What comes after stress???

Hubby can cook. If hubby can't cook, he can learn. There's an hour. I do 80% of the cooking in my house, and I'm quite good thank'ya. Food's good with a little testosterone.

There's all kinds of ways to provide for a family, and not all of them involve money.

Exactly, If you're working, being a taxi driver, and forager, there's no reason for you to have to prepare or clean up meals.

Not only that, You absolutly cannot out excersise a bad diet. So if you don't have time excersise, spend what time you do have figuring out a way to eat healthier.

BTW, I started out walking, nothing wrong with walking.

What about your teenagers? They are old enough to help out around the house with chores that you should be able to take out a lil "me time" to get some exericising in. A person can only take on so much before it gets them worn down and you will end up sick. You will not be any help to yourself or anyone else if it gets to this point. Start asking for some help.

They do more than every friend they have, and they always have because we think kids should have to help run a household and learn what it takes to do so, but they do way more than I think they should have to already. They've both quit playing sports (against my wishes) to be home more and take some of the strain off me, so I'm not picking them up from practice, trying to make meets and games, coming up with $$$ for shoes and everything else they need. Really, I should have given them more credit in my original post.

Well like others said in the previous comments it's time for hubby to step up. I know its hard taking care of a 2 yr old that doesn't have autism so I can't imagine how hard it is taking care of a child with autism. There's ways he can help. During the day he can put the baby down for a nap and prep dinner so all he has to do is finish it up in the evening. Why can't he chauffer the kids around in the evening and you put the baby in the stroller and go for a stroll. If it was the other way around and your husband was working and you stayed home more than likely you would take care of the kids, the house, dinner , and everything in the evening. Do you believe he would come home and do all of that.

Another thought: when you cook - cook in volume - that is, cook a large stew or dish that can be frozen so you don't have to cook on certain days - just reheat and that should give you some free time;

the bottom line: if you want it bad enough, you will make it happen for you - no one else can do anything for you that you need - ITS UP TO YOU TO FIND THE TIME!!

nancy :glasses:

Good idea. Saturday's turkey makes tuesday's sandwiches makes friday's soup - it's what fridges are for. I try to make big batches of everything for leftovers and lunchbox stuffers. Saves a little $ too. Get out your 5 gallon stockpot and take the gang to aldi and ask hubs to invent a soup, he might surprise you.

Casper you sound alot like my hubby. He works offshore 2weeks out and 2 weeks home. When he is home he does all the cooking. He just throws different things together. He will also clean or do whatever when he is home on his days off and I am at work. Those two weeks he takes everything off of me. He brings my son to and from school so I can go to the gym before and after work. He knows when he is offshore that it's like I am a single mom I have to do everything on my own.

Your situation sounds exactly like my husband's family. He is the oldest, they have a 16 year old, 8 year old, and a 12 year old handicapped/cerebral palsy/autistic/alcohol syndrome/seizures/non-potty trained daughter. All of his siblings, including him have been adopted. And I have seen the stress that his mom is under. She works full time, has to attend to her daughter, cooks, taxis, follows activities, cleans, etc. And all of the kids also work so hard to help! (Your children will become EXCELLENT spouses by the way :happy: mine is perfect, and so helpful with everything, and a lot has to do with all the help he did taking care of his sister/family) .......

So, I've been observing/helping them for a while. And I know that you NEED time to yourself. As the previous post said "you need to take care of the caregiver". Always know you can only do so much for everyone else. You are doing your very best! My mother in law's motto is "15 minutes a day can start an effective habit". You have limited time, just as she does....by sqeezing a little bit of exercise time COMBINED with good diet you can lose weight!!!! (Diet will be most important in your case, since you have limited time.)


1) You are ALREADY burning a lot of calories in your day! I would say with all the running/errands/child caring, etc that you are doing...you are burning as many calories OR MORE than people who run on a treadmill for 15 minutes. If I were you...I'd go back to my "Settings" and change them. I would put that you live a "Sedetary" lifestyle--- meaning you work at a desk job, etc. Which you do! BUt, the important part is next. Since you are working so hard when you are at home you can count that hard work as exercise!! Go to the exercise box and leave it blank, and then press the search button.....scroll down and you will see "Cleaning- light/moderate effort". Now, I know you probably don't think its "light"...but, I prefer to underestimate to be on the safe side. So, if you are doing house chores/tending to children/laundry/cleaning/cooking, etc for 40 minutes, it burns 125 calories!!! Then, if you can fit in another small workout...you have your exercise in for the day!!!

2) Do you have music that you enjoy and would get you "pumped up" to do your workouts?? You could do some calisthetics (sp?)--- sit ups, crunches, wall squats, regular squats, sumo squats, lunges, jump rope (even w/o a real jump rope), push ups, jabs, kicks, "military arm touches", jumping jacks....etc. I actually took an aerobics class in college, and the teacher spent a week teaching us ways to get our heart rate up and a good workout with absolutely nothing on hand except some good pumping music! Haha! Message me if you have any questions, or if you'd like me to set up a "routine".... you can do it to just about any music. And it doesn't cost a thing!!

With 15 minutes of calisthetics combined with your 15 minutes of running around like crazy.... combined with a good diet....y ou CAN lose weight! In your case, a strict diet full of veggies, lean meats, whole wheats is going to be the most important for you because some days you just won't have that much time with all of the busy-ness!

I believe in you, my fellow mid-western-er!!! (I'm from Minnesota) You can do this!! You can and you WILL make time for yourself!! You will feel happier and hopefully more energetic to be able to do everything you already do. Plus...if you are a mom like my mother-in-law...she struggles to get a good night's rest because she is thinking about what she needs to do the next day. The additional exercise will help you sleep better too!!!

Message me if you need anything!!



P.S. Your extra 15 minutes could come into play if you let your husband help out a bit with the cooking. I know how hard it can be for my husband to feel confident enough to cook the whole meal. But, he does help me do the other stuff, such as cooking the chicken for our chicken casserole, cooking pasta noodles, grilling up some pork chops, etc. Even if your hubby doesnt feel as confident, he can still help a bit to help you get your exercise in.

Byhisgrace, if you ever need to chat, shoot me a message!!!

Also one of my stand-bys is to cook hamburger or ground turkey in big batches and then freeze small batches so it is already cooked and can be made into casseroles or tacos or anything that calls for beef or turkey.