To all the wives/mommy's out there...HELP!!

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i work full-time also (4-10 hour days) and i have 4 kids at home. i workout in the evenings as soon as i get off work or after the kids are in bed... even if it is past 9. i just have to make myself do it, even if it is only for 25-30 minutes. or if i am feeling extra movitated that day, i'll get up around 5 or 530 and work out in the mornings before anyone in the house is awake.

A lot of good advice on here! I have two kids as well and when they were in the toddler years it was definitely more challenging. At their current ages (8 and 10), it is SO much easier. So take heart, you really just have a couple of harder years left and then it will be much easier to drag them to the store or get them to help with dinner. I have a treadmill and sometimes I still have to run at 10:30 at night (I'm not a morning person), but since they can entertain themselves, I can usually workout in the early evenings.

Here are my best tips:
1. Crock pot - you can cook for two dinners instead of one. This is soooo much easier than a new dinner each night. There are tons of crock pot recipes online.
2. Put on a video or fave tv show for your kid while you workout in the living room. This is a good use of tv as babysitter in my opinion. If you workout hard, you only need 30 minutes. You can do this in the evenings while dinner is cooking and you're waiting for your husband to get home. If getting up extra early works for you, then great, but it doesn't work for me. Also, save long workouts/runs for Sunday since your hubby will be home.
3. Grocery shop only one day a week - sounds like Sunday is your best day. Leave your kiddo at home with your hubby so you can concentrate and get it all done without distractions (like I said earlier, when he's a few years older, it won't be so hard to shop with him).
4. Take your kid to the park and run and jump and play with him. You can do pull-ups on the monkey bars, walking lunges around the playground, play tag or race each other. Good for you and him.
5. Ask for help! If your mom, mother-in-law, sister, best friend, babysitter, neighbor, etc. are available even just one day a week to help you out for an hour or two while you workout or do something relaxing just for you or have a quick date night with hubby then take advantage. My mom lives close and weekly date nights when the kids were like 3 and 5 were something my husband and I really looked forward to. Saved my sanity!! Asking for help is probably the best advice I could give to someone with a young child.
6. Give up the dream of the perfectly clean house. As long as it's reasonable, it's good enough. I let that one go a while ago and it's really fine.

These really are the hardest years, so sometimes you're just not going to get everything done. But anything is better than nothing and we can all find 15-20 minutes to throw a healthy meal together, run a get a couple of groceries or work up a sweat with some jumping jacks, push-ups and squats. Hang in there mommy - you can do it!!!

Totally with ya. My hubby commutes 60 miles each way, and leaves at 5 am, getting home around 6 pm. I work full-time, and this past year I got to juggle my full-time job AND running my daughter to preschool 3 mornings a week, and then to daycare after that. My answer? I got up with my hubby at around 4:30 each morning, which afforded me a few extra kisses before he left for his commute, time for a workout, quiet time, cleaning a room or two, and packing food for myself and daughter for the day before getting her out of bed. I do most of my cooking on Sundays and then freeze stuff and I rely heavily on healthy crockpot meals. That way, when I get home at night I can easily throw in some laundry to wash while we eat, play games, go for a walk, whatever. Then dry and fold while hubby and I watch a show before bed. It's kind of insane, but I think because every minute of my day was coordinated, It all worked. Until, of course, it didn't! And there were days like that. Those days, I just shrugged it off and opened a bottle of wine and got back at it the next day. I'm actually having trouble adjusting now to the less-insane summer schedule! LOL!

You and I sound quite similar. I also work full time with a 3 year old and my husband has a super stressful job and works long hours and most saturdays and sundays. There is no magic potion for how I did it. I stuck with what MFP gave me and I lost the weight. I go to the grocery store every 2 weeks and get what I need for that time frame. I only buy healthy options so throwing something together is not that hard. My husband and I work out 3 nights per week after the little one is in bed. We are doing a weight lifting program at home so we are looking at about 45 minutes to an hour of really heavy lifting and lots of sweating and cursing and begging for it to stop.

Let me give you an idea of our nightly routine. I get off work and pick up son. Come home and cook. Eat. Spend a few minutes with son. Bath time/ bed time starts at 730 and in bed by 8. 3 days per week we work out. After workout I take a shower, get lunches ready for the next day, decide what to have for dinner and put that meat in the fridge. Then I can sit. On the nights we do not work out, it's the same routine minus the workout.

