stay at home mom

tiarajj08

Any stay at moms that are trying to juggle everything and lose weight? I would like to know your schedules and exercise methods!!

LessthanKris

SAHM here. My kids are two and four though so the schedule are not too tough to deal with since they are home with me. I try to get up before they do and get my workout in. If they wake up before or during, they get some of their screen time for the day while I finish up. My four year old starts school next year though so it will be interesting to see how that will change my schedule.

The exercising is not my problem though. It is the eating. I am working on it but it can be a struggle.

LAWoman72

I'm a work-from-home mom. It's a juggling act, but I worked outside of the home for 20+ years including during pregnancies/having infants, toddlers and on up in age and it was just as much of a juggling act then. I think today we try to "stuff" every minute and try to be busy. There really IS time to simply count calories (IMO) unless you're a grad student doing an internship while working two jobs and singlehandedly raising a child, meanwhile part-time volunteering as an EMT.

And being at home, you can do more cooking. The truth is that you can put a roast in and literally walk away for an hour. There's no "doing" in there and it takes less time to rinse a roast, add seasoning and put it in the oven than it does to wait in line behind other cars at McDonald's. (Same with putting seasoned chicken breasts into the oven.) Cooking veggies is a matter of cutting them up and tossing them in some water. Crock pots are another great way to accomplish this: set it and forget it. There are also other little tricks - cook more at a time and freeze, for example.

Working out isn't a problem either, as I either include my children or now, at their ages (8 and 11), send them off to play in the playroom while I do a workout. On weekends we as often as not choose something physical, like a hike or the park (I run around, do the swings, do their scooters with them and so on).

As your kids get older, have them pitch in. Start them out very early cleaning up their own messes. Even a 24-month-old can put her own Duplos away in the box. Start them putting away their own clothes, then doing their own laundry. Older kids can sweep and vacuum (and should - they can't go directly from doing nothing at Mom's house to, at age 20something, suddenly having to do it all themselves in an apartment). The more independent your kids get through the years, the more time you will have.

It can be done. Hang in there.

tiarajj08

Thank you!! I enjoyed reading you all responses. I have a 4 year and a 1 year. Idk why I find myself so hectic doing things. My 4 yr old is in school, but one year old his stuck to my hip!!!!! Its like I can't go to the bathroom with out her running behind. Calorie counting is easy for me.. Its just exercise..

barbiereynolds701

SAHM here! 2 girls, 5 and 4 yrs and 1 son, 11 months.

Life is hetic! Then add the fact that my husband is a over the road trucker and only home for one week out of the month! :-)

The oldest leaves for the bus and the 2 younger ones are pretty chill.in the morning. Baby is rarely up until an hour later. And the 4 yr old is self sufficient and likes to play by herself in the mornings. I try to work out in the mornings as it seems to make my day flow better. I have been known to do crunches with kids on my chest or donkey kicks with them on my back. We make it fun. I bench press them to! They enjoy it.

I completely agree with its easy to cook healthier when your home! More time, not distracted with work and can plan good. It kust makes sense to cook!

Since my youngest is quite young some days it can br hard to get a workout in. Those days I strap him in the sroller and go for a long walk! :-)

knt217

I stay home, and work from home (not full time...as I see fit to get my work done refinishing furniture). I have a gym membership and take full advantage of the child watch hours to get my workouts in.

Karlirosem

Im a stay at home mom of 3.....so I try to fit in my work outs at home or with them outside if its nice out! Im also kind of rejoining MyFitness pal so if anyone need a friend on here Im looking!

Gina848810

I have 2. 4.5 and 4 months (oops lol)... I do my workout every morning when they are both up. Usually up once a night with the baby so it takes me a little bit to get going in the morning. They just hang out on my bed together watching cartoons while I do my work out. Some times lo is ready for a nap halfway through so I have to stop and get her to sleep. It works though been about a month of it every morning. My oldest likes to "workout" right along with me.
I do the bikini body mommy challenge. It's 20 minutes daily. It's a great work out and takes no time at all. ☺

amandastock

I second the short dvd or YouTube workouts. The trouble I've had is with breast feeding and exercises. I feel like I can't jump or run with all this milk going on. So I'm hoping that gets better. Right now walking while kids scooter or stroller and I'm planning on getting a weight set for garage that I can use for 20-30 minutes while kids play outside and baby is sleeping.

