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Working Moms
FT working moms that exercise
When on earth do you actually fit in your workout? And how do you keep from being so exhausted?
We have a home gym of sorts and the past 2 weeks have been really rough for me to build up the energy to work out. I get up at 7:30, get DD ready and we leave for work (she comes with me right now). I get home at 5:30, make dinner, and we start bedtime between 7:30-8. By the time DD is actually asleep i'm exhausted and have no energy to work out. I literally hit the pillow and pass out.
I'm open to readjusting my schedule somehow, but I cannot wake up earlier no matter how I try, and I dont want to sacrifice time spent with DD in between dinner and bedtime. So what then?
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Re: FT working moms that exercise
Now that I have my lunch hour back, I work out in my gym at work over lunch.
If working out over lunch isn't an option for you, what about waking up earlier and working out before work? Or maybe switching bedtime with your DH/SO so you can work out while they put LO down?
Honestly, I get up at 5am, and it sucks. But, I do it because I've recently been diagnosed with PPD, and, I know that exercise has a huge effect on my mental health and overall well being. So, I make it a priority.
I've been doing the 30-day shred, so it is a quick 30min (but pretty intense) workout. Then I shower, and get ready for work and hope DD sleeps in til 7am. Though, she is almost always up between 6-6:30 it seems.
Ugh... I think this is going to be what I end up doing... I am NOT a morning person at all... Getting to work on time doesn't even get me out of bed. lol
I do a 5:45 a.m. spinning class 3 days/wk. The gym is a couple blocks away and the class is 45 minutes. I'm home by 6:30 a.m. and I have a glorious hour (sometimes longer!) to shower, drink coffee and get ready for work before any of the boys (DH, DS1 or DS2!) wake up.
Waking up sucks - no question. Esp. b/c I never, never go to bed before 11. But I feel great afterwards and seriously, that hour is heaven.
I work out after bedtime. It sucks, I'm tired, but I do it.
DD#1 - January 2008
DD#2 - September 2010
I have a set schedule of working out Monday and Thursday at 6:30pm because I take a class...if DH is travelling for work then DS comes with me and goes to the childcare center at the gym. I try to do something else on Wednesday's and one day on the weekend.
I'm a night work out person and I make time for it. I get off earlier from work though (4pm) so I can get home, get DS fed, the dogs walked and still make it to my classes in time.
Well it has been a struggle lately! But what I do is work out at lunch 3-4 times a week. I walk or run. Then once a week at night after DS is in bed I do a strength video. I am trying to add one yoga class over the weekend as well, but this will be switching to Wednesday nights once I am more pregnant because that is when they offer prenatal yoga.
Overall I notice I have to be flexable to fit it in!
So, I've never been a big exercise person (don't like gyms and don't tend to do strength stuff). However, I need to be somewhat active. We have a dog who HAS to be walked twice a day. So, when I get home my son goes right in the stroller and we head out to walk the dog. We walk at least 30 minutes and there are hills (and a stroller). If I get off work early we take a longer walk (up to an hour because that's about my son's attention span for the stroller). It's nice to not have a choice about getting at least that little bit of exercise. I also teach and am fairly active all day with the kids. Someday when my husband has a different job and is home before 7pm I'll try taking a class or something in the evening.
Since you have a home gym (and possibly not a dog) perhaps you could set up some of your child's toys in there and let them play while you work out... depends on the kid though.
I wake up at 4:55 a.m. on MWF with hopes of being at the gym (in my town home complex) at 5am and getting in a 30 min work out. After Lunch during my lunch hour I take a brisk walk daily which lasts about 25 mins.
I just began this routine four weeks ago and honestly I feel different emotionally. I hope you are able to readjust your schedule to fit it in somehow because it is sooo worth it.
It sounds like based on your schedule, you should workout at from 6-7. Try to go to bed an hour earlier, wake up the same time every morning for 2 weeks to work out. For the first 2 weeks will suck but from then on out, it should be a habit. Try keeping your ipod by your bed and when your alarm goes off, put on your ipod with a really upbeat workout song to get going. Get out of bed and stretch and start waking up and then hit the in-home gym you have.
Lunch or get up early. It's too hard for me to do it anytime after work, although for a while I was in the habit of doing the Shred after DS went to bed. It was short enough that it wasn't that bad.
