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Losing Weight as a stay at home parent or a working parent?
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I worked when both my kids were babies and now I stay at home and they are 2 and 4. I find it easier now that I am home to always fit in exercise. I have the option of taking them to the gym with free childcare or working out in my home while they play or even going outside for walks when it is nice out. When I was working, I still managed to fit in but I was waking up at 4:30am before I got them off and ready to go to daycare. This was much harder because it left me exhausted by the end of the day (I was an elementary teacher). My husband doesn't get off work till 7:30-8:00 so I was on all day. By the time I got off work, picked up kids from daycare, it was time to ruh home and make dinner, baths, and laundry. Everything that I have all day to do when I stay at home was compressed into those few hours after work until bedtime.
Now that I am at home and looking to get back to work next year, I give lots of credit to women who work with children and still maintain a solid exercise routine. I can only imagine how much busier I will be once my kids start activities and I think I will have to modify how many days I workout so I don't get exhausted once I return to work. I just find staying at home a little more easier. Yes I am still on all day and plenty busy with cleaning/cooking/entertaining the kids etc. but I also know that I am home everyday so if something doesn't get done immediately I can finish it the next day.4 -
When I was working, I still managed to fit in but I was waking up at 4:30am before I got them off and ready to go to daycare. This was much harder because it left me exhausted by the end of the day (I was an elementary teacher). My husband doesn't get off work till 7:30-8:00 so I was on all day. By the time I got off work, picked up kids from daycare, it was time to ruh home and make dinner, baths, and laundry. Everything that I have all day to do when I stay at home was compressed into those few hours after work until bedtime.
I'm actually a work from home mom and the above is also my struggle. I am not a morning person at all and have attempted to get up at 4:30 for the last several years. I do really well for a month and then fall off for a month or two and then start the cycle over. I've heard it all gets easier when kids get to elementary school age. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I find being at home more difficult because I'm a stress eater with a stressful-ish job and I work 10 feet from my kitchen
And honestly, I just think children make everything harder. But they are awesome so I'll deal with it
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Everyone has a tough time eating properly and getting workouts in. Everyone has potential excuses they can use to be fat and/or unfit.
But I think parents have more of a duty to be fit than the rest of us. You owe it to your kids to model for them a healthy lifestyle. And you owe it to your kids to try to someday be a healthy, mobile, active old person so that you can enjoy each other when they're adults. Old age health starts today.7 -
I have done both.
As a stay at home mom, I had more time to go to the gym, grocery shop, meal prep, etc. However, just because I had more time didn't mean I had more motivation.3 -
I'm both. I do EVERYTHING in the house and outside, plus take care of all my daughter's stuff like karate, band, and any other activities, plus work part time as PT and during lunch hours at my DD's school.
And honestly, if one organizes their time correctly, it's NOT that hard IMO. I believe that a lot of people don't organize their time correctly and procrastinate a lot on getting things done. That's where they lose the time they don't have.
All this and I STILL have time to take care of myself and workout.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Just curious - is there a thread where people post their daily schedules? Things like that always help me see ways that I could be optimizing my time better.3
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The person who thinks they CAN do something, will be able to accomplish it. The person who thinks they cannot do something, will not accomplish it, or will have difficulty. Positive thinking. Don't say "this is hard" Say, "I can do this!" 3
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Disclosure: I am not a mother.
However, I have two sisters who became mothers last year. Their babies were born two months apart. One stays at home, the other works. I notice they have common challenges and they have some unique challenges. I don't think either one of them has an "easier" time. The one who stays at home struggles to find time to work out because she's the only one there for most of the day. You can't leave a baby alone. When her husband gets home, she feels reluctant to take time for herself because she knows her husband wants to unwind from his job. The one who works struggles to find time because she feels guilty for not spending all available time with her son (and her husband works at night, so she's the only one with her son many evenings anyway). That's just one example, I could go on with things like planning meals, avoiding excess calories, etc.
