Working Moms - How do you do it?

The way I do it is sit down weekly on the weekends. Planning is essential when you are a mom. Meal plan, which will help you create your grocery list along with Saving you money. Get a planner and write in all appointments, think of the things in your cleaning routine that are most important. Make a cleaning schedule if you have to so that you only clean one or two things each day. While you are in your planner you need to do a workout schedule and block out that specific time for exercise. Figure out what times are best for you. Aim to workout at least 3 times per week to start. It may be hard for you, however it is not impossible and no one can push you to get in shape or eat healthy but you in the end.

Remember, the only requirement for weight loss is a caloric deficit. BUT, it wouldn't hurt (helps the deficit), to strap the baby into a stroller and go.

All good advice!
Like a poster said above, plan it out in advance. Be realistic.
1)Start with your food. You are not air ferns so I would imagine someone is buying some sort of groceries. Make yourself a bullet proof breakfast, lunch & one snack shopping plan to start for your 5 work days. Thats about 50% of the weeks eating! You can work on dinners next...
2)Do you take a lunch break at work? If you don't now is the time to start. It's called taking care of yourself, and you won't be a very effective mother unless you learn this. Do you pump at lunch? If you do, put your feet up and relax... If you don't, bring comfortable shoes and take a short walk for your own mental & physical health. Avoid kvetching with coworkers about how sleep deprived/ fat/lonely etc you feel. That just adds drama you don't need to this time. Cultivate some quiet in your mind when you have the chance.
3)How close is the nearest gym? Does it offer daycare? Can you afford a membership for just you? You say your husband has a crazy schedule that keeps him away all hours. I hope those hours translate into saving lives, winning torts, or grading papers because if he's enjoying hours of surf or golf or beer pong like a guy without a new baby NOW is when you need to reassert the shared nature of this whole parenting experiment. If he's doing his best, you've got to do for yourself. You can. Try to make one gym date a week and hold yourself to it. Use the day care. Hell, sit in the sauna & cry a little if you want. Just make one little date with yourself. You can build on that!
4) Where is your nearest park? Go there with your baby on foot this weekend. Watch the other children playing. You will be amazed how fast this baby reaches an age where it too will want to play there. Walk there. Walk around. Do a few lunges or deep knee bends. Smile at a few other slightly disheveled new mothers.
5) know that you've got this! Just add a new healthy practice or routine every week or so. Know there will be weeks where the best laid plans get blown out (literally blown out) by projectile vomiting or teething or in laws. Dust yourself off. Start again.

All of the above is great advice. I'd also suggest sitting down with your husband and figuring out how you guys can share the load a bit more. Surely he gets some time off each week? Put together a list of what needs to be done and have him pick some chores that will fit into his schedule.

Oh girl I understand! Here is what helped me lose weight while balancing kids and work:

- walk a lot. I don't mean formal exercise (although I do that when I can). I mean fit in small walk breaks throughout the work day. Every time I used the bathroom I tacked on a few minutes to loop around the building. I walked at lunch. I also marched in place all the time at home. While washing dishes, folding laundry, cooking, etc. it really adds up.

- I agree with the planning and prepping advice above. Also, I would cook dinner the night before. After baby goes to sleep. Yes it sucks to tack on another 30 minutes of work but you can do it in peace and quiet and really think about what and how much you should include and then enjoy it as soon as you get home and reheat it the next day.

- OR say hell with dinner. I don't mean don't eat. But just downgrade it's importance. Treat it like breakfast and lunch: scramble some eggs or make a turkey sandwich and call it a day. It may not be your time to do a lot of cooking and that's ok! This will change.

- take advantage of weekends and get active.

I agree with most of the previous posts about planning. Another thing to try is pressure cooker meals. Also, try to get the baby on a schedule/routine (at least at home). I know that it can be hard to do when in daycare. If you can do this...it will give you time to get a plan for working out, cooking and cleaning. Someone in the household needs to be on some type of schedule/routine (you and your husband are "out"). The demands on your time will not lessen in the near future. You have to take care of you!

I would forget the gym for now. Take the baby on a walk. I you truly can't organize and plan just Eat less of what you are already eating. The walking is even optional for weight loss. My mom always would meal prep on one day and then freeze extra meals or have them ready on the fridge depending on how much she made.

