in the gym or office (my kitchen table) working, learning and hopefully squeezing a workout in, the mornings and evenings are my time with Logan. One important thing that helps us have more time is prepping our food and meals for the week. That way in the evening I am not spending an hour or two just cooking and prepping. I am spending time with Logan.

ACiM: What about diet...you are fitness and health freaks, right? Is it true? Do health freaks only eat broccoli and tofu burgers?

J: I do love broccoli…but no tofu burgers for me. Health and fitness is our life. However I would not consider myself a fitness freak. I believe working out is very important but it took me a long time to understand and enjoy it (I don’t necessarily ENJOY some of the exercises but I do enjoy the education, the results and the way I feel). Nutrition, on the other hand, I do sometimes get a little crazy about. It’s not so much about what to eat but the food industry and what it does to people. It gets to me. I can talk more about that some other time.

ACiM: So here is what we all want to know… What’s it like feeding Logan? Does your son eat healthy? Is it difficult for you to get him to eat healthy?

J: I think he eats healthier than most children his age but not perfect. We still have things to work on and continue to make small changes. Eliminating chemicals from his diet has been my main focus. No HFCS, artificial sweeteners, etc. the list goes on and on.

ACiM: What kinds of choices does he make? How do you go about getting him to make healthy decisions?

J: In the past, trying to get him to eat healthy was difficult. By me making my habits more noticeable he became more interested in what I was eating. I model the behavior I want him to follow.

ACiM: YEAH! I think that is when I fully realized how terrible my own eating habits were. You can’t tell the kids to eat something green as you order a Big Mac, right?

So… a bit more personal… How did you meet your boyfriend, Ben?
J: I met Ben in 2006 at the River Valley Club, where we were both previously employed. I was the fitness administrator for the personal training department. I basically wrote Ben’s paychecks…no wonder he liked me so much.

ACiM: Is it tough to work together?

J: I think we work great together but it is challenging. We see each other ALL THE TIME, and it is very difficult to keep our different lives separate.

ACiM: Were you into health and fitness before you met Ben and started your business?

J: I was into health and fitness before we met, but on a different level. I worked at the River Valley Club for 9 years doing various jobs; housekeeping, maintenance, receptionist for several departments, child care, membership and then finally entering the fitness department…

…and you’d think that’s what the whole business was based on, right? Wrong!

There is so much that goes into running a gym. My first 4 years I experienced how to run a fitness business. I slowly became interested in fitness when I took the fitness administrator position. I worked with 32 personal trainers. It was hard for me NOT to become interested.

After Ben and I had dated for a while, my interest in fitness changed. I started a 3-day workout routine which I enjoyed (having Ben as my trainer helped maybe a little ;) Food at that point was a whole different story. I did not think about what I was putting in my body or how it affected me. As Ben and I became more serious, I began to notice his eating habits and how important it was to him to be healthy. I then started making small steps to improve my diet so that Logan and I would be healthy. And now, I really enjoy learning and researching where the food we eat comes from and how it affects us.

ACiM: What about "fun times"? What do you guys do for fun? Run? Lift weights? Do you do normal stuff like sit around and play video games or watch TV? Does Logan play video games?

J: ☺ We enjoy good food and drinks with friends, board games, bonfires, movies, outside activities and drinking coffee on my back porch. I think it is important to have balance. We work hard all week and are very busy so we feel deserving of our free time.

ACiM: Thank you, Jamie. I know we’ll be talking again and I look forward to that! It is time to wrap up. Before we go, could you give us working moms a few starting points or "words of wisdom" to apply immediately?

J: Sure!

First, it’s important to keep in mind that changing habits can be overwhelming. Don’t try to change too much at once. You will set yourself up for failure. Baby steps! Remember, this has been a process for me. It takes time.

Second, set actual time aside to plan and prep meals for you and your family. Take a few hours, one afternoon on the weekend and plan food for the coming week. This will save you LOTS of time. It also saves you from grabbing something quick and less healthy when you’re feeling rushed.

And I think one of the more important points about kids is that they need healthy and active role models. Include them in your workouts, have them help with cooking and prepping food, and take them grocery shopping to pick out healthy food. They love to be involved. Make it fun! And speaking of fun, Logan took a bunch of cool pictures today. I have one here to share with you.


Comments:
Impressive picture!
 
I really enjoyed the advice for planning meals and role modeling for kids. This is GREAT advice that I am going to follow. Thank you!
 
Thanks for the tips, they are really helpful. Especially about taking baby steps, I can relate, I often try to do too much and then fail.
 
Great advice and it is awesome that you will be giving parents a role model to raise healthy kids.
 
Good post! You are a great role model for your son!
 
Just continues to show that fitness professionals are the nicest people around. Keep up the good work and congrats on the success.
 
great interview jamie! keep it up girl! hugs
 
Jamie your an AMAZING mom. Believe it or not I am very proud of you. Keep up the great work. Love always

J
 
Great interview, Moms like you amaze me!
 
You ARE an amazing mom and I am proud to be your mom. Love you
 
Thanks for sharing:-) Inspiring role model for your family and the world!
 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]