Starting over Again. Busy mom. Need health tips.

Crysma22

Hi all.
I'm sure many share similar journeys. one thing that hinders me most in making healthier decisions is time. Or maybe more importantly making time for myself. I work 5 days a week. Help my teenage girls with school, etc. Volunteer with church. Etc. I have recently signed my girls and I up with 24hrfitness. So we could work out together. Getting a trainer costs too much. Anyone have tips on time management and work outs at home and tips for the best use in the gym??? Would love to hear both pros and cons. Thanks.

cessi0909

The greatest piece of time management advice regarding working out I ever got is that if it is really important to me, I'll find time for it.
You could wake up earlier and do something for 30 min, I think that gets the day off to a good start

DanerTee

I agree with the above. I'm a busy mom too, but now that my boys are 5 and 6, I don't have to leave them to be active. I say OK BOYS! Bike Ride! and we all go together and have quality time while being active. Win-win for all of us. You could also do yoga at home with your girls, or something like that. The time you might otherwise spend watching a movie or whatever with your girls could be spent doing something else active. I always struggle with "me" time that takes me away from my kids. I work full-time like you, and I feel that is long enough to be away from them, you know? That good old mother guilt!

SueInAz

I work full time, have a son who is very active in school and club soccer and just finished my bachelor's degree. I found that making a schedule, using a family calendar (Cozi) and keeping to do lists was the only way I could keep everything under control. I scheduled myself an hour every day for exercise: every other day it's running and the weekdays between I go to the gym and lift weights after I finish at the office. The most important thing you can remember to do is to schedule the really important things and let the smaller things fall where they may. In my world a clean house ended up being one of the less important things. Spending time with my son and husband are more important to me than a dust free house.

Use the gym for weight lifting which is much harder to do at home. Look into programs like New Rules of Lifting for Women or StrongLifts 5x5 or just ask someone at the gym to help you get started. They'll usually do that when you're new without charge. Try to do that 2 to 3 times per week. If you're going to the gym every day do some form of cardio on the days between. You can also exercise as a family at home. Go for a walk, run around the yard, dance in the living room.

Crysma22

Ladies thank you all for the replies. I know I could get up earlier. It's a little hard because I have to be at work at 5am. But I love the 30 minute idea, probably 30 minutes later that day too. Yes I so need a schedule. Otherwise I feel lost. Lol. And I never thought about asking others at the gym for advice. This helps a lot ladies thanks so much.

RelevantGains

Now that you got a gym membership, I'd recommend doing some weight lifting. Keeping your protein intake high and with some strength training, you'll be able to retain (or maybe even gain at first) muscle, which will help your metabolism and help keep that weight off!

There are a bunch of weight lifting routines out there. For starting out, I'd suggest full body routines 3-4 days a week. Something like Stronglifts 5x5 if something that is very simple with only a few exercises to learn, and the weight starts out where you're comfortable. This program in very quick, so you won't need to spend all day in the gym, and you'll still get a good workout in. I don't have any kids of my own, but I can certainly imagine the time constraints you speak of!

Good luck