Home Daycare Providers w/ your own home? OR SAHM's?

30togomoveit
30togomoveit Posts: 116 Member
edited September 25 in Motivation and Support
Opps..the title should read: with your OWN KIDS @ home.

Hey everyone.

I am a home daycare provider and basically a SAHM too except I get paid for the kids I watch.

I have a 10 yr old boy and twins 5 yr old B/G that will start school in the Fall...WHOOO HOOOO! ;)

We alllllll (the twins and I) need a break from each other (they need one from each other too).

If you are either a SAHM or a home daycare provider, or both, did you find your weight loss was tough when the kids were under school age? Some days I don't know how we make it thru the day and stay sane! Other days I do well w/ tracking my foods and staying on track. I go to the gym after kids leave and sometimes bring the twins with me. BUT..I have been the same weight for 3 yrs now and I want to lose another 25-30 lbs! I am finding it very tough b/c of stress!

I am really hoping that once they start school...my day will get that much easier b/c as we all know, our own kids are the worst behaved for US (thank goodness they are better w/ others and out in public).

Thanks for reading and replying if you do! ;)

Replies

  • lesliemk
    lesliemk Posts: 382 Member
    It's not easy, right?! And I only have my two girls home with me. I couldn't imagine preparing all my meals or always easily getting my workout in at naptime with more children to manage. I'd probably do a lot of running around during the day though! :D

    But seriously, my best advice is to just lay it out. Map our your day, schedule your workouts and maybe even put your meals in MFP ahead of time so you know exactly what the day looks like. Honestly, my off days are usually days where I don't log until after I eat or log at the end of the day, but I try to make that very infrequently. You can do it!
  • NicolCook
    NicolCook Posts: 489 Member
    I am both! I have to do my workouts early in the morning before my kiddos show up, and while my own is still sleeping. It is very hard to always get things just right when so busy. The days that I can't get in an early morning workout, I do it while all the kids are down for their nap. Will be harder soon when I get my new infant, but I will make it work. I find it very important to take care of number 1 (me)!! I am down now, to the weight I was when I got pregnant with my son 10 years ago, and plan to go further. I have lost 33lbs 6 months!
  • alliecore
    alliecore Posts: 446 Member
    Your oldest is a bit older than mine, but I have been a SAHM for almost 7 years now, and yeah, it was tough when my 2 oldest were small. They are 12 months and 1 day apart, and when they were babies I used to workout at either 11:00 at night, or at like 5:00 in the morning. Now that they are both in school, and we have moved to an area where my gym has childcare, I can take my 2 year old to the gym with me and get a reasonable morning workout in.

    Honestly it just takes committment no matter which stage of the game we're at! My husband's work takes him away from home overnight a LOT, and 2-3 nights a week I end up running on the treadmill at like 10:00. Some days it takes all my willpower to get started, but in the end it saves my sanity! Lol
  • JenWorthen3
    JenWorthen3 Posts: 64 Member
    I'm a SAHM to four kids. 9, 6, 3, and 19m. I'm working hard to lose a grand total of about 40 lbs. My kids are pretty on board with it as long as I include them in it. I've been trying to do lots of protein things (like protein shakes and bars and tons of nuts) and my kids love it. They keep reading everything to tell me just how much protein is in everything we eat. The only reason they're good with it is because I try to include them in EVERYTHING. And as for exercise, include them in it as much as possible. Take them to the park and play soccer with them. Chase them in a great game of freeze tag. Invite their friends along with you and play freeze tag or Red Rover. When there's snow, take them sledding. You burn MEGA calories playing in the snow. Even taking them on a walk through a farm or the zoo burns calories, too. A few weeks ago, I started taking my kids for walks around the block. Since your kids are older, you could do foot races around the block and I bet they'd love it. They'll complain for the first few minutes, but make it a game and they'll love it. Give a non-food prize to the winner of the foot race and challenge those that don't win to win next time.

    Good luck and keep with it! It is possible with kids and they tend to enjoy it more than we give them credit. Oh, and getting them outside as much as possible helps with the constant fighting, too. Send them on a nature walk while you do laps around a field. Then they get some space and some exercise.
  • alliecore
    alliecore Posts: 446 Member
    Sorry didn't mean to double post. :)
  • 30togomoveit
    30togomoveit Posts: 116 Member
    I would ♥♥♥ to get my workouts in (or at least a Pilates video in the am and still go to the gym in the PM) but I can't seem to get out of bed early enough. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself thinking it has to be 5 days. Maybe I need to do baby steps and just do 1 day, then add another after a few weeks. I guess I will give that a try (b/c I do want to add in more activity to up my routine).

    I do the BEST when I track ahead of time. Last night I tracked my bfast and dinner but "on the cuff" I tracked my lunch right after I ate it. I still did ok w/ doing that. But I really stay on track better when my whole day is mapped out!

    Thanks for the suggestions!
  • SassyStef
    SassyStef Posts: 413
    I have a 2 year old and I keep my friends daughter who is 3 four days a week.
    It can be super hard, but I either get up early and work out or do the nap time work outs lol if I get up early then I nap when they nap lol
    I dont feed they any thing I wont eat, we eat a lot of fruits and veggies and I cook all meals during the day.
    I have to do a lot of planning for the week but it works.
    It is exhausting and some times I dont know how I made it through my day. I have recently added some protein shakes and bars to my own meal plan because I would totally forget to pack me something to eat when we go out for the day so those have really helped me fill in some gaps with my own nutrition.
    Best of luck to you!!
  • 30togomoveit
    30togomoveit Posts: 116 Member
    I feel like I make way too many excuses on weekends b/c I don't fit activity in. If I can fit it in during the week (when I'm more busy), then I can do it during the weekends! Sometimes it's plain laziness and I hate admitting that! Sometimes, I am my own worse enemy! UGH!
  • 30togomoveit
    30togomoveit Posts: 116 Member
    Jen W..thank you for all the great ideas! ;)
  • MelissaG36
    MelissaG36 Posts: 38
    I'm a SAHM with only 2 left at home til fall :O) My oldest, Zoe has Autism we've always did everything on a schedule. Once she went to school full time, we kinda stuck to the same routine. The boys know exactly when lunch, snack, etc... is! As long as we stay on a routine I can drop the weight. But October of 2009 I became an Organizer of a SAHMoms group, which I had joined in April. The group was basically dead, the former organizers were to busy to do anything with it. So when I took over we went from having an average of 4 playdates a month to at least 7 a week, sometimes with more than one playdate a day. I blame the group (even though I love it so much) for the regaining of all my weight. There was just so many playdates for all ages, moms night out/ins, always food around... rather it was snacks or dinners out. I recently resigned & passed the group onto my co-organizer since we are being transferred :O(
    My main problem with my weight is not that I eat to much, its that I stay so busy during the day that I forget to eat then by dinner time Im starving & can eat as much as my husband that can eat anything & not gain anything :O/
    I do still have two youngins at home, we have a schedule of eating breakfast, lunch, a snack when sissy gets home, dinner & then I love to snack at night (so I reserve calories for that) & So far it seems to be working.
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