Erin Andrews on Motherhood Milestones, On the Go Self-Care, and Workout Hacks

Spoiler alert: motherhood for Andrews includes daily 'morning parties.'

Erin Andrews is loving life with her family of three. The veteran Fox Sports reporter and her husband Jarret Stoll, who welcomed son Mack in June with help from a surrogate after a grueling nine-year IVF journey, are soaking up all the special moments with their newborn and have taken to "throwing parties" every morning.

"I love seeing him in the morning," Andrews, 45, says of her son. "A friend told us a good thing to get in the habit of is to throw a party when you first see your kid in the morning, like 'How was your night?' 'What did you dream about?' He can't answer back obviously, but we just throw a party, it's so fun."

With the official kickoff to the NFL season upon us, Andrews has also been deep in pre-season prep for her high-profile gig contributing exclusive interviews and sideline reports from FOX NFL’s top game each week. This year she had a bonus "helper."

"Mack and I watched some preseason games. He was really focused and I needed him to nap," she says with a laugh. "I thought, I'm either creating a monster here or this is exactly what I always wanted and hoped for."

Here, Andrews shares with Shape the joys of her new normals as a parent, how she prioritizes her mental and physical well-being while on the road and in the air half the year, and if she ever gets to use her millions of frequent flier miles.

Milestones with Mack

Andrews says bathtime has become just as fun as their morning "parties" with Mack.

"He loves every minute of it, it's hilarious," she says. "He barely has any hair, but when it gets all wet and shampooed, he looks like a proper gentleman. Our dude just sits there and takes it all in. We've got spa music going, I've been playing the soundtrack from The Holiday, and a whole routine with shea butter, which smells so good. He loves it which is really, really cute."

Andrews also loves watching Stoll, 41, embrace fatherhood and looks forward to a time when her son and husband, a retired NHL star who currently works on the Player Development staff for the LA Kings, are watching sports together.

"I just love watching Jarret with him. They haven't started watching hockey together but I'll really enjoy that," she says. "I'm a big Disney fan and the other day Jarret set up this whole Finding Nemo-themed play mat kind of thing. He always claims they add an extra piece, whether it's to a stroller, whatever. I'm like, 'They didn't add an extra piece. You just haven't read the directions and figured out where the piece needs to go,'" she says with a laugh. "As much as I make fun of him putting stuff together, he's really, really cute with it."

Her Self-Care Secrets

For someone who is on the road for the better part of six months during football season, Andrews is a master of mindful routines. She is very big on exercise and getting in workouts whenever she can, even if just for a few minutes at a time.

"My biggest thing is working out. I have to move my body and I try to do it every single day," she says. "It's a huge reset button for me mentally and physically. You can tell when I've worked out because my mindset is just better. I'm happier. I actually have a sense of humor again. I love when during a workout you hit a certain goal or you're able to go as fast as [the instructor cues], I always feel like I'm gonna cry in a way, not because I'm like sad, but it's just a great release."

Andrews loves taking classes at Barry's and doing reformer pilates. While on the road, she relies on the Peloton app. "I can't just go to a hotel gym because I'll start picking my face in the mirror or start looking at Twitter, I just can't focus," she admits. "So I'm obsessed with the Peloton app and the variety of full body classes they have. On game days, I really try to get it in in the morning because it wakes me up. I'm pounding coffee all day long anyways, but it opens my eyes a little bit, changes my face, changes my attitude."

Mindful Indulgences

Andrews says she doesn't follow a specific diet but focuses on clean eating whenever possible, and doesn't stress about indulging at restaurants or on the road.

"My husband and I love to eat. We are a, 'let's order seven appetizers, five entrees, two desserts,'-type eaters," she says. "It doesn't mean we finish it all,  we just love to try everything. And I'm not really on a strict diet. Life on the road, sometimes you have 30 minutes at the airport before you catch a five-hour flight back and all there is is a TGI Fridays. So you know what,  I'm going to have a cheeseburger and fries. Or when I go out with the FOX Sports boys on a Saturday night before the game, we have huge family dinners. I enjoy that, but it also puts a lot of responsibility on me when I am home during the week. I just try to eat as clean as possible with protein, veggies, and salads."

Juggling Many Jobs

In addition to her demanding seasonal work on the NFL sidelines, the former host of "Dancing with the Stars," also cohosts the podcast "Calm Down" with her good friend and fellow sports reporter Charissa Thompson, runs a women's sportswear line WEAR, and is a brand partner with Thorne supplements.

