A Day in the Life: Fitness Coach and Trainer Holly Kuzmiak-Ngiam

What does your daily routine look like, mamas? Tell us, we want to know!

In this series “A day in the life“, mamas submit snapshots of regular moments that occur throughout their daily routine to show the wide variety of lives mamas lead in Singapore, whether you’re in the office, at home, or something in between.

This month features Holly Kuzmiak-Ngiam, run coach, yogini, and mama all in one. Holly is American but came to this tiny tropical island thanks to her husband, Kee-Min, who grew up here. Holly is trained as a biochemist but had a mid-life crisis (her words) about 20 years early, and now uses her background in science and passion for fitness to help people move more and move better through her company Movement Labs, which offers both classes and coaching around yoga, running and prenatal/post-natal fitness. She’s also a spinning and Yoga instructor, and the mama to an active toddler — so basically she never stops moving. And did we mention she does it all without a helper? 

Click through the gallery to see how Holly’s day pans out! And be sure to check out her Instagram account for some truly great (and often hilarious) stories!

If you’d like to be featured in this series, mama, drop us a line at [email protected] with “Day in the Life” in the subject line!

My alarm rings sometime between 5.30am and 6.30am most mornings. Now that my toddler ‘usually’ sleeps through the night, I’m back to being a morning person, so I’ll either get in a run or yoga session, or head upstairs to the “office loft” my husband and I share to get some work done. On this particular day – I make my usual breakfast of two fried eggs, plus whatever else is around (this morning, it’s snap peas, yogurt, and a Stroopwaffel), and sit down to answer emails and check in on my clients’ workout logs.

Most mornings I’m home with my 21-month-old daughter, Eleanor, until she goes into daycare. We have breakfast, do morning chores, shop at the wet market, and stroll/skip/explore our way to her daycare drop off. But today, my husband is doing the morning drop-off because I’m on my way to Jurong East to teach yoga. After class, I do my own workout – a treadmill run today, thanks to pouring rain and a tight timeline. I have a toast snack, answer a few emails, select some music for my lunchtime class, and hop on the train to downtown.

I teach lunchtime classes most days of the week – today, it’s a cycling class at Fitness First, MBFC. I don’t take photos of my class members, so here’s my sweaty face and the bikes that were full a few minutes ago. After class, I stretch, shower, and head to lunch.

Date nights are hard to come by with a toddler (we don’t live with family or have live-in help), so once a week late lunch dates are when my husband and I eat a quiet meal together. Sometimes we talk about our hopes/dreams/big plans – but more often we sort out logistics for the weekend and upcoming week. I know this is a “season” of life for us, and hopefully more dreaming and big scheming talk will return at some point.

Self-care/work time. I’ve started getting weekly foot reflexology, to help my feet and lower legs unwind from a week of walking and working, largely in minimalist shoes. On a good day, I’ll even take a nap in the chair. Then it’s a small iced kopi and an hour of class planning for the next week.

I usually do daycare pick-up, but Kee-Min does 1-2 nights a week when I’m teaching. We often do Fridays together, but tonight he has a work thing, so I pick up Eleanor and we take our time getting home. There are friends to greet at the kopitiam, grass to smell, and a field to run through, so the trip takes us 45 minutes (it’s a 12 minute brisk walk). We recently moved and Eleanor LOVES having a pool in our complex – so we head down for a short swim. Then she hangs out on our enormous kitchen island while I prep dinner (solo Friday = leftovers).

Whoever is home has dinner together without phones nearby (except for this photo). We often talk to my family in the US via FaceTime. Then we clean up, Eleanor has a shower if necessary, and we color or build legos/blocks, read, and sing. I pat her to sleep, which usually takes about 10-15 minutes, but I often disappear for longer, dozing off in the cool, dark room.

I stumble out of Eleanor’s room and groggily tackle whatever household chores are left – dinner clean up, food prep for the next day, laundry, or tidying. Netflix keeps me company, or Kee-Min helps if he’s around. It’s Friday, so I also sit down to prepare a menu for the following week. We eat at home on weeknights, but only if I have a menu prepared, Redmart order placed, and daily shopping list prepped for the wet market.
If I’m still feeling awake, I’ll listen to a lecture or do some writing for an online course I’m taking. Then I stretch or roll, take my final shower for the day, and fall asleep scrolling Instagram, usually – my intended reading material still on the nightstand. My husband will come in later to turn out the lights and make sure my alarm is set, and that’s that. Sleep well (we hope!).