Hi there!

My circumstances are a little different, but I can tell you what I did and what I do now. I am a single mom and when my son was little like yours, I was a full time college student and had a full time job. I needed to lose weight so I would do workout videos at home when he was asleep, then I registered for exercise classes at my college during the time that he was already at daycare, just so I could get some more support and motivation. During the summer I would take toys, a blanket, and him with me when I ran around the track at a local school. He would sit and play in the grass with his toys. It wasn't smooth. Everytime I would run one lap I would have to stop and play with him for a bit then around again. Later, I joined a gym with a day care. He loved to go and play, so it all worked out.

Now my son is 10. It gets much easier the older they get, in the fact that they aren't crying for your attention, or getting into things when your back is turned. But the kids get busier, with their own sports and extra curricular activities, which in turn makes you more busy, so you still have to create the time for workouts. I recently purchased T25 and I do it in the morning at 5 before he wakes up. I also encourage him to do it when he is bored. While my son is in his karate class two nights a week I jog at a local school track, I am debating on joining with him, but I am nervous. He has catechism once a week, so I go running while he does that as well. Then on the weekends I try to incorporate some sort of fitness we can do together. The weekend before Last weekend I got with some friends and we all went on a hike. Yesterday my son and I packed a backpack, and walked to our local movie place to drop off some movies. It was 7.7 miles total to and from my house. We were exhausted and are both very sore today, but it is nice because I get to have some bonding time with him while teaching him the importance of exercise.

I have read about a lot of communities doing a mommy exercise group. If you don't have one locally, I bet you could easily start one by posting something on facebook. I had a friend start a walking group not too long ago. Just because he wanted to meet more people and get more motivation. He posted that he was going to start this group and asked all who would be interested to like his status, then the next step was to set up a time and place where they met up, and he told people to invite all of their friends. It turned out to be pretty cool.

Well, even though our lives are a bit different, I hope I helped with some ideas.

Have a great Monday!



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I have a 10 month old and struggled a little with this. What I found works for me is that on the three days a week I pick up my son from daycare we go directly to where I like to run and I put him in a jogging stroller and he goes for a ride while I work on getting up to running a 5k. He really enjoys it, because he loves being outside. After that I go home and we have dinner. I can only make this work for me by cooking on the weekend and reheating during the week. I also take him to a mommy-baby yoga class where we both get to do yoga, and we both love it. I can do some yoga at home with him now too. I have to wait until he goes to sleep to get to do any strength training.

Hi There!
Honestly, I haven't done a lick of exercise since my son was born 4 months ago. Where is the time??? My Husband is a full time student and I have a three year old son as well. I work full time and by the time I get home and get both boys in bed and dinner made etc... all I want to do is veg. I'm also breasfeeding so I'm the one to get up in the middle of the night with the 4 month old. It's exhausting! Plus, I live in Michigan - there is no sign of me coming out of my warm den in the next month at least. Usually I love to walk but not when it's this cold out!
So, I've been focusing on eating healthy instead. I gained 40 pounds with my recent pregnancy and as of this weekend I had about 3 pounds to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 125. At first it was really tough - being on maternity leave during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years didn't help at all! But over the last month I've made it a point to stick to a strict 1500 calorie a day diet (usually it would be 1200 but I've added 300 for breastfeeding) and I try not to go over or under that. I mostly pay attention to my calories but I also try to keep an eye on my sugars as well. I think losing weight (especially baby weight that is put on naturally during a pregnancy) is 90% about what you put into your body in the first place. But that's just my own humble opinion from one busy, tired mom to another!