Gabrielle Reece On Being An Uber Breezy Mama

At Breezy Mama, we pride ourselves on being women in addition to being mothers; We strive for healthy lifestyles and try to avoid the frumpy rut that parenting can cause. That being said, as far as we’re concerned, Gabrielle Reece is an uber Breezy Mama!

We caught up with the Web site creator of The HoneyLine and volleyball star who’s graced countless magazine covers for her stunning looks (and did we mention she’s married to Laird Hamilton, the man who defines the word “waterman”?) for tips on keeping in shape, what she loves to do with her girls (18 month old Brody Jo, 5 year old Reece Viola and 14 year old stepdaughter Bela) for fun, and to get real on the topic of motherhood.

What do you think is the most difficult aspect of motherhood?
On a basic level, it’s the idea of worrying about someone so much. You don’t want to be run by fear, but you are really aware of their safety and their happiness—that part is a bit heavy for me; that part was the hardest. Then, trying to do the right thing for each personality; trying to feel comfortable with choices you make as far as discipline. I always joke with my husband that it’s going to be interesting to see which ways we screwed them up when they get older. My husband said to me, ‘The parenting is not for the kids, it’s for us to grow up.’ It’s true–how much patience do you have? How can you function on no sleep for three years? Can you maintain a healthy relationship? Can you take care of yourself? How can you keep your business going? How well do you do all that and give your kids time? I go to bed sometimes feeling guilty because I haven’t read a book to my kid in two days. It’s more about being responsible. It’s the honor of taking care of these people–that is heavy duty and it’s natural. Someone isn’t forcing you to feel that way; [the babies] come out and you feel that way. I was surprised by that. They always tell you, ‘You never know until you have one,’ and that’s quite true.

What is your favorite part of motherhood?
I love watching them grow and learn. It’s so amazing to me. And the love. Even though it’s psychotic and you want order in your house, there’s nothing cooler than hearing little kids laugh and running around. That energy in your life is such a gift.

When you and Laird are on the road, do your girls travel with you? What’s that like?
When we’re together, they do for sure. When I’m on the road, they are with me. I don’t like to leave my kids until they’re about 3 years old. I never left Reece until she was 3 1/2 and then I would leave her with her dad. Generally, my kids come with me because I feel really strongly about being with the babies.

Do you have nannies to help?
Of course. I could B.S. and say no, but you can’t get anything done. If I’m on the road, it’s generally something for work so I have to have someone with me who my kids are comfortable with if I have to disappear for a couple of hours or do a shoot; I need the comfort level of everybody to be really good.

Any tips for traveling with kids?
I’ve learned that if I vibrate with tension that it goes through to the kids and everyone around me; I try and stay super relaxed. I try and travel light, so I’m not so bogged down with the notion, ‘I’m a mom with kids and I’ve got so much crap I have to schlep around everywhere.’

You can’t do anything with a movie ’til their two and a half anyway, so it’s a lot of little snacks, a lot of little figurines… when they’re younger, shove them on the boob the whole time… just try not to get that sweaty nervous armpit when they’re either screaming or running up and down the aisles, which, you know, I’ve had. I’ve gotten into altercations with flight attendants and stuff like that for sure.

Personally, when my husband goes out of town, I am exhausted with the kids on my own. How do you do with Laird on the road?
You have to remember, my oldest daughter is 14, my second daughter is 5 – these are people. So, really I’m contending with an 18 month old. And that doesn’t mean there’s not a constant negotiation, especially with the 5 year old, but as far as, ‘Hey can you do this’ or ‘Can you do that’ or eating or whatever, I feel like by the time kids are 3 1/2 or 4, there’s something to it. And I have girls, so I believe they are more subdued in a different way. They do mental Judo on you versus bam, bam, bam. I have very active girls, but they’re not bouncing off the walls. They don’t have testosterone. And I kind of like it because my kids are more well behaved when one of us is out of town because now they’re not jockeying for that attention. Especially with their dad–my five year old who is so connected with her father is way cooler with me when he’s not around because she’s not jockeying for his attention.

There are days when I’m like, ‘I just want to pee by myself.’ Or, ‘I love you but can you leave me alone for two seconds.’ I think that’s a natural feeling.

We know you’re extremely fit and famous for it, but are there ever times you aren’t motivated?
Of course. I create environments for me to succeed. I am not ‘more excited’ about training than the next person. I’ve learned how to do it in a creative way to make it entertaining for myself. I’ve taken the emotion out of it. I don’t say, ‘Well, if I’m in the mood or if I have time I’ll get it done…’ I just say, yes this is happening. I always joke that if you had a meeting or were supposed to pick your kid up, you wouldn’t just bail on it. So I treat my exercise with that level of importance, otherwise it does fall by the wayside. And I create support systems around me where I have to be accountable to people to show up and train. Also, if I have more energy I can give it to them and if they have more energy they can give it to me. I’ve learned over the years to eliminate the areas that would trip me up.

As far as food goes, we know you eat healthy…
Yeah, but I don’t eat perfect. I just came back from Italy and I had more bread than I’ve had all year.

What’s your favorite cheat food?
Well, chocolate for me is definitely the killer. If you said to me, ‘Okay Gabrielle, be in perfect, perfect shape or have chocolate,’ I’d choose chocolate.

What’s your favorite kind?
I like milk chocolate with nuts or I like a very dark chocolate with salt on it. There’s a company called Vosges and they have something called the Barcelona bar (click here)
and it is SO good.

