What I really love about Cathe tapes!

M

Michelle Pitsenbarger

Active Member
Besides thinking that Cathe is awesome and adorable. Is that her tapes can be broken up for mini-workouts which is great for me....I have 3 children and just had my daughter 5 months ago so most of the time I am short on time or too tired to go all out. Today for example I had a major headache and felt "lazy" but I told myself "DO SOMETHING" so I popped in Body Max and did the warm up and the first aerobic section.....I broke a wonderful sweat and now my headaches is gone. Her strength tapes have also taught me alot so when I don't want to put in a tape I go to the exercise room/playroom and remember some of her exercises....My husband who lifts weights also has used some of Cathe's exercises. (BTW, he loves Cathe's legs....he says they are awesome) Her tapes are just so great in so many different ways.....Thanks Cathe.!!!!!! Your the best! Michelle
 
Michelle. . .

I agree completely that Cathe is wonderful and inspiring and so fun! But YOU are also pretty inspiring! I had my third baby two years ago and just started working out 1-1-99, when she was 18 months old. I got SO overwhelmed with three. . . Just thought that you deserved a high five as well as Cathe, for finding the motivation to keep working out even though I know from experience how incredibly busy you must be and how hard it is to snatch 20 minutes here and 40 minutes there to work out. GOOD GOING GIRL!! -susan p
 
Thanks Susan!

I find the best time to exercise is while my 2 yr. old and 5 month old are asleep. Although sometimes they sit and watch me. My 2 yr. old has watched me work out since he was born so he is used to it. Some days it seems impossible to find time......do laundry or exercise.....clean the kitchen or exercise....etc.etc.etc. Michelle
 
Michelle I am SO with you!

the one thing that competes the most with working out is getting housework done. Always seems like I know I have an hour till somebody wakes up or somebody gets home from school and I have the choice of "do I work out or do I vacuum/pick up/fold clothes/whatever". It's always work out vs housework with that limited amount of time. Sometimes my house is a wreck! Don't even talk to me about ironing. . . -susan p
 
Try Having My Schedule

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Sep-20-99 AT 04:47PM (EST)</font></center>

I wish I was a stay at home Mom and I could say that its exercise vs housework. (Iam envious). I work a full time job outside of the home and have 1 daughter. Between working, my daughters activities, (she plays soccer, goes to dance class 2 times a week and Brownies)and trying to keep a house in order, I don't have time to exercise. On her active days we don't get home until almost 7pm. Then I feed her and spend time with her until her bedtime, 8:30. I then clean up the dinner dishes and pick up the house. Its 9 - 9:30 pm by the time Iam done and Iam too tired to do anything but go to bed. I have thought about exercising in the morni ng but Iam not a morning person and I can't get out of bed. Iam lucky to get 4 days of exercise in. So I just do cardio and very little ST. So now that you have heard my sad story feel lucky that you have the choice to exercise. I think if I had the choice of workout or housework I would pick working out. You can always clean later, right!!

SusanR
 
Morning exercise

Hi Susan R,
I was not a morning person either, and I LOVE to sleep. I have two children. The 14 year old boy is in marching band (tournaments and games every weekend now) and on a soccer team. The 9 year old girl takes serious piano lessons (competitions, tests, theory classes and regular lessons) and plays softball. I work fulltime, too. After homework from 5 pm until whenever I have to take one or both of them somewhere, there is no time for housework. My husband DOES help a lot, but there is still no workout time.

SO, I started working out in the morning when the kids were 3 and 7-1/2, and have found that is the only way to go. After about a year, it became a habit, and now I try to get to bed by 9:30-10:00 and get up at 4:45, M-F. I reserve weekends for sleep, kids's games and activities. If I can squeeze an hour nap in on Sunday, I try to do it, but it's rare. On nonbusy weekends (there are a few), I can get a good ten-hour sleep session!

One cheat: I have a cleaning lady come in every other week to do the floors, bathrooms and heavy dusting type stuff. That DOES help out tremendously, but it costs money, or course.

