Working moms, how do you make time???

I am a child care provider & foster parent. It's been best for me to workout during the children's nap time. If that ever fails, I'd get up an hour earlier in the morning!

I usually have an extra hour in the morning after my kids go to school and I do it then. I also go bkie riding or walking with my kids in the evening and they love it.

When mine were little I had to go to a morning class before work. Hard to get up early but it worked.

PS: Then I volunteered to lead a class at my work's fitness center at lunch a couple days a week - then I had to go.

im lucky i work part time, so not a major problem for me, and my youngest likes 2 come walking with me anyway, on work days i do mine when i gt home

I get up an hour earlier in the mornings. My alarm goes off at 4:45 and I am up by 5:00. The first 2-3 weeks were real hard, but then it became routine and now it's easy. Good luck.

I try to push myself to workout after the kids are in bed even when I feel exhausted. I don't always want to and want to quit a first but after the workout is complete I am so glad I did it. Nothing feels better than a warm shower and cozy bed after working my muscles like crazy.
Also, try playing ball with your kids, racing your kids, riding bikes. All these burn calories, are lots of fun, and your spending time with your kids. A lot of people do the kinects or whatever it is called on the xbox.

I totally understand how you're feeling. This morning was the first morning that I set the alarm...it went off and my little motivation angel convinced me to get up instead of sleeping until time to get up for the work/school schedule. If you can motivate yourself to get to work out in the morning that would be great. Other days my kids and I make family trips in the evenings to the gym as well as weekends.

I know where you're coming from even though i only have one child, but as soon as i put her to bed in the evening i make myself workout. I find it helps me sleep better.

I feel like a bit of a cheat posting, as I only work very sporadically, but the boot camp circuits class I do on Wednesday nights is full of mothers, and we bring our children along, either they follow us around (the quiet ones), or we shut them in the room next to the hall we are in, where they can watch through the window.

Mine always escape and try to join in, they love it.

I am a mother of 4 and I tend to work out early in the morning, I used to hit the snooze button myself but I took a full body picuture and put it on my alarm clock so when I hit Snooze that is the first thing I see. That is motivaiton enough for me.

This is a wonderful idea! Thanks! :drinker:

I'm on the same boat... totally feel guilty taking time to exercise and if I have them take a nap then they want to be awake all night! HELP!

OP, I could have written your post!!

I'm a teacher at a middle school, so I try to do a workout during my planning time, and then I take home my work...it's easier to do that on the couch when the kids go to bed than try and fit in a workout. If it's nice, I'll go for a walk...

I'd love to get get up early, but I just can't do it! Good luck to you!

I hear ya, I do. No easy answers
I work full time too and have 2 girls. I was working out right after work, headed straight for the gym. But this last couple of weeks I've been going before work. It means I do have to get up a bit earlier, my workouts are shortened by 15 minutes so I also have to work harder, and I have to be a bit more organized so that I can just come home from the gym, shower and get ready for work. But I have to say it's worth it, and it's nice to have my evenings back. There are lots of days when i so would rather sleep longer, but I want the weightloss even more

good luck, you can do it! Hope you find something that works great for you.

I hate mornings too. I won't get up and work out before work, it sounds like a good idea, but come 5am, It's a no go for me. Not only am I a working mom, but I am a single working mom that puts in 50+ hours/5 1/2 days a week. Sometimes I find it hard to fit in a load of laundry, the grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning etc etc. I know exactly how it feels to be spead so thin and taking time away from my son is not an option. I signed up for the gym, but after being gone 12 hours a day, I couldn't put him in the gym daycare for another hour, it just broke my heart. I go for a long walk during my lunch hour and go for a family bike ride after work. I also do 30 day shred, it's only 20 minutes, I do gardening in the backyard and he loves to help me, he does the wii fit or zumba with me too. If I don't get a lot of exercise in, I don't beat myself up over it, I can only do so much and some days, I just choose to build a legos house instead of working out.

I was asking the exact same question a few weeks ago, and making every excuse under the sun to NOT wake up early to exercise. Once I accepted that it's the only time I can realistically squeeze it into my day, I just have to decide to do it. It's always a choice, and I admit, I don't always follow through on the plan, but I'm getting it done at least 2x/week, and trying to get to 3.

You CAN make it work, whatever plan you decide you follow.