How Do You Parents Of Young Kids Do It?

liesevanlingen

As a mother of four young children, (one with multiple health problems) who also works part time, the only answer is you have to want it badly enough. I make time for me, because I NEED it. My workouts are my only "me" time and I value them highly. If that means getting up at 5:30 so I can work out before tackling my other responsibilities, so be it. it does get easier the longer you stick with it.

BeckyGee84

I don't work outside the home but I have a (almost) 3 year old and 4 month old. On days like today when my bf works overtime, it's really hard to get in a full workout all at once because both kids rarely nap at the same time for a long period of time. I'll usually divide up my workouts. I'll do maybe 30 minutes of cardio when the younger one naps and try to get in 30 minutes of weightlifting when they both nap. When I worked when my son was younger, I made bf watch him while I exercised after work. Make sure to do it right when you get home. If you wait, you might not feel like it! As for food, I would make a large quantity of a healthy food like soup, brown pasta or "naked" burrito and eat that all week. It might get tiring eating the same thing every day but at least you don't have to make something every night for your lunch the next day. And you can portion out your meals so you know exactly how many calories you're getting. Ignore the vending machines and bring your own healthy snacks (fruits, veggies or even 100 calorie packs) and drinks. All of it takes a little planning but it can be done! Just don't think of it as a diet, but a lifestyle change.

_Calypso_

You have to schedule time. Just like any other appointment in your life. Schedule a 30-60 min workout. For me, I have to wake up early. If I try and wait till I get home from work, I feel rushed and don't feel I get a quality workout. I get up before the kids and get a good workout in the quiet of the house.

Also, find ways to use your kids as part of your workout. So many things you can do - especially with the 8mo old. Squats, bench press, etc.

i used to play "Monsters" with my kids in which they'd stand on my bed and run at me. I'd grab them and toss them back on the bed. They thought it was hilarious, but it was akiller workout!!

It can be done!!! You have to want it. Don't use mommyhood as an excuse!!!

DWW529

Make time for yourself to exercise. It's there, you just have to find it. Doesn't matter what it is, find something you like and roll with it. Play with them. Go to the back yard, a park, whatever. As the kids get older, it gets easier. My 8 yr old runs 5K's with me. We have a blast.

I have a different POV when it comes to food. I don't deny them "treats", they still get McDonald's about once a month but we talk about good food choices. We have healthy snacks in the house. I'm amazed at how they well they do on thier own. They've seen me struggle with my weight, I've told them why and they want to be "healthy and strong like Dad". They're great motivators.

Swissmiss

You need to schedule time for yourself. If you do this you will find that you are an even better mom. You will have energy to play and commune with your children. You will find that when you plan for yourself and get healthier you will somehow have the time for other things.

csmccord

My wife and I have a 3 year old with lots of energy. We both work full time, my wife even has a 1+ hr commute each way. You'll find my wife out the door by 5:30, and I'm out the door with my daughter by 6:30. We don't get home until about 6:30. There are two big things that help us out:

1. Planning - We grocery shop on Saturday, and that's it. We take part of our Friday evening after the little one is in bed, and we plan our meals for the week. We generally decide on 3 meals, then make the list based upon those, along with the typical stuff for lunches, breakfasts, snacks, etc. Then we tend to do all the cooking on the weekends. We'll cook a dinner on Saturday, and Sunday, then sometimes prepare the third one ahead of time, then cook it on the actual weeknight we have it. We then have the leftovers the other nights of the week. Slow cookers are always a good option, along with casseroles or soups. This keeps us out of the store for mid-week purchases, and allows us to have a busy schedule during the week. By the time we get home and have dinner it's almost bedtime for the little one.

2. Exercise - We have a gym membership at Sport & Health, which allows us to work out, while our daughter is in the kid's club. Yes, it's basically another hour of daycare for her, but she seems to enjoy it. She never has a problem with me dropping her off there, and always seems happy while there. Yes, we do feel guilty for leaving her in somebody else's care for another hour, but we do have to make time for ourselves too.

The first point is probably the most important one. You can lose weight without exercise. It's about calories in, calories out. If you eat less than you burn on a consistent basis, you'll lose weight. Exercising gives you greater flexibility as you can eat the calories your "earned" as well. I typically don't eat my exercise calories. So, my wife and I plan out our meals. No, we don't say we'll eat a specific meal on a specific day, but we plan them out for the week as a whole, then chose what we feel like each night.

MacMomma2013

I schedule my exercise like I do any other appointment and stick to it. I am also very fortunate to have a stationary bike in our living room, so I will jump on the bike while my LOs are watching tv and colouring.

When making DD's lunch for the next day, I make mine at the same time and we talk about healthy eating and what kinds of good snacks we can put in our lunches. The same DD will sometime scome with me when I work out in the basement and will do some light "weights" and do some stetching with me.