If your baby is a rubbish napper get her in the pram/pushchair and get yourself out for walks at weekends. My eldest was a nightmare for naps, he just wouldn't settle at all in the day and he only slept if held or in his car seat. So I put the car seat on the pram and walked for three miles with him every single day until I went back to work.

I can't offer much advice, just sympathise with you. I lost all my baby weight quickly after my first, the walks helped! But when I went back to working full time shifts when he was six months old, I put it all back on very quickly. I then fell pregnant again when he was 18 months. My youngest was born in May and I'm under my pre pregnancy weight with him but I still have a stone to lose to get back to where I was before my eldest.

I have changed jobs so will be working part time evenings when I go back next month. I cannot begin to describe the difference this will have on our lives as family and my own life having time to focus on my own goals. Working full time with children is tough! It will get easier with time though. It's just about doing what you can during this time. Cooking etc will also start to become more of a priority too once your baby starts on solids and can eat what you eat. I eat the same meals as my toddler now, which is brilliant for portion control.

Losing weight when you have a baby and work is tough, kudos to you for even being able to think about it, honestly! I've been there, mine are older now and its easier but I can relate to what you write. 20lbs in 8 months is doable in normal circumstances BUT the first year with a new baby taxes you in ways you could never imagine until you experience it. Here's my tips that I learned over time, hope it helps.

• Set *two* weightloss goals, A and B. Goal A is not to gain any more weight, goal B is to lose 20lbs by June. Aim for goal A to start with, and losing will be a bonus because you are really under the pump at the moment and you need to allow for that (for your sanity!). Its nice to look good in wedding photos but its a family wedding, they would rather see you happy than thin.
• Your best bet is to work exercise around the baby, so walking with a stroller or exercising at home while she sleeps (youtube clips are great). Aim for twice a week, make it easy. Gym is hard because it involves getting changed, getting there, showering afterward and driving home again. A 30 minute workout can take 180 minutes of your day. Too hard. A fast 30 minute walk out your door, around the streets and home again takes 30 minutes and burns the same amount of calories.
• Crock pot/slow cooker - find recipes you like and fill that thing up, then freeze the leftovers in portions to use on weeknights (cook once, make 6 meals). I cook spaghetti bolognaise, chicken casserole, chicken curry, and we have beans on toast one night a week. You can add veggies when you thaw it out, or some veggies freeze well (carrots, mushrooms come to mind)
• Don't worry about weighing or measuring, use a medium size plate, or eat dinner from a breakfast bowl which should hold a reasonable serve.
• Try not to eat junk/sugary stuff to keep you going
• keep maximising your sleep like you are doing.
• be kind to yourself, you have a lot on your plate, and you are still recovering and adjusting

Great advice so far. I'd add find small ways to start simplifying your life. Your meals don't have to be fancy or company worthy - bake chicken breasts, steam rice and green beans. You have a quick easy dinner.

Try to find ways to streamline your morning routine... Program your coffee maker, eat a simple breakfast (cereal and milk), can you shower the night before?, wear your hair pulled back or in a bun, simplify your makeup, etc.

Can you hire a cleaning lady? When I was working full-time with a little baby, it was the best $100 a month I spent.

Finally, accept that it's ok to say no to things.

Lots of good advice here. If the gym is too much right now cancel it, or accept you are not going for now. Try and get out for some walks with the little on at the weekend.
Food wise, keep it simple. Nothing wrong with microwaved jacket potato, chicken and frozen veg. When we got our daughter I lived for weeks on pasta sauce ( home made in large batches and frozen) and roasted or stir fried veggies and jacked potato or mash (sometimes instant). Think of things you can make that will do for 2 night. Slow cookers are fab. It might not always be the most exciting fare but it's nutritious and minimum prep. It feels like hard work to do the prep but believe me it's worth it. I know I feel much better than I did when I had my son and I think I survived on oven chips and pizza.

My youngest son is a year old, and I am just now feeling like I have it together enough to work on my weight loss. Hang in there.

I have found that my eating routine is boring, and I like it that way. I found frozen breakfast sandwiches that are 150 calories each, and take one minute to warm in the microwave. Some days, I nuke them on my way out the door and eat in my car. I also eat boring stuff for lunch. I eat tons of turkey sandwiches and pretzels or baked chips. I also eat a lot of frozen meals. I know the frozen meals aren't ideal because of their high sodium content, but they will get me through the evening if I don't feel like cooking. You will find something that works for you if you stick with it.