Bukawww

I have 4 (12, 9, 7, 3), homeschool them all, run my own soap making business out of my home, on and on and on. Calorie counting and meal planning get done at night, in my bed, on my phone. Exercise gets done with them and/or at 10pm (my fave time to run) and/or when daddy gets home. I am not a morning person so the later the better.

Lounmoun

Sahm/homeschooling parent to one teenager. I don't have a super strict schedule. I have time to exercise 30 minutes to an hour a day. It was much harder when dd was tiny.
The night before- or in the morning before I eat breakfast- I pre-log my food for the whole day.
Almost every meal my family eats is prepared from home- lots of dishes. I don't cook breakfast except on special occasions. Dd gets her own cereal or whatever when she wakes up.
I get up and take the dog out briefly at 6 AM. I pack lunch for dh. I go back to bed for an hour or two most days.
I might start a load of laundry some days in the morning. I do homeschool planning and get stuff ready for the day.
Ideally, I would cover 2 subjects with dd before lunch. I take the dog out around lunch time. I will have a sandwich or leftovers for lunch usually. After lunch, I would cover 4 more subjects with dd with a break every 2 subjects. I might run the dishwasher then and do miscellaneous chores. I might exercise in the afternoon. Dd somethimes joins me.
We eat dinner at 7 pm so I start cooking at 6 or 6:30 PM... Depends on what it is. I do use a slow cooker some days. After dinner, I feed and walk the dog. I usually exercise after that for about 30 minutes if I have not already. If I did not run the dishwasher in the afternoon then I run it after dinner. The rest of the evening I do miscellaneous chores, hang out with dd or dh, read, etc. I go to bed around midnight.

Suggestions:
Exercise with your child, walking is great exercise and you can do it anywhere, do shorter workouts- there are lots of 15 minute workouts on you tube, get child care help from your partner, parent, friend, or someone you hire to free up a bit of time, exercise before your children wake up or after they go to bed or are napping. Cook enough for more than one meal at a time and freeze the extra to pull out another day. Try using a slow cooker.

ArkMom35

Me! I finally got my butt in gear January 1st and have been doing it ever since. I used to say with four kids I had zero time to exercise, but I just decided to make myself a priority for once and I made the time. I generally do my first exercise when my youngest (1) takes her morning nap. I do additional exercise throughout the day, usually including my other children: basketball, tennis, walking around park, dancing, etc.

kikichewie

I'm a SAHM to one 19-month-old, and starting out at home at age 41 was been challenging to say the least! The best thing I've done is join a gym with a good kid'club. I pay $30 a month for my membership and $10 a month for kid's club! My daughter loves it, and I can go up to twice a day four days a week, and once a day the rest of the time. Since she's an only child, it is great socialization for her, and wanting her to have that play time is a tremendous incentive for me to drag myself to the gym as much as I can. It's been almost two months, and we both love it. She cries sometimes when I drop her off, but literally just for a minute as she's running off to grab a toy. We took it really slowly and I spent quite a bit of time in the room with her before I left her on her own.

I looked at another gym with child care and instantly hated it. Plus it was waaaaay more expensive. So shop around if you want to try it. Don't depend on online reviews, just check it out for yourself. There are four sitters at our gym, all with different styles and personalities, and I am comfortable with each of them taking care of my daughter.

Before this my options were getting G&G to babysit while I went to workout classes, or taking the stroller out in the heat.

Sarasmaintaining

SAHM here-my kids are 6, 8 and 10 and then I watch a friend's 1 yr old twice a week as well. My two younger kids go to a local school and then my oldest is doing school at home so I'm helping her with that. Anywhoo-I didn't exercise at all when I was in active weight loss phase, so I didn't have to try and fit anything extra in. Now I'm in maintenance and I still don't follow a structured exercise plan. With the weather turning nice I'm now walking 4-6 miles a week and I either do this after supper when my husband is home to keep an eye on the kids or the whole family walks. I'm also doing a squat challenge (recently wrapped up a pushup challenge as well), and I do this at night before bed-only takes a few minutes, every other day. I like keeping things simple and it's worked really well for me

ImDowner

I'm a mostly SAHM (I do work 2 days/week). I have a 19 month old who stays attached to me. My husband is a railroad engineer, and is usually only home for 12 hours once every 3 days. I usually get in a dvd workout after I feed my baby her breakfast. She loves to read, so she's usually content with a stack of books. After dinner, we usually get out the jogging stroller and go walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes I'll do a dvd workout after the baby is in bed if I couldn't get one in that morning.

kristydi

I'm a SAHM to my 2 girls who are 7 and 2. My husband is also working on getting healthier. What's worked for us is exercising as a family activity. We started going on walks in the neighborhoood after school before dinner. Since the 2 year old is too young to keep up I usually wear her on my back in a carrier, though sometimes my husband will wear her too.

