Finding time to workout - advice needed!

R

Randi77

Cathlete
Hi all,

Just a quick intro: my name is Randi and I just returned to work after 3 months of maternity leave. My son was born on January 9th and I returned to working out at about 2 weeks postpartum. I managed to find time 4-5 days a week to exercise (during his naps or dh would watch him for me so I could finish). I have a 4 y.o. daughter as well and since I started working again this week, I've found that it's been impossible to find time to exercise. I'm still nursing (I pump at work) and maybe it's just a matter of finding time in the morning? Have any of you faced this problem? I'd like to get up early to exercise but it's difficult as he likes to nurse at 4:30 and doesn't always fall asleep right away. He nurses again around 7:00 a.m. and then I rush to get ready for work.

All thoughts and suggestions are welcome. It seems like I just got Cathe's new DVDs in my hands and now I can't find time to do them!

TIA,

Randi
 
Hi Randi

Boy, you've got your hands full. You should be proud of yourself for what you have accomplished thus far...you are doing GREAT!!! I remember being in your shoes when I went back to work after my son was born and I was very overwhelmed. I posted nearly the same question and Cathe replied that you should just try to find pockets of free time and do what you can for now. Soon enough you'll find a rhythm and you'll fit it all in. I can't post the link for some reason, but if you search under "candori" you'll find the post under something like..."long time no see".

Now I'm pregnant with number two (my son is 14 months) and I'm already wondering when the heck I'm going to find a moment to workout once the baby is born. I'll find a way...and so will you.

Best of luck to you and congratulations!
 
Oh boy, Randi -- you are a Superwoman. The advice to do what you can is good. Even doing 20 minutes of a workout is better than nothing -- if you can do part of a workout before you go to work and more at the end of the day, you can get through a workout tape in a day or two. You may find you have to set your expectations a little lower for awhile, until the nursing demands go down and your son sleeps longer.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll look up that thread, too.

Superwoman I'm not :), it's just that exercise was such a big part of my life before my son was born. Not being able to do it puts me in a really bad mood, more so than thinking about the extra weight I'm carrying (which doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would, actually). The idea of breaking up a tape is a really good one and I'm going to try it. I'm just one of those people who HAS TO FINISH all at once, you know? Time to break that mindset, LOL!

Thanks for the good advice. Hope to "talk" with you again soon!
 
Hi Randi, I used to have the same mindset you do, but it disappeared pretty fast out of necessity!! I was choosing not to do a tape unless I was really sure I could finish it, and found myself doing just 2 workouts per week, which made me feel icky and made me into a total b*tch. I was doing partial tapes for a couple of months. Now that my daughter is 7 1/2 months old and I just nurse her twice a day -- I am back to being able to do full tapes again (sometimes with a 15-minute interruption in the middle if she decides she needs a change or a bottle). She even watches me, and thinks it's entertainment for her!
 
My daughter used to love to watch me work out too. Once she started walking she would pick up "weights" and do some of the exercises with me. I think that my working out since she was so small instilled the idea of mommy's exercise time being sort of sacred. I'm hoping my son will find it entertaining as well! I guess that once I'm not nursing as often it'll be a lot less difficult also. For now I'll change my mindset, accept that I have less time to exercise and focus on all the joys of his being so small. Thanks again!
 
Hi again...

Just me piping in one more time to say that I used the CTX Series a LOT when I first started back to work. The short cardios seemed to work really well while my husband watched the baby and then once I got my son down for the night, I would finish by doing the weight work and stretch. It gave me a sense of completion because I did manage to finish the entire tape and I got pretty good results.

You can do it. Keep us posted on your progress.
 
Hi Randi,
I agree with Letswork the CTX series is very versatile for time-crunched moms. Also is you have a stationary bike or treadmill I have both. Jump onto one or the other for 15mins here or there and even those short bursts of endorphins does wonders for the brain. Then add in the 10mins of weight work from CTX for one body part a day and boom you're through. Plus, what I would do is pump first and then should the baby wake I would have his father feed and change him until I was finished. This usually took about 45mins tops.
 
I'm going to try your suggestions. I'd forgotten about CTX (silly me!) I guess because I've been so focused on the new workouts lately. That's a really good idea. I also have a stationary bike so I'll do some short rides on that as well. Thanks again. You all have been sooo helpful. I don't feel quite so hopeless anymore :)!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top