Working out with having kids

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  • fitmek
    fitmek Posts: 277 Member
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    I have not read all the responses on this thread, but it is something I struggle with as well. I have a 5 month old and a 5 year old--and both are extremely active! Plus, I work full time and my husband and I do our best to keep up with our house---but clutter and piles of crap drive me insane, so usually all my ambition to work out goes out the window after getting home--because I drop everything to make dinner while my hubby is on kiddo duty, (and don't misunderstand...these dinners are not big by any means...just simple and healthy) then he cleans the kitchen while I am on kiddo duty and then I start on laundry and de-cluttering the days messes. By the time I'm done and get a shower, its 11:00---by the time I get to bed its 12:00---and our 5 month old gets up at 6 to eat. So, I can't really get up early to work out because I'm barely getting 6 hrs of sleep as it is. I'm hoping the schedules get a little easier the older our baby gets, but right now, all I have been able to focus on is diet, and on the weekends I make sure I use the treadmill as much as I can. It stinks not being able to give 100% to get the weight off and tone up as fast as you want...but (and I hate this saying) it is what it is. :-/
  • melkhamilton
    melkhamilton Posts: 22
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    I used kids as my excuse for YEARS. (Not saying you're making excuses, just pointing out my situation.) In reality, it's amazingly easy to be active with kids. Swing your baby around (carefully and safely). Take her for walks in her stroller. Sit her on her blanket next to you and do a workout, even a 10-minute one. Get down on the floor and play with her. You'll be moving all day long.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I think dancing is a great suggestion. I only get to the gym on days I'm not working when my hubby can watch the baby. Hopefully you and all the kids could have fun jamming out to some tunes :)

    This ^^ Do exercise with the kids. Play, run, twirl, dance, jump, whatever. Any type of movement is exercise. It shouldn't be too hard to work up a sweat with all those kids.
  • fitmek
    fitmek Posts: 277 Member
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    I used kids as my excuse for YEARS. (Not saying you're making excuses, just pointing out my situation.) In reality, it's amazingly easy to be active with kids. Swing your baby around (carefully and safely). Take her for walks in her stroller. Sit her on her blanket next to you and do a workout, even a 10-minute one. Get down on the floor and play with her. You'll be moving all day long.

    You can do those things....but to me, this is no different than having to run up my 2 flights of stairs about 50 times a day. It burns calories and gets the heart rate up, but it's not going to "tone". I think the OP means she wants to get a real work out in and is trying to find the time. I think all of us moms get 10 minutes here and there, but in the long run, you cant really see much difference just getting those short bursts in from time to time. You know what I mean? :)
  • AMaro215
    AMaro215 Posts: 78 Member
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    Thank you all for your replies! Yea, I would like to get a 30-60 minute workout in 4-5 days a week. I have tried the 10 minutes here 10 minutes there and I just dont feel the burn & intensity like I want. I have a treadmill & Jillians 30ds. I used both 2 yrs ago and within 5 months I lost almost 30lbs with using this site & logging my food. know I can do this again! I just have to get on the right track.

    The daycare kids I watch are 2 months , 10 months, 2 yr old, 2.5 yr old, 3.5 yr old and my 5 month old son. With 3 infants not on the same schedule its very difficult to get an actual treadmill/30ds work out in during nap time. I do already get up & dance with them.

    In the evenings my husband is home so I am able to work out. I have to get the motivation to do so. Caring for 6 kids a day is a long, exhausting job. I have daycare parents say to me all the time " I could never do what you do, how do you do this?" I have been doing this for over 5 years now. I know I can do this I just wish I wasnr so exhausted all the time. With my 5 month old I am only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I finally get to bed around 11:30/12:00, my son wakes around 2:30 & 5:30 to eat, I get up at 6:00 to get ready, first child arrives at 6:50, last child leaves at 5:30. My son was sleeping 6-7 hrs a night without waking up but with the holidays & transitioning him from a rock n play to the pack n play really messed up his schedule. I still cant get him to sleep in his crib without him screaming so he sleeps in the pack n play in our bedroom. Being a first time mom though I like him being in my sight so I probably wouldnt get any sleep if he was in his room in the crib. He has had a cough for 3 months now, we have taken him to the Dr 5 times & they just keep saying its a cold and drainage and it has to run its course. Asthma runs in my family and so does allergies so I am starting to wonder if its caused from one of those. He coughs so bad he sometimes chokes and stops breathing. We have even recorded him & showed the Dr for them to say again its a cold. This is the main reason I want him in my sight at night. The other night if I wasnt there to pick him up when he was coughing,choking and not breathing it may have been a horrible outcome. When I finally got him to breathe just by picking him up he started screaming & crying because it scared him.
    I think If I was getting more sleep this would be much easier

    Also, its almost -25 with wind chill today. Its been a cold winter here so I cant take the kids out or go on a walk with my son in the stroller.
  • mumof5
    mumof5 Posts: 328 Member
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    kids are just an excuse. a really good one, but really just another excuse. when i realised that my life changed. when you make time for you, time that will make you feel better, fitter, healthier, you also find more time for you loved ones.

    I don't think anyone is saying their kids are an excuse not to exercise, it's more of trying to find time to fit in time for you without detracting from your time for them. It's easier if you have a spouse or family member who can help out so you can get the exercise in at a reasonable time, but if you're a single parent or have a spouse who works long hours, time for you basically means less sleep. They say you can't out-exercise a bad diet, but you also can't out-exercise 4 hours of sleep a night.


