How Do You Parents Of Young Kids Do It?

AJL_Daddy

I'm 90-ish lbs overweight. Have a 2+ year old (26 months) and a 8 month old. Also work FT.

How do you exercise? Eat right? The evil word, diet? How do you take care of yourself AND your family?

I'm stumped!

WalkingAlong

I'd say don't make it more complex than it needs to be. With your plateful, you probably get plenty of activity, especially if you play with your kids and your job isn't all stuck to a desk.

If weight is an issue, try to make small changes that add up to less calories and try to eat a good mix of food groups in proper portions. In some ways it's easier with kids. They need you to set an example, and fix healthy meals for them.

Also, batch cook/prep on the weekend.

rml_16

Well, you have to eat no matter what, but you have a choice over what you put in your mouth and how much. It doesn't take longer to pepare and eat something healthy and low-cal than it does to prepare and eat something that isn't such a great choice.

As for the exercise, make time for it. Leave the kids with Dad for an hour and go for a walk or to the gym.

gmoneycole

Good advice. Keep it as simple as you can and just get all the good habits into your day. Patience helps too.

Mr_Knight

If I can't eat right, it means my kids have no chance of eating right. If I don't set a fit, active example, my kids have very little chance of learning fit/active habits.

No, it's not easy. But it's just something that I consider has to be done, and I don't allow myself excuses.

randomtai

I have 4 kids and I make it work. It isn't easy but I have my boyfriend's help. I also don't make it harder than I need it to be. I eat the same things, just less of it. I also move more and go to the gym when I can fit it in.

aquiva33

My children are a little older now, but I introduced fruits and veggies early so now that I'm eating healthier they are too. And they don't put up a fight. Acutually the things that I think they won't eat are the things they demolish. Make healthy meals for the whole family to eat . It can't hurt.

BamaBreezeNSaltAire

You make your mind up to do it. It's hard, I have a now 3 year old and a soon to be 12 year, work an hour away from home full time and my two kids are 2 worlds apart in their phase of life. I work out at least 30 minutes a day, and some times I use my kids as weights, it gets them involved and helps me keep an eye on them. 70% mind over matter, the other 30% is easy. Start with small changes, and find what works for you. Then before you know it, all those small changes will add up to big changes with big rewards! Congrats on making the first step!

hudsonst

Consider freezer cookpot cooking!

http://whoneedsacape.com/2013/09/20-meals-in-2-hours-slow-cooker-freezer-meals/

Lacey_Cakes

I have an insane 1 1/2 year old so I usually wait until she is tired and getting comfy on the couch or I work out right after she eats breakfast or lunch and have her watch some pbs so I can get my workout in. As for dieting I make my daughter her normal meals and my husband and I have healthy meals. I make a lot of food but clean(ish) and lowered calorie. The trick is to make healthy food taste good. Spices, a little extra cheese on their plates. Once you get into the groove it becomes pretty easy to do this whole health thing with a family.

cathipa

Been in your shoes before. I used every excuse I could find, but the pounds never came off. MFP helps control my calorie intake. I have to make myself get up and workout if I want to do it uninterrupted, but now that my kids are a bit older than yours they will sometimes work out with me:) When the weather is nice we are always out side. When it's day light longer I like to get up before everyone and go for a run/walk (heavy on the walk). As far as meals I love the crockpot and Skinny Ms. is a great website for recipes. If I make spaghetti I just use extra lean beef and they can have noodles, but usually I'm having zucchini noodles. Soups and salad nights area a fave at my house as well and then kids will have left overs or breakfast dinners. It took a while to figure it out, but don't worry you will get there!!!

JDubIsShrinking

Hi! Two kids here (ages 2 and 4), married, and working full time.

It dosen't have to be difficult - make yourself a priority. PERIOD.
Slowly make healthier food choices, and try to incorporate them with all family members. I've been at this since August, and now my kids are requesting things like green peppers, protein shakes, and mint tea with stevia. No joke!
It's so easy to get roped into the taking-care-of-everyone role, but make this a priority in your life, and all will fall into place!

_zombiegirl_

I have a 3-year-old girl and Daddy and I both work full-time, opposite shifts. Daddy is kind of a junk food junkie... he is anti-vegetable and there's no way I can change him. But what I eat, my daughter also eats... she loves her veggies! Give her some cucumber slices and she's a happy girl. For me, it is not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, and I want her to pick up on healthy habits. That way, when she's my age, it's 'normal' to her... not a struggle to undo 30+ years of self-inflicted sabotage like I am

I work out at home. I get up (most days) at 5 AM, before she is up and before her dad gets home, to do my workout. But she LOVES to jump in with me... Half the time she asks me, "Mommy, can we exercise now?" I have my own little personal trainer right at home

I say make it a family affair! Riding bikes, playing at the park, running around the house, snowball fights, Dad's a "horsey," etc., etc... it's all physical activity, gets you off the couch and interacting with each other. Exercise doesn't have to be boring, work, or a chore.

