Questions for moms with young babies...

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What time do you work out?!

I'm reading on the forum and so many people are getting up any time between 3am - 6am to work out...I have a 10 months old baby, I'm trying to get sleep any chance I get so it's very unlikely for me to get up between those hours to work out when I've probably only just went back to sleep after nursing...

When do you new mommies find the time to work out?? And how to fit that as well as eating 5 meals a day?!

Thank you for any replies...

Replies

  • gel91
    gel91 Posts: 309
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    My son isn't so little now, so I don't have the time too, when he was younger I would do it during his afternoon nap, now I just try get the odd walk in & do alot of chasing him around! But as for a routine I guess I could when he was eating lunch? Or late at night time!
    Any of that work for you?
  • marta330
    marta330 Posts: 14 Member
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    the only time i get to workout is when she is taking her naps. first one for the day works for me, ie between 9-10am. id love to work out once i woke up but its not possible. ill have something small to eat, workout, then have brekky. oh and i workout at home. not a fan of gyms.
  • Maidofmer
    Maidofmer Posts: 908 Member
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    I was outta work when I had my baby, but when my husband got home about 6.30 pm, i'd leave at 7 to sometimes 12 am
  • rosieg1979
    rosieg1979 Posts: 99 Member
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    I used to put her in the sling and go for a long walk - this was pretty much my only opportunity for exercise...
  • niknak2308
    niknak2308 Posts: 315 Member
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    Normally I'd have to wait until after the dinner and bedtime routine. Which normally made it around 9/10pm depending on how the evening was going. There was never any fear of me getting up in the early hours - despite all best intentions I was usually up til 12am finishing chores from the day eg hanging up washing etc, and knowing that my little one was going to have me up at 4am for a night feed there was no chance I wouldn't be sleeping in in the morning for as long as possible!!

    It is hard, but I just tried to fit in a 20mins Jillian DVD each night and it seemed to work out ok. Oh and walking a million miles as I could strap the kids in the buggy and walk forever with them - that often burned far more than the workouts!
  • OnMyWay2STay
    OnMyWay2STay Posts: 144 Member
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    My little boy has been waking around 5 a.m. to eat lately. I feed him and put him back to bed and then go work out. I'm not gone right now because I just gave up on him sleeping and let him play on the floor. I'll probably take him and his big brother for a stroller ride later.
    Also, you could try to find an exercise group with moms in your area. Trade babysitting for a chance to work out.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    I have a 8 week old. During the day, I put her in the stroller and take her for a walk. My husband comes home at 5 or 5:30pm and he watches her while I take off for a couple hours to the gym. He enjoys it because he also gets bonding time with her. I just have some extra milk pumped so he can feed her if I don't get home in time. If he feeds her, I pump when I get home so he has it for the following gym day.. if not, I feed her before jumping in the shower.
  • alysia9531
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    I have a 3 year old and a 14 month old! My 14 month old still wakes at night so any sleep I can get I take! I just joined the gym so I will be going at night when my husband gets home from work! Otherwise I wouldn't work out! I can always think of other things that need to get done and push off working out!
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    My baby is three months old. I take him out for walks when it's not raining. I get exercise and he gets fresh air. Win win.

    I go to Zumba twice a week. My husband has "Boys Time" with the baby. It's important for me to get out of the house on my own sometimes, and the exercise is good for the body and mind. My husband says I am happier on days that I Zumba, plus my butt is looking good these days, so he's more than happy to make it so I can go.

    I couldn't wake up at 3am. I'm still a mommy zombie at that time.
  • RBXChas
    RBXChas Posts: 2,708 Member
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    When my son was about 7 months old my sister and I started Couch to 5K in our neighborhood. I got up at 5:45AM to be dressed and at her house at 6, and each workout was 30 minutes long. I would come home and either attend to the baby, if he was up, or shower. (I would shower after attending to the baby if I could, though admittedly I would sometimes be gross until he napped.)

    My husband was on duty if the world ended during the hour or so that I was busy.

    We did this 5-6 days/week (we did each C25K workout twice, usually).

    You just have to force yourself to do something either early or late, no matter how painful that is, when someone else can be "on call." A 30-minute run isn't very long, and you can do it right outside!

    Best wishes!