Take it easy on yourself, and enjoy your baby. Being a mom is hard. She will be a teenager before you know it

Cut yourself some slack.

You are a superhero. Superwoman. Superworker. Supermom. Superwife.

Moms can basically add super in front of everything they do.

Don't cut your already too small sleep time to exercise. Watch the calories you eat and stay at a deficit. The exercise is nice for toning, but honestly you will lose just fine without it. I am doing just that. Now I am kind of squishy and the skin is a little loose, but holy heck who cares? When that baby of yours grows and gets a bit more crawly toddling around you will get the best arm and leg workouts EVER. YOU WON'T NEED THE GYM but you will always be on the move with the little one. And that will happen soon soon soon as they get into things constantly. And playtime. And ball time. Even with tummy time you could with baby and sneak in some crunches and supermans. Workout? Moms have a built in personal trainer

Please be kind to yourself. We tend to want everything all at once, and it just isn't humanly possible to have it all. The activity will come with that little one The weight loss can happen with healthy eating and calorie counting. OF COURSE you are exhausted with all you can do. Ask for help when you need it. Do you have a friend or coworker that could come over once a week and give you an afternoon or evening off? Time for you to....I have no idea. Get a manicure, take a bath, scrub the floors, whatever is on your list that drives you bananas you can't get to? I know it sounds silly...but there are lots of us that don't have children that would love to be helpful. Even if they did something like bring dinner over? Or came over for coffee or wine and just helped you by holding your precious little one?

I tend to double all my recipes and freeze half. That way there is always a full meal in the freezer. I can pull it out, put it on the counter or in the fridge, and it will be ready the next day. I also love the crockpot. I prep everything the night before, and in the morning can put in on low and plug it in. By dinner time I have a huge batch of whatever I made. I take half and freeze it. I make my oatmeal in the crockpot overnight and do the week's worth. Seriously my mom got me a crockpot when I was 20 and everyone made fun of me. At 25 I was a crockpot junkie. At 27 my roommates loved me because dinner was ready right after work and enough tasty healthy food for an army! At 33 with chronic illness it is a godsend because I can't physically stand and cook all too much.

The stuff that isn't frozen goes into tupperware in individual servings. So I know how many calories plus I can just grab it. I forget the user's name, but there is a mom on the forums that preps the most fantastic freezer meals...and I think she does a whole month at a time. I know she does at least a week. She puts my freezer game to shame. And her stuff is healthy and REALLY tasty. Take a look and see if you can find her or freezer meal ideas. She has lots of premade stuff ready to grab and go...and it is borderline gourmet and super easy to do. Sorry I don't remember the user.

Another thought if you really are dragging and not making it through the day and super stressed etc etc would be to go to the doctor to get checked out. Your body has (obviously) gone through so many changes and there are many things physically that could be happening to cause the fatigue. Supermoms need to take care of themselves so they are there to do the gazillion supermom things no other mere human could do!

And, although it is none of my business, but I was raised in a house where the person who did the cooking does NOT do the cleanup. Maybe hubby can help with the dishes if you do the dinner? Baby can sit in the kitchen while dishes are being washed just fine.....my two cents but you sound like you could benefit from a little more help

I'm not great in a morning so get as much ready possible to get an extra 10 mins in bed. Pack ups are all made the night before. On days when I am working a long day (some days we have 50 mins in the house before I take son out for his activity) the slow cooking meal is ready to go, just needs turning on. The cafetiere is clean and ready to go, breakfast bowls out ready. I know I need to eat my breakfast however rushed because I'll feel rubbish later. I have weetabix, so it's very simple, and I always have a cereal bar in my bag just in case I miss out. The other thing I know I used to do was not drinking enough, and that made me feel very sluggish, so try and make sure you are hydrated.
Be gentle with yourself - you are doing an amazing job!

I am not a mother so I cant say I know how you feel. But it seems like the only solution is to make time in the evening by cutting down time spent on making dinner. Make freezer meals, look into a crockpot or something similar.. Anything that will cut down on time spent cooking each day. Also maybe start using plastic plates and utensils so that there is no need for doing dishes.
Or maybe you are able to join a gym on your lunch break ?