Amanda Kloots knows a thing or two about caregiving. Single mother to three-year-old Elvis, the fitness instructor, author, entrepreneur and The Talk cohost also understands the vital role physical wellbeing and movement play in caregiving, making her latest partnership with Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel a no-brainer.
Ahead, Kloots shares how she, in partnership with Voltaren, is helping caregivers get their strength back through tailored exercises, how she gets through the hard days, her beauty favorites and the inspiration behind her new children’s book Tell Me Your Dreams.
Tell me about your partnership with Voltaren and why you decided to get involved.
Voltaren Arthritis Pain Gel is an amazing company; they’ve been a world leader in providing assistance and pain relief. But what I loved about this campaign is that it’s all about caregivers. I think caregivers are overlooked especially because we put ourselves on the back burner, we don’t give ourselves a lot of credit, and we are constantly managing our own lives and then somebody else’s life. Caregivers’ bodies go through a lot of stress, carrying groceries, helping somebody in and out of a chair, pushing a wheelchair, there’s a constant toll it takes on their bodies.
When Voltaren came to me and asked how we could help caregivers with their muscle and joint aches and pains, I thought it was an amazing idea. I wanted to create some exercises that caregivers could do throughout their day that are very easy and low impact, but that would help these caregivers feel stronger, get their stability back, and get their mental health in check. Moving is such an important part of what I believe to be a part of mental health. So I loved the whole idea for the campaign.
What do the movements themselves entail?
I debuted the first set of exercises I created on my Instagram page, so go check those out. They are all for your lower body and for stability. So we get into a little bit of standing core, but really focusing on those large muscle groups in your legs, and your ankles and stability so that you have enough strength to, again, lift another person, help another person.
I really love these exercises. The ones I showed on my Instagram I do in my kitchen. So they’re very easy. You don’t have to be in a gym, it’s not an extra thing to do. It’s a way to incorporate exercises in your daily routine already. Because again, as caregivers, sometimes you don’t have a lot of time for yourself, you don’t have time to devote to doing a full hour of exercises. So it’s just these little things that help strengthen you. And if they’re done consistently, you really will start to feel stronger in your lower body.
When we hear the term caregiver, our minds might take us to caring for somebody sick or elderly, but mothering is certainly caregiving. How do you find time to prioritize your physical and emotional health with a little one counting on you?
It’s so true. In fact, even just from the post that I shared on Instagram, I’ve been getting the loveliest messages and somebody just messaged me saying, “I’m a mother of a child that can’t walk. I’m a caregiver and a mother and, and it is a lot.”
I think that as a mom, we are really good at multitasking. And we’re really good at being selfless and putting others first. So I think it’s important to find those moments in your day where you can do something for yourself. For me, when I wake up, Elvis and I always listen to music first thing in the morning because music gets me moving. We’ll start dancing. I love movement. I love dancing. I love that Voltaren’s call to action, their message, is actually “The Joy of Movement.” So find that joy in your day, do the little things that help to fill your cup. For me it’s turning on that music first thing in the morning, helping Elvis pick out a song. I pick a song, we sing, we dance, we move around, we get our bodies moving. It’s those little things throughout the day that you can do to help you feel like you can do it all because moms do it all.
You consistently have such a bright and positive outlook. How do you deal with the bad days?
Oh I definitely have bad days. You know, what I try to do—and this is something new actually—if a bad day starts first thing in the morning, if everything goes wrong, if Elvis spills something, if I’m running late for work, if I miss a meeting, then all of a sudden I’m spiraling, what I’ve started to do is when I drive to work, I, outloud, say things that I’m grateful for. And if all I can say that day is, “It is a beautiful day here in California and the sun is shining. Thank you, God,” then that is what I say. But usually I can find more things: “I am healthy, I have a beautiful son, I’m going to a job that I love.” So I just try to instantly turn that bad day around by saying the positive things that I’m grateful for in my life.
And I’m telling you, this is a recent thing because there have been some stressful, hard days lately. Elvis is almost four, I have a million jobs, and sometimes it’s just a lot on my shoulders. So I literally have to remind myself of why I should be happy and why I should be grateful because it can be hard.
Let’s chat a little about beauty if that’s alright. Any new favorite product discoveries?
Oh, my gosh, it’s so funny. This is my new favorite one to share. The Laneige Lip Glowy Balm. It just gives you the best lip color. It’s so lovely and balmy and it stays on and it’s glowy and natural. It’s just sitting right here. I love it so much. I don’t leave home without it. That’s my newest favorite.
Your skin is always glowing. Do you love any in-office treatments?
Oh, thank you. I do, I love GoodSkin Clinics, that’s where I go for all my lasers and any face treatments that I do. They’re just the best and I trust them explicitly. If they tell me I need to do something, I’m like, “Aright, let’s do it.” Even though it’s most likely painful. I just did Morpheus8 and it was so painful, but it works. I did it on my face and my neck. I’ve done it before and it never gets easier. But it really does work.
Will you tell me a little bit about what inspired your book Tell Me Your Dreams?
Elvis and I have a pretty much standard bedtime routine and he still didn’t want to go to bed one night. So I just started creating what his dream was going to be. And I put everything in there that he loves: trash trucks, airplanes, the beach, choo-choo trains, and just made it super fun and fantastical and ridiculous and a big adventure. And then I started incorporating that his dad was going to meet up with him and take him on this adventure too and that was going to be time that he got to have with his dad. And then in the morning, I would come in and get him and I would want to hear all about what he got to do.
And so we were doing that night after night after night, and I would leave his room and I would just be holding my heart because it was so sweet. And he would be interacting with me the whole time and then I just thought, you know what, maybe this is a children’s book. So luckily Harper Collins thought the same thing.
