Busy Mom needs help with how to make it all happen

I have 4 kids - no gym membership.
I have lost 65 lbs in 8 months.
How? Eat properly. And exercise at home. I walk with my kids - spent all summer pushing a double stroller or having my youngest in a back pack on my back walking the neighbouring streets. I am sure many ppl thought I was crazy. I have a wii -- I do EA Games Sports - Just Dance - Wii Fit - there are a ton of games to get you moving. Best thing is my kids LOVE to do it with me. So get her moving too. My youngest 19 months old he boogies with the best of us.
You can do it.
You need to be creative. Do stairs - lift containers of water if you don't have weights - there are tons of workout videos on you tube too if money is tight.
Hang in there.

As far as food goes, learn to love the crockpot. And do your prep on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Make a bunch of freezer meals or individually wrapped breakfast burritos to grab and go. Prep diced fruit and veggies in baggies for individual servings. Portion out yogurt into single serve containers. If you have it all prepared ahead of time, it makes it very easy. It just requires some organization.

This! If you can make use of a crockpot you can exercise as soon as you get home from work instead of cooking. Or do a DVD like 30 day shred and have your daughter playing in the room. Even if you make a ton of things on a day off during the week you can freeze those and than get your exercise done when you get home and than pop something in the microave or oven that you have already cooked.

I have a gym membership now, but before I worked out at home. I have a few Jillian Michaels DVDs and the Insanity DVDs. I'm not a morning person so I'd workout after both my kids went to bed (by 8pm). As soon as I got home after work with the kids I would put on my workout clothes so typically I could have hubby put our oldest to bed (3 years) and I could sometimes start before 8pm. My baby (10 months) goes down by 7pm. Usually I'd put the baby to bed then workout from 7-7:45 and give my daughter a bath. While she's playing in the tub I'd take my shower. Then get us both dressed and get her to bed. I spent the time when I got home to cook and play with the kids so that after I worked out I'd eat dinner with hubby usually. I would do that Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Now that I have a gym membership I workout right after work on the same days. Just get some kind of routine down. JM's DVDs are like 20-30 minutes so you could knock that would with a shower in under an hour in the morning or evening. You just have to make a committment. It is harder with kids, and a job and a hubby and 1000 things to do but its definately possible. I made an effort to cook on non workout days so we could just eat leftovers on my workout days. So lots of planning and taking advantage of every minute of the day. The dishes can wait until tomorrow, they are not going anywhere, so get in your workout today!!

edit- ditto to getting your diet right. While it does take extra effort to do meal planning it saves so much time and effort during the week if you already know what you're cooking and when. I plan out my dinners for the week and pack a lunch the night before for work everyday. Meal planning (and sticking to it) will assist you in eating right throughout the week when things get hectic or your tired or time is short.

My husband and I both approach the exercise thing differently. I would rather go to a gym, he would rather do something he can do at home. He's in his second round of P90X, and did a round of Insanity in between. I'd rather stop by the gym on the way home and do the machines.

If I've learned anything from my husband, it's all about what you're willing to do to fit it in. He might get up at 5:00 a.m. and workout, or he'll do it when he gets home before picking up the girls, or might even wait until after the girls go to bed. But he's done it every day since last Christmas. He knows there will come a time when he won't be able to fit it in, but for right now, the plan is to do it everyday, and he's succeeded.

Now, I've lost 106.5 pounds without really doing anything for exercise, but fear that that's going to have to come into play here very soon. It's all about making time to do it. I plan on going by the gym this afternoon...just need to make myself do it.

As far as food: Crock pots are good. Chicken tenders are good. If you can order your groceries from an online place like Peapod, then do it - maybe even Schwan's. Also, Walgreens now does "web-pickup" where you can place an order online and when you go pick it up, park in the designated space, call them and they'll bring it out to your car. Sam's club does this too - their service is called "click & pull" but you actually have to go inside to the customer service counter and pay for it, but they will help you bring it out to your car.

When you do cook - cook in big batches so you can freeze leftovers. We're pretty much at the point of having to do that with Chili and Spaghetti.

There's an online site called Flylady.net that helps with cleaning/cooking and organizing the household. It's designed more for stay at home moms, but I've found a lot of stuff I can put to use working full-time.

Single mom, 2 kids. I work 40 hours a week and take care of everything at home on top of their "social" schedules. My time to sit down comes between 8 & 10pm depending on what is going on that day.

You've just got to find a way to make it work. I do belong to a gym, but sometimes the hours don't mesh well with my schedule. If I can't make it to the gym (or am injured, as I am right now), I walk at least a mile a day. I've found creative ways to sneak in push ups, crunches and curls.....Waiting for the water to boil on the stove? Knock out 10 pushups and 25 crunches. I've started doing this and felt ridiculous at first. But, I'm getting my exercise in. The added benefit is that my kids see me getting active. My 5 yr old gets on the floor with me now. I also have 2 of the big applesauce jars with the "grips" on them at the house. Use those for curls if you don't have weights. After the kids go to bed, I do reps of: 15 pushups, 50 crunches, 20 curls, 20 flutter kicks, 20 bicycles.... I usually do it at least 4 times. A lot of times I try to knock out 8 reps, but it depends on the day. If you have stairs, you can walk (or run) up and down them for some added cardio. Get creative.

