I seem to be doing ok without any major heavy lifting. I have upped my protein levels and I do use a kettle bell for a 10 to 15 minute workout about 2-3 times week but that's the only lifting I do. I got my kettle bell really cheap at a supermarket and use youtube to find kettlebell exercises for beginners so maybe that could be an option for you.

You can try fitnessblender.com and bodybuilding.com. They have some good exercise you can do using your own body weight. In a pinch I have used a gallon of milk or my laundry detergent as a weight. Also there are some good ideas of exercise to use with your canned vegetables on the internet. A resistance band can be helpful too and cost very little. There are lots of great workouts you can do at home and with things you have in your home. Lifting is not required but highly recommended.

Get bags of flour, put them in another bag. Lift! Haha. Get creative. Also, bodyweight exercises for the win!

Before I bought my weights, I used maxcapacitytraining.com (all bodyweight exercises, but pretty intense) for 12 weeks and it was pretty awesome. :glasses: There's even a FREE app that you can use to help time yourself and record your workouts! Just another suggestion.

I'd suggest strongly that during this time while metabolism is rising to match the level you are eating at, meaning you are eating in surplus for some period of time, you do some great strength training. If doing cardio, you are only burning calories for mechanical movement, it needs no improvement to use the extra calories.

Excess doesn't have to go just to fat, if doing good lifting, it'll go towards muscle mass too, once you've used what you got to capacity anyway, so get there fast.

I'd even suggest skipping cardio beyond walking on non-lifting days, lift 3 x weekly, and lower your TDEE level to Moderately Active rounded down to nearest 100. I'd normally say Lightly Active rounded up, but your are busy with kids already and that raises you up a level.
That should help in eating less too, but still correct for activity.

Several great suggestions have been given, here's another.
Just make the body weight exercises, or with additional weight's around the house, like lifting.
Sets, reps, and rests, to almost failure of good form on last couple reps of last set. Don't make it cardio circuit training, difference response from the body to improve.
Up to about 15 reps max, 3 - 5 sets if needed.

So for you, normal pushups on toes could be failure doing 3 x 8 - that's great, don't do your knees to make it longer.
Pullups could be 5 x 2 perhaps - that's great.
Horizontal pullups may be 5 x 5 - just fine.

Of course lower body is your biggest muscles and biggest calorie burners, and need the most weight to create a load.
1 legged squats may create that failure on lower reps for quads and glutes.
Straight-leg deadlifts with those detergent boxes or milk jugs, ect may get you the same thing for the hamstrings.
May have a bench good enough for step-ups with additional weight for glutes.
Upright row and shoulder press with that extra weight is usually easy to hit failure for a while. Before moving to body weight moves for shoulders.
Bent-over row one-armed for upper back is great too.

So use this, point to body part, biggest muscles first (lower body glutes, quads, hams), then upper (back, chest, traps, shoulders), then core.
Look at the section for body weight exercises, see the form. Maybe look at dumbbell lifts too if you can sub those weighty things around the house. Do the compound moves first, not the isolation lifts unless you just can't hit failure on the compound moves in 15 reps and 5 sets.

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