Hey busy parents, What are your biggest challenges in the health and fitness realm??

bearsbulls85

I'm a husband, father personal trainer and HiiT/ Interval coach.
I live a busy and hectic lifestyle like most parents.
Work obligations, school events, quality time with family and friends all contributes to my work and life imbalances at times.
What I've found to be very helpful is prioritizing my daily tasks at work, home and in the gym.

ElizabethKalmbach

Honestly, my problem is the dietary habits of my entire family are necessarily divergent, and even though I only have 3 people to feed, we mostly have to fend for ourselves.

My husband has risk of high blood pressure and heart attack and as a result eats low sodium, and pescatarian.

I have LOW blood pressure, hypothyroidism, 2 forms of anemia (B12 and Iron), and terrible mineral absorption. And most fish makes me gag.

My daughter is 9 and thinks everything that isn't a processed chicken nugget is gross.

I tend to precook a bunch of different foods every week and let people assemble their own meals out of the refrigerator contents based on their dietary requirements and mood. Now that my daughter is tall enough to reach the counter, I've been having her help me with the bulk cooking so that she has a more vested interest in eating the food in the fridge without complaint. Even if we cook *exactly the same meal* she is less likely to complain about something if she cooked it herself. She is also more likely to eat "left overs" if no one is about to jump up and cook her something just because she has decided she doesn't "feel like" eating any of the 5-6 options available. She is welcome to cook something herself, but 9 times out of 10, if that's the choice, she'll take the pre-cooked food.

youngmomtaz

The most helpful thing I do is to be a morning person. I am still not up nearly as early as some but to force workouts or housecleaning while still in the “morning haze” gives me motivation for the rest of my day. It seems to have taken me way too long to learn this unfortunately; but it makes the evenings freer to spend time with my boys and husband, and it reduces stress drastically because I get home and the house(at least the important parts like laundry, kitchen, and vacuuming) the workout or both are done. And I can either add to those tasks in the evening if I have time, or I can just plan my next day appropriately.

I was forever stressed even as a stay at home parent years ago because I have a tendency to let housework pile up and save my workouts for late afternoon or evening. Getting parts or all of this done in the early morning is my goal every day now.

Doing that, packing school lunches the night before, and at minimum taking meat out of the freezer for the following days meal are my biggest, but easiest tips.

jrh_this_better_work

Biggest challenge is fitting in time to work out and varying my workouts. My husband leaves the house before I get up and doesn't come back until dinner time and sometimes after. I run every morning but have to do it on the treadmill because my young daughter can't be left in the house by herself. I run before she gets up so I can be showered before her days starts. I'd like to do other types of workouts, but I'm not great at doing videos and much prefer a group class of some sort but can't get to any gym at a time that is convenient for our family and that offers classes at the right time for me.

Speaking of my young daughter, the biggest challenge there is not making her afraid of food but teaching her how food helps us be strong and active while at the same time she's hearing from other girls at school that bread makes you fat. I'm trying to give her the right tools while not overburdening her with an obsession with food. I want to lose weight because I'm not comfortable with my body, but I don't want her to think she should be uncomfortable with hers. There is a lot there to think about for us!

SCoil123

My biggest challenge has been scheduling my workouts around the kids sports. During water polo season for example practice ends the same time my class ends across town so my choices are -
1. Pick up wet kids 20min late
2. Leave class early
3. Don’t go to class at all

In theory I know if I kept a bag packed I could change at the office and run after work on these days. In application I’m doing nothing but pouting because my Jazzercize schedule is interrupted.....maybe the biggest challenge is my attitude and flexibility now that I think about it 😂

StaciMarie2020

Allow 'me' time occasionally. As a parent it feels guilty to do something that is JUST for me. It is ok to take care of myself, and actually a good thing.

Multitasking is useful. Making sure everyone in the house carries some of the load. My kids are older now - youngest turns 18 very soon - so not having little ones makes that aspect easier.

Lindsay375

Biggest challenge was childcare, however I found a gym that includes childcare in their monthly price which is extremely helpful. The next biggest challenge is food for everyone, I’m trying to lose weight, my husband is bulking and my toddler is toddling. Generally this means I eat very little all day and save my calories for dinner so I don’t have to worry about it, but now with doing SL 5x5 I need a bit more during the day on workout days so dinners are more of a challenge.

noel2fit

I've had this struggle in the past and have let exercise go which sucked. I'm a full-time working mom, and I handle 100% of meal prep and cooking at home. At the suggestion of some people on the forums here, I have basically committed to losing sleep to make fitness happen. 5am is the only time that works for me to exercise so 3 days a week I lose sleep to get in my workouts, and the other 4 days I recover. It's the best compromise I could come up with.

