Janine Rodriguez started focusing on a healthy lifestyle in college, committing to exercise and healthy eating habits. Then later her husband introduced her to weight training. Her path to fitness and health continued to the next step when she discovered Fitness Without Borders and their No Excuse Mom program.
Fitness Without Borders (FWB), this month’s national nonprofit, was founded in 2007 by Maria Kang and is devoted to the development and fitness education of community leaders organized in a unified effort to foster healthy children.
FWB then created No Excuse Mom in 2014 to create a space for women to connect online, meet up in local parks, and build healthy communities.
A No Excuse Mom is a mom who makes no excuses for making her health a priority. She’s someone who prioritizes her health, her family’s health and understands the ripple effect their role plays in the health of their community. These moms chose to transform their lives by consciously deciding every day that their health was worth it. They are true examples of real every day women – whose fitness manifests in different sizes, shapes, and ages.
There are currently more than 350 No Excuse Mom groups around the world, including the one Rodriguez participates in.
When Rodriguez relocated to Fort Meade, she became a co-leader of a local No Excuse Mom group with two other women. “I live in a community facing many physical and psychological threats associated with lack of exercise. I love encouraging others on their healthy living journey and being a leader for NEM not only allowed me to encourage others, but it also keeps me accountable. One of the best thing about our groups is that kids are always welcome to the workouts. There are literally no excuses because we don't need daycare or gym memberships, and you don't need to be a mom to join the group.”
Rodriguez added that along with workouts, the group hosts paint nights, family days, and fun runs along with other activities to build their community.
This spring, FWB is hosting a Run for a Reason Virtual Race. They are encouraging men, women, and children to 'run for a reason' and complete a 5k or 10k on/before Mother's Day. All proceeds benefit the local No Excuse Mom groups. Each $30 purchase comes with a unique dri-fit tank/tshirt, training programs, and downloadable bib. A medal can be purchased for an additional $5.
Wondering if there’s a No Excuse Moms group near you? Search here. There are special online groups for military moms, vegetarian moms, pregnant moms, etc. The full list of NEM pages is available here.
