Keeping the FAITH-help!! !I've lost it..........

[aivilo]

Hi all!

I am hoping that there is somebody out there that has gone through or is going through something similar to me.........Baby # 1 (Olivia)arrived in Jan 97'and after she was only a few months old, I was back to my "step", slowly returned to running and started lifting weights for the first time. I got into the best shape of my life and felt pretty good! Last spring I found out I was pregnant again with Baby # 2 (Aidan) and I continued to workout safely trhoughout my pregnancy. Aidan arrived in Nov. and you can guess the next part!?!-I am having a terrible time returning to my normal routine of exercising. I maybe can fit in 2-3 aerobic and maybe one weight day a week but it's been a struggle. Even though I know that our lives change when we have children and I accept that(I LOVE ME KIDS! :^); I just cannot believe the difference in how hard it has been with 2 kids now to try and fit time in to workout. I used to workout 5-6 times a week aerobically with 2 weight days and I think mentally it's been hard accepting that I can't seem to do that anymore (or at least not yet!) So, if there's anybody else out there in the same boat-please drop me a line and let me know how you made it through this phase. I take it day by day and just try to workout "that" day-if I don't, it's OK but sometimes it does bum me out. In the meantime, I know that Cathe's new tapes are really going to make me want to try extra hard to sqeeze in time to workout......... Give me all your good advice PLEASE!!
THANX!
Lisa

 

[susan p]

I've been there!!

You're going to hear a LOT of people say "I've been there!!", but let me be the first. I exercised through my first pregnancy and hopped right on the bandwagon afterward, exercised through the second and hopped right on the bandwagon afterward, but #3 knocked me for such a loop that I couldn't get re-started till she was 18 months old!! I would start, manage 3 workouts a week for two weeks in a row, not manage to work out a single time for two more, give up and cry a lot, then try again, get in three a week for a couple of weeks before stumbling and crying. . . and that went on for 18 months!! ACK!! So what finally got me going?? Finding support through the videofitness website (which led me here as well) and joining in on a challenge with other video exercisers. I don't even remember what that first challenge was, only that I took it as my chance to re-start and, since I had some camaraderie and support along the way, I finally broke through!!

SO, here are my tips for exercising with small children:
1) lower your expectations. Do 4 half hour workouts a week if that's all you can do. The point is, SOMETHING is better than nothing, right?? Be thankful for small steps and don't kick yourself around because they aren't larger. If you can get through the warmup and section 1 of one of Cathe's tapes then have to cool down, hey, that's about 20 good minutes of workout time, right?

2) split your workouts. Do strength in the morning for 30 minutes and cardio in the afternoon for 30 minutes. My kids tolerated smaller stretches of time twice a day a TON better than one long session.

3) make fitness TOP priority. I know how important that naptime hour or two is in the afternoon (if Olivia is still napping. . . ), but RESIST the temptation to use it for housework. Make fitness your priority. You can do housework five minutes here and ten minutes there but you can't really work out that way! So do your housework as you can and make fitness your priority with your prime time, whenever that is.

I'm sure you'll get tons of good suggestions from others as well. If you are consistently fitting in 2 cardios and a strength workout per week, let me tell you, you are doing WAY better than I did at first!!! Congratulations and commendations on NOT GIVING UP! -susan p

 

[susan p]

forgot one. . .

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Aug-07-00 AT 07:21PM (EST)</font></center>

STROLLER PICNICS!! I would pack a little sack lunch and two sippy cups for dd2 and dd3, plop 'em in the double stroller, and head out the door. . . I had a great route with lots of hills. That stroller would get HEAVY!! The kids were content in the stroller because they had munchies and cups (and I always kept a handful of Tootsie Rolls in my pocket in case they got antsy). Of course Aidan is too young for Tootsie Rolls, LOL!! But if you don't have a double stroller, consider getting one second hand, they're heavy alone and even heavier filled with kids!

(edit- dd1 was in school. . . Didn't want you to think I forgot one of my kids, LOL!!!)

 

[honeybunch]

Good advice, Miss Susan!

It's been a LONG time since my kids were little, but as I was pondering about this post, I was thinking that the problem is a lot like trying to fit it in with working or any other chunk of "life" that takes up a lot of time. The solution is the same: 1)Fit it in when you can 2)Make it a priority 3)Make a plan...meaning chart your workouts (in pencil, of course!) according to what cardio workouts you want to do on what days; strength workouts, etc. 4)Put out your workout clothes and your weights for the next day the night before

Then the hardest part......START!

But it feels so good when you're finished, doesn't it?!