I think you could find that getting up earlier is something that you could get used to, and working out in the morning is the best way to stay consistent, without any interruptions!! I couldn't do it any other way. Just try it for 6 weeks, and then decide whether you can do it.

Sandi M
 
Try Having My Schedule

Hi SusanR! My schedule is very much like yours. Get up every morning Mon. thru Fri. @ 5:30 a.m. to get my son, who's 7 up and ready for school as well as packing everything he needs for school and packing up lunches for all of us. Then it's on into work. I do however work out at a gym on my lunch hour. It's my passion and no one and anything is going to stop me from working out! I too get home not at 7 but at 6:30 p.m., make dinner, clean up, check my son's homework and put him to bed at 8:30. Very tough at age 7! It's always a fight every night. The later it gets in the evening, it usually isn't very good to work out at this time of the night because by the morning you're exhausted! Can you join a gym near where you work and do it on your lunch hour? It's the perfect time. BTW, my husband cleans our house. I'm married to a peach of a guy! But if I had a choice between laundry or cleaning the house, laundry would win every time! Take care, Kathy
 
To Sandi and Kathy

Hi Sandi and Kathy,

Thanks for your posts. Its good to know that Iam not the only one out there with this dilema.

Sandi,

I have tried getting up early to exercise and I hated it. I was this onery (sp?)old cuss all day long. To do it the morning I need to be up and at it by 4:45 so I had to set my alarm for 4:15 so I would fall out of bed by 4:30. I needed to be done by 6:00 so I could get myself and my daughter ready. I do get up at my normal time on Sat and Sun to exercise then. Well, most Sat and Sun. My husband tells me to hire someone to help clean my house and I can't bring myself to pay for it. Thanks for your suggestions.

Kathy,

My daughter is also 7 and boy can I relate. Its a fight in the morning getting her up and at night getting her to bed. I do belong to a gym and I go 2 days a week on my lunch hour. It is a good time because at 5:00 when I get off of work I can say, "Yea, I have already worked out today. It is a step class and it is only offered at noon 2 days a week. They do have teadmills I could use. On Tuesday nights at 5:30 there is a class I like to go to and my daughter has dance class at 5:30. Luckily dance class is only about 2 min from the gym. So I drop her off and then I drive like crazy to the gym, workout until 6:30 and then drive like crazy back to pick her up. So there is 3 workouts done. If my husband is in town, he travels alot, I can go on Thur or Fri night. I know I should do it more on Sat and Sun but Sat is the day I get up and clean and Iam exhausted and Sun we are up and trying to get ready to go to church. Iam manageing to get my cardio workouts in I just need to find a way to get my ST workouts in.

Maybe, I will try a couple of mornings again and maybe make myself do it on the weekends or even go to the gym some more at noon. I like to have a couple of lunch hours to run errands.

Thanks for the input.

Susan
 
one up on scheduling!

First congrats to all the women out there juggling to take care of their health! You've already won the battle because you have commitment -- don't make yourself feel bad because you can't get in there as much as you'd like-- who can? And hey, us stay at home Moms are struggling with full time jobs too, we just work out of our homes!! I am the mother of 5 ages 9 to 19 months. They play soccer, dance, play baseball, basketball, run track etc. I manage to consistently exercise 4-5 times a week and teach a step class 2x/week. These 2 classes are the only time I have a set time: the rest I squeeze it in as I can. Sometimes I get up early, sometimes it's nap time sometimes it's 10 pm.Gotta do what ya gotta do!
 
busy stay-at-home also

Yeah, staying at home is a full time job too. People tend to forget that we aren't at home in a quiet house alone eating bon-bons. . . We're at home with KIDS! LITTLE KIDS!! Gosh if my rear end hits a chair for more than two minutes at a time during the day it is a miracle. Everything that I do I have little people following me around UNdoing it! I know that working moms have it really rough as well, only in a different way. Gosh, I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with my kids. But don't ever think its a piece of cake here either. Sometimes SAHMS envy working moms because working moms get to get out of the house and get paid to do it. They can tend to forget that working moms aren't going to have fun, they're going to WORK. And working moms can envy SAHMs because SAHMS get to stay home, they forget that we aren't home alone getting things done, we're home with SMALL CHILDREN. I say hey, we're all in this together, don't you agree? Being a mom, whether working or at home, is about the toughest job there is and I salute ALL of us who are trying to fit fitness in despite the demands of motherhood. -susan p
 
