Busy moms?

hsnider29

What do you do for exercise and when? I have an 11 year old that plays on 2 baseball teams, an 15 month old, and I work 3 extended shift nights per week. I know this sounds terrible but when I take a walk I only burn about 150 calories walking pretty fast and pushing my daughter in a stroller. I do have an elliptical machine that I love but completely lack the motivation to get on. I just feel so busy or tired all the time and just need some input as to how and when you fit in a good cardio workout.

dru_howard

Ugh, I want to know too. I have a 2 year old a 4 year old and care for my ailing father when I'm not working 8-5pm. I fit in a Zumba night once a week and try to squeeze in the 30 Day Shred any open 20 minutes I have - if I don't have to share my mat with the kids and my dog. I feel like I'm doing okay with this routine so far because I wasn't working out at all before so 120-150 minutes a week is awesome for me, but I want and need to do more.

AmyQwith2

i have a 4 yo and a 1 yo...when i first started working out i joined a local boot camp - and worked out before they woke up...daddy got them up and got them dressed and off to Nana's for me (for 1 month)...

Now i'm doing the Insanity workouts - and it's usually right after they go down for bed (about 7pm)...I am drained by that point, but once I get started I'm fine...it's turning on the DVD that is the most work for me...I'm already seeing great results (week 3) so that is helping keep me motivated now too!

my best advice - just start! that's the hardest part...good luck - it is always more difficult when you have kids to find time/energy for yourself...

HungryMom

It is tough, isn't it? I have two young boys (4 and nearly 2) and work-out after they are in bed. It was difficult to find the motivation the first couple weeks, but now I look forward to the me time. I get them to bed and go to the gym normally about 8:30 or 9:00. By the time I am finished the day's stresses don't seem so bad, and I go to bed feeling better. Good luck finding a routine that works for you.

hsnider29

I know any exercise is beneficial but if I'm going to put in 30 minutes I want to burn more than 150 cals. Haha! My son has something baseball related almost every night

Nikstergirl

It certainly helps that both my kids are a little older. During their busy season (football was nuts) I would pick up the one kid, take him home to get showered and start homework (dinner was either in the crockpot or started then) then I would lace up and drive over to the other kid's field and run. Literally, run for up to 45 minutes, whatever was left of practice, then meet him at the field and go home. Sometimes, if I didn't have time to make supper we'd swing by Subway on the way home and eat it all sweaty at the table together and then clean up! I have one day a week when I'm off work and they are both in school so I workout a good 90 minutes on those days and always workout Sunday afternoons while they either finish homework or play video games if homework is done. It's tough, but they both understand that I'm doing this for all of us. They love that Mom has energy enough to do stuff now, and they both think it's funny that I'm training for a 10k when a year ago I couldn't run for 30 seconds!!!! They're proud of me and can't wait for me to be the skinny mom cheering this fall!!! And I will be!!!!!

Good luck, make a routine and try to stick to it. We had a bad snowstorm or two this year when I didn't even dare leave the house to hit the gym, so I just hopped on our elliptical or popped in a DVD and worked out in my room. The kids were impressed I didn't skip the workout!

McBoBo

For the LONGEST time I had a similar issue with a busy schedule...I finally got sick of my body and joined Gold's Gym...the one I go to has a HUGE "kidzone" for the kids aka their day care. It was $120 for the entire year total for me to bring my kids there so i could work out without worrying about who was watching my kids if the weather was bad...or if my Husband would give me an attitude for having to watch the kids (yeah..future ex)...I used to work excerising around my life...now that I have the gym with a nice daycare I work my life around getting to the gym!! Plus seeing people there is motivation on it own...LOVE it and I hate missing more than one day in a row..plus this gym has a cardio cinema...big room with cardio equipment that show a new movie every day..and it's DARK!! Which is really great so Im not worrying about my wiggle jiggl'in in front of other people...that's what worked for me!

DJFreeze

I get up at 5AM to do the Insanity program, and then I use my company's gym to get an extra workout during my lunch hour. It's tough, but for the mornings I just tell myself that getting up and doing that workout is my job, and this is how I'm going to live my life now. It definitely helps.

One suggestion for those who have trouble getting up for early workouts... Set your feet down so the bottoms of your feet are touching something. It sends a message to your brain that will make it difficult for you to get back to sleep. I don't know how it works, it just does, and has gotten me up on many sleepy mornings. Good luck to everyone, just remember that you need to make yourself a priority because to take care of others to the best of your ability, you need to take care of yourself! You're worth it!

mytwoprinces

The memberships extortionate at my local gym, its £31 a month plus £3 a time childcare and this is a local government gym, they know how to charge! I couldn't afford it so I dragged out my old bike and bought a child seat for it (plus helmet). So now I can go out for short trips during the day with our 9 month old. My husband works 6am till 6pm, so as soon as he walks in from work, I take the child seat off the bike and go out on my own for 30-60 mins. Getting pretty excited as my dads taking me to go look for a new bike this week, that will hopefully be a bit more comfortable and modern, so can hopefully push for 90 mins some days.

We have also bought our 7 year old son a new bike with the money we've been saving on his behalf, so he can join me after school and weekends for 5 mile runs occasionally . Cycling has been brilliant for us as it has the potential to involve the whole family. Just got to get hubby on board now. xx

Nmama

I homeschool my 10, 5 & 3 yr old. I feel ya! and there its no way my 5yr old can walk and jog and keep up with me so in the am when its nice I take them on a walk at their pace then in the afternoon I set the timer to go off every minute and brisk walk for a min, then jog for a minute etc until I hit 30 mins minimum. Lots of times I go longer. I plug my ipod in my ears and *gasp* put on a video for the little ones. I do this all inside. My houseisn't huge. I run from the living room down the hall, in my room, turn..and go back. I break a bigger sweat with that than I do the walking videos. When its nice I'll open the back door in the living room and add the back yard to the path. My hubby says imma wear a hole in the carpet, but its working, is something I can do that's free when the kids are there and I like it. I also throw on some fast music and all of us dance and act like were in music videos. The kids love it, I sweat, and its fun! if its still light when the hubby gets home I take the dog out and do one min intervals with him.