Mom-ME! Fitness Club

Max Muscle: Francisca Dennis is Super Mom.
by Maria Kang

“Did you give birth to ALL your 6 kids?” That’s the question, Francisca Dennis, 38, is most often asked. Her answer? “Heck yeah! No, we have no twins, and Yes, we are DONE!”

Francisca is the epitome of a mother who any women can look up to and say, “If she can do it, then I can do it!” This Ontario resident has been married to her high school sweetheart, Mark, for 21 years and is the business owner of two companies, FLD Management Corporation and OraMedi Spa. She has also graced the cover of Oxygen twice as a fitness model, trained other mothers on a 12 week program as a fitness consultant and is sponsored by AllMax Nutrition as a fitness competitor. While she has many professional ambitions, she is strong to contend that her most important working role is being the mother of 6 kids, ranging from ages 5 to 20.

Being able to juggle all her commitments requires her to wake up at 4:15am to prepare for her morning workout. Francisca arrives home when the kids awake at 7am and prepares them for school before she leaves for a full day at work. Similar to other mothers, her evening is filled with picking up kids from school, preparing dinner, assisting with homework, performing evening cardio and spending time with her husband before she goes to bed at 10:30pm.

Her meals are broken down to 6-7 per day. Her diet is rich in lean protein such as chicken, turkey, white fish, egg whites, lean steak, bison and her favorite protein supplement, Whey Isolate – Allmax IsoFlex. She couples her protein with leafy greens, asparagus and spinach, plus her favorite complex carbohydrates including oats, quinoa and sweet potatoes. To balance her diet, she also incorporates good fats found in flax seeds, fish oil, olive oil, almond butter, walnuts and Omega blends. To round out her nutrition plan, she drinks a healthy 5-6 Liters of water per day to cleanse out her system and assist her physical performance.

Luckily for Francisca, she’s not a big ‘junk food’ person. Her favorite foods growing up were peanut butter and honey sandwiches, which she almost exclusively ate from age 5-15. These days, her cheat meal includes a piece of dark chocolate and fudge cookies called Fudgeeos.

As a busy mother she advocates preparing meals beforehand. For her, it is more effective and efficient to grill 10 chicken breasts versus 2, or cooking 2 pounds of lean beef versus 1 pound. The chicken can be used for lunches and dinners, salads, wraps, soups or stir-fry’s. The beef for chili, meat sauces, or mixed with beans for enchiladas.

The name of the fitness game is INTENSITY.

Francisca’s workout philosophy can be summed into one word: “Intensity.” Her workouts comprise of 6 days/week training with weights, 6-7 days/week performing cardio and 3-4 times a week working on her core. At the gym she prides herself on being very intense and leaves little rest time between her supersets. “What I love about the gym atmosphere, is that we’re all there for a reason.. We want to get stronger, healthier, faster, smaller, bigger……  basically better…. but for myself, seeing others really push themselves, in turn, helps motivate me as well and gives me the drive to push myself past where my mind sometimes says to stop. There’s so much positive energy in there and I draw on that. “

While training with machines, cables and free weights are incorporated into her program, her favorite tools for training is her own body weight. Exercises like pull ups, chin ups, dips, leg raises and push ups are more often used by Francisca, and have also reaped the best results. She advocates intensity, variety and efficiency when designing a training program, for being a mother requires keen effectiveness when performing any action. “I feel like I’ve wasted my time and am disappointed in myself if I don’t put 100% into every workout,” she says.

Naturally, Francisca has a soft spot for pregnant women she sees training at the gym. She resonates with the swollen ankles, backaches, leg pain, sleepless nights and body image issues during pregnancy. Her biggest advice to intimidated, new mothers is to stay disciplined in your eating and to enjoy the experience. “I absolutely loved being pregnant and even giving birth. Don’t let fear of body changes stop you from experiencing what in my opinion is the most incredible life experience you will ever have,” exclaims Francisca.

The Journey Continues…
Currently, Francisca has a variety of projects she is working towards. She is not only pursuing her passion in writings, but she is also working on getting preservative free, homemade snack options for post-workouts or kids. Her biggest project however, involves one man and six kids.

She loves the Lao Tzu quote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So Francisca advises, “You have to enjoy what you are doing and set realistic goals….just remember to not give up on yourself and DO NOT STOP STEPPING!”

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