The hardest thing is figuring out how to get my workouts in when I'm breastfeeding round the clock and severely sleep deprived. I'm just about to be in that stage of life again. Right now with a toddler who mostly sleeps toughing it out and losing some sleep is working, but with a newborn/baby there's no sleep left to give up. I've been trying to come up with something, but I'm pretty sure we're just going to have to wait and see how it goes.

ku140

Time is my biggest struggle. I've tried working out in the mornings and evenings, and I can't stick to either. I simply cannot wake up any earlier (I am already hitting snooze at 5:30), and I am so tired in the evenings.

I started going to the gym during the work day (lunch break). I am very lucky to have a more flexible schedule and a boss who is encouraging.

I started logging my food and being mindful of calories.

I also needed to get to a point where this was even possible. During my daughter's first year, I was pumping during all my breaks, and so going on any kind of work break was just not going to happen. Plus, any decrease in calories caused me to be STARVING, so I just had to wait until I was at a place where I could make fitness and calorie deficits a thing.

It isn't easy now....meal prepping, letting myself be a little hungry until my next meal/snack, the daily logistics of when to get to the gym/packing my lunch/packing my work clothes (or gym clothes), all on top of what my daughter AND dogs AND husband need (although luckily husband is an adult and can take care of himself!)...it's a lot. Also accounting for days that I need to use that lunch break time to instead go to the chiropractor (working on some issues), or the vet, or the pediatrician, or the [insert anything else]. Plus, you know....getting my work done!

I give myself grace for off days or days I just can't get to the gym. The important thing is to keep trying the next day, and the next.

CSARdiver

Time management gets challenging, which is why I live according to my calendar. Effective communication is key and my wife and I have to continually remind one another where we are and what needs to be done with our own busy lives and three kids with busy lives.

I continually remind myself that there are 168 hours in a week, so if I ever say "I don't have the time" my inner monologue shouts "Bull *kitten*!" and I either prioritize it or forget about it.

sardelsa

Right now it's complete lack of sleep, time to actually workout (putting baby down I only get maybe 5-10 minutes before I'm interrupted) cooking and eating is a bit of a struggle too but more eating enough to fuel myself.

ladyzherra

For a present and conscious parent, making time for yourself is a challenge. I have found that I have to model how to honor my time in front of my daughter, explain to her that I need moments to enjoy some time as a woman and not only as a mother. That's really challenging. I often invite her to join me when I do yoga, or workout, or when I need quiet reading time. She's seven. Sometimes she joins in. Other times she takes her own personal time.

jo_nz

StaciMarie2020 wrote: »

Allow 'me' time occasionally. As a parent it feels guilty to do something that is JUST for me. It is ok to take care of myself, and actually a good thing.

Multitasking is useful. Making sure everyone in the house carries some of the load. My kids are older now - youngest turns 18 very soon - so not having little ones makes that aspect easier.

Yup, taking the time for ME has been a big struggle for me too. After 12 years of being at everyone's beck and call, I still find it hard some days (I also work in the family business, so it feels pretty relentless that I am "working" for my family all the time in one way or another)

My kids are 12 & about-to-turn-10, so I am working on giving them little tasks and responsibilities within their abilities.

I now workout during the school day. I book in classes in advance - then I have to go. There are a limited number of spaces in our classes, so I can't waste a booking!

This year I have also joined a hobby club that meets 2 nights a month, and try really hard to make sure I go to those (completely unrelated to diet/fitness, but helps my mental health).

I have also been studying full time this year (submitted final assignment yesterday, in fact) and I have had to become quite good at multitasking and prioritising. Hoping I can keep up my level of productivity, giving me a little more ME time in the times I was studying (which I also thought of as my time mostly).

And one of my biggest priorities is making sure I get enough sleep...I can spiral into a pretty bad place, with lack of sleep triggering migraines, which leads to depression and anxiety, no energy, not able to exercise, which all leads to poor sleep... and so it goes.

tecat810

My biggest challenges are finding the balance so both my spouse and I get time to reach out goals within the context of two full time working parents.

Planning ahead on every front and being as consistent as possible has helped me.