    ETA that when my son was 9 months old I started doing a regular Spinning class on Saturday mornings, and my husband got one-on-one time with our son. I added in a couple of 6AM classes later and one 7PM class after he got home from work. That is a 2-hour endeavor, though, since it's not super close, so running was the easiest and most efficient option.

    Also, I never mastered running with the jogging stroller.

    Additionally, by the time my son was 3 months old, he was exclusively formula-fed. That helped because I wasn't necessary for feedings. Can you pump some so that someone else can give your baby a bottle?
  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    Why not do some exercises WITH your baby?

    you can do squats, side lunges, and crunches while you're holding him/her.
    planks while you watch them play on the floor. you can both get your 'tummy'' time.
    planks take just a few mins a day, or less when it's your first time.

    if you have any dumb bells or resistance bands you can use those while he/he is in the swing/bouncy seat.
  • petithamu
    petithamu Posts: 582 Member
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    Thanks ladies!

    When my baby was under 6 months old, I was able to work out regularly at home as she took really long naps. I did a round of 30 Day Shred and then a round of Ripped in 30. I started doing C25K then I hurt my back so I took 2 months off to heal. During this time my baby grew and started to nap less and she won't sit in her bouncer anymore. She used to if I worked out when she was awake. Not anymore! Now she just screams till I pick her up...

    I'm starting Insanity on Monday and following the nutrition plan which requires me to eat 5 meals a day. I'm just struggling to figure out what time to work out, what time to eat...ahhh...it's stressing me out a bit...I might have to bite the bullet and become one of the early risers...

    Good luck to you moms. It is so difficult to do this...and we are so kicking *kitten* by keeping it up!
  • tinanana7
    tinanana7 Posts: 53 Member
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    I am a mommy to a 2 1/2 year old and a 6 months old (still doesnt STTN) so I feel your pain when it comes to the lack of sleep and finding time to work out. I also work 3-4 days weeks with an hour + long commute each way so that makes it challenging as well. I am not amorning person so the 3-6 am things was pretty much out for me.

    I started MFP about 4 months ago looking to lost the last 20-30 lbs of pregnancy weight and basically had to use a combination of things.

    Somedays I worked out at home while the kids were napping (either zumba dvds or some turbofire dvds since those are the ones I enjoyed most)
    Other days I would go to the gym and either have my husband watch the kids or use the daycare there. The daycare at the gym has been a llifesaver but not sure if that is an option for you. Do you have anyone who can maybe babysit for cheap and watch your baby while you work out? It would get expensive to do this regularly but maybe combined with working out during naps, working out with the baby (i.e. walks) that could be something you could add as an option.

    There were days when I couldn't get my workout in until 8 or 9 at night once I got the kids down but I was determined and made sure to do it. The support from MFP friends really helped too. Seeing other people log their exercise really helped keep my motivation up.

    As for nutrition plans. I didn't follow any one nutrition plan, I just tried to eat really healthy and really clean and stay within my calorie budget. I did try to semi-plan some of my meals in advance using various recipe websites (skinnytaste, emilybites) as well as meal planning program I subscribe to (the six o clock scramble). I also try to keep things really simple on a day to day basis to make things easy. So my breakfast is pretty much the same every day, lunch will be leftovers many times and dinner whatever I decide to make. Snacks are usually something easy like yogurt with fruit, cottage cheese, avocado on toast, cucumbers with hummus etc. Having stuff pre-planned or pre-prepped also really helps with the kids. That way I can spend less time thinking about what to make/eat and have a little bit more time to workout.

    Again its not easy, but once you get into the habit of doing it, it gets easier and then it starts to feel weird when you miss a workout. Find something you enjoy (I do zumba for 75% of my exercise), that always makes it easier to stick with your workouts. Feel free to add me if you like and wishing you the best in you health and fitness journey. You can do it!
  • carfamily08
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    I have a 7 month old (and 2 and 3 1/2 year olds too) and started working out a couple months ago. I do it at night after my older two go to bed. Sometimes my youngest will be sleeping when I do, but otherwise my husband just hangs out with her while I do my routines. I'm only doing 20-30 minute Jillian Michael's DVDs right now though :)
  • i workout 6 days a week. I go to the gym drop off all 3 kids in the kidsclub and I GO WORKOUT or teach my class. I get 2 hrs and I use every min of that lol