tinig-uk monthly article author by vwildefitness
Practical self-care tips that work for busy mums
There’s a moment many mums know well. You finally sit down at the end of the day and realise you’ve answered everyone else’s needs except your own. The kids are sorted. Work deadlines are done. The washing is folded. Everyone has eaten.
As mums, especially within Filipino families and communities, many of us are taught to keep going no matter what. We are expected to be strong or put ourselves last. But constantly ignoring your own needs doesn’t make you stronger. Eventually, it catches up with your body, energy, mood and health.
Building strength for daily life without the gym
As we move through April, and just commemorated the World Health Day on Tuesday, it’s a timely reminder that looking after our health isn’t just about what we eat or how much we move — it’s about how we support our bodies long term.
One of the most overlooked ways to do that, especially for women, is building strength.
I hear from Filipino mums all the time is this: “Coach V, I’d love to exercise … but I just don’t have time.” Between work, school runs, cooking, cleaning and caring for family, the idea of going to the gym can feel impossible.
Many Filipino mums are living far from extended family, which means juggling even more responsibilities on their own. So exercise often becomes the last thing on the list. But strength doesn’t always have to come from a gym session, with expensive equipment or a long workout.
Reframing Filipino attitudes towards fitness
As a health and fitness coach, I work with many Filipino mums and I hear the cultural challenges they face when it comes to health and fitness. I have a Filipino mum, and I’ve learned a lot from her over the years about resilience, sacrifice, and putting family first. Those values are deeply ingrained in me, and they shape not only how I live, but how I coach.
And while these values are something I respect and cherish, they can also quietly influence how we see health, fitness, and self-care, often without us even realising it. This isn’t about blame. It’s about understanding why certain habits exist — and how we can work with our culture, not against it.
A gentle start to January: How to build movement into your day
January can feel like a strange month.
There’s pressure to start fresh, set big goals and “fix” everything — but many of us are still tired from December. The cold mornings don’t help and neither does the idea that we need a new gym gear or expensive memberships to begin again. As a health and fitness coach, I consider January as a time when I remind people of one thing above all else: be gentle with yourself.
This is not the month for extremes. It’s the month for small starts.