If you get in a workout Saturday and Sunday, you might get by with only getting up early 1-2 days a week. It's hard, but you get used to it.
I usually work from 7am until 4:30pm each day. I head to the gym right after work before going to pick up the girls. From the time I leave work until the time I walk into daycare, it takes me one hour. I'm not getting in a long, extended workout but I do 30 minutes of cardio.
I am SO much more relaxed on the evenings I work out and have more patience with the girls. It's a nice break from being at work all day and then rushing to pick them up.
I have my outlook reminders set to remind me to get up from my desk and take a fast walk around at 10:30 and 2:30. I work in a ginormous building so I do laps for 15 minutes twice a day.
Also I work out while playing with my kids. You can use a baby as a sort of weight to lift in a bench press fashion. They love it, you get a little work out. You can also do crunches while playing on the floor with them or letting an older child sit on your feet and lifting them to give you kisses while doing crunches.
If you have older kids, turn up the music and have a dance party. Earlier this week I was playing with the kids in our backyard and pushing my 21 month old on the swing and while I was doing it I was doing jumping jacks. She thought it was the funniest thing ever. Then when we were done swinging we all chased the dog around the yard for another 10 minutes. On the weekends (kids go with) or after the kids go to bed during the week (since it is too cold for them right now) I will take the dog for a fast walk with my mom. I've also started taking the kids to the park on the way home from work now that it is light still and we (me too, no sitting on the bench!) go climb and run around for 45 minutes or so.
I think it is important to be active with your kids, not just going to the gym and they never see you being active and healthy.
I get up between 5 and 5:30 every morning to go out for a run....before LO wakes up. Daddy is there in case (or when) LO wakes up and they have special daddy/son time. I also do yoga or lift weights at noon at the gym at work.
With the weather turning warmer, you and LO could get up a little earlier and go out for a walk in the mornings.
When I just had one child and worked a "normal" schedule I'd get up at 5:30 and go to the gym.
Now that I have a not normal schedule and two children I'll take a half an hour out before dinner to exercise either in my "home gym" or take a jog with one of the kiddos in tow. On the days I don't work I'll exercise a little longer than a half an hour. I couldn't exercise right before bed, it'd screw up my sleep patterns.
I have to be honest here, getting up at 7:30 is not bad AT ALL. If I want to work out in the morning (which I did pre-pregnancy), I have to get up at 4:50 am. So I don't have a lot of sympathy with your plight. Get up at 6:30/6:45 and work out.
I was a Y-junkie and would work out on my lunch breaks (yaaay to have a Y within walking distance of my office)! May I stress **WAS**!!! Now that I'm a first-time Mom, it's so hard to get to the gym after work and I work through my lunches to leave earlier to beat heavy traffic. I have a 35-45 minute commute and it kills me to come home late and only have a small window of time before my DS goes to bed. I've been popping in Jillian's 30 Day Shred DVD (25 minutes) or her Blast Fat, Boost Metabolism DVD (45 minutes) depending on my DS's ability to entertain himself while Mommy works out. Dinner cooks while I'm doing the circuits. It's not the same as going to the gym, but the circuits kick my butt, keep my energy up, keep it fun, and already my arms, legs, and bum look better than they have in years. I've also lost inches in my waist, though it's sometimes hard to tell with the little poof made by my C-section scar.
Yeah- you've got a jam-packed schedule. It's great that you're contemplating some time just for yourself! As a last resort- do you have family members or friends that could watch your child for an hour on the weekend? Also, I'm not sure of your situation but if married or have a partner- can you put some of the responsibility a day/two per week on them to cook dinner/watch child while you workout for 30mins/1 hour, whatever?
While I would definitely put emphasis on you having some time to yourself; an alternative (depending on where you live) would be to just take a walk with baby in the stroller/jogger.
Lastly, to answer your question: I workout Mon., Wed. and Fri. during my lunch (my son attends a home daycare). I also usually put DS in the jogger on the weekend. One night/week my husband has bed duty (I feed, bath and cuddle before I leave) and I head to the gym for a group class.
Working out at lunch is not my favorite but it's what's available for me right now. I just have to be quick and efficient to make it back on time (I have a job that if I'm 10-15 mins late it's ok- providing I don't have a patient waiting for me!)