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Skin + Me Stories: Fitness Goals With Emily Williams

Looking for a boost of positive energy? Add fitness influencer, multitasking mother and all-round ray of sunshine, Emily Williams of @emilywilliamsfitness to your Instagram feed. From cold water swimming to dancing around the kitchen, Emily juggles motherhood with personal health goals and a refreshing dose of self-compassion when it comes to the little things in life.

For a healthy dose of inspiration and happiness, Skin + Me spoke to Emily to find out how she does it.

Skin + Me: You’re a digital creator with a regular fitness routine, a big community following, you’re currently in your third pregnancy and have two young children. Sounds busy! Tell us about your energy levels throughout motherhood and how you’ve stayed motivated to make time for productivity and selfcare?

Emily: It does feel incredibly busy at times! But at others, I really really appreciate the job I have and the fact that I can manage my own time around the children. I feel so lucky that I can share my passion through my work but also do it alongside the kids (although it doesn’t always run smoothly! But that’s motherhood right?!

Just like everyone else, my energy levels and motivation wavers – especially during pregnancies. But it’s the deep-rooted knowledge that by moving my body in ways that benefit my mental and physical health, I can cope with the things life throws at me much much easier. I’ve more energy for my children, can sleep better, feel better in myself, I feel stronger, fitter and so much more. Knowing that drives me to move my body, even when the motivation isn’t there. 

Skin + Me: You add a note to many energetic insta videos telling followers that if watching doesn’t encourage or motivate, and if they’re not feeling up to training on the day, that’s ok. How important do you think self compassion is to long term wellness goals and how do you practise it yourself?

Emily: Yes I think this is a really important point to make. We can feel like it has to be ‘go, go, go’ all the time. If you don’t have energy, you haven’t slept for days, you’re stressed or your body is telling you you need a rest then you MUST respect that. Burnout is real and it will hold you back mentally and physically. 

When people post high-energy workouts or positive captions, it’s because they are feeling like that at the time but of course it isn’t like that every minute of every day. Also, if you’re pushing yourself all the time through pregnancy and you have no more energy to give your growing baby, it could result in complications. Rest is as important as training. For me, it’s all about respecting yourself and that means listening to your body. 

Skin + Me: You talk about at least 10 mins a day to focus on yourself, feelings and body. Tell us more.

Emily: The 10-minute method has worked so well for me for years! First of all, it’s a much more realistic timescale for busy people, especially mums that are constantly finding their 60-min workouts are stopped or interrupted. 

Often people only end up with a couple of workouts a week that may be an hour each but that’s two hours of exercise, when you could accumulate more time throughout your week with less stress to your body. 

Just a 10-minute goal for each day means you are far more likely to carve out that time for yourself (whether that’s a walk, some stretching or a more intense workout). I also find it’s much easier to do in the spaces you find in the day when the kids are happy playing, having a bath, while the dinner is cooking, just before you go to bed or first thing in the morning. 

I usually try to find two or three spaces in the day that I can focus on my body, move in a way that makes me feel good, gives me energy and makes me focus on the present. 

Just 10 minutes means you don’t set yourself up for failure or disappointment. You can really feel the benefits of daily mindful movement and if that 10 turns into 15 or 30 then brilliant – it feels like a massive win!

Skin + Me: What’s your skin routine like before, during and after exercise? 

Emily: It really depends on the time of day and because I don’t always know what the workout is going to look like, I don’t always have a plan! 

But when I know I’ll be sweating a lot I’ll always remove my makeup. I hate sweating with makeup on, so I’ll clean my face before the gym or a run. When I’m running outside, I’ll always wear factor SPF 50. Then I shower straight after, cleanse and moisturise. 

“When I’m running outside, I’ll always wear factor SPF 50.”

Skin + Me: Any tips or product recommendations?

Emily: I’ve never used waterproof makeup apart from a waterproof mascara once when I was at a wedding. It’s such a pain to remove! 

A real hero product that I use every day is IT cosmetics CC cream. It feels so lightweight and like my skin can breathe. It gives great coverage with the added bonus of SPF 50. Using that, I need any foundation or concealer on my skin and always have protection from the sun. My dream cleanser is Elemis cleansing balm. It’s incredible at removing makeup, and smells incredible too. 