Good luck to you!!

brad2021hk

I'm still trying to figure out the same thing. We have one 16 month old. In the last months of my wife's pregnancy and then the first 6 or 8 months with our daughter, I was in this implicit crisis mode. I would set aside things like eating well and working out because I'm busy, but soon it will get better. I've come to the realization that it's not actually going to get better. You get through one phase and then there is something else. In a couple years, there will be another one and hit the reset button. Things are not going to get easier for 10's of years. Once you realize that, you realize you can't handle this as a short term thing where life will return to normal.

First, I think there is just less margin for error. Your children take hours per day. If you were already living a super full and busy lifestyle, then you don't have that margin to give to your children. Something has to give. Give up some volunteer activity. Give up a hobby. Probably something has to be sacrificed. You also just have to be efficient. I seriously spent time analyzing what I did during typical days. Made some lists. Figured out how much time I was spending on tasks, projects, and entertainment. I worked on cutting minutes here and there to get some of that time back. I also gave up my volunteer time with dog rescue and cut back on neighborhood association work. I'm more careful about work/life balance.

After multiple failures with weight loss, I've started to structure my life more around my daughter's schedule. I've also started to make compromises on what I used to consider a good workout and a good meal. I used to consider a good workout a 40 mile bike ride or 90 minutes at the gym. If I couldn't do a good workout, I really didn't bother with it. I just can't do that on a regular basis anymore. That's a luxury I will get to experience 2 or 3 times in a month, not 2 or 3 times a week. I'm learning to accept shorter workouts at home. That 40 mile bike ride would be 2-2.5 hours on a bike plus 30 minutes for dress, setup, and shower. That 90 minutes at the gym was also an extra 30 minutes for driving, changing, and shower. I just started P90 and do it in the morning before shower and breakfast. It's 30 minutes a day with pretty much no additional overhead. The sacrifice is getting up 45 minutes earlier.

Same thing with food. Prior to baby, it wasn't a big deal to have 1 hour for prep and cleanup for dinner. If we couldn't bother with doing it right, we would eat out or eat some frozen thing with a lot of sodium and fat and whatnot. Like a frozen pizza. Or we would throw together some spaghetti. Or eat out. Those backup options became the bulk of our eating. We've been trying to find low calorie and healthy options that we can prep in about 20 minutes with less cleanup time. Lots of reading and thumbing through recipe books.

To be fair, I just started. I may have no idea how to do this.

ElliottTN

time management, strictly enforced routines and schedules, realizing that just because you don't FEEL like doing it doesn't mean you shouldn't.

soni_me

I have to get up before everyone in the AM and exercise. I had to stop eating what the kids left and leave on their plates, buy healthy snacks (for when there's really no time for me to eat), an do a little pre-planning for meals (I eat different things than hubby and kids, a lot of times). It takes ALOT of determination to stay motivated when the kids are s young. I really had to get in the mode of thinking that I'm worth the effort as is my health :-)!

kebates09

Make meals ahead of time, so that when time is tight you don't have to think of what to eat and make it. Cook in bulk. Grill a bunch of chicken and freeze it. Cut up all your fruits and veggies so they are ready to go.

As for exercise, it's hard, and you have to make time. FOr my, my husband knows how important it is for me to go to my class 3 nights a week, so he is home with our son and gets him to bed, so I can go. I feel guilty that he has a rough time of day (evening/bed time) but I know its what I need to do for now.

Bianca42

I'm not going to lie...it's exhausting.

I do a bunch of meal planning on the weekend. I try to make things that everyone will eat or that have shared components...but the kids/hubby are picky. For example tonight is fish sticks and tater tots for the kids, a piece of haddock and tots for hubby and haddock with a sweet potato for me. Sometimes I'll cook a couple different types of pasta. Or I'll do hamburgers for everyone else and a veggie burger for me. We all still sit down together and eat.

My youngest is nearly 4, so exercise has gotten easier. It's at home workout videos and the 4 year old gets to play with my extra weights/stretch bands ONLY while I'm exercising...so it's new and exciting. I've found that I can only squeeze in 30 minutes. Anything more than that is just too hard.

My oldest is nearly 9, and he's started doing some of the workouts with me. He also asks all kinds of questions about food and while he loves his sweets and junk food, he is starting to recognize and enjoy healthier food.

paultireland

I'm 140 lbs overweight and I'm the dad of a 6 year old, plus I work 9-10 hours a day and have an hour and a half commute each way to work, then get home and help her with her homework and put her to bed. When I figure out how to do it, I'll let you know.

maddogg82

Good advice. Keep it as simple as you can and just get all the good habits into your day. Patience helps too.

THIS!!! ... i have a 6 Y/O and a 2 Y/O and I have to make sure they get their exercise in too. Some times i feel bad because i dont want to go out for walks with them because i dont feel like im getting the work out i need but i have to remember that they need to stay healthy too... So I basically end up running the house on schedule and if it gets messed up.. i cant stress about it. Tomorrow is another day.

amber_michelle30

I have a 8 yr old and 4 yr old. I work full time, school part time, work out as much as possible, and eat healthy. I just think of it as setting a good example for my children.
But you also have to want it, if you don't want it bad enough you will find a million excuses not to do it. No one has the extra hour or so to get it done, you just make the time to do it.