Working Mom's of young children how do you do it? (not a rehtorical question)

fit_finesse92

Ironandwine69 wrote: »

I wake up at 4.30am. Also take advantage of lunch break to work out. I get 4-6 hours of sleep. I meal plan all our lunches on Sunday.
Dinners, I try to cook meats enough for a few days and only have to make sides/veggies when I get home.

I do the same. I have two boys, 3 & 1. Waking up at 4 and bed at 10/11 and taking advantage of my lunch break is the only way to make it work for me. Right now my 1 yo is teething bad and sometimes if we don't sleep much I will let myself sleep in that next morning until 5/5:30 and try to do extra that afternoon. I have a desk job 8 hours a day and i got myself an under the desk bicycle and i pedal all day while working and that helps me stay a lot more active when i used to just sit.

fit_finesse92

Francl27 wrote: »

You ask your husband to help. It's not your sole responsibility to take care of that stuff.

My husband works 13 hours a day in 100 degree heat 13 days on and 1 day off. Maybe OP's husband works a lot.

vmbourg

I am a mother of two ( 6yr old girl and 18month boy). I have a corporate job and work 40+ hours a week. I have an hour lunch break that I use to work out, so I do very intense workouts in a short time , b/t 4- 5 times a week, because once I am home, I am in Mom mode. Breakfast during the week is on the go. I do protein bar and coffee. When I get to work i'll either eat a banana or greek yogurt. ***Hit the gym at noon** Lunch is eaten at my desk while I work, usually salads/veggies/fruit/hummus/lean meat etc. Depending how I feel that week. And i keep healthy snacks for 2-3pm pick me up. When I get home, usually my husband has a meal prepared. It can range from Spaghetti to chicken&veggies to Taco Tuesday. I do not limit myself from certain foods, but I do measure what I eat at dinner and eat appropriate portion sizes.. So yes, I still eat noodles, but only the serving. Some dinners if I feel the need to sub something like lettuce wrap for the bread I do. This way we all enjoy the same meal and dont spend a fortune cooking diff things.

On the weekends, I get out as much as I can with the kids. Taking walks, playing outside, swimming.. even though it isnt intense exercise for me, I am still moving versus sitting on the couch folding clothes. I get my daughter involved in chores like sweeping/mopping to keep us moving. She even enjoys doing "yoga" with me. We eat a big hearty breakfast that I prepare on the weekends, a light lunch, and dinner may be left overs . I am not as strict on the weekends but still keep it in a reasonable range.

So overall , I work out 5 times a week b/t 30-45 mins. (Intense or moderate). Twice a week I do take a walk or ride a bike or some activity with my kids. I eat b/t 1600-1800 cals a day, mostly healthy , wholesome foods, but I do allow myself other things as long as I eat the recommended serving and it fits my calorie needs. The only part of my life that is not the greatest is my sleep. I sleep 11pm and get up b/t 5:30/6am during the week. But on the weekends, as long as the kids are still in bed,I will sleep til almost 8am! Hope my experience helps ! Almost 30lbs down! and only 18lbs left to my goal!

HealthyBodySickMind

I started lifting before trying to conceive because I didn't want to start a pregnancy underweight. I went back to lifting about 6 months postpartum. At that time, my husband was dropping the girl off at daycare, and I was picking up, so I lifted in the morning before work at a friend's house. Drop off/pick up duties switched and my friend and I started lifting at my house after work. Then we added a third to our lifting group and met at her house. We can coordinate 3 adults schedules well enough to meet twice a week, and we follow a 5/3/1 type progression.

At some point while we were lifting at my house after work (around the 1 y.o. mark for the girl), we just began lifting with her in the room. This has proven to be good for her. She now "lifts" with us (plays with the weights), counts our reps for us, and tells me how she "have muscles, just like you, Mom," and "I'm strong just like you, Mom." It's adorable, and her form is perfect. Occasionally, after picking her up at daycare she falls asleep in the car, and I pay the newer lifting partner's 11 y.o. $2 to sit in the car with her so I don't have to wake her up. Now that she's 3, I have also bribed her with happy meals to keep her busy while we lift. We really have just learned to play it by ear to get the workouts done.

Those are the only organized workouts I do, but I also make a point of carrying her rather than pushing her. I hate strollers. When she was too big for baby carriers, she started just riding up on my shoulders. We go hiking, or walk about anywhere like that. I average my daily steps by month, and I am consistently between 12,000 and 17,000 steps per day each month, and a lot of that is carrying a small child.

That's not a lot, basically daily step count and lifting weights twice a week. That seems to be enough to keep me in pretty good shape. We did a family backpacking trip at the end of July, and I was able to carry a pack that was 45% of my body weight, plus the 3 y.o. up on my shoulders when she wasn't hiking (which was a lot of it).

I do work 40 hours a week, and as to the work life balance.... that's a whole other post.

daniellebrayt

Honestly I don't know how they do it. I'm a mom of 2 boys but one is 11 and my 4 yr old is in the YMCA daycare where I workout. So I drop him then go to the gym. There are some gyms with child care too.
As for work, I'm a stay at home mom so my "job" of keeping care of the house is exercise for me too. Food was difficult at first but I realized I just have too make separate food from them. We will all eat a lean meat but they will have their starch and I'll just have an extra veggie or heat up a sweet potato.
I have gotten myself into a cycle of waking up at the crack of dawn and exercising first. Then I use the rest of the day to do what I need.
If my little guy wasn't in daycare this would be very difficult but I would work out at home or take him to the park and do some running laps while he plays.

zjpq

Meal plan, meal prep on weekends, always have something like a protein bar, boiled eggs etc in case you're in a hurry but starving, try to get extra steps where I can and squeeze in an at home video workout where possible. Not easy but can be done, I'm a mum of 2 and full time uni student with study and 32 hours a week of clinical placement - lost 6lbs in the last 6 weeks!

tmoneyag99

nicolelarocca9765 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

You ask your husband to help. It's not your sole responsibility to take care of that stuff.

My husband works 13 hours a day in 100 degree heat 13 days on and 1 day off. Maybe OP's husband works a lot.

Thank you for this my DH actually travels alot and works long hours. However, when he is home he does far more than his fair share. He's a wonderful husband and father.

Side rant: I'm Flipping sick and tired of society assuming that men don't do enough in relationships and that they are the bad guys automatically. Sometimes, the woman is the lazy one. MAYBE women and men should be more deliberate about the person they are about to marry and make sure they both understand the idea of "equitable partnership" and what adulting is about. When both people walk into the relationship with that ideology the relationship is far better set up for success.