I envision myself as a fit/healthy person. The reality is that I'm lucky to be rather "naturally" thin-looking. I am a high energy person and seem to have a good metabolism. However being a stay at home mom has left me flabby.
Yes, I could probably stand to lose 10 lbs, but compared to most of my other my mom friends, no one else seems to think I need to lose weight.
So the problem is, I don't have mom friends to really exercise with...they aren't as athletic as I am, I don't like going to health club and I HATE being outside in winter. So how do I get motivated to exercise? Chasing my little guy around isn't enough.
I need MUSCLE. I need to be toned again.
Yes, I have access to the local health club and the child care there. But it seems like every time I get motivated to start a class, one of the kids gets sick, or something else comes up where I never really get started.
HELP! I'm tired of excuses! How do I find a friend to get OUT and do stuff with? Or how do I get motivated to exercise on my own?
When my kids were little I did exercise videos. I had a good variety, most of them were 20 to 30 minutes long and were either cardio (dance, kickboxing) or sculpting and toning, focusing on certain parts (abs, arms, legs.) Sometimes my kids would "exercise" with me, so cute :)
Yes, you're right - it was a work out just getting to the gym with little ones in tow and it seemed futile after paying for classes I ended up not being to attend in full....
So I said self, what did generations of moms do before gyms? They went to the park, they walked every where in strollers and the probably played at home inside or in the yard.
I cleaned out my living room, put down a big rug for the kids to play and I invested in a a variety of work out videos because I am easily bored...Pilates, Yoga, and Fabulous at 40....probably not on the market anymore. And then I exercised at home with kids around me....sometimes on top of me.....sometimes mimicking me. I used to also have a Schwinn Air-Dyne at the time and I still think that is the best work out for me in the shortest amount of time if you want to get your heart rate up quickly and break a sweat. My kids also loved to hang on it.
Honestly, after doing 50 push ups and 100 situps and yoga poses...I did not need the gym. And now my kids still love to dance around me when I stretch.
Then, after I was all set up....I told a few moms at the park that I exercised at home to videos in the mornings, and they were welcome to join and one mom did, and we are still friends today several years later.
Sign-up for a class or a personal trainer. Nothing will get me out faster than knowing I paid for it. :)
I get more motivated to exercise at home by myself than going out, or meeting someone to walk or something. I know if I joined a gym or hired a personal trainer I wouldn't stick to it, especially this time of year when it's SO cold outside and I'm just not going to get up early when I'm tired, it's cold and dark outside to work out (I'd have to go before hubbie has to go to work). And I'm not going to leave the house when he gets home from work either. So I have to work around this.
I use exercise videos - I've had good success with TaeBo and Cathe Frederich's Kick, Punch and Crunch. I also run on the treadmill. Then I lift weights too and do resistance exercises. I have a modest dumbbell collection at home - 3, 5, 10 lbs and a 5 lb weight disk, as well as a stability ball. I find I can do most exercises with these.
I also bought Women's Health Big Book of Exercises. This has taught me how to lift the weights properly and which muscles I'm targeting. HUGE help. I use this book almost every day. I highly recommend it for you if you want to build muscle.
http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Health-Big-Book-Exercises/dp...
Right now my routine is running on the treadmill and lifting weights (as well as watching what I eat, of course) and I'm starting to see results, so that's keeping me motivated. I'm at it about 45 min a day from shoes on to shoes off.
If I run on the treadmill, I let my son (who is 3) pick his fav cartoon and that gives me just the time I need. If I'm doing a video I'll encourage him to join me and make it fun that way - but usually he just watches me (although he doesn't laugh at me flailing round *yet* so it's all good :). He'll watch me do weights to (I'll have him count out my repititions), but usually he wants to play with the weights so he can do what I do, which can be a problem, so I'll get out some toys for him to play with.
Good luck!
What I did was get out every day at least once with my kids and walk. Combining that with lots of stairs, laundry, cleaning, etc. that was all I could manage.
Wow, being a SAHM causes flab? Maybe I should go back to my desk job to tone up. Sorry for the sarcasm. I think pregnancy and age are to blame for flab. But moving on, I find I'm not motivated until I see results. In the mean time, its about making an apt . to exercise and being faithful to the plan. Three weeks of intense commitment is what I find it takes to see any real results. If you can work it into your budget and space I recommend a high calorie burning piece of exercise equipment like an elliptical or treadmill. You can jump on them after your kids are in bed while you watch t.v. I also do work out videos after I feed my kids breakfast. Just make sure you get something that is both challenging enough to create changes in your body but not so challenging and time consuming that you won't stick to it. I personally like Jillian Michles because she gives really intense, but short work outs. But I hear if you really want a challenge, the Insanity work out is great. When I do videos, my kids do them with me, crawl all over me, and we enjoy the time together. So much better than the gym and all the hassle that entails. I think exercise partners are overrated unless its your husband. Its just to much to coordinate kids and schedules. If you really need the accountability and can afford it, hire a personal trainer. I had one come 2x week and I did the third work out on my own. That really helped me get in shape after first baby.
A good friend of mine hired a personal trainer.
I am trying to do 10-20 minutes of exercise a few mornings a week. I was doing really well and then decided to paint my kitchen/dinning room/living room. Starting tomorrow morning, I will get back on board.
10 minutes of pilates/yoga a few times a week should tone things up enough.
We also go for walks, though we haven't been on one in a while. But I try to do a few 30 minute walks a week, pushing their collective 80lbs is exercise in itself!
But I sound like you! A good metabolism, super active, but flabby!
i dont know if you have a tredmill or eliptical or anything to work out on in your house but what always helps me is cranking up the music.. i just grab my laptop put it on the table right next to the eliptical and put it up as loud as it goes
I am a working mom and I feel too guilty to go to a gym when i am already not home enough. I work out at home with videos while my 3 year old works out too or plays around me. Another mom friend and I take long fast walks together, pushing our strollers and then we come back to do yoga. Yes, we have kids crawling on us during certain parts but we do what we can.
Girl I wish I knew. I'm in the same boat! My husband gets called out of town alot, so it seemslike as soon as I get in to a groove he leaves. Then the kids are up early, nap shorter etc. It's maddening. I have 2 DVDS for exercise, but hardly can stik to one. I'm trying. Good luck!