About a year ago we bought bikes for my hubby and I and started riding instead of walking. The 2 year old in in a carrier on my bike. As she gets bigger I'll be looking into something like this so she can stay with us.

I love doing it this way becasue we're teaching healthy habits to the kids and it gives us a chance to hang out and chat with each other with the distraction of phones or other electronics.

Here's apic of the girls and I walking. This was actually on vacation last summer, but it shows the carrier we use clearly.



On the food front the key for me seems to be small progressive changes. Trying to change everything all at once was too stressful for me and met with a lot of resistance from the kids. So I've slowly been introducing small new things like ellinating rolls with every dinner (not the rolls are bad) and not having mac and cheese all the time (we still have it, but once evey other week or so not every other night) or adding another veggie to dinner. Turns out both kids love grilled salmon, corn, broccoli, sweet potatoes and will tollerate roasted brussel sprouts, sauteed spinach and several other veggies.

kmcc144

I am a SAHM and full time student (primarily online). I have a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 1 year old. Needless to say, I stay pretty busy! I have an inexpensive elliptical, but it's in my room and lately my oldest has been napping on my bed. So I look at pinterest for workouts and also fitnessblender.com. Nap time is my saving grace. If they decide not to nap one day, or nap at different times, I make sure we go for a walk. I push the stroller and carry one of them on my back. It is definitely a struggle becomes sometimes I am just too tired. Or, I have school work to do and have to choose between exercise and that. But the fact that you are trying to make it work, instead of shrugging it off, really shows your dedication and motivation! Good luck!

beachhouse758

tiarajj08 wrote: »

Thank you!! I enjoyed reading you all responses. I have a 4 year and a 1 year. Idk why I find myself so hectic doing things. My 4 yr old is in school, but one year old his stuck to my hip!!!!! Its like I can't go to the bathroom with out her running behind. Calorie counting is easy for me.. Its just exercise..

You can get a toddler play pen and put him in it with some toys while you workout in the same room. The toddler play pens are huge (compared to the infant ones) and they are collapsible so you can move them from room to room. They have mesh on the sides, so even a kid with separation anxiety will likely be OK since they can always see you.

I workout at home and what works for me is:
• Short exercise videos (neither my kids or I have the patience for an hour long session) I like Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Beginner Shred, Bloggilates, Crunch Pilates.
• Have other options for cardio, if you don't have the room or budget for gym equipment. I have a jump rope, trampoline, hula hoop and balance board (I get bored easily, lol.)
• Do a quick workout while the youngest one naps
• Try to get them to eat the same healthy foods you are eating -- this saves time in not having to make two separate meals every time. They may not like sardines in olive oil and endives...but baby steps, baby steps...try grilled chicken (kids usually like drumsticks) and cut up veggies and fruit.

Also, one thing that I learned when I first started MFP is just how much of their food I was "sampling" while I made their meals and snacks. A strawberry here, a bit of yogurt, a couple of veggie chips ...hmmm, all of those calories add up to quite a bit at the end of the day. I am not saying "Don't have any snacks" just remember to log them in your food diary because they can sabotage your progress if don't account for them.

mkakids

SAHM mom - my kids are 7, 5, 4, 7 months. The 7 &5 year olds are in school full time...the 4 year old goes 8-11 and then 12:10-2:30 (home from 11-12:10). I have my baby home all day, and watch another baby (6months) all day too.

I generally go to the gym in the morning (put the babies in the child care center) between 9-11 or at 4:30 once the child care center opens again.

Sometimes its impossible to get there because someone is crabby...the babies wont nap...too much homework..etc.. But I really try to get there at least 4 days a week and then take a long walk with the babies at least 2 days a week too.

tiarajj08

Omg I didn'tknow i had notifications!! Mommies rock!! You women really gave great feedback and advice. I truly enjoyed all them!! Thank you so welcome! You all are free to request me as a friend you like. Keep going strong mommies to reach your goal!! Wecan do it