Mom's of Autistic children, trying to do it all!

mindyt23

Hi, blessed mom of 2 boys one with autism and one typical. Wondering if their are other moms trying to be their best health wise and fit, but struggle finding time, taking time out, breathing and de-stressing ?? My son does pretty well most the time, buy there are moments, (sigh) and I struggle..then I want chocolate when really I should be jumping on the elliptical..lol, we do it with humor and try to get through these days, but I have goals and visions of what I want to be/look like mainly to be healthy for my family....looking for other moms who are in this same boat..maybe we can throw each other a life preserver!

iorahkwano

My mom is 57 & the mother of two autistic sons (Age 23 & 39 right now). I'm not one of them, I'm the girl. Both my brothers live at home, do not drive & require daily rides from her to & from camp/school. My mom cooks a full course dinner every night, does the younger son's laundry & never leaves him home alone. My dad works full-time & camps out in his bedroom so she doesn't get much help. She also has hypothyroidism, arthirits & tweaky joints. She retired a couple years ago from a physical job in a chipstand.

She is 5'3" & 170lbs. Before her thyroid, she was 130lbs. She's always worked out but right now at her age she rides her recumbent bike every day for 30mins & does some abs exercises. She is trying out yoga at the moment. Before her tweaky joints, she weightlifted with dumbbells as heavy as 15lbs. She also watches what she eats & pays attention to current health news. She's pretty amazing! I don't even know how she's managed to raise the 3 of us, work, exercise, read, clean, cook, buy the boys clothes & keep track of their appointments without going crazy!

cursiny

I could use a friend who understands the autism issues that I deal with on a daily basis also. Let's help each other!!!

dixiewhiskey

My oldest is high functioning, younger son is typical.. I work nights, cook, clean, take both kids to their appointments. Up during the day to get kids where they need to be and I do some audit assignments for extra money where time allows during the day. I used to never work out - never wanted to leave the house with my oldest because of challenging behaviour and the looks I'd get. I went about 4 years before I could get the right child care (and funding) for my oldest and I have no family around anymore. My oldest started half day school when he was five and now is at a school with full day learning (now 7 years old).

A lot of my working out last year came from doing workouts at home while the kids were napping or entertained in some way. Fast forward to this year, I work out every morning after the pair are off to school - thankfully my oldest finally started at a full day school and we were able to secure child care for the little one. I have been a member at the YMCA for almost a year and a half and it only cost $20/month. I run, lift weights (squat 160lbs, deadlift 160lbs this week, started at 95lbs late February of this year), play sports with other members.

Normally I wouldn't share this amount of info but I want you and anyone else out there in our shoes to know that they aren't alone and that they can definitely make working out a priority. I felt alone and depressed for a long time until I started working out. You have to make YOU a priority or you will go bonkers. I've been there, don't allow it to happen to you :P

Feel free to add me.

AsiasMommy

I agree it is hard, my 2 year old is recently diagnosed, we knew something was different since she was born, i use my exercise time to just refocuse and get the energy to deal with her challenging behaviors and million appointments lol

emtjmac

Hi.

samthepanda

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