Mom's and Dad's looking for support

KatieBaack

@Vicky3725 I have found that adding a packet of hot chocolate (I use dark chocolate swiss miss) to my coffee in the morning has been curing my sweet tooth for the day! I have chocolate at my desk, but haven't touched it since I started doing this!

MikePXstream

@Vicky3725 One simple thing I did that helped me out a lot was schedule my workouts each day and treat them like a dr appointment. I sat down, wrote out what my day looked like, everything from watching tv, reading a book, to just wasting time on social media, and carved out 30-45 minutes that I could use to better myself. Then, I put them in my calendar on my phone with a notification, so that I knew I had an appointment and I needed to get it done. It took a few weeks to get used to it, but now it is pretty much habit. Maybe try that.

GettingBackHealthy86

Full time worker,student, fiance and mother yo a two year old...always looking for friends

MikePXstream

This cold is annoying. It's not bad enough to knock me completely down, but enough to make me feel like blah. So, taking it easy again today.

MikePXstream

Since you were a child, you always heard, "you need your sleep." It helps your brain grow, recharges your body, etc. But as we get older, and more responsibilities creep in, the duration of sleep you need starts to become less and less. And while we may keep on trucking away, the truth of the matter is, we are not really helping our bodies out. especially if you're trying to lose weight or become more healthy and fit.

You might be asking yourself, how does sleep relate to becoming healthy and fit? There are many different reasons, so I will only touch on a few here.

First, the most obvious. Your body needs to recover. If you are on your feet all day at your job, or have a rigorous exercise routine, your body needs that down time to recharge and rebuild itself. The recommend amount of sleep each night is 7-8 hours. You body also uses this time to rebuild your muscles. This is a good time to slip in a little extra protein before dozing off, your body has that much more to build with.

The more sleep you receive, the less stress you will have. Stress can affect your cardiovascular health, increasing blood pressure and even effect cholesterol levels. This can also slow down your weight loss goals. Nobody wants that. Studies have also shown that when you don't receive enough sleep, your more likely to increase your calorie intake. This is due to the body shifting different hormones that stimulate or suppress appetite.

Lack of sleep can also lead to depression, irritability, anxiety, and emotional instability. Think about times when you are grumpy in the morning, or your are irritated at work. Is it really because you had to wake up or go to work, or was it because you didn't get enough sleep?

And of course, with less sleep, you are more likely to skip your workout in the morning or hit the snooze button a couple of extra times, therefore, not progressing towards your health and fitness goals, making your journey that much harder.

How much sleep do you get each night?

karleeggarner

I so need more sleep! However I'm at a point in my life where my 2 and 3 yr old control that. So frustrating! I think I would do just about anything to sleep for 12 solid hours without a single interruption!!! I have been one grouchy momma! Ha!

MikePXstream

karleeggarner wrote: »

I so need more sleep! However I'm at a point in my life where my 2 and 3 yr old control that. So frustrating! I think I would do just about anything to sleep for 12 solid hours without a single interruption!!! I have been one grouchy momma! Ha!

I remember those days. Mine are 8 and up now, so not so much an issue anymore. Still, I only get about 6 hours a night. I work from 3pm-11pm, with a 1 hour drive. Since my wife is out the door before the kids in the morning, I am on get the kids to school duty, so I am up at 7. If i'm lucky, I get to sleep in on the weekends. I hope you get some sleep soon.

ronjsteele1

I have averaged 4hrs of sleep a night for the past 5-6yrs. It kills me! Last night I went to bed "early" and got almost 8hrs. I can't remember the last time I had that much sleep. But I feel drugged this morning. :-/ With 4hrs I'm pretty awake. Ugh.

Fit_Mom81

Hi all. I'm a mom of three girls ages 4, 2 and 2 months old. I work part time in a stressful job, have a spouse that works nights, take care of the kids, hubs and the house and find it very difficult to find time to work out-- especially during the week. I've been eating healthier and fitting in workouts where I can. I'd love having more friends that are in the same (or similar!) boat for motivation! Feel free to add me!

Oh- and with my 2 month old I average 4-6 hours of sleep per night! She slept 7 hours straight last night though! Am sure that won't happen tonight though

MikePXstream

You would be surprised how often I hear people say they want to be healthier and live a better lifestyle, but don't have the time. Let me be the first to tell you, you have more than enough time. It all depends on how important it is to you and where your priorities lie.

I used to be one to say this. The truth is, I knew I had the time, I was just looking for an excuse, a reason, not to take charge of what I wanted. I work evenings from 3-11pm, with a 1 hour commute one way. My wife leaves for work before I get up to take the kids to school. So breakfast is on me. In the afternoons & evenings, my wife is running the kids to track, soccer, and all their other activities, so the majority of the house work, prepping meals, and other chores are also on me. I also still like to play video games and watch movies a lot. I could easily use all of these as excuses no to do what I need to do, but I don't. Not anymore.

