oh my gosia

For this installment of OMG Conversations, I had the pleasure of catching up with my friend and former colleague, Rebecca Bennett.

Back when I was working as a dietitian, Bec and I shared many laughs and long workdays, but she’s since added even more impressive titles to her name—wife, mumma to two gorgeous kids, accomplished marathon runner, foodie, and dedicated dietitian, to name just a few.

In our chat, we explore her journey into mummahood, how her career in health shapes her parenting, her inspiring return to marathon running, and more.

Bec shares her values, insights, and advice for fellow mummas juggling it all.

It’s a conversation you don’t want to miss!

To follow Bec’s journey, follow her Insta: @run_with_bec_

Bec, it’s so great to catch up — you’re doing some amazing things, mumma! To kick things off, can you share a little about yourself with our OMG readers?

Hi, I’m Bec. I am a 41-year-old mum of two (7yo boy and 9yo girl). I work part-time as a clinical dietitian in a hospital setting and have been a dietitian for around 20 years now.

I met my husband when I was 25, and we married 7 years later.

I had my first child when I was 32 and my second at 34. I was lucky to fall pregnant with both children relatively quickly.

The past 9 years have been a whirlwind with lots of ups and downs.

As a Dietitian, what inspired you to pursue a career in health and how has this background influenced your approach to motherhood? 

I have always had an interest in health.

As a child I found medical occupations to be fascinating and I knew that I wanted to “help people” when I was older.

Dietetics was something I sort of fell into. I’ve always loved food (I’d still call myself a foodie), science, and had an interest in nutrition.

During Year 12, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career as either a pharmacist or a dietitian. It really came down to me choosing one over the other when it was decision time.

I try to have a very balanced approach to motherhood. I am very much an “all in moderation” mum.

I obviously understand the importance of good nutrition for little, growing bodies, but I am also acutely aware of diet culture and the influence it can have at such a young age.

We don’t talk about “good” and “bad” foods in our family — just food.

I focus on educating my children about how food fuels your body, makes you strong, feeds your brain for school and helps you with your sporting endeavours. 

We are an active family and enjoy spending time at the beach, the park and just generally being outdoors.

My kids are active and we encourage a team sport for both of them as well as the non-negotiable swimming lessons.

I do, however, also know the importance of adequate downtime — it’s a fine balance. 

I suppose the biggest thing about being a mum that works in healthcare is knowing the importance of health and nutrition in the early stages of life. It’s about giving children the best foundation for a healthy body and mind as they grow.

As a mumma with a busy schedule what does a typical day look like? 

I’m a part-time worker and a stay-at-home mum on my non-work days. 

On a non-work day, a typical day involves the standard morning rush to get 2 kids ready for school and then school drop off. My kids attend different schools, which adds an extra element of urgency in the mornings! 

After school drop-off is generally when I head off for my run.

After this, its pretty stands mum stuff … supermarket shop, dinner prep, washing, organising the household and running errands all before school pick up (which always seems to come around fast!!).

Then the afternoon rush starts with kids snacks, dinner, baths, lunch box prep and bedtime routines.

Once a week I have a strength training session with a personal trainer and I also do an at-home Pilates program 2x per week.

Like with running, I make strength and mobility sessions a priority.

A workday is certainly more hectic — it’s just a constant juggle on those day. But the one thing I still prioritise, even on a work day, is my running.

I am lucky to still be able to conduct telehealth sessions and work from home a majority of the time.

On these days I run during my lunch break and eat lunch at my desk when I work.

I then juggle the school runs and everything else on those days, although I do try to be organised and have dinner prepared the day before to make this a little easier — one less thing to worry about on those days. 

What’s been the most challenging or surprising aspect of motherhood?

My youngest was born with some health issues, which required major, life-saving surgery at 9 weeks of age.

Nothing can prepare you for something like that!

The biggest lesson is that there are no guarantees with motherhood and I am very aware of the fragility of life.

The most surprising thing for me has been the overwhelming instinct to protect my children at all costs.

The love you have for your child is different to any other love — you can’t really describe it. 

Have your personal and professional goals changed since becoming a mum? 

Yes, absolutely! 

The week before I went on maternity leave with my first child, I received a phone call asking me to speak on an expert panel at a conference for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

I had been working as a dietitian in the MND field for many years and was well-known as an expert in this field.

I remember feeling disappointed that I wasn’t able to take up the opportunity, but I promised myself that I would be able to come back to it.

However, I never did, and I’m absolutely OK with that.

I did go back to work as a clinical dietitian but the workload has been less intense, which is honestly what I needed.

I’m still making a difference in people’s lives but without dealing with the inevitable loss of patients, as I was when working in MND.

My personal goals have changed too.

Before having children, I never really had goals that were just about me.

It’s a funny thing really.

Before kids, I had all the time in the world to be selfish and focus on me, but I didn’t know it at the time.

After becoming a mum, I realised I needed these personal goals in order to be the best version of myself, which ultimately helps me to be the best mum I can be.

My personal goals are currently centred around my love of running. 

How do you maintain a sense of self outside of being a mum? 

In the early years of becoming a mum, I can honestly say that I felt like I lost myself, which is something I know a lot of new mums find challenging.

I had 2 kids under 2 years old and these years were both incredible and challenging all at once.

Over the years I’ve learnt the importance of finding myself again and being more than “just a mum”.

I have a very supportive husband and we make a point of carving out our own time to do the things we love.