For me, it's all about making your schedule (and life) work for you and not against you.

Hope this helps!

PennyM140

My son will be 4 in April. I work full time and spend as much time with him as I can. Occasionally I try to get up early and go to the gym but usually it is such a hassle that I don't bother.

When my son was younger and would ride in the stroller we took long walks, particularly on the weekend but some evenings too. He enjoyed being outside and I got some exercise. Now that he is bigger he will sometimes walk with me 1/2 mile to a mile. Hoping to get him riding his bicycle soon so I can run along with him.

So basically I have just adapted to whatever he can do at the time and made it work for me.

ETA: Forgot about food. I want my son to eat as healthy as possible so I cook things that we both should eat. Lots of veggies. Fruits, different proteins. Because of that my son is not a very picky eater. He has his favorites, but I can get him to try just about anything.

hwagaman

I also work FT and have three small children of my own (5, 3 y/o twins).

Its exhausting, but this is what we do :

1. Very strict schedules for meals, naps and bedtimes. Kids thrive on routine.
2. My gym time is after the kids go to bed. Many days its the last thing I want to do, but you never regret it.
3. Meal plan every single meal the Saturday before the week begins. Also, I often prep the next days dinner the night before so making dinner goes much faster when I get home from work.
4. Only buy healthy snacks for the kids. That way, if they are begging for food 30 minutes for dinner you know they are getting their nutrients. And you wont be tempted to snack on unhealthy things if they are not around.

Good luck to you!

Sunflwer3

You sacrifice for your own sake. After the little one is in bed I then spend time making my food for the next day. I have the next day logged on MFP before I go to bed. It's hard to get into the swing at first, but now it is second nature and my husband helps. I too work full time and use my lunch break as an opportunity to get in more exercise (sometimes I use it to go grocery shopping). Start small and it will all come together. My son goes to bed at 7:30 and we go to bed at 9:30 so we've learned to spend our evening talking usually while in the kitchen making meals/lunches and to be honest we like it. Don't get me wrong, some days I just want to put our little guy to bed and go sit on the couch, but that's okay sometimes. That's what string cheese, fiber one bars and lean cuisines are for! I also get up 45 minutes before my hubby to work out and get some me time

explorationerin

Im a single mum to a boy who will be 4 next month, i also work whilst hes in nursery 5 days a week so never get any child free time. Im very lucky that he will eat whatever im eating, all except salad that is. So meals are quite easy in my house. He likes helping me choose veg from the shops and tries to help when im cooking (yes it means things take ages to get done but its teaching him things that are good for him so worth it)

As for working out well thats a different story... i try to take him to the park more often to get some extra walking in and i can manage a short workout dvd (30 mins) if hes sat playing his ds. I tend to do yoga/pilates in the evenings when hes in bed.... ohh and i take him swimming as often as possible although to be honest i get much swimming down as im holding him! In the summer its great as i put the sprinkler on in the garden and we both run under it ect... but alas far too cold for that at the minute.

Ohh i also plan all my meals for the day in the morning, i tend to log them all so i know where i am with calories ect too. If things change then i will obviously edit it as and when i need to.

amaysngrace

Well, I have a 6-year old autistic boy, who goes to school during the day and I don't go to work but I am a full time online student. I usually will go to the gym about twice a week, sometimes not at all. I did buy one exercise dvd, as a back up when my son is not at school. On the weekends, I cannot work out at all.

As far as meals, I cook two to three big meals a week and swap out for variety. I also keep fruit and canned veggies on hand. I make big meals so that I can eat on them throughout the week, when I don't have time to cook; otherwise I would probably starve to death. I buy food in bulk from the wholesale club to last me longer and I have a deep freezer, so I don't have to go to the store as much.

LosingItForGood13

I have a 4 year old who never gets tired lol I carve out time for my workouts few mins of relaxation time to unwind after I have taken care of him

rahlpn

You have to want it bad enough and make it work. I have a 4 yr old boy and 3 year old girl and work full time also. I am married though and it hasn't always been easy but I have had several talks with my husband about him being supportive of my efforts and me trying to improve myself. At first he would try to sabotage me (not intentionally every time it was just what was "easiest" for him, guess he doesn't like change) but now he is a lot more wiling to help me make things work. I usually ask him to pick the kids up after work on my gym days (M-W-F) but if he can't for some reason I take them with me and they stay in the child care room while I workout (45 minutes). Then we go home, I make dinner, they eat what I eat but sometimes my husband wants things like mac n cheese or tater tots or hot dogs, etc. so I just have a substitute (like tonight I will have a hot dog but I will have a lean beef dog instead of the others that they like and instead of tater tots or mac n cheese I will microwave myself a sweet potato and we will all have a vegetable). Then after dinner either I clean the kitchen or bathe the kids or my husband does it. On tuesdays and thursdays I work out at home and my kids join me trying to do the moves and I think it's great, I feel like I'm teaching them healthy habits early on. I also try to get them to eat the healthy dinners I make and they usually do, in fact my kids probably won't touch the tater tots tonight, I have left over mashed sweet potatoes in the fridge. Anyway, sorry for rambling, you will make it work if you want it to bad enough. I used to use every excuse under the sun then I said enough is enough, I need to make this happen and I have been successful for over a year now.