It's just a matter of maximizing your time and changing your mindset.

Single mom of 2 and I work 2 jobs. You just have to make it work. Is it possible to buy a used treadmill, elliptical or other exercise machine. I love to run and would prefer outdoors but like you its hard to make it outside. So I get up at 5 to hit the treadmill. Other ideas would be workout videos. Insanity, P90x etc. Set down with your hubby and make a schedule. Block off 20-30 minutes of time just for you to exercise. Make use of time in the car, waiting in line at grocery store etc. Who cares what everyone else around you thinks. You are getting healthy!

My two cents -- there are a huge variety of workout videos on Youtube. If budget is a concern, you could always try some stuff out this way. If anything, it could help figure out what you enjoy and assist you in making better dvd purchases (or it might be enough without you having to spend anything). Many of the intense interval-type workouts are half an hour or less, too, which will help fit it into your day. I've seen some Jillian Michaels worksouts on youtube, for example.

Of course, the best answer is running around with your kids. Fun and healthy for everyone Depending on their ages, you could find some indoor stuff for the winter, like bowling, roller skating, maybe an ice skating rink? Obviously any activity where you're up and moving, rather than sitting, is going to be great for everyone involved, even if it's not a crazy workout. Good luck!

You're never going to "have" time. You just make it. You can get a very effective workout in just 30 minutes a day with any one of the DVDs/YouTube videos mentioned, but only if you decide that your fitness is worth making room in your schedule for. If you make physical fitness a priority, the worst that could happen is that your kids might grow up thinking it's important.

C25k on alternative nights with your hubby and when summer comes do with your hubby and the kids in prams/on bikes etc.

I'm struggling with how to make this work for me. For budget reasons, we cancelled our gym membership a few months ago. Now that it gets dark so early, there's not time to get outside during the week. I have a young daughter and it's hard to see how I have time to exercise, and some days even cook between work and picking her up from daycare and getting shopping/cleaning done. I have a supportive husband who needs to lose weight too, but we usually don't have time to even sit down until after 8 pm each night.
We need to find good work outs that can be done at home, inside for the winter... any ideas? How do you all make it work?

I have 16 month old twins, commute 2 hours per day, and work full time. I know it's not easy. Instead of the gym, my husband and I recently found a deal on a quality treadmill on Craigslist, and decided that in the long run a big purchase like this would be worth it for our health. This will be our Christmas present to each other (to help with the budget concerns). We take turns on the treadmill in the evening, and I sometimes try to get up and do it in the morning (4:30, but sometimes that's the only option). DVD's work too. And when the week is too busy to work out much, I MAKE SURE I do it both days on the weekend. As for food, good or bad, I eat frozen Healthy Choice/Lean Cuisine, etc. meals when I just don't have time to cook (plus, hubby is picky).

I guess for me the answer is that sure, not doing these things was easier, but that's why I'm fat. And I don't want to be this fat anymore, so that means doing things that aren't easy...even when I don't want to or it seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Good luck

I'm a mom of 2 kids (ages 3 and 2) and I work more than full time. I wake up between 4 and 4:30 everyday to workout, then I bathe, then I get the kids up and ready and we're out the door by around 7 am. My morning workouts are currently INSANITY workouts; I think we'll try p90x next. However, I'm also going to begin training for a marathon in January and I'll be running outside in the dark a lot. Personally, I'm better off trying to get to bed early and working out in the morning - when I try to workout at night, I have zero energy and motivation!

I do as much as I can the night before - like pack my lunch for work, pick out clothes for everyone to wear, etc.

Jillian Michaels...she means business! I recommend her work out videos, they are pretty cheap on Amazon but I've heard a few people on here say she's on you tube too.

Good luck, you can do it!

I'm struggling with how to make this work for me. For budget reasons, we cancelled our gym membership a few months ago. Now that it gets dark so early, there's not time to get outside during the week. I have a young daughter and it's hard to see how I have time to exercise, and some days even cook between work and picking her up from daycare and getting shopping/cleaning done. I have a supportive husband who needs to lose weight too, but we usually don't have time to even sit down until after 8 pm each night.
We need to find good work outs that can be done at home, inside for the winter... any ideas? How do you all make it work?

"but we usually don't have time to even sit down until after 8 pm each night."

Work out after 8pm. That's usually what my husband and I do. What we use:

Elliptical (in the living room, picked up on Craigslist for $20)
Weights (bench & bar, in the dining room, picked up out of the PennySaver for $75)
Workout videos (On Demand, Netflix, Bodyrock.tv, elsewhere on the web)

You have to first ban ALL EXCUSES! If you believe that your body deserves the time and effort you put into everything else in your lfie than you will find the time. Working out at home is simple, try and find a routine that you and your husband can do together - makes it a lot more motivating and can be really fun! If you've got a laptop simply do a youtube search for whatever your in the mood for and bam I'm sure you could find an quick & easy workout then find a bit of space in your house, set your laptop where you can see and have at er!