Sometimes, it helps to break down what you do, to see how much time you really have. For example, there are 168 hours in a week. Lets say you average 8 hours of sleep each night. I know, wishful thinking for some of us. That leaves you with 112 hours. Now, lets say you use 32 hours a week for meals and snacks (1 hour per meal, and snack time). Now you are down to 80 hours for the week.

Now, how about down time or recreation time to watch TV, play with the kids, spend quality time with your spouse. Figure on 2 hours a day for that. Now you are down to 66 hours left in the week. Perhaps you go to church regular or watch a good sports game. Figure another 4 hours for that. You still have 62 hours left for the week. Oh Wait, you gotta work right. So there is another 40 hours, maybe 50 with commuting time. Now you are down to 12 hours left in the week.

So, after you have worked, slept, ate, watched TV, spent time with the kids and your spouse, and gone to church, you still have 12 hours (1.7 hours a day) left over. So, can you honestly say that you don't have time to get a 30 minute workout in? You could get your workout in and still have a little over an hour each day to do something else.

So see, really there is no reason for anyone to say they don't have the time. It just depends on your mindset and what you might be willing to sacrifice that is not promoting your goals.

amber5151

Single mom to 2 boys (5 and 9) here! feel free to add me!

whits116

Hi everyone, I'm new to MFP - I've tried Weight Watchers and lost 30 pounds which I unfortunately gained that back and then some during my pregnancy. Now with a 7 month old baby girl and a full time job with an hour commute each way I'm really struggling. I would appreciate any advice you all have to manage schedules and quick healthy meals. I also travel for work occasionally which has been tough emotionally of course but also hard to make healthy options during social settings.

MikePXstream

I hit it hard today. 25 minutes of weights, with a 1.6 mile jog afterwards. All with a 4lb weighted vest. How did you do today?

MikePXstream

I wanted to give you an idea of what my days look like putting it all in a calendar. With all that I have going on, if I don't schedule it out, I am all over the place and nothing gets done. As you can see, Monday thru Saturday I have 1 hour each morning slotted for working out. I make that an appointment and do my very best not to miss it. Sometimes one of my kids may have an appointment in there, so I either do a very short intense workout, or just do it later. There are days where I don't get it in, but I always have Saturday to fall back on. That's why I shoot for 6 days a week. Weekends are left open to spend as much time with my family as possible, since during the week I only see them for maybe an hour a day in the morning.

Having it on a calendar that I can view from any computer, tablet, or phone is a huge help too. This helped me out so much, you have no idea. If you find you have a hard time trying to get your workouts in, or anything for that matter, give this a try. Take about 10 minutes, write down everything you do in a day, and then see how you can break it down into hour chunks. Find a time that will work for you, and make that your workout appointment. Then, try it out for a week and see if it made things better for you. Then, share your experience

Azercord

Yeah I think I will eventually end up looking like your schedule but for me the kids are still young so extra activities are still pretty minimum. For now I just have a few specific items scheduled and let everything else flex outside of that. I work out at 4:30AM everyday (kids aren't up until 6:30), work starts at 7 so I leave at 6:45 (I love my short commute), walk the dog at 6:00PM, and bed at 8:00PM (lights out at 9). One day I'm sure my schedule will be as crazy as yours but not there yet.

Badger_Girl99

How am I just seeing this forum? I'm a mom to an almost 10 year-old (this Friday actually, and I'm having a hard time with it since he's my only one). He's so incredibly active in sports that I have to work out over my lunch hour. My weekend workouts are nonexistent (which really drives me crazy) because I feel if I take time for myself, I'm missing something of his. It's a hard balance sometimes.

Desertcolt07

Dad of three 14 year old (ugh) boy, 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy. what works for me is getting them involved in my training...started taking my oldest to the gym but he's not really interested

MikePXstream

Desertcolt07 wrote: »

Dad of three 14 year old (ugh) boy, 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy. what works for me is getting them involved in my training...started taking my oldest to the gym but he's not really interested

Nice. As a family, we all run a couple times a week. However, I can't keep up with any of my kids anymore. They all run sub 7 min miles. Even my boy who is only 8. Sometimes my boy will workout with me. My girls will do a cardio routine with me from time to time. They do love the dance cardio program I have, so I guess that's a plus. Pretty much all runners though. My wife too.

Desertcolt07

thats good to hear...i hate running but try to do it anyway

Badger_Girl99

Desertcolt07 wrote: »

Dad of three 14 year old (ugh) boy, 10 year old girl and 7 year old boy. what works for me is getting them involved in my training...started taking my oldest to the gym but he's not really interested

This is awesome!