Moms Making time to Exercise

kleeper80

Good Morning Everybody. I am a mom of 3 children (Ages 7, 6 and 3) and I work full time. I have been just doing Zumba and other videos at home, but I would love to go to the gym. I work for a fortune 10 oil company, and therefore we have a state of the art fitness center (along with exercise classes, etc) provided to us for free. THe kicker is, that it closes at 8:30 every night. My question is, how do you working mom's fit in going to the gym? Do I just rush home, feed the kids, and dump them off on daddy to do homework and stuff so I can head to the gym?

Any suggestions are welcome. Going in the morning is not an option because I have to take the kids to school most days.

Thanks!!!

crystaltrejo

I am a mom, wife, mother of two, work full time, work part time at Toppers Pizza and waitress on Saturday nights at a bowling alley, I also coach high school bowling. You do it when you can. I have learned to squeeze burning 540 calories into 30 min. Can you do that on your lunch? or get to work a bit early? or stay half hour after work? it's tough but you have to do it for you.

skinnydreams

Can you squeeze in a half hour at lunch time??? You may find the break from the everyday grind of work nice, plus the boost of adrenaline half way through the day will give you energy to finish it off!

slimyfishy

I agree with the ladies before. I've found that if I make "me" time, I can handle life much more. I know that sleep is valuable, but getting up an hour earlier might be the solution. Taking a brisk walk at lunch each day. Kick the ball in the yard with the kiddos before dinner. Take the dog for a short jog. Lift hand weights and do crunches during commercials. You can fit exercise in through out your day too. You can do squats while brushing your teeth. You can do calf raises while waiting for the coffee to brew, etc. YOU CAN DO THIS! Just treat yourself as another member of the family that needs attention. Moms tend to forget about themselves and put the kiddos and DH first. YOU DESERVE time too!

Gogo76

I go in the evening after dinner (usually I get there around 6 or 6:30pm) for an hour and 15 mins, every other day to do strength training. On the days that I do stay home, I just supplement with a DVD or I go jump on the treadmill in the basement. This way works good for me and my husband because it forces us to share the responsibilty of helping the kids with homework, dinner, and getting them to bed, showers, etc.... It was hard for him to adjust when I first started going , but now I have gotten him into the routine of things too. :laugh:

mummum2

I would go with taking 45 mins at lunch, and altenatively taking that time after work, before heading home!

I would totally take advantage of the free facilities set by work. Good luck

MM2

lovetowrite73

As the other ladies said, if you can fit in time at lunch to workout that would be ideal. I usually will do a bit of cardio for 20-30 minutes, quick shower and eat lunch at my desk. If you can't do that, are you go for 30 minutes after work? Can you husband handle the children until you get home? LOL I know as a mom, we always want to put everyone else's needs before our own, but if we don't take care of ourselves, we won't be around to do that! Sometimes it's okay to be selfish. Good luck!

lilRicki

I might not count in this one...but I'm a mom of 1 boychild...I either take off after supper (around 7:00) so Dad does the shower and story, or I wait until my kid is in bed at 8:00 and my fiance is watching tv. I know you have until 8:30 before it closes, but maybe doing a quick 20 minute power work out on your lunch break will work, and then another half an hour after the chitlins are in bed. Now that my fiance works out of town I find I have to work out at home...that's WAY harder on me than going to the gym lol but I bought a couple of DVD's and I rock out in the basement once my kid is in bed.

edorice

Wife and mother of two high maintanance daughters ages 12 and 13.
I workout with my husband in the morning at 5am to home workout DVD's.
I jog at the gym 2-3 times a week during my lunch hour and weekends.
My husband has a longer commute. He takes kids to school in the morning and I pick them up.
We work as a team and get it done.

nomoremuffintopness

Hi, I am a new mom to a 6 month old girl. Before I got pregnant I worked out everyday for an hour. Well now my #1 focus has changed and I just cannot find the time to work out because I work full time and want to enjoy time with my daughter. With her being so young, I did not want to leave her even for an hour. I tried working out on my lunch break and it just didnt work out for me, it was too big of a rush. I was going to the gym though; I dont really feel comfortable walking around here by myself. I kept telling myself that New Year's I'd start a routine and so far Ive done 30 minutes everyday on my stationary bike at home and my daughter sits next to me or lays on the floor by me and plays adn we "talk".. unless her daddy is playing with her. I decided to go back to the gym with my friend only 2 nights a week after work, which puts me home at 6:30. So I wont be missing much time with my family. The other days I can fit in exercise at home. I love workout DVD's and you can pause them whenever you need to. I personally love Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds or Jillian Michels DVD's. Also On Demand has lots of awesome workouts. You have to take some time for yourself and you are doing it for the right reasons. You can do it, whether you wake up earlier, go on your lunch or do it in the evenings after your kids are in bed.

kleeper80

Thank you everybody! I think I will talk to my husband. Sometimes he doesn't get off work until 7:30, but I could leave to head to the gym as soon as he gets home on those nights, and still get almost an hour in. I am going to start out going 2 days a week to the gym, and then doing DVD"s, Wii games, etc at home the other days. Then I will up that. Once it is no longer dark in the mornings when I leave for work, and dark by the time I get home, I'm going to start running outside which will help. I'm assuming I can do the couch to 5K program on a treadmill too right?

kleeper80

I also might try working out at lunch 2 or 3 days a week. The problem is that it is so rushed, but I can handle it. Right now the fitness center will be PACKED with all the people starting their new years resolutions. So maybe I"ll try at night for awhile! :-)

Sugar_Apple

Its is really hard with small kids....I have a 13 and a 1 year old.....

I try to work out at 5 am but lately I want to sleep that extra hour....or at night when everyone is asleep.....if it's a short workout I put the toys on the floor for the toddler to play and tha keeps him for a lil bit but of course he still tries to climb my legs or jump on my tummy for ground work

cryslynn1980

i have had the same problem.... I just made myself get up at 5am mon morning and then yesterday I did it right after I got home... I only do 20-30 min just so I dont take time away from my family...but Im 2 days down. U can do it....its just gonna take you finding your right sch and what works for you ;0)