You just have to make up your mind that it is worth it to you. Only you can make that decision.

I have 4 x children and work full time. I get up at 5.30 and do an hour at the gym every week day morning. Why don't you:
Pre cook meals on the weekend and freeze for week days. especially pasta / meat based meals - all you need to do is make salad or veges.
Shop in line and get delivered on a day/time that suits.
Can you afford a house keeper? Even someone to come in for 2 hours a week to clean kitchen/bathrooms/vacuum - what is it worth in terms of your time?
Can you share babysitting with family/friends? If you can get to the gym a couple of mornings a week and a couple of afternoons and a weekend day - there's your work out plan.
Get kids to help you prepare meals / chores.
Hire a treadmill or do a work out DVD after kids have gone to bed.
You can do this - it might be hard and a bit of juggling involved but think how awesome you will feel once you have nailed another work out!

You have to prioritise yourself and include your workout in your daily schedule. I refuse to wake up earlier to exercise since my son is an early riser. We have a pretty rigid bed time routine and I exercise after I've put my son to bed, my husband takes over any wakings while I exercise, should he not settle quickly. I'm not super mum, I regularly get things wrong but even then I always prioritise my time and I include exercise in that time. I don't work out every day - I work out 3 times a week and the other days my time is set aside for crafting or television, and other activities that make me happy It means I don't feel guilty if one night I don't work out as I know I still have so many other days to fit it in to my schedule.

I follow Flylady (flylady.net) for my house work and have a daily schedule, which includes time for me. Housework is up there but nobody will die if I don't hoover or do the dishes one night or whatever - a lot of women put pressure on themselves to have a show home house but it's important to remember that your home is a *working* home, not a show home from a magazine. As long as your basics are done other things will just have to be set on the back burner. A healthy, happy Mama makes for a healthy, happy home / family

I do most of my cooking on the weekends, if at all possible. Or use my crockpot during the week. I make a whole chicken, and that feeds us for a few days.

Instead of buying a gym membership, I bought some workout equipment for home. I got a treadmill, some resistance bands and things like that. This way, I can work out while my son is sleeping.

Definitely, DON'T take your kids with you grocery shopping! Recipe for disaster!

I made it my morning routine. The kids know they can come into the basement and watch me 'jump around'. I do the 30DS tape -- which takes about 24 minutes. I can usually get it done before they wake up. If not, they know to come downstairs.

Kids will adapt to a routine as long as you are consistent. Yes, the first time my toddler came downstairs and wanted me to stop my workout so I could help him put on the tv and watch cartoons, I made him wait until I was done. Did he cry? Yes. Was he in real pain/danger/suffering? No. And the next time that happened, he came down and colored w/crayons until I was done. No crying. And I can't help but think that making excercise a priority sets a good example for the kids.

And just in general, whether you work out at home, or go to a gym, if you hesitate to take time for yourself because of kids -- ask yourself -- do they have a good idea of what a healthy [adult]lifestyle is? Because living healthy isn't something that is just for kids. Everyone should exercise, eat their vegetables and go to bed on time.

And you'll find that kids can be your biggest cheerleaders.

Check out the Flylady at www.flylady.net

Fly stands for finally loving yourself. There are tons of ideas for setting up routines for yourself and your family that incorporate meals, de-cluttering, cleaning, exercise, and dedicated "me time". Lots of support for those of us who are perfectionists that end up being self-destructive and self-loathing when we "fail".

Make it a priority and find the time that works for you.

Make sure it's something you like that you can stick too (may be a nightly walk that can turn into a jog or something quick right before you pick up your little one at daycare. A walk or a mini-work out on your lunch break).

I had to give up cooking more elaborate meals to fit it in; worked out well becuase I shifted my focus from food to exercise.

The key is making exercise a priority for yourself and your family. It is hard when they are little, but not impossible. I started out jogging because it was the best workout I could get in the minimal amount of time. I'm still doing it years later for about 1/2 hour 3-4 days a week, but have found ways to incorporate other strength training as well.

