Kaylah Goodare and Jess Coate. Source / Te Ao Toa
Mother of nine Kaylah Goodare is a special māmā who has been on a fitness journey since December with expert trainer and Te Ao Toa presenter Jess Coate.
Kaylah's lost 10 kgs since she started training and Jess is amazed at how she does it.
"The biggest driving factor to keep me wanting to exercise and looking after myself would be my mental health. I start to notice thoughts of feeling overwhelmed with life and that's when I know I need to reign it back in and move my body. Just do something for myself as far as movement to release that stress and everything that builds up," says Kaylah.
Jess has always said she wants Māori mothers to be the healthiest in the world because the stats say something else. It's a view that has made an impression on Liahn Herewini who also trains with her.
Liahn Herewini and Jess Coate. Source / Te Ao Toa
"When you said that NZ has the highest obesity rate, I didn't share with you when I turned 30 last year I jumped on the scales when I got back from going up the mountain with my son and I was actually the heaviest I've ever been. For me, that was a really depressing moment," says Liahn.
"And I know for some women that would be like 'all good girl, it ain't nothing but a number, just own it.' But on the other side of things, like for me, internally I knew that I wasn't feeling happy about where I was in my health and fitness and it needed to change."
Jess says most mums she meets want to be fitter, stronger and healthier. It's all about taking the first step, she says.
"I think one of the hardest things about being a mum and trying to make time for my health and fitness is that there's a stigma around mums, says Liahn.
"It's like when you become a mum the only thing that's expected of you in society is to stay home, look after the kids, cook, clean and that's it. And that's something that I didn't want to fit into that stigma. I wanted to make sure that my cup is full so that I can pour into other people's cups, whether it's my family, my friends, my kids. In terms of fitting that in around my kids, it's something that I just prioritise," she says.
Back to Jess' inspirational māmā, Kaylah, who wants 10 children.
"It kind of started actually through, I was just having a few health issues and I went to my naturopath and managed to get on kind of a track on how to heal my body from the inside, especially post-baby. I just managed to get a good meal plan around that and just keeping myself accountable to moving my body every single day," says Kaylah.