Kelly Falen was looking for a way to get out of the house and lose some of the baby weight after her son Brian was born.

She found Stroller Strides of Maple Valley, owned by Bonnie Raffo, and began attending the hour long class which is offered three times a week.

“You get out and you’re doing something healthy to start the day and the kids get some socialization,” Falen said. “I looked at a gym and the cost of it after day care. This is just cheaper. And nobody pushes me harder than Bonnie.”

It is also a great support system, she said.

“Nobody in this group is competitive,” Falen said. “It’s a great group of moms.”

Raffo said that Stroller Strides is as much about the fitness goal as it is about helping new moms through the ups and downs of parenting.

There are about 50 moms who participate regularly now while they’re using the Timberlane Community Center for indoor classes but in the summer the group swells.

Sometimes people who see the groups at Lake Wilderness Park are skeptical that it’s a tough work out but Raffo gets a lot of questions as well as new members during the warmer months.

“When we’re at the park in the summer the class just gets huge,” Raffo said. “It’s really interactive for the kids. Once they try it they realize, ‘Oh, those ladies are in shape’ and that it’s a challenging workout.”

Dené Canter brings her 21-month-old daughter Julie to class and has been attending since September.

“I’ve always enjoyed exercising,

but this gives me something to do with Julie. She enjoys it,” Canter said. “It’s good to be able to share the joys and pains of motherhood. It’s nice to have a community.”

Canter is in the first trimester of her second pregnancy and she’s hoping Stroller Strides will help her manage her weight better this time around but she thinks it will be easier because “the moms in this group are very encouraging.”

Many of the members of Raffo’s group also attend the Luna Moms Group, which is free for anyone whether they participate in Stroller Strides or not.

“We meet after class twice a week,” Raffo said. “We do walks and runs with that group, too. Health and wellness are our goals for both programs.”

The moms club is also an opportunity for members to talk about their kids and use one another as sounding boards.

Raffo also added another element to helping her members get healthy by participating in the National Get Fit Challenge, a three month effort that she has rolled into the regular classes, which offers extra support.

“This is something I’ve had in the back of my mind that I’ve wanted to do,” Raffo said. “On Monday we assessed everyone’s fitness, took their measurements and before photos. Everyone participating is getting e-mail reminders with tips on fitness and nutrition.”

As a mom with two sons, Davis, 2 1/2, and Dixon, 5, Raffo understands the difficulty of getting fit after having kids.

“I like this because it takes away the focus from the scale,” she said. “You can really see results.”