Andrews says her work with FOX Sports comes first and she organizes the rest of her commitments around it. "My priority in life is FOX Sports, football. They are it for me and everything else is kind of where I can fit it in," she says. "Our podcast, we do that on Mondays. And I'm working on a campaign that's gonna launch with Thorne supplements. They are huge for me on the road trying to stay healthy and they were really big for me too when we were going through the IVF process."

Andrews is a big fan of Thorne's probiotic, magnesium, collagen, prenatal, and Omega-3 with coQ10. "I take about 8,000 supplements a day," she jokes. "I'm so excited to be able to align myself with a supplement product. When I was going through my journey with IVF, I saw them in all the fertility clinics and then my acupuncturist was carrying it, my physical therapist was carrying it. They manufacture their own products," she says. "What they say in is in their products is really what's in them. I love my Thorne stuff."

And for her clothing line WEAR by Erin Andrews, which is available via Fanatics, Dick's Sporting Goods, and Kohl's, she is happy to report that the line continues to expand and they plan to keep rolling out new items every year.

"I just noticed that there was such a white space for it. I wanted staple items like cute short sets, dresses and [I] felt like sports apparel, team apparel for women wasn't evolving," she says. "I have to be impartial for the NFL, but we obviously carry all the teams and have new lines dropping and for NCAA [and] NHL soon as well."

Looking ahead, Andrews says that although she's in the midst of her busiest work weeks and adjusting to the joys of new motherhood, she's excited about all of it.

"Obviously a typical day for me is different now that I have a little person in my life, but we're very fortunate and grateful that we have a lot of help," she says. "And I'm excited for week one of the season, we have the Packers and the Bears, which is gonna be a new look for the Packers."

A burning final question: With all her flying to and from NFL games and events all over the country, does Andrews ever use her frequent flier miles?

"I'm laughing right now," she says. "Let's see what I have [checks her apps on her phone]… on one airline I have 2.1 million. And on another airline, I have 2.2 million, and on another airline oh, only 40,000 on this one. I haven't really had a chance to use my miles, although we do try," she says. "I like to use them to fly my parents down [to visit]."

Andrews Weighs In On Her Wellness Go-To's

Favorite on-the-go snack: A friend just introduced me to Split. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread. It's like a little package where you basically shoot it in your mouth. Peanut butter on one side and either a strawberry or grape jelly on another. I crush PB and J's before games, but I don't really want the bread.
Skincare: I am obsessed with Augustinus Bader. I love their cream for the face and their eye cream. I feel like it's done the best for my eyes in terms of keeping them hydrated. Another thing I'm really into, I have to wear a ton of makeup and sometimes I'm on the planes with makeup and not able to wash my face. Clear Skin Club has these cleansing towels. I break out on my skin on the chin all the time and so I pack them with everything.
Must-have makeup: I love a tiny bit of concealer, just like under my eyes or on little blemishes that I'm trying to disguise. A little bronzer too, the Dior cream bronzer is pretty great.
Favorite drugstore product: Probably teeth whitening strips or my Listerine tablets. I have those in every single pants, jeans, or blazer pocket that I wear on the field because I do not want to have bad breath for these athletes. They can say whatever they want about me, but they're not gonna say I have bad breath.
Favorite splurge item: Wolf & Shepherd shoes. They're super fun to wear, they're easy, cozy. You throw them in your backpack or suitcase, they're great when you're running around the airport and they look good if you want fun little dress-up shoes too.
Sweet treat: I'm not much of a sweet girl, but I do love a Duncan Hines yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I would've had that as my wedding cake if my husband had let me. We got married [in 2016] on my husband's birthday, so we did the whole fancy cake. And then for later in the evening, when people were really marinated, I brought out a Duncan Hines cake that was done for him for his birthday. But really it was for me because I wanted to eat it.
Signature scent: I stole it from one of my best girlfriends. The Le Labo Noir 29.
Workout gear: I'm always kind of in lululemon pants, but I was just thinking about this. I need new workout gear. My stuff is so old. But I'm really into the On Cloud shoes for running. I just got them for Barry's because I felt like I needed some support. They're really good shoes for running on the treadmill.
Go-to Song: "Players," by Coi Leray.
TV show or movie: Succession. I'm so sorry it's over, but we just started The Bear. It's fun so far. I'm excited to see where it goes.

For more Shape news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Shape.