Meet Margaret
Margaret Ryan Evangelista has two babies: Eleanor, age 2; and the Harlem Link Charter School, which she and her husband Steven founded in 2004. As well as the founder of Harlem Link, Margaret works as the Director of Curriculum and Professional Development. So she has been accustomed for a long time to being crazy busy! It wasn’t until just before she fell pregnant with Eleanor that she realized her health and fitness had taken a backseat to her work.
So Margaret, what was going on in your life before you were pregnant? I know you were working hard and in retrospect neglecting your own needs. How did that impact you?
Running a school is a 7 day a week, 24 hour job. I was juggling students, teachers, families, as well as the organizational management of the school. What that allowed me to do was make a lot of excuses about my eating and fitness. In the first 5 years the school was open, I managed to gain approximately 40 pounds, which is pretty significant for my petite 5’3″ frame. I was so exhausted and fast paced all the time that I made really poor decisions. Lots of coffee all day long; if I did eat (because yes, I sometimes skipped breakfast and lunch), it would be from a deli or restaurant where I had no control over portions or ingredients. When I wasn’t working I was generally either sleeping or vegging on the couch.
Did you realize you were making excuses, or think about making changes then?
No, I don’t think I was even really aware of what I was doing to my body, nor making the connection that I would feel less tired and definitely less depressed if I would get up and move! Oh, the tears that flowed as piece of clothing one after another just did not fit, or fit completely differently.
What changed for you?
Things began to change in the school’s 5th year, when I finally made the decision to just start paying more attention to ME. I began by walking more and made a goal to work up to a 10 mile hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain on our annual trip to Acadia National Park. However, just as I made this switch in the way I approached my health, sweet Ellie made herself known! I was pregnant!
Now, I know you had kind of a difficult pregnancy, especially towards the end. What was going on?
Well, once my pregnancy was confirmed, my doctor advised me not to add any more exertion into my exercise routine beyond the changes I had already made. That was okay by me, because my morning sickness was intense in the first trimester. After the nausea passed my body just felt really weak, so it was a real chore to be active. I had put my body through so much neglect when I gained all that extra weight that it was making my pregnancy difficult. My core was so weak I developed back problems, I couldn’t breathe going upstairs (and our school is essentially a walk-up), I was just exhausted all the time. It just intensified until by my third trimester I had pains in my abdominal area intense enough for my doctor to advise early medical leave. I was home a month before I even gave birth.
You look amazing now – healthy and glowing and happy. Obviously you worked really hard on your health. How did you do it? And what are you doing now for fitness?
I can happily say I’ve made a turnaround with my health. I have a beautiful baby girl and my health and fitness are in a great place! I was only walking for the first 4 months after Ellie was born – I didn’t have childcare and that winter 2010/11 was one of the worst winters I have seen in a while, so I delayed getting back into shape. Then my wonderful husband gave me a push present of 2 months of 2 sessions a week with a personal trainer. She empowered me to take my body back. When I first started with my trainer, the scale did not move. Since I was doing it for health reasons as well as wanting to lose weight, I wasn’t too concerned. I think I was building muscle first, because then when the scale finally did start moving, the pounds just started melting off steadily.
Because of working with my trainer, I now faithfully go to the gym an average 3 times per week. I do a 30-45 minute cardio workout every time and strength training twice a week. The strength training is one day of upper body, one day of lower body and abdominal work both days. These workouts also helped me start running again. I took it slowly, but worked up to my first race ever in September 2011, running the Fifth Avenue Mile!
You must have had to change your diet as well, in order to fuel those workouts!
Yes, at the same time that I made the commitment to working out post pregnancy, I also went on Weight Watchers. It’s been almost 2 years since I started. I’m at my target weight and have stayed there for a year and a half. I lost weight the right way, SLOWLY, and still follow the Weight Watchers Points system. I think what also contributed to my weight loss is that we rarely eat out any more (thank you, Fresh Direct!) and we cook healthy meals using primarily organic ingredients, mostly vegetables. I also eat about 3 pieces of fruit a day. Cutting out processed foods has made such a difference with weight loss. Now I have all the energy I need to be very active.
How do you find the time? What works for you?
My husband Steve and I have weekly family meetings to negotiate our fitness schedules. The plan ranges week to week, early mornings or evenings, depending on what we both have going on. Sometimes I am home and have childcare, since my work time allows me to be off-site, so when I do have a sitter, I will build the gym into my schedule for the day. Becoming fit and healthy has changed my life. It is hard squeezing in the workouts, but Steve and I work as a team to make it happen. He just recently thanked me for being HIS inspiration for returning to running and is training for an upcoming race himself.
What are your goals now that you’re in such great shape?
Well, my running career never really took off, because of a double bunionectomy I had during the winter of 2012. At that time, I was nervous about staying fit while I healed and you were kind enough to tailor a training program for me that would keep me going at the gym as my feet healed. Thanks to your help, I did not gain weight nor lose my fitness momentum! I’m still running on the treadmill with the goal of getting out on the road again soon. I look forward to my feet both fully healing so I can make that goal a reality.
At some point we will be adding on to our family, so the main goal is to maintain my fitness and healthy lifestyle so I can be confident my body is ready to handle a pregnancy much better than the first time! My ‘marathon’ right now is to stay the course for the long haul with my health.
Thanks so much, Fit Mama! I have no doubt you’ll have this healthy lifestyle for good!