Now that you’re a mother of two, have your work-outs changed?
I had to have two C-sections–my first kid wouldn’t come out and the second one I had to have in Hawaii and they don’t do VBACs, so I took a couple of weeks to recover from those and then built a level of intensity. So by three months in, I’m at full steam. I’ve learned to train smarter over the years. With the exception of the amount of time I spent at the beach playing volleyball–which I don’t do, but did as a professional–my training is as hard as it’s ever been. But there are some days when I say, ‘Okay, I have twenty minutes.’ So, I’ve also learned how to get it done and I’ve learned to release it. If I have 20 minutes, it takes 20 minutes. Especially when you’re nursing and you have to be available when you need to be available. I’ve learned emotionally not to get so uptight about it.

How do you find the time?
I demand it. I always say I’m really selfish with it. Short of anyone being sick, I don’t give it up for anybody. I know I’m a better person, a better mother… My kids are going to grow up and have a life and I don’t want to be left twenty years out of the process wondering what the hell happened to me. So, I’m very intense about it. It doesn’t mean that I do it in a way that’s psychotic, but I schedule in a time and I stick to it and I don’t apologize to my husband or to anyone for doing it. I say, ‘I have to take care of myself and I’m going.’ It’s just part of our life.

Do you include your girls when exercising?
I take a bar class and the daycare is only 10 feet away, so my [5 year old] will come in and when it gets hard, she bails. When they say it’s time for push-ups, she’ll say, ‘I’m going to go check on Brody.’ Or if we go to the beach, we go swimming together. And I have a gym in my house so they’re always around it.

What is your favorite form of exercise?
I really like lifting weights but I do it in a circuit training manner, so I’m not in the gym banging heavy iron. I’m doing circuits that last about 45 minutes and you go non-stop the entire time. I’ve evolved that that is the most effective way to train. And, let’s face it, at the end of the day, whatever gives you the best results is the one you like the most. If people only had 30 minutes and they knew how to train, they could have tremendous results.

What do you think is the best way for moms to fit their workouts in?
It’s understanding your day, because if you wait ’til the end and you know you’ve got 30 minutes, then you think ‘I’ve got 30 minutes, I should either go to the grocery store, prep dinner, or whatever.’ But get it done as soon as you can because otherwise [the time] will disappear.

Is your five year old showing an interest in volleyball or your husband’s talent, surfing?
My daughter is very, very athletic and she likes the ocean; she’s similar personality to my husband and she’s interested in swimming, she likes motorized vehicles [laughs], she likes gymnastics, tennis and volleyball–so she really has a healthy variety of things she likes. And we’re not really interested in pushing her into one zone because it’s about the discovery. It’s about, ‘What do you like and who are YOU?’ Not what mommy likes. So, we expose her to everything and she’s pretty gung-ho. Both of us understand clearly that if someone is going to do something and enjoy it first of all, and then later if you’re interested in them excelling at it, the only way it’s going to happen is if they dig it and discover it. You know, these sideline parents, my husband always jokes that they are unfulfilled athletes. And they are trying to live vicariously through their children, which is THE biggest mistake you could ever do. You know those parents that scream from the sidelines–we would never be like that. I’m not going to live through my kid.

Can you tell us about the Web site you created, The HoneyLine?
The ultimate idea of the HoneyLine is that it’s supposed to be a lot of people. It’s just like how you have your girlfriends to go to, your doctor and an expert. I was interested in doing a television show, I was getting frustrated, I said ‘Screw it, let’s make it a Web site.’ I’m one person with one point of view, but the notion of The HoneyLine is for everyone.

And with Train 360, people can log on and work out with you?
[The work outs are] for free. And they’re 30 minutes a day. People say, ‘I don’t have time.’ Well, they’re 30 minutes. ‘I don’t know what to do.’ We’ll tell you what to do. ‘I don’t have room or equipment.’ You don’t need any. Maybe a set of dumbbells and if you’re really going for it, you can get a stability ball. We’re here to try to eliminate people’s excuses and trying to create an environment where we support and encourage them to move.

Outside of exercise, what are your favorite things to do with your daughters?
We go to the beach a lot. And hanging out with them. It’s just that organic time with them where I get to share unstructured time. Even if it’s going in their playroom and hanging out with them and seeing what they do and observing them and being a part of their world. I think in this day and age it’s so easy that everything is so scheduled and play dates and blah, blah, blah, that sometimes it’s just about NOT doing that. That’s my favorite time. That’s when you really get to see your kids and find out who they are and they talk randomly… that’s the stuff I like.

Will you have any more kids?
I’ve learned in my life to never say never. I just feel that I am almost 40 [laughs], so I just feel that maybe I could be done. I would be okay if I didn’t have anymore.

We’ve called you an uber Breezy Mama. Any comments on that title?
Well, any time you can be uber anything, right? [Laughs] That’s great. I’ve learned to make myself happy. My husband is not here to make me happy, my children aren’t here to make me happy–it’s solely my responsibility. I think that’s really helped me a lot. If you take that expectation out of a relationship then that makes the relationship a lot better. I’m taking responsibility all the way around. I’m taking responsibility for the way I look, I’m taking responsibility for the way I feel, I’m taking responsibility for my happiness, and in order to do that, I have to be able to say, ‘Look, this is what I need.’ I’m not going to blame anyone else.

Anything else you’d like to share with your fellow Breezy Mamas?
[Motherhood] is the most interesting and the most confusing and the most challenging and the most fulfilling thing I have ever done.

To check out her Web site, The HoneyLine, click here.

*****

Want Breezy Mama to arrive in your email in-box? It’s free! Click here!