Ali Fedotowsky-Manno, known from "The Bachelorette", has shared insights into her fitness journey, highlighting the importance of consistency, determination, and self-compassion. From her experiences on reality TV to navigating the challenges of motherhood, Ali has developed a practical and relatable approach to health and wellness.
Celebrating Fitness Milestones
Fedotowsky-Manno, 39, recently celebrated a significant milestone in her fitness journey, sharing a video montage of workout outfits spanning three years. She captioned the post expressing immense pride: "I could cry. I’m so proud of myself. I have never stuck with a fitness program for this long. It’s taken a lot of hard work, determination, consistency, and sweat to do this. I EARNED this and it shows." This milestone reflects her dedication and perseverance in maintaining a consistent fitness routine.
Diet and Nutrition: A Vegetarian Approach
Ali has been vegetarian for over a decade. “I kind of started on a whim,” she told Women’s Health. “A friend suggested I try pescatarian, I thought I’d do it for like two weeks, and then here I am eight years later. I’ve never gone back… I eat when I’m hungry and I don’t deprive myself. If I want something, I’ve let myself have it. This approach underscores the significance of sustainable dietary habits.
The Pasta Passion
Fedotowsky-Manno loves pasta-for breakfast, and sometimes makes two bowls (one with sauce and one without). “I’d say I eat a lot of pasta,” she told PEOPLE. “I love it and don’t want to deprive myself, so I eat it in the mornings so I can burn it off all day.
Meal Planning for Busy Moms
Ali acknowledges the challenges of maintaining a healthy diet as a busy mom. "If I don’t plan my meals ahead of time, I immediately reach for the pasta (I LOVE my pasta!). Or reach for my phone to use Post-Mates to order food - which can get very expensive and isn’t always healthy." She emphasizes the importance of meal planning, dedicating time each week to prepare healthy snacks and meals. "I just dedicate an hour one day a week to prepare veggies that are easy to grab when I’m starving after breastfeeding and have no energy to make anything. It makes reaching for a quick snack much healthier!" One of her favorite meals is a kale salad with quinoa, golden raisins, almonds, lemon vinaigrette, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
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The Importance of Outdoor Activities
Fedotowsky-Manno makes a point of going outdoors for workouts when she can. “A really important part of my health and wellness is getting out of the house,” she told Athleisure. She recognizes the importance of leaving the house for her well-being, especially when working from home. “Because I don’t have a TV show that I go to work at during the week anymore, I find that I am working from home and doing a lot of different projects and I have a business that I am launching soon and all that. I find that weeks will go by and I’ll say to myself that I have not left the house in two weeks as my husband took the kids to school in the mornings - I need to get out of the house. Going for walks, a drive, whatever you need to do!
Embracing Technology for Fitness
Ali is a fan of her Tonal workout machine, saying it changed her life. “I reached out to them because I fell in love with it!"
She also uses Withings products to monitor her activity levels. She uses both their Activite Steel Watch and Body Cardio Scale. She appreciates that the watch doesn’t look like a fitness tracker, blending seamlessly with her fashion-conscious style. "I love that the watch doesn’t look like a fitness tracker. It just looks like a really cute watch (and you can get different color bands to suit your style). And that’s really important for me because I love fashion, I like to look cute, and blog about it for all of you! So I can’t be wearing a sporty looking fitness tracker with my cute outfits."
The watch tracks her steps, sleep, and wakes her up gently. "The watch is connected via Bluetooth to an app on my phone and I’m able to set how much physical activity I think I should have in a day. For example, it’s recommended that people get at least 10,000 steps in a day to be healthy. The first day I wore the watch, I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere near 10,000 steps! So I decided to set a more realistic goal for myself and I changed the amount of steps I wanted to achieve in a day to 8,000. The watch then keeps track of my steps throughout the day and tells me how close I am to reaching 100% of my goal. It also tracks how much sleep I’m getting (which isn’t much these days!) and wakes me up with a gentle vibration on my wrist (you set the wake-up time on the app). I’m woken up by crying far too many times throughout the night so it’s nice to have at least one gentle wake up call."
The Body Cardio Scale provides comprehensive health data. "Every time I step on it in the morning it tells me my current weight (obviously), how much weight I’ve gained or lost since the last time I stepped on the scale, my BMI, the weather for the day (gotta know what to wear!), what percentage water I am (gotta stay hydrated!) and my heart rate. All of this information is then communicated to the app on my phone so I can monitor my health, my activity, and hopefully reach my fitness goals."
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Overcoming Challenges and Setting Realistic Goals
Time Management and Scheduling
"Ever since I had Molly my time really isn’t my own. If I thought it was hard to find time to work out before, then it’s nearly impossible to find time now. Some days, I look at the clock and it’s 5 PM and I hadn’t even left the house. In fact, this was happening on more days than I’d like to admit. It made me realize that my lifestyle as a new mom was actually really unhealthy. All that said, finding the time to workout is HARD! And we don’t have family in LA or childcare. So it’s really hard to find free time to get to the gym."
Ali emphasizes the importance of scheduling workouts in her calendar. "One thing that really helps me get off my butt and go to yoga is scheduling it in my calendar. Once it’s in my calendar, it’s a commitment that I CAN’T break. I try to think of it as a work obligation. I wouldn’t just skip a meeting because I was too tired. And I wont skip my workout for the same reason." She starts with manageable commitments, such as scheduling workouts twice a month. "That said, I only mark it in my calendar twice a month for now. As a new mom who has her hands full, I find that it’s best for me to take baby steps. If I marked it in my calendar twice a week I would be much less likely to go. Twice a month is a much easier commitment to start with."
Small Commitments, Big Results
Ali suggests making small commitments to increase the likelihood of being active. "On the days I “schedule” my workouts or on days when I find some time and have a little extra energy, I make myself get dressed in workout clothes. By putting on my workout clothes, I’m just more likely to be active. Or just lounge around in yoga pants all day - but that’s a whole other issue. But really, just making the teeny tiny commitment to put on the clothes, I am more likely to get in my car and go to a workout class. And once I drive there, I’m definitely likely to do the class. So basically, I commit to two things. 1) putting my workout clothes on, and 2) driving to yoga class (or the gym if that’s what you prefer). By making the small commitments to put on my clothes and drive there, I am more likely to make the larger commitment of actually taking the class!"
"Special Forces" Training
Ali also shared her experience preparing for Special Forces courses. “I lost 20 pounds training for the show. I was working out two to three times a day. My whole day. This was my job for two months. “I was training hardcore. And so, for me, I kept saying to people online, I’m like, ‘Oh, well, I work out two times a day,’” Fedotowsky said. “I know that’s not possible for most moms out there. Moms are busy or people have jobs. She added, “So, now I’m happy that I can finally tell people, ‘Look, my transformation is not normal. It was my job for two months. That’s why I was able to make this happen.
Mental Preparation
“I talked to Hannah Brown, Beverley Mitchell and Nick Viall, and Beverley told me, ‘Do breathing exercises, focus on the mental.’ That actually really helped me,” Fedotowsky told Us. “I looked into Wim Hof breathing exercises, I was doing meditation and I hired a breathing coach.
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Body Image and Self-Acceptance
Ali emphasizes the importance of feeling comfortable and healthy, rather than focusing solely on weight. "All that said, I have almost reached my pre-pregnancy weight! I am still very jiggly, especially in my belly, but I hope to work little by little everyday to get back to a place where I am comfortable with my body. It’s not about being skinny or overweight, it’s about being healthy and feeling good."