Don't give up!:) SUPER MOMs "and: DADs unite!:)


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i prioritize. kids are most important. food, cleaning.. i do what i can. make a schedule for yourself. use a timer if you need to . involve your kids in activiites so they can be part of it and help you too. like today when i stretched i had my daughter helping me. it gave us time and she learned a few things and i was so grateful for her help. you can do it. cook meals that you can stretch over the week. i love to make bean soup with tomatoes and rosemary and corn and carrots. i make enough for the week. make soups, rice for two days or three. boil eggs ahead of time. you can do so many things to cut time .

THIS! Just make a schedule! I have a 7 year old and a 1 year old and I have to schedule everything out. Just take a sunday or whatever day you have off and make a whole family plan to get you thru!

I am a wife and mother of two kids ages 2 and 5. Life is very busy with working monday thur friday (12 hours days) and i am going to school full- time on top of that and teach a zumba class twice a week and with all the other activites with the kids and family stuff, cleaning and cooking and all the other stuff things never slow down. The only advice i can give it make sure your being organized and it will help you a lot. Schedule everything, and you'll be able to make it work. On the days i don't teach zumba i take the kids on nice long walks, or if it nice out take them swimming. When it comes to cleaning and laundry i am blessed with a husband that is just like me and super clean freak so he is very helpful around the house. I find it better to workout in mornings before the kids get up and before i get ready for work or after supper is done and before the kids bath and bed time routine or even once the kids go to bed. You have to find the time to workout even if it may be hard.

Hi there! I definately know what you mean! I am a mom of a 5, 3, and 3 month old... plus the husband. My hubby is super supportive of me working out, and he loves to work out BUT I have a 2 hours commute each day (one hour each way), 8.5 hours of work, then I get the kids and hit the ground running when I get home at 5pm. Its very hard to prioritize, and sometimes, the schedule goes right out the window. My husband never understood what i meant when I said I didnt have time and I didnt want to shuttle the kids from daycare to the gym daycare and rush through everything else just to work out... until he had to do it while I was away on business. Either way, whatever the situation , ITS HARD! Here are some things I do to give me just a little more time to do something for myself:

1. crockpot some meals
2. cook meals on weekend and freeze them or refrigerate them for the next few days meals
3. work out whenever I can.. every little bit counts. 10 squats in the bathroom, 2 laps around the building at lunch, pelvic tilts while im washing my hands, swivel in your office chair and keep your shoulders still and your feet on the floor--works your abs.

4. Do workouts that the kids can do with me.. I have a wii and the Zumba and Just Dance game... the kids love to do those with me and it wears them out for bed

5. ask hubby for just one hour on the weekend, mine looked at me weird but he enjoyed his Daddy time with the kids.

6. Dont feel bad if you cant do it every day... it happens. When I notice my kids just need a little more of me, everything takes a back seat... it gives me a break and gives my kids time to have a little more attention



As far as cleaning... I actually assign my 5 and 3 yr old chores... nothing huge, but the little things help. I might get a really good house cleaning once a month.. but in between just picking up along the way and letting some things go help. It took me a while to learn to let some messes go.. its not that important if all the toys arent always picked up .. just shove them over to a corner... its ok. Every saturday morning (we just picked saturdays, you could pick whatever day works for you) *everyone* cleans, no exceptions. Now I should say that laundry does get washed, but sometimes its never folded.. or it takes a week to get to.. that used to drive me nuts, but at some point i finally decided to quit beating myself up over it. Its not worth it.

I go to the gym 3-4 times a week in the evening or on weekends. Meals are quick and easy - either premade and frozen or something that i can cook quickly. Sometimes bedtimes are missed and some meals arent perfect. My family is constantly moving but we seemed to have found something that works.

Dont be too hard on yourself, no one is perfect. If you are more relaxed and happy by letting some dishes sit, then let them sit. You dont have to do everything right now.... for me, I put my kids first... but I also had to figure out when it was me overdoing the whole "they *need* me" and when they actually needed a little extra time. I found that they dont mind doing things on their own... and that when I explained to them the importance of exercise they actually encouraged it and helped me to get there (either by doing it with me, being patient for dinner -- i work out while stuff cooks too, or by reminding me to exercise while they play).