For me, thats running, browsing the shops, seeing movies and catching up with friends.

For example, I do my long run on Sunday mornings when my husband is home with the kids. This is protected time for my long run.

Similarly, I also make sure that I schedule in other things that I love to do.

We have a family calendar and my husband and I work well together, planning time to do things on our own, together (just the 2 of us) and also as a family.

This definitely takes some planning to get it right. 

How did running become part of your life and what role does it play now as a mum? What benefits does running have for you beyond physical health? 

I’ve always enjoyed running and would say I was a “weekend warrior” mostly, when I was younger.

I participated in the odd fun run here and there and loved the atmosphere of it all. However, I was never really very athletic and never a fast runner. 

My running picked up during the Melbourne COVID lockdowns.

At that time, my children were very young (I had one in kinder and the other home full-time). It was was an incredibly stressful time for me and during the first year I struggled a lot.

I ended up in ED one day following a period of worrying heart palpitations, which ultimately required medication to resolve and I also ended up up seeking help from a psychologist.

This is when I started running significantly more.

The more I ran, the more I loved it.

My distance was increasing, my pace was improving and the benefits to my physical and mental health were undeniable.

I ran my first marathon in 2023 and have since completed three marathons, taking 48 minutes off my time. It’s something I’m incredibly proud of!

As a running mum, one of the biggest things that running gives me is time alone — just me and the road.

It gives me ability to switch off from “mum mode” and switch onto running mode.

Running is almost meditative for me now.

Sometimes I’ll return from a run without remembering a single thought I had, which tells me I was able to completely switch off and just run.

I definitely use it as a way to manage my stress and keep my mental health in check, too.

If I’m ever feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious etc., I know that going for a run will help calm me and help me feel immediately better. 

As a running mum, I love that I’m role modelling a healthy lifestyle to my children.

I’m showing them that having goals and working towards achieving them brings you great happiness.

They’ve also seen me not reach goal times in races and this is an important lesson too.

We can’t always win in life and that’s OK. We try our best and give what we can on the day.

If we do that, we can still be proud and then we keep working. 

I remind my children that they can aim high in life because, why not?

If I look back to that 1st year of lockdown or earlier, I never would have believed I could have achieved what I have in my running.

Now, I know I have more in me.

I’m teaching my kids to have belief in yourself and your abilities, regardless of what those around you say.

If you believe you can and you work hard, you give yourself the best chance of reaching your goals, no matter how long they take to achieve.

Many mummas struggle to find time for themselves. What’s your advice around maintaining balance?

You must let some things go and, sometimes, lower your standards a little.

Over the years I’ve learnt that trying to keep these things to the high standards I always did is a recipe for a very stressful life once you have children.

How do you model healthy habits and self-care for your children?

I believe this comes naturally if these things are part of your life in general.

I lead a healthy lifestyle and have a good balance of self-care versus looking after the family.

If you are living and breathing these things day in and day out, you are role modelling them already and it’s not something you even need to try to do. 

What values do you hope to instil in your children as they grow? 

To be kind, always.

I want them to remember that you never know what others a dealing with and being kind to others can sometimes be the difference in making or breaking their day.

People may not always remember what you say, but they’ll never forget the way you made them feel.

Everyone deserves respect.

I also want them to be honest with themselves and others while also learning how to make good decisions as they grow.

I will ensure my children know that they can always come to me with anything.

If they are in trouble or have made a poor choice around something I want the lines of communication with me to always be open.

We all make mistakes but the important thing is to learn from them and move forward. 

And what values do you hope to instil in your children through your running achievements?

Perseverance, determination, self-confidence and self-belief.

The value of working hard to achieve your goals and not giving up because things get hard or you don’t easily reach your goal.

Always remembering that “good things come to those who wait”.

It may take longer than you’d imagined to get where you want to go, but you’ll look back and none of that will matter once you reach the end point. But then the goal posts often move anyway, so you may continually strive for more if that’s what you want.

I want to teach my children to celebrate their achievements and to be proud of themselves, and that it’s not always just about “winning”.

The thing I love about running is that when I go run a marathon (or any fun run for that matter), I know I’m not going to win the event.

But that’s not what it’s about.

It’s self improvement and being in competition with myself, not others. I want my children to remember this. 

Lastly, I want them to see how amazing it is to encourage other runners when I’m out there.

They see the emotions of a finish line and the camaraderie when runners are pounding the pavement.

I want them to always remember the importance of encouraging and supporting each other and the people around them.

Amazing! What are you most looking forward to as your children grow? 

Watching their personalities develop and seeing the people they become.

My children are already very different in so many ways.

I also look forward to making so many more beautiful memories with them, which I will always cherish. 

If you could go back to the beginning of your journey, what would you tell yourself? 

Don’t be so hard on yourself.

You don’t have to be the perfect mum. So long as your children know they are loved, that is what matters.

You will make mistakes, but you need to learn from them and move forward rather than dwell on them.

To your young children, you are the world.  Hold onto that for as long as you can. 

That’s so beautiful. And to wrap up, is there a quote or mantra or piece of advice that has guided you through motherhood? 

“This too shall pass”.

There have been many trying times over the last 9 years but, together with my husband, we have gotten through them and they have passed 

To follow Bec’s journey, follow her Insta: @run_with_bec_

Margaret Mielczarek

editor, journalist, digital content creator with a background in nutrition & dietetics.