    FYI....married to a farmer....he comes home when it rains....australia is in drought.....5 kids....no nanny...no family in town...workout on a regular basis...love spending quality time with my kids...no excuses..
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    kids are just an excuse. a really good one, but really just another excuse. when i realised that my life changed. when you make time for you, time that will make you feel better, fitter, healthier, you also find more time for you loved ones.

    I don't think anyone is saying their kids are an excuse not to exercise, it's more of trying to find time to fit

    in time for you without detracting from your time for them. It's easier if you have a spouse or family member who can help out so you can get the exercise in at a reasonable time, but if you're a single parent or have a spouse who works long hours, time for you basically means less sleep. They say you can't out-exercise a bad diet, but you also can't out-exercise 4 hours of sleep a night.


    FYI....married to a farmer....he comes home when it rains....australia is in drought.....5 kids....no nanny...no family in town...workout on a regular basis...love spending quality time with my kids...no excuses..

    MAYBE you don't mean to but it seems like you are putting the OP down for no reason. She didn't SAY kids were an excuse she asked for tips on HOW to squeeze in exercise with kids. You seem to be doing amazingly well with this but you have posted twice on this thread while giving NO tips. Seems kind of mean. Do you find ways to incorporate the kids into the exercise? Do you wake up early? Do you do it after everyone is in bed? With your husband? All we know from your posts so far is that you are doing what the OP is trying to do. Goodie for you if that's your point.
  • cutmd
    cutmd Posts: 1,168 Member
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    In the evenings my husband is home so I am able to work out. I have to get the motivation to do so. Caring for 6 kids a day is a long, exhausting job. I have daycare parents say to me all the time " I could never do what you do, how do you do this?" I have been doing this for over 5 years now. I know I can do this I just wish I wasnr so exhausted all the time. With my 5 month old I am only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I finally get to bed around 11:30/12:00, my son wakes around 2:30 & 5:30 to eat, I get up at 6:00 to get ready, first child arrives at 6:50, last child leaves at 5:30. My son was sleeping 6-7 hrs a night without waking up but with the holidays & transitioning him from a rock n play to the pack n play really messed up his schedule. I still cant get him to sleep in his crib without him screaming so he sleeps in the pack n play in our bedroom. Being a first time mom though I like him being in my sight so I probably wouldnt get any sleep if he was in his room in the crib. He has had a cough for 3 months now, we have taken him to the Dr 5 times & they just keep saying its a cold and drainage and it has to run its course. Asthma runs in my family and so does allergies so I am starting to wonder if its caused from one of those. He coughs so bad he sometimes chokes and stops breathing. We have even recorded him & showed the Dr for them to say again its a cold. This is the main reason I want him in my sight at night. The other night if I wasnt there to pick him up when he was coughing,choking and not breathing it may have been a horrible outcome. When I finally got him to breathe just by picking him up he started screaming & crying because it scared him.
    I think If I was getting more sleep this would be much easier

    Also, its almost -25 with wind chill today. Its been a cold winter here so I cant take the kids out or go on a walk with my son in the stroller.

    What are you doing at night that causes you to stay up so late? It seems like if you could make your nighttime more efficient who could easily incorporate a 30 minute workout AND get more sleep by going to bed a little earlier. Your son may benefit from a little gentle sleep training, make sure you have a good routine and that you are putting him down awake so he knows how to soothe himself to sleep. You may even want to let him cry just a little so he can self-soothe better. You can use a monitor once you move him to his crib for peace of mind. The coughing has been going on for a long time but you do own a daycare. It's early for him to be truly asthmatic. However the apnea (pauses in breathing) you describe may be an issue. Has he been checked for GERD? pertussis? You may want to get a second opinion on the coughing... As for the thought that "something horrible" might have happened if you hadn't picked him up, usually if it were life threatening he would have needed for aggressive stimulation that being picked up to breathe again, but if you perceived it as being that bad you should push your pediatrician or a new one to work him up for an ALTE (apparent life threatening event). Not meaning to digress but it's beginning to sound like your worries about your baby are keeping you from sleeping which is making you more exhausted and less likely to work out so it's all related.

    It really is true that once you force yourself to press play on that dvd and get started your energy levels will be way better than if you hadn't forced exercise on your exhausted body. Focus on doing 30 day shred at least 3 times a week and work up from there. Don't feel like you have to be doing 5+ 30-60 minutes or it's not worthwhile. Baby steps. You'll get there
  • mumof5
    mumof5 Posts: 328 Member
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    good point..sorry i didnt mean to sound grumpy.
    i workout every day when ever i get the chance. i never use my car unless i am travelling more then 10km so the kids and i walk or ride bikes everywhere. (i have a trailer for the smaller ones) i get up early, stay up late, what ever it takes, once you get into the habbit and start to improve your fitness you will have more energy and be able to fit more into your day. its really easy to do it with the kids. run around the yard with them. make up circuits with them. they need fresh air and exercise as well. when breast feeding i would feed the baby into a milk induced coma then go hard in the gym or at home. from a very young age i have said to my kids - this is mummys time. watch me, join in with me, but dont get in my way. I would tell them if they give me an hour i would give them an hour - their choice of activity. They just know now that its part of our day, just like eating breakfast, working out is something we do.

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