Holly_Roman_Empire

My husband watches the baby for 30-45 minutes while I exercise, Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. That's all I get, and to be honest, it's enough for me. Is your wife willing to help out to give you time to exercise?

To be honest, I don't understand not having time to eat right. To me, that's the easiest part. You don't have to have hours in the day to make a home-cooked low calorie meal. If you only have time to go to the drive-up at a fast food place, you can make healthy choices there too.

My husband is the cook, and some people tell me, "Well you're lucky because you don't have to cook. He can make you healthy meals." Well, when he does cook, he usually does keep my goals in mind. If he wasn't cooking, though, I'd probably be going the drive-up and getting a ten-piece Wendy's nuggets for 450 calories and still losing weight.

Excuses are just that. Excuses.

oc1timoco

I'm a Stay At Home Dad with a 3 year old. With everything that goes on around here on a daily basis can be taxing on food choices. When I first started @ 358 lbs. 3 years ago, I wanted to commit myself to something I could commit to. So for a week I ate like I normally did and documented everything. At the end of the week I went over the results. YIKES!!!! I didn't jump in and oversell myself on reducing my caloric intake. I picked a couple of things and stuck with those until I knew I was in control over them. A week later I picked a few more, then a few more . I'm down to about 200 lbs. now. I cook a lot of meals and freeze them too.

kgeyser

I work out in the evenings when the other adult is around, 30 min is all I get. I don't do any special meal planning, we eat what the kids eat, I just watch my portions. No one's eating junk food but we're not exactly eating super healthy either, since I don't get a lot of meal prep time. I usually go to bed around midnight. It is what it is.

junglegill

I'm a mom of an almost 3 yr old boy and a 16 mo girl. i work 32 hours/wk outside the home and i have a 15 min commute.

5:30am home workouts, right now it's Jillian Michaels' body revolution (inc enough time to workout and get showered and dressed before kids wake up, sometimes i have breakfast if I have time)

7:00am kids up, everyone run around.

i either pack my meals during my youngest one's nap time in the morning around 9-10am and i'm going into work at 12pm or I pack my meals the night before if i go into work at 9am.

while i work, i keep a running grocery list and meal plans ideas on my desk as it comes to me. on Friday, i take that list home with me.

I grocery shop either Sat or Sun morning. i meal prep Sun afternoons. i have 2 crockpots and i have the oven going and the stove top going.

Before bed, i'm on MFP planning my meals for the next day.

cwolfman13

Well, either way you have to eat...you can either choose to have a diet that consists largely of nutrient dense foods (many of which are lower calorie) or a diet that consists largely of nutrient void and calorie dense foods. It takes planning...I'm the cook in our house, so I'm pretty much a slave to the kitchen as soon as I walk in the front door of my home after work...I do that and prepare dinner while my wife takes care of the baths, play time, etc.

Also, much of this is about redefining your ideals of "healthy"...I eat much of the same food that I ate when I was overweight...I just eat less of it. Really, that is the most important part. i do eat more veggies now and more fruit and I eat less junk...but by and large, my weight loss is attributable to actually portioning out my meals and keeping it real.

Exercise time is harder to come by and it is important, but not nearly as important to weight loss as getting your diet under control. You can't out exercise a bad diet. Exercise simply allows you to eat more and achieve the same results to do the fact that you are increasing your body's calorie requirements. It is also just really good for you in general...but you don't have to do this 2 hours per day nonsense that so many people seem to think is necessary.

A good cardio workout can be had in 30 minutes 5 times per week. Sometimes that's going for a walk with the family around the neighborhood. I also take my bike with me to work and I ride at lunch a few days per week. Twice per week my wife and I take turns going to the gym to lift weights...she usually takes Tues/Thurs and I take Mon/Wed and then we all go together as a family on Saturdays (utilize the drop in child care at the gym for a couple hours)

IMHO, you have to make the time for these things, if for no other reason than being a good example of good livin' to your young ones.

knitapeace

I'm the mom of a 12 year old and a 14 year old, and I don't know the answer because I made every excuse in the book during their younger years. And guess what? Making excuses doesn't burn any calories so I stayed the same weight. I look back now and wish I had started down this path much, much earlier. I know it's hard to schedule in those workouts so maybe tag team with the other parent (if they are in the picture). But mostly focus on eating right. And don't put it off or you'll be my age wishing you had been a better role model when the kids were younger.