Skin + Me: You completed the half Ironman in Brighton – cold water swimming included! Congrats! What for you was the hardest part of taking on this sort of challenge? The mental, physical or just finding the time to train?

Emily: Thank you! It felt like a huge achievement and I was so happy to have completed it and in a better time than I’d hoped.

The achievement for me comes from not just finishing, but the commitment I made to the training. It was tough fitting in the hours, but I managed to squeeze it in around family time. 

Thanks here to my wonderful partner who supports me through all of these challenges. He understands my passions, dedication and how important it is for me to complete what I’ve set out to do. I’d fit in long runs in the mornings before everyone woke up or on the weekends. I’d get on the bike in the evenings during kids’ bath time and dinner time (again, my partner helped on while I did the training) and swim in the sea on the mornings or weekends. 

I love a plan! So setting out to achieve something and following through with the training was a real joy for me. To be clear, it was not joyous all of the time as I’d never swam that far before – especially in the sea! I hate running and the early mornings together with late nights while still breastfeeding was tough! 

I’d say the hardest part was making sure I was prepared. Making sure I’d done all of the training and fitting it in when I was tired and it was cold. I knew though, that it was just six months of training, for the feeling of accomplishment for a lifetime. 

The actual event itself was very enjoyable! Partly because I was ready and the day blessed me with sunshine and a flat, calm ocean. I’d also found out I was pregnant with our third baby two weeks before!

Aftera little bit of shock, a week of contemplating my options, and talking to professionals, it was an easy decision to continue. I felt so healthy. Energetic, fit and ready for this challenge. I also knew that at any point I could stop. Nobody knew [I was pregnant] at this point and I had nothing to prove and now no time to chase. The pressure was off. 

I didn’t look at my pace, or my time but instead checked my heart rate. I felt incredibly present in my body listening to every feeling and making sure I was fuelling sufficiently. I loved every second of it and felt so powerful and lucky to be doing this with my baby inside me. After all, he’d (unknowingly!) been training with me for the last month and so it felt right to finish it with him.

Skin + Me: That’s such a beautiful way to put it! You talk about things people shouldn’t stop doing, just to please others. Working on yourself is one of them. We believe self care (and growth in general) is a lifelong pursuit – tell us more about your happiness philosophy.

Emily: I truly believe that happiness is not something you can chase but it comes from the tiny things you can do for yourself and others day to day. Little choices you make throughout your day add up to feeling fulfilled and grateful. 

“I truly believe that happiness is not something you can chase but it comes from the tiny things you can do for yourself and others day to day.”

But life can be tough and we can’t be super happy and positive all the time. Searching for perfection is a slippery slope and it can become so damaging mentally because we will never get there.

Whether it’s trying to be the perfect mum, striving for your perfect body or anything else. Doing little things that bring you and others joy here and there sits much deeper. 

Of course we all get times when life gets too much or we feel bogged down or out of control, and not ignoring these times is really important. I have found that not only exercise, but journaling [writing down thoughts and feelings] has really helped my anxiety. I write down a lot of the things that I am panicking about, and then list what I can control or influence. Trying to focus on the little things (maybe that’s a hug your child gave you, the sun shining or the fact that you were able to do one more push-up today than ever before) really helps me to be present and feel better able to cope. 

Skin + Me: #PositivePersonalProgress is a focus for our community at Skin + Me – is there any advice you’d give to your younger self when it comes to making progress in general?

Emily: I love this question! I’ve done a lot of growing-up since having kids – although all I seem to do now is crafting, wear sweatpants and hang out with kids under five!

A lot of my growth has come from getting to know myself and how I truly feel about things. I spent a lot of my childhood and early 20s not listening to my body or my emotions. I misguidedly thought that’s what being mentally strong was all about. I was so wrong! To make progress you must know yourself, listen to your body and honour it. 

Skin + Me: Finally, do you have any fave energising playlist songs or other wellness/mood-boosting tips you’d like to share?

Emily: For me, there’s no better way to jump out of a slump or to give myself some good vibes when the kids are whining or I’m on my last legs by 2pm already, then to turn up the music super loud, sing and dance around the kitchen. 

The kids instantly switch up their mood too. Maybe I shouldn’t own up to this but something cheesy and 90s disco like Please Don’t Go by KWS, Gina G or The Vengaboys never disappoints. Luckily, the kids love it too.