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Diana Jones

@dihanajones

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Utah 📍
Runner • Mom • Growth mindset
Energy, discipline & biology @valhallaplus
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When in Italy… romanticize everything💕🇮🇹🏛️ by @dihanajones

Like I’m sorrry you’re not passioned about anything 😮‍💨 #running#runtok#humor#mindset#reletable by @dihanajones

One of my favorite things about motherhood #onepiece #halloween #familyhalloween by @dihanajones

So it was my birthday.
Again.

And per usual, they lied. My 20s were not this good. I definitely didn’t look this good at any point in my 20s, lol. I didn’t have the energy I have now for solo parenting, working, and running marathons for fun.

I also didn’t have this much love in my life or the awareness to appreciate all the little things each day and to step away from the energy, people, comments, or places that didn’t align with my values, my goals, or the way I see life.

I got all that in my 30s, and I’m actually having the time of my life.

So here’s to another year in the spooooky 30s everyone warned me about. I’m just happy to be here. To be honest, I didn’t even think I’d make it this far, this healthy, and with bangs. But here we are.

And I have no interest in whispering my age like it’s bad news. Because it isn’t. I’m happy to be part of a generation of people in their 30s with a little more freedom, a little more love and self awareness, and a little more room to understand that divorce is sometimes a good option. That single parenting can be healthier. And that romantic love is beautiful, but it’s no more important than the love you find within yourself, in your daily routines, in new friendships, or in your own community.

So anyway 33 was amazing, but I have a really good feeling about 34. ✨😉 by @dihanajones

Allow yourself to romanticize your own life through the small things you do every day. 🤎

Wear the gym outfit you feel good in. Make your coffee in the pretty glass. Put on the playlist that makes an ordinary day feel like a scene from a movie. Let the little things be part of what gets you excited to show up for yourself.

It’s okay to love the pretty things. Whatever makes you glow, whatever makes it a little easier to take care of yourself, let it matter. You don’t need a special occasion to make your everyday life feel special.

If your life is a movie, your eyes are the camera, and you’re the one who sets the stage. Make it cute. Make it intentional. Make it yours. ✨

At the end of the day, these are your memories. Give yourself little moments you’ll want to remember. The care you put into your life becomes part of how it feels to live it. 🤎 #fitness by @dihanajones

I signed up for this marathon 9 days before race day and finished 1st in my age group and 3rd overall.

I’m proud of those places. But I’m more proud that I finally feel at home in my body. That I can feel something deeply and still choose how I respond. That when life gets hard, I have something to draw from besides just telling myself to keep going.

Little by little, I’ve been giving myself proof that I can trust myself. I know who I am. Other people’s opinions no longer carry more weight than my own experience or get to define what I’m capable of. I’m still discovering that for myself.

All that energy, all those emotions I sometimes wished I could turn down, finally have somewhere to go. Into movement. Into people who care for me too. Into experiences that leave me feeling more like myself. 🤍 #running #utah #fitness #momlife #mentalhealth by @dihanajones

we’ve actually been doing them together since before he was born. 🥹#pullups #momlife #fitness #boymom #Utah by @dihanajones

“It’s not that hard mom” like okay…. Yeah my bad 🤨 #fitness #humor #gymhumor #momlife #fitnessmotivation by @dihanajones

Running is medicine.
Sunlight is medicine.
Zone 2 is medicine.
Time in nature is medicine.
Movement is medicine.
Fresh air is medicine.
Sweating is medicine.
Keeping promises to yourself is medicine.

Not every form of healing comes in a bottle. Sometimes it looks like putting on your running shoes, stepping outside and giving your mind somewhere peaceful to exist for a while.

I’m not always training for a race. Sometimes I’m training my nervous system to handle life. Sometimes I’m clearing my mind, regulating my mood, building stronger mitochondria and reminding myself that I can do hard things.

everything else is just a bonus😬✌🏼life is hard sometimes but I personally know im only 6 miles from having a better day🧘🏻‍♀️

#momlife #running #runner #utah #singlemom by @dihanajones

I used to feel a little sad whenever someone called me a “single mom.”

Those words took me back to everything that had led me there. They made a painful chapter feel like my identity, as if the hardest parts of my life had become the first thing people saw when they looked at me with my kids.

For a long time, I heard “single mom” and thought about what I had lost. Now, I hear it and think about everything I built.

I moved to another country alone at 18, learned a new language and built a village from scratch, only to rebuild it several more times.

I spent most of my twenties studying, working and proving myself while living on a student visa. If you know how stressful and complicated that process is, then you understand the level of uncertainty I constantly carried just for the possibility of having the same opportunities as everyone around me.

I returned to work four weeks postpartum after a C section, with a newborn and a one and a half year old. I built a career in a new industry while raising two babies alone.

I trained to deadlift 315 pounds eight months postpartum because I needed somewhere to put my anger and sadness. My divorce took three years and money I didn’t have just to make official what I had already been doing alone.

I survived my first heartbreak as a single mom and ran my first marathon afterward because it was something I could control. I already knew hard. I knew how to keep going.

But then, this year, my first baby, the little boy who made me a mom and walked through so much of this life beside me, started first grade.

And it hit me: We made it.🥳

Not just through the days I thought would break me, but into a life that once felt impossible. I’ve been a mom and single longer than I was ever simply called a “mom.”….
“Single mom” now holds the story of everything I survived, everything I built and everything I had to defend in front of a literal judge in court. That is something most people will never have to experience.

So no, “single mom” could never be an insult to me now.

I freaking earned that title and my favorite conspiracy theory is that.. it gave me super powers because yeah it’s “too much” 😭 #momlife #singlemom #divorce by @dihanajones

Why do I make time for this?

Simple: I deserve to take care of myself.

It gives me time to clear my mind, reset my mood, release stress, invest in my health and, yes, get a cute little tan. ☀️

I’m someone who thrives on routine and movement. After years of learning, experimenting and paying attention to my body, I know what helps me function at my best. Even on hot days and even when getting started feels hard I make sure I get outside and move.

Making time for myself is hard, but it’s harder to have no energy, feel mentally drained and go to bed carrying that awful parental guilt because I didn’t show up the way I wanted to.

I’ve been solo parenting for almost five years. My kids are six and four, so this isn’t a temporary season anymore. This is our lifestyle. This is it.

I have to be intentional about managing my time, protecting my mental health and creating the energy our little family needs. I have to be honest with myself about whether I truly have a reason or I’m making an excuse. I know that may sound harsh, but sometimes life requires that kind of honesty.

Doing this helps me show up as the nurturing mom, the provider and also as myself ✨ just a girl ✨ lol. It helps me keep our home clean and organized, do my job well, take care of my health and be mentally present when my boys are home.

Kids deserve the best version of us, but you deserve that version of yourself, too. 🤍 #soloparenting #singlemom #utah #running #momlife by @dihanajones

#Boymom #singlemom #Utah by @dihanajones