I think it just comes down to losing weight is hard for many people and being a parent can add difficulties. Those difficulties may be felt differently by people in different situations (and it goes beyond staying at home or working, you can get into things like economic status, where you live, mental issues with food, etc). What we can all do is look at the circumstances of our lives, figure out what we truly value, and do our best to make it happen.
I see people, both parents and non-parents, say they don't have time to exercise or plan meals that meet their goals. It's not up to me to judge whether or not that's true, it's their life. But I know many people who value fitness find a way to make it happen no matter what is going on in their lives.6 -
I work full time, commute 30+ minutes each way and am the primary shopper and meal maker at my house. My challenge to lose weight had nothing to do with any of that and everything to do with making my weight loss and health my priority. I think like most mothers, everyone else comes first, always. It's just how many of us are wired. I let that be my excuse for not taking care of myself for years.
Once I finally decided to be my priority, my weight loss journey has been a success and I think I am a better wife and mother because of it.
Being a parent is hard and it makes it easy to forget about taking care of ourselves, whether you work outside the home or not.3 -
I am a single, working mom who works at home half the time and travels for work half the time.
When I'm home with the kids (but also working) I find it easier to find time to work out even though the schedule is crazy busy. For me it's the weeks I am travelling for business with no kids that I find the hardest. I have to eat out with clients every meal and jam pack my days full of meetings then have to spend a couple hours in the evening in my hotel doing follow up emails from all the things I promised throughout the day.
Regardless of what I'm doing the key for me is to find workouts that are shorter and more efficient. That's the only way I can seem to fit them in and make them count.1 -
Work outside or stay at home. Remember the safety sperch before the plane takes off.
In case of emergency put your oxygen mask on before helping others
If one's own health is comprised it prevents them from taking optimum care of others. Most of our recent presidents had a fitness routine and controlled their weight with the most stressful job imaginable. Pretty sure most of the rest of us can find the time.3 -
Kids may not listen to what you say, but they will always mimic your behavior.
As a parent I cannot think of a better motivator and this is what led to my change in behavior.
I have a cousin who made the decision to leave a great career to be a stay at home mother. She traded off, but the work didn't get better or worse - it simply changed. Instead of focusing on patients she focused on kids, but realizing how critical her behavior was she added daily workout routine and all seven of her kids participated.
My wife and both work, but modeled a lot of our parenting after them and very pleased with the results. Early on we would do calisthenics in the morning with the kids and challenge every day to see who could do the most.0 -
I've done both. After my first baby I worked from home full time. After my second and third, I went back to work part-time, but not from home. I recently quit my job and now I'm a stay at home mom.
I find it easier now that I'm home. I have more time to workout and meal plan. I'm not as tired or stressed out. I worked out and meal planned bef, but I was so busy from the time I got up until I went to bed. Now, I have more time to get stuff done and it's so much less stressful.
I see single moms who work full time, some are even going back to school to get degrees and I think they are amazing.0 -
I'm a single mother, work full time at 39 hours a week comute an hour each way and run a house by myself running all the errands needed and cleaning etc... I find it very difficult to fit in exercise but I do manage to do it. I can't get to the gym due to childcare so I have to do it at home which I was finding difficult knowing what to actually do! But recently I have began T25 which so is great! It's just 25 minutes plus a couple minutes stretch and cooldown so I am doing this at the moment.
I don't find the time to workout until after bedtime so I tend to workout at around 7.30pm.. I would like to do it earlier as its recomennded to have finished exercise etc at least 4 hours before sleeping but as a mother you fit in you when it's possible..
I also like to wake up in the morning and have 10 minutes to warm my body up for the day just a few jumping jacks, jogging on spot, some crunches, squats etc.
