‘Octomom’ Nadya Suleman Shows Fitness Transformation as a Mom of 14 Children

Nadya Suleman, better known as the “Octomom,” resurfaced on Instagram last month to share an update on her fitness transformation. Suleman shot to fame as the mother of only the second full set of octuplets born alive in the U.S. and has periodically shared updates on their lives since they were born in 2009. She has six other children, meaning she is raising 14 children on her own.

Since 2020 began, Suleman, 44, has shared a handful of positive updates on her life, including one about how she has spent time working out and staying healthy. On Jan. 12, she shared a photo of herself at the gym because shoe hopes to “inspire supporters, who may be struggling with their own fitness journey.

“Since discovering the gym, in 1991, I have learned the value of constructively channeling stress, anger, emotional pain etc. into working out,” Suleman wrote. “The stairmaster has been my go to for stress relief, pressing on 99 min (highest it goes), no trainer, just my mind on ‘go.’ If I do not achieve 10 miles (at least 500 floors), I continue past 99 minutes. I’ve been climbing approximately 45-50 miles per week, incorporating lifting light weights, for the last 29 years.”

Suleman called working out a “priority for decades,” since it “provides me the mental and physical strength, stamina, and endurance to be the best I can be, particularly as a mom.” She suggested without working out, she would be “wheelchair bound and unable to care for my family” due to the injuries she suffered while carrying eight children.

“If their is a healthy habit you engage in, that enhances your productivity, protect it; FIGHT for it; NEVER GIVE IT UP!” she continued. “Unfortunately, media surreptitiously concealed this truth about the real me, as it contradicted their preconceived octo-caricature creation.”

Suleman said she was back to working out regularly “days subsequent to birthing every child, including the octuplets” and went back to the gym weeks after they were born.

“I believe my active lifestyle significantly contributed to maintaining and strengthening my mental and physical health,” she wrote. “Though genetic predisposition for athleticism may play a part, (my father was a boxer from Jerusalem, Palestine; my mom, despite growing up a WW2 refugee, was a champion runner and given the opportunity to leave her family and train for running in the German Olympics), I believe lifestyle influences our overall health/fitness level far more.”

“We parents lead by example and set the stage for our children’s future health. I chose to instill the value of health/fitness by leading the lifestyle I want my kids to live,” Suleman concluded.

Suleman’s most recent Instagram post was on Jan. 26, when she wished the octuplets a happy birthday.

Suleman resurfaced in the media in 2018, when she told The New York Times she was working on a book about her life and the mediastorm the octuplets’ birth caused. In Mach 2019, she told Australia’s 7News she had no regrets about having 14 children, but admitted to making “poor decisions.”

In August 2019, Suleman took to Instagram to reveal one of her older children, 14-year-old son Aiden is autistic.

Photo credit: Getty Images