SAHM struggles

KrisAnn579

When I go to the gym, I tend to do mostly cardio. I know I need to mix it up with more strength training, but in terms of calorie burn, cardio gives more bang for the buck, so for now, I'm sticking with that until I get into a good routine and start losing. I actually gave up my gym membership for the summer to save money since my husband's a teacher and will be home more; I did the same last year and did a lot of running and biking outside, and we have a weight bench in the basement.

I have also been doing live online exercise classes with Gymagogo -- for now they're free . . . hoping when they start charging it will be in my budget cause I really like them. I did Pilates last week and this week.

Doing better with snacking; I bought lots of fruit and veggies and some hummus last shop, so that's helped. When I started feeling peckish yesterday afternoon, I grabbed some watermelon; today I grabbed an apple. :happy:

Also thought about all y'all today when I ended up riding bikes in the driveway with my son. Just circles and figure eights and back and forth up the driveway? For I swear about two hours! He had a blast and I kept moving. Not the same as the hour mountain bike ride I had planned for when my husband got home from work, but I'm counting it!

KimJohn2013

It isnt easy with a 4 year old, i know that as i have a 4 year old daughter, how about going out on a bike ride or to the park when it comes to that time of day when you struggle with the "munchies".
I struggle with that time of day to so i try to keep myself occupied by going out or going into the garden to play with my daughter to distract myself .

Good luck

proudandprejudiced

You don't even work for a living, and you "struggle"?? Really??? Try working 3 jobs, and then we'll talk about struggling. All you do is "raise your kids", you do nothing that contributes to society. You're just a moocher. Why don't you get a real job and start WORKING for a living??

Have you ever worked three jobs while raising children? Or even ever raised a child?

_SABOTEUR_

SAHM struggles...

Sounds like the name of a show where SAHMs wrestle in mud...

ROUND 1!

kelly_c_77

I'm also a SAHM. I have a 19 month old son and if I want to work out, I have to work around his schedule...so that's exactly what I do. He doesn't get up until somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00am. I get up at 5:30am, have my iced coffee and then I'm on the treadmill by 6:10. This gives me just enough time to run for an hour and then shower. When he goes down for his nap at 12:30, I do my 1/2 hour workout video. We also go for two 1.25 mile walks during the day...one in the morning and one after his nap. It kinda sucks and it's not always fun to workout during these times, but it's the only way to get it done unless I want to workout after dinner/bath/bedtime at 8:00pm and by that point, I'm tired and want to hang out with my husband for a bit and then go to bed.
I'm not saying anyone has to work out as much as me, my point is that it can be done...you just have to make it work! Just tell yourself NO EXCUSES. You can find a way.

Psalm17v22

I had friends that I would trade babysitting with. also had a jogging stroller and would put my two in there and went for a walk or jog to the park. Got my exercise in and got out of the house.

God bless,
Karen

FixItDuck

I know I'll catch hell from the SAHM group for this, however, none of these suggestions are things I've been unable to accomplish during the times when I am at home with my two girls (ages 2 and 3) when they are on school holiday. I'm also not one to sugar coat things so let's be real:

1. Stop feeding your kids crap. They eat it because you provide it. My kids eat healthy most of the time, but when we do give them unhealthy food choices and we happen to have a bit or two we don't make excuses like it is something that we didn't make happen based on our own choices.
2. Working out - just get moving. Go play in the yard. Find a used jogging stroller. Go to they playground and do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups while you are watching them play. Get your spouse to watch the kids for an hour while you go work out. Do a workout DVD while they are napping or after they go to sleep at night. There are options you just have to make it work.

From now on, rather than saying "I don't have time for X" I want you to use the phrase "I have chosen not to prioritize X". Too many people around here like making excuses for themselves (or making excuses for others) when the reality is that you don't want it bad enough to do what has to be done. You like your time, convenience, comfort, good tasting foods more than you want to be thin and fit. In order to make a change you have to find the will power. There is no magic bullet (or pill or exercise) for that.

Totally agree, especially about not feeding the kids crap! My kids will happily eat packaged rubbish all day, especially my 4 year old (6 year old is a bit of a foodie so easier to convince to try new things). If you have children who don't eat veg, try getting hold of Deceptively Delicious written by Jessica Seinfeld, her book hides veg in lots of yummy treats - I don't make many of her recipes because my kids eat fruit and veg willingly (most of the time). At least then if you are eating the same as them (and I prefer the whole family to eat the same thing because it's easier for me), it's got some nutritional benefit. Party food is just that - PARTY FOOD.