Keeping in with the debate I used to be a stay at home mum, and I actually found I had less motivation then than I have now working full time, i'm not sure why but I think it's more to working I structure my day, I have more dicipline on when things need doing whereas when I was a stay at home mum I didn't have that diciplined structure & being home qith a child all day I actually felt more drained so when baby slept etc so did I instead of using that time to workout.0 -
Everyone is going to have their own set of challenges...I don't think it's easier or harder for one or the other. Just a different set of challenges.1
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JennJenn654 wrote: »I'm a single mother, work full time at 39 hours a week comute an hour each way and run a house by myself running all the errands needed and cleaning etc... I find it very difficult to fit in exercise but I do manage to do it. I can't get to the gym due to childcare so I have to do it at home which I was finding difficult knowing what to actually do! But recently I have began T25 which so is great! It's just 25 minutes plus a couple minutes stretch and cooldown so I am doing this at the moment.
I don't find the time to workout until after bedtime so I tend to workout at around 7.30pm.. I would like to do it earlier as its recomennded to have finished exercise etc at least 4 hours before sleeping but as a mother you fit in you when it's possible..
I also like to wake up in the morning and have 10 minutes to warm my body up for the day just a few jumping jacks, jogging on spot, some crunches, squats etc.
Keeping in with the debate I used to be a stay at home mum, and I actually found I had less motivation then than I have now working full time, i'm not sure why but I think it's more to working I structure my day, I have more dicipline on when things need doing whereas when I was a stay at home mum I didn't have that diciplined structure & being home qith a child all day I actually felt more drained so when baby slept etc so did I instead of using that time to workout.
Good for you. Youre a great role model for your child
Fyi, as long as it doesn't impact your ability to get to sleep nothing wrong with working out less than 4 hours before bed.0 -
I have been both a working mom and a SAHM. I lost weight and got fit in each case. I also gained all the weight back in each case. When I wanted to commit, I did it, despite the challenges.1
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I am also a working mum, it's stressful but on the other hand helps me to structure (most of) my days. also, I eat less in the office. I don't have time to go to the gym but wil l do so once the kids are a bit older. I try to squeeze light exercise in every day, going for half an hour walk at lunchtime and Dvd fitness/weight training in the garden or house twice a week.0
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To answer the OP, I've done both and can without a doubt say (for me) working outside of the home is much easier in terms of sticking to a deficit. I pre-pack my lunch and snacks and don't have the temptation of the fridge or pantry within reach. I get up at 4:30am and get my workouts in, while the kids and hubby are still asleep and am back to get the day started before they even wake-up. That's not to say it's not incredibly hard - it is. But the question was whether losing weight is harder or easier and for me, the more stringent working mom routine makes losing weight easier.0
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tjones0411 wrote: »To answer the OP, I've done both and can without a doubt say (for me) working outside of the home is much easier in terms of sticking to a deficit. I pre-pack my lunch and snacks and don't have the temptation of the fridge or pantry within reach. I get up at 4:30am and get my workouts in, while the kids and hubby are still asleep and am back to get the day started before they even wake-up. That's not to say it's not incredibly hard - it is. But the question was whether losing weight is harder or easier and for me, the more stringent working mom routine makes losing weight easier.
You sound like you have a very similar routine as me, I get up at 4:30 to go to the gym before everyone else is up and getting ready for the day, and I pre-pack all my food for work. I have never been a SAHM for a long period of time, but I have had shorter stints between jobs, longer maternity leave etc. and I think you make a great point about structure. I found that on days I had a plan for my time, I was much more likely to stick to my diet and fitness goals for the day. On days I did not plan it kind of felt overwhelming like I was just trying to keep up with the kids and felt like I had no time for myself. I think the structure gave me a sense of control over my day. The last time I was home for a while, I treated the day like my work day, any appointments, play dates, outside of the house activities were my "meetings" the stuff in the how were the tasks I had to get done before the end of my work day, so I could relax and enjoy the evening. I would do dishes and house cleaning at the same time every day, I made sure to get the kids on a certain nap schedule and stick to it. Approaching it like that definitely made it easier for me.
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