Stay at home mom success?

ccourcha

Wife is SAHM. She's down over 50lbs. As any SAHM will testify, it is the hardest work there is, but probably the most fulfilling. She is on her feet all day, she walks at least a 5k around our neighborhood everyday and a 10k once per week. She is in calorie deficit.

sistrsprkl

I've lost about 50 lbs twice as a SAHM. Find acitivities you like and that you can do with your kids. I've done a lot of running with a double jogger, gyms with childcare, weights and cardio at home, and workouts at playgrounds. You can do it! It took me a long time to lose weight after my second, I understand about no sleep/naps. You'll get there if you want it!

njasperson

Jillian Michaels Dvd's! They are usually 30 mins and it goes by fast.

carakirkey

Most of the challenge of staying home with kids was more with my diet than exercise- eating the kids leftover lunch, boredom, constantly being in the kitchen it seemed preparing yet another snack for the toddler and idly eating chips. But with exercise- YMCA with childcare, which I loved just for the hour of "me" time. On my Mat leave a group of friends put together a fitness challenge- each person contributed $10 to the pot, track # of minutes of exercise for a month, and highest # of exercise minutes won the pot. That was me!! (granted I had more time...! But was a great motivator) I walked a lot with the baby in the stroller. As they got older, chase them on bikes, playground workouts, fitness videos at home. I built up lots of variety for the exercise so I could be flexible about how to fit it in my day

cmcdonald525

CanToGirl wrote: »

I have a 5 and a 2 year old. Two things that were important to me regarding weight loss. First find a gym with good day care. Going to the gym with screaming kids isn't ideal for anyone. Second, I treat going to the gym like my job. It's good for me to get a good work out in and good for the kids to play and get along with other kids.
Since June 20,2014. I lost 136 lbs. so it can be done with kids and being a SAHM.
Good luck to you!!

This right here is excellent advice!

I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Naptimes were my workout until I started working from home and had the extra money for a gym membership. My 4 year old loves going to play with the other kids so much that she makes sure I get my butt moving every morning! It is also helping my baby learn that she doesn't have to be right by mama 24/7. On top of that, it ensures that I get a break so I can work through my own stress (I get pretty grouchy if I don't get my workouts in now).

As long as you're weighing and logging everything, the weight will come off. The exercise portion isn't 100% necessary, but as long as you find something you enjoy you'll find that it becomes an added bonus.

Good luck!!!

slhall0822

AllOutof_Bubblegum wrote: »

I'm a SAHM with a 3 year old, and am 37 weeks pregnant with #2.

It also helps to pre-prepare healthy meals for myself throughout the week, so when I get hungry, I have something to grab out of the fridge really quick, instead of raiding my son's chocolate graham crackers.

THIS. I'm currently a SAHM with a VERY busy almost 3 year old. I started buying a small box of snack size zip bags on my grocery trips. As soon as I get home from the grocery store, I wash all of my produce and then spend an hour or so at my kitchen table with my food scale, dividing up healthy food (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, blue berries, grapes, celery, cherries, sliced cucumber, grilled cubed chicken, etc.) into snack baggies. My toddler even helps me I measure how much I want in each snack baggie and then hand it off to her so she can fill the baggy while I'm measuring the next batch. I freeze the chicken and put all of the rest in a large container in my fridge. That way, when I get hungry during the day but am too busy to prepare an actual meal, I can just grab a snack baggie and munch away. I already know how many grams of each fruit equals how many calories, so it's all pre-measured. This alone has helped me to stop grabbing a bowl of cereal or snacking on chips.

As far as working out, fortunately, my toddler still takes a nap most days. Nap time is my main workout time. If I can't fit in a workout during nap time or if she doesn't take a nap, I try to get one in after her bedtime. And if all else fails, I pop in a workout video and do my best to workout on a yoga mat in front of the TV while she plays around me. Sometimes she demands my attention or has an epic toddler meltdown and I don't get through the whole workout video. It used to frustrate me, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but I've finally accepted that 5 minutes of a 30 minute workout video is better than nothing. Oh, and I have a fitbit zip that helps me to monitor when I need to add a little more activity into my day. If I've had a slow day and didn't get a chance to workout during nap time, I know that I really need to prioritize and workout after her bedtime. It's a slow process but I'd rather lose a half a pound a week than weigh the same, or more, a year from now.