Any parent of a toddler can relate to the delicate balancing act it takes to get through any given day. But tack on co-hosting a TV show, finalizing a new book and navigating life after the loss of a partner and still finding little moments to get a healthy boost of energy is not easy.
Amanda Kloots has done so with grace and a positive mentality, thanks to a now-daily mantra from the doctor of her late husband, Broadway actor Nick Cordero.
"This is always sort of how I've lived my life, but in one sentence he encompassed it in a great way. He said, 'Amanda, if we look at things in a positive way we have options; if we look at it in a negative way we have no options,'" she told "Good Morning America" of the message he shared when the actor was first struggling while battling COVID-19. "Sometimes something so simple is harder to grasp than giving somebody a whole regimen and a plan. It really can be as simple as a sentence."
Kloots continued, "I just think that is such a great sentence to remember on a daily basis about looking at your life -- a situation, a crazy or busy day or week or even a year. If you can look at it and find even just one positive thing, you have options."
When it comes to striking a healthy balance with her day-to-day schedule, the celebrity fitness trainer and dancer, co-host of "The Talk" and mother said that "finding that balance is not easy and if anyone's making it look easy that's the best compliment for a working mother."
She also shared some of her own pearls of wisdom for mom's who may be in need of some help.
"My tips would be really set yourself up for success. Before I go to bed I try to straighten up the house so that I wake up and things don't look cluttered, because for me if I wake up and things already look chaotic, I feel chaotic," Kloots said. "I prepare everything for my morning -- my water, vitamins -- everything out on the counter so it's one less thing to think about cause you never know what's gonna happen when you wake up."
She continued, "I really like to compartmentalize my life. I make sure that I have it all written down and I focus on what is next and once that thing is complete I check it off my box and I move on to that next thing. It helps me understand what I'm doing in that moment and I can safely move on to the next moment."
Kloots called herself "so old-fashioned" for having a handwritten list, but said it helps ensure "that by the end of the day I've at least accomplished most of the things. It helps me to a.) remember it, and b.) get it done."
"Little Elvis is constantly giving me a boost, thank God for that little boy because he keeps me happy and smiling," the 39-year-old said of her 1-year-old son.
Kloots also emphasized the importance of exercise and staying active, which she said "definitely gives me a boost -- not only in my physical fitness, but it just gives me a boost mentally. I can't express it enough."
"As a fitness professional and dancer who is constantly trying to stay hydrated," Kloots said coconut water "has been a part of my life for years." She said working with Vita Coco and its new boosted line of MCT-enhanced beverages with no added sugar "was such a natural partnership."
"I have it with me all day long to keep me going throughout my crazy days and it helps me curb my cravings and helps me feel satisfied throughout the day," she added.
Kloots said the upcoming June release of her self-help book, "Live Your Life: My Story of Loving and Losing Nick Cordero," will be "exciting."
"I say that hesitantly because of the topic, but in a way that my sister's gonna come into town, my family's gonna come into town, Elvis' second birthday is right around the day it launches, so we'll be together celebrating -- and doing the book launch, ushering in summer in that way," she said.
Once it's safe to do so, Kloots said, "I hope to do some travels -- that would be nice, too!"