Exercise Tips

When I was living in England I started walking to the park every day, and then I started walking past the park, until I was walking to the market every day and back again. I lost weight and felt so energetic and it seemed to happen without even trying since I just taking the kids to the park and going to the market for fresh veggies every day, I was just leaving the car behind.

Buy two 5 pound free weights. Do 5 minutes a day. Don't do any more than that because the consistency is better than 15 minutes one day and nothing for the next three days.

When my three were little I had several exercise videos I did at home. They were mostly short, 20 to 30 minutes, and usually focused on a particular area, cardio, stretching, core, strength, etc. I mixed them up a lot and usually did them either after breakfast (while the kids were playing nearby) or after lunch (during nap/quiet time.) I WISH I had had the discipline to get up in the morning and do them before everyone was up but I craved every minute of sleep I could get!

I don't have an answer for you - I just want to encourage you. I'm going to be 55 - I had my kids at 37 & 40 and I've been "soft" ever since. I've had seasons of physical fitness (exercise videos, treadmill) and seasons where I was busy caring for others (serious illnesses & injuries of loved ones, etc.).

We have this image in our minds of what a healthy person should look like - but I truly believe that our image needs to be adjusted for different seasons of life. Being mom to 3 pre-schoolers is exhausting and requiring of your constant time and attention. The best option is getting the kids in a stroller and going to a park - throwing a ball around with the, pushing them on swings, etc.

Don't be hard on yourself - there's a time for everything. You will get to the point of being able to excercise again. I promise.

little,
I I've been there. I am 38 and just had my third 9 mo ago. I was soooo out of shape and miserable. When you are inactive, your muscles really stiffen up and so it feels like one fall and you're going to tear or pull muscles.
With three c-sections and very sick inactive pregnancies, I have had to start from this yucky place a few times myself.
Here is what has worked for me. Sometimes you have to get in-shape to get in shape. What I mean by that is, sometimes you just need to start somewhere very small to even be in the place where you can do normal exercise. For me with a new born, this is 5 minutes on my elliptical trainer. Really, just 5 minutes. The next time I get on it, I go 6 minutes, 7,8..until I can do 15 minutes. Also, do you have Amazon Prime? I needed to do something for my husband as well, we were both out of shape and miserable. So did a streching video from amazon prime. I needed it not to be girly so I found one that was "streching for martial arts." After about three times of doing these streches we were feeling sooo much better.
Try not to stress about being bikini ready or anything with a new born. Focus on just feeling better and more like yourself. Once you get over the hump of being really out of shape, give yourself a reasonable goal like, I will exercise for 30 min. 3x week. Then schedule that exercise time. Baby comes first, so the schedule will be loose obviously. So for me it was, on M, Tu, and Thur, I will do my work out video after I feed baby his breakfast, or after baby goes down for nap and if I can't finish it for some reason in the morning, I will finish it before dinner after kids in bed. I'm not always up for night time exercise, but it opens up one more time slot for exercise and you'd be surprised how good it feels to work out after kids are in bed. I much prefer morning exercise, but when that just does not happen, evening exercise can be a great way to make up for what just didn't get done that week. If you drink alcohol regularly, you may want to curtail that for a time, because you are far less likely to do evening exercise if you have had an evening cocktails or two.
Once you achieve a better level of fitness and baby starts to have a more predictable schedule, then up the ante. Schedule 4 workouts a week, even if you have to do half in the morning and half latter in the day. Put it in your schedule and have make up days if you get side tracked.
As for me, I don't even try to be swimsuit ready until baby eats finger foods and sleeps through the night. I find I just fail at my efforts when baby is so young and demanding.
As for types of exercise, hands down, for weight loss and least time and money invested, its running. The weight just drops when I run. I try to do 2 thirty minute runs/week, but sometimes I can only do one if my knee acts up. I also do 40 minute calisthenic/ ballet based matt work outs (hour long works outs are impossible with three little kids for me). Look into Tracy Anderson, Ballet Beautiful, Pure Barre, Lotte Burke. These are great for sculpting lean muscles. Jillian Micheals does some great hard core 30 min. workouts on DVD as well. Collect a little library and work out at home. My kids love to join me and I put out an extra matt so they can pitter around with me while i work out. They love it, and its not time away from them. It still ends up as family time. Granted it takes discipline to work out at home. Thats why you need to put it on your schedule and just do the schedule no matter if you feel up to it or not.
Also, I have an elliptical trainer at home. I also live in a temperate climate, but outdoor exercise with three little ones? Not going to happen. The elliptical is great for evening exercise while watching show, or if its too hot to run, or I just don't want to do a video.
We just sleep trained baby so now that I don't need to sleep in, my husband and I trade mornings for kid duty/ running. I run in the a.m. after I nurse the baby on M, W and husband does breakfast for the kids. Then I do breakfast and he runs on T, TH. If we miss a day F is a make up day and hopefully we work something active into the weekend. You'll get there.

I have three under 6- a new 6. I'm 42! I do some kickboxing and aerobics a few mornings a week for about 15-20 minutes. I then try to do yoga for 10 minutes another few days.

It isn't much, and I stopped nursing, so the pounds are starting to pack on, but it's a start! For me, just finding 5 minutes a few times a week to get the habit going is enough to get me working out for longer and longer periods of time. Mind you, I have a toddler underfoot, and she tries to climb on me sometimes, but I'm moving!