Exercise - it's good for kids too I run/walk while my children are on their bikes (4yo has a balance bike) or scooters. When my daughter is better at riding a push bike and can do so without training wheels, I intend to checkout some flat bike tracks with them, and hopefully hubby when he's not at work. It's winter here, and this morning I've realised that we've not been very active, so I'm thinking I might try to find some zumba online and do that with them (school/kindy holidays here for the next two weeks), should be good for having some fun if nothing else. My four year old will still happily ride in the stroller, so if I have messages to do and the weather is fine, I will take her in that and walk (usually on days when 6 yo is at school and I'm not working).
In summer, I will go for a bike ride or a run after the kids are in bed - hubby is usually chilling in front of the TV or computer so I have my time exercising. I also have a boxing bag, which I can use while the kids are playing outside. In winter, it's exercise DVDs, weights or boxing.

I work part time, so not really a SAHM but I'm either at work, or with the kids which doesn't leave much time for exercise on my own. I do find that the routine of work helps a wee bit because I have to be more organised around meals, including making lunch to take to work. Lately my food/exercise regime has completely fallen apart so I'm trying to take small steps to get that sorted again.

DancesWithBirds

I'm a SAHM of 2, but I'm going back to school f/t in the fall.

I decided to get healthy about a year ago. Since then, I've gradually introduced changes to keep the whole family healthy.

I have trouble with snacking when I'm bored, too. I've had to really work on my relationship with food to get out of the munching when I have the munchies mentality. One thing that I've done has been to eliminate processed snacks from the house. I don't keep Goldfish crackers or fruit snacks for the kids anymore. They are allowed to have a small treat once in awhile, but it will be like a single cookie from the bakery or a single piece of candy. I find that if I have boxes of that stuff in my house, two things happen: 1. I WILL eventually decide to eat the whole thing in one setting and 2. the kids stop eating the healthy stuff I feed them and start asking for the crap that they know is in the cupboards. So we don't eat it often.

ETA: what kids eat has come up a few times since I wrote this. This has been a huge point of controversy in our extended family: the idea that you have to let kids be kids and it's okay to just let them eat kid food. I don't really buy into that, since I don't want my kids to have to go through their adult life and try to reprogram their tastes and understandings about food because they got fat or sick. Like my husband and I did. And I have found with everything from getting a breast fed baby to take a bottle to getting my oldest to eat new foods that kids might go a few meals without eating, but they will not starve themselves to death. Offer them food regularly and don't make a big deal over it if they don't eat. I read somewhere that it takes 8 or more times of introduction to a new food to get kids to try it. As long as you are patient and they don't fill up on crap in between meals, and as long as you are modeling well for them, they will learn to eat healthy foods.

The other thing I do is I do a LOT of meal planning, especially for snacks and dinners. I rarely go to eat something without having given a lot of thought as to what I'm going to eat. This is a PITA at first, but it is really helpful in the long run. So when I start getting hungry in the afternoon I can go and prepare my snack or eat my pre-prepared snack and not have to worry about what I'm going to eat or how it fits in with my nutrition goals. I'm getting to the point now where I'm starting to transition into maintenance and a more normal lifestyle where I don't plan and log absolutely everything. But I'm taking it slowly.

I have found that if I don't get too hungry I am less likely to binge. Part of my unhealthy relationship with food in the past was the binge and fast pattern... so that I would get SO hungry because I couldn't be bothered to eat (such as taking the time to prepare breakfast in the morning or pack a lunch before work) that I would eat loads of the fastest food I could get my hands on. So I ate out a lot and we couldn't keep certain foods in the house without me eating the whole thing. I still do this when I'm travelling if I skip a meal or two, so knowing about it helps me avoid it. So I always eat a good breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner and I usually plan a post-dinner snack or light dessert for myself as well and I don't usually get to the point where I'm starving.

You said that you're not having much trouble finding time to exercise, so that's good! I have scheduled workout times during the week. The actual workout times have to be flexible and vary since I can't afford the child care at the gym so I have to wait for hubs to get home. Right now, though, I'm down to just 30 minutes of weight lifting 3x per week and then the rest of the time I just try to stay active. So we go for walks to the park. Or I take them fishing. Or we will go for a bike ride (my oldest learned to ride on his own this year, and my toddler rides on a front-mounted seat on my bike). Or we will do some soccer practice. Twice a week I clean the house really well. I try to plan activities that get us up and moving and away from the TV and the computer and the video games. Because, honestly, I get bored with the electronic entertainment, myself!

Good luck!

77tes

I guess I should have clarified . . . I *do* get about an hour of exercise daily . . . We go to a gym with childcare several mornings a week, and when he was at preschool today, I ran 6 miles. I'm not just sitting around! And we can go for walks, etc in the afternoon, but when he's in a mood and doesn't want to do X, it's sometimes too much hassle to do X. (We're talking temper tantrums here.)

We also keep generally good food in the house . . . *usually* no chips or cookies, yes wholegrain crackers and hummus, fruit, etc. But I can binge eat on pretty much anything. It's kinda like my superpower.

Well thanks for the ideas & support! Good luck all!

It sounds like you are doing great! Watch the diet and eat enough protein to starve off the munchies. Your doctor is wrong - I can't think what he is going by. My daughter is a SAHM, and she lost 30+ pounds running and doing push ups/crunches for 20 minutes a day. Good luck!