Mary Helen Bowers is getting her stretch on in her workout gear. In a new social media post the Ballet Beautiful founder and fitness influencer shows off her dancer physique in exercise clothes, demonstrating some essential stretches. “Stop everything and join me! 🤗 The hips hold so much tension and tightness. Let it GO with this quick and easy hip stretch! When is the last time you stopped to stretch? Get to it! ❤️💋,” she captioned the Instagram video. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
Mary dished on her daily diet to The Newsette, starting with breakfast. “Slow-cooked oats with fresh blackberries and raw almonds and a coffee with whole steamed milk,” is her go-to meal. A few hours later she has a snack, an organic apple and full fat yogurt topped with unsweetened applesauce. Lunch is a large cup of chicken and vegetable soup with half of a sandwich with roasted turkey, arugula, and avocado on whole wheat bread. Mid-afternoon she will have an organic pear and cheddar cheese, followed by dinner, baked chicken with garlic and mustard, sautéed spinach and roasted sweet potatoes with a green salad with tomatoes on the side. For dessert she has dark chocolate and fresh organic strawberries with a glass of almond milk.
Dance is Mary’s go-to form of fitness. “I had three private training sessions with clients today, and I always do the full workout with them. We are running a fabulous 2019 Four Week Ballet Beautiful Challenge right now so I incorporated exercises from our online workouts into my private training today. It is really fun to know that our members around the globe are all using the same program!” she says.
“My weekdays are typically pretty busy with training, running a business, and taking care of my three children, so it’s important I make the time to fuel myself properly,” she says. “I find that I have to drink a huge amount of water to stay hydrated and maintain my production and need to eat more protein, healthy fats, and carbs. After a day like today, I feel great – my body feels nutritionally satisfied, and I have the energy I need to tackle the day.” According to the Mayo Clinic, hydration is important for a variety of reasons. Water helps get rid of waste through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements, keeps your temperature normal, lubricates and cushions joints, and helps protect sensitive tissues.
“I really make an effort to put down my phone when I get home. When I am home with my family it is incredibly important to me that I am giving my children my full attention, and it is so easy to get distracted with my phone buzzing nearby. It can be tempting to check on things at work if I have my phone on me, and I want to be fully present with my girls and absorb everything going on with them – they really do grow up so quickly I don’t want to miss a thing!” she says.
As can be evidenced from her recent post, Mary encourages stretching. “Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints,” says Harvard Health. “Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.”