So, get moving! Even if for only 2 minutes :-). Do a plank, do a salute to the sun. If I have a lazy day, I will do a few planks and salutes before climbing in bed. It isn't enough, but it's a start :-)

I walk 5 days a week then stretch and do planks and a little yoga. I throw in a few pushups too. For weight loss, for me it really comes down to my food portions and cutting out sugar and flour. If I add them back in the scale jumps right back up in a couple of days. The exercise just keeps me feeling younger and more flexible.

yoga for flexibility, and walking-to-jogging-to-running for aerobics, and once or twice a week lift weights. as heavy as you can without losing form.
you can do it!
ETA i disagree with ronda, you should not lift every day. you need to give your muscles time to heal and re-knit. alternating exercises allows them the 'rest' time needed in order for them to work properly, and prevents you from getting bored and burnt out.
khairete
S.

I have a treadmill in our living room. Is it pretty? Nope! But it works for me. After I drop my older kids off at school, my 4 & 2 year old have a picnic on a yoga mat, watch a little TV and I try to get an hour on the treadmill. Usually I get 7 minutes before someone needs something! But I keep at it - 7 minutes here, 4 minutes there. My "SAHM uniform" includes yoga pants & running sneakers, so it's easy to hop on and off the treadmill during the day. I usually finish the last 15 minutes after my little kids are in bed. For me, having a treadmill "right there" is the key - I don't have to leave my kids to go to the gym, I am not dependent on good weather and I can find time to exercise no matter what the kids' schedules are that day.

All that being said, when I had 3 kids under 5 all I wanted was a shower!
Good for you for even thinking about exercise!
Best,
T.
SAHM of 5
14, 12, 6, 4 & 2

My main thing I do to tone up is Jillian Michaels DVD's. And I also love the Bob Harper Yoga one. They are challenging ( at least to me !), but I have seen results using them 4-5 times/week. And I always feel more energized, which is a huge plus! They are easy to use if you have kids as you can put them on when the kids nap or go to bed etc. Most are about 30 minutes. I will say I have always had a nagging low back pain problem and since working out faithfully the last 5 years or so, it has pretty much gone away. Sometimes strengthening the muscles can really help. Just be careful not to do too much too soon.

Since you just had a baby, you may want to start off walking a few days a week and doing some stretching just to get back into the groove of moving more, so you don't hurt yourself.

I can't seem to make myself make time for a real workout. So, I take 5 minutes every afternoon. I have an alarm set on my phone, and it goes off every day at 2PM. My 5 minute (literally) workout:
A 1 minute plank
A 1 minute downward dog
30s side plank on each side
30s back stretch each side (where you lay down and put your feet to 1 side)
1 min hamstring stretch

I use the stopwatch on my phone to hold the positions for the right amount of time.

It's not great, but it's better than nothing and I'm at least starting to get abs back thanks to the planks.

The first thing you should do is rehabilitate your core. You can buy a book or watch videos on youtube for simple exercises to do on a yoga mat at home. Once you get that taken care of, a lot of the miscellaneous aches and pains will go away.

You should do stretching, but only after your muscles have been warmed up. You can probably find some simple warm-up videos on youtube too. You don't need to join a gym to do this. If you just have a few feet of clear space, you can do it at home when the kids are napping or watching a little bit of TV.

Your wee one is only three months old!!! Take it slow, and don't be too hard on yourself. Good luck to you!

You can squeeze it in throughout your day. Keep walking for cardio exercise (maybe pick up the pace a bit). And then do 50 - 100 squats a day, when you have a few free minutes, do 50 lunges (squeeze them in somewhere), choose to take stairs instead of elevators, do 100 calf raises when you're standing at the stove cooking, etc. Do 30 slow push-ups against the kitchen counter while you wait for the pasta water to boil. Do another thirty, but this time bring in your elbows to your sides so you work your triceps instead of your chest. All of this adds up. If you find 100 squats are too easy, do 200. Or add in 100 plies (feet wider apart, working your inner thigh). Spread throughout the day, this will only take a few minutes at a time.

Also, get yourself a kettlebell. Learn how to use it properly. Actually use it. And watch those muscles develop nicely.

My only tip is to do it in the morning before you get sidetracked with anything else. I know it is hard to get up, but it is also so fantastic to get a workout out of the way and finished almost before your brain is even really awake, and to not have to worry about it the rest of the day.

From what I have read, building muscle is the most important thing rather than cardio. More muscle burns more calories.

Check out the Fitness pages on Pinterest. There are a ton of workouts or links to workout web pages. Many people will write a list of exercises and do each one for 1 minute each (you can use an app on your phone to time your intervals). There are also many workout DVDs. I think both options are a great way to get in shape from the comfort of your home. I use many DVDs but currently am using Jilian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Netflix and Amazon instant video also have lots of workout programs you can watch for free.

Just start- even if it is just 10, 15 minutes a day of pushups, jumping jacks, squats and sit ups, and then do a walk or jog for 30 minutes. If you are consistent, you will notice big changes in your energy, focus, weight and body shape.

Hi R., I hear you. I am 45 and about 9 years ago I found myself in the same situation. Then a really great friend of mine introduced me to a nutritional program that changed my life. So much happened, I lost the fluff that was hanging around, I started sleeping through the night and i even got the DESIRE for exercise. It was crazy. And here I am 8 years later still feeling amazing, looking better at 45 then I did in my 30s and I LOVE every day!

I will PM you my secret.

B.

Get a physical exam, please, so you'll know for sure that your joints are only protesting the work you're making them do, and no other reason. Stretching warms up your body so that it's *ready* to walk - it seems trivial but is really very good for your body. You can find good stretch moves online. Keep walking. Walk less on the days you hurt badly, but don't stop moving. Make sure you invest in good walking shoes - and in good socks, too! You have suggestions for expanding your workouts; give them a try. Start journaling what you eat (even the snacks you don't talk about) and see what you may need to change. Patience, patience. You want a permanent weight readjustment, not just a quick fix.

And happy birthday!