Not a Mom

I have no children (unless you count the 5 cats...that must equal at least 1 kid, right? LOL), and honestly I don't know how ya'll do it. It's hard enough to fit in a workout program when you're only responsible for yourself and your spouse or partner. I can't imagine doing it when you have one or more kiddies to look out for too. I have the utmost respect for all of you!
 
Susan, you hit the nail on the head!

Sometimes I feel torn--I'm not completely a SAHM, but I'm not exactly a working mom, either. I get the best (and the worst!) of both worlds. Two evenings a week and one weekend per month I'm a working mom (hubby's at home with the kids). I have to do a little prepwork and a few phone calls per week at home. The toughest part for me is on days that I have to work in the evenings--I spend the day shuttling my kids (they're precious and I wouldn't trade them for anything, but they are *challenging*) to and from preschool and kindergarten, and then mediating arguments, changing diapers/potty training, playing with the kids, and THEN at 5:30 pm I switch gears and leave for work! I can't complain--I have a great job and a perfect set-up, but sometimes I find myself envying BOTH working moms AND SAHM's. Ack!!! And I know that they're probably envying me!
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But fitting fitness in before the kids wake up in the morning is a must for me. Where there's a will, there's a way!

Kristin
 
LOL! :)

I'm fortunate to have a husband who fully believes in (and practices) the concept of equal sharing of household duties. He's also exceptionally supportive of my workouts. So I can't complain one bit there. Now, the cats, on the other hand... ;)
 
Husbands

Pamela,

Yes you are very fortunate. My husband is more than willing to help but he travels alot and it is hard for him to help when he is gone. I know what it is like to be a full time working single Mom. My hat is off to them. It is extremely hard and I only have 1 child.
 
SusanR

Hi Susan! Whew what a schedule you have! I would suggest try getting in some ST routines at the gym. I don't know how much equipment they have but when I first started ST in the gym what I did was I wrote down the exercises and the reps from Cathe's tapes on different sheets of paper and applied this at the gym. I would stick to doing 2 cardios at the gym plus 2 ST routines at the gym; then maybe on Sat. or Sun. slip in the BodyMax tape and that'll take care of the week for you. On days when you're feeling really strong, then do a kickboxing tape (I don't know if you've implemented this into your routine) on either Sat. or Sun. and take a real nice relaxing bath w/aromatherapy after your workout. Try this on days when your husband isn't traveling and you get yourself that housekeeper! If we women don't learn to treat ourselves right, nobody else is going to do it for us! My best to you, Kathy
 
to Susan R

GET THAT HOUSECLEANING HELP!!! It will revolutionize your life! I had someone come in every other Wednesday during my third pregnancy (six weeks of pre-term labor and bleeding followed by a rough C-section). It was WONDERFUL. Don't overvalue money and undervalue YOU!! Spend that money, if you have it, and I assume you do since your honey supports the idea. That money is not worth as much as YOU are. My honey graciously extended my housecleaning help till I was almost 4 months postpartum (only doctor-ordered for 8 weeks). It is truly amazing how much help it is! -susan p
 
Yes, Susan!

I agree, Susan. Working out over housework every time
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And the older a person gets, the more she needs her workouts!
 
re:Housecleaning Help

Thanks for the input. I think I will look into getting some housecleaning help this winter. I have told my husband that the reason I haven't done it yet is that him and my daughter are such slobs that after they came in and cleaned I would just have to do it again the next day. (I was somewhat kidding. I was hoping they would get better at picking up after themselves). But I would like someone to come in and dust, clean the bathrooms and mop all the floors. You are correct we shouldn't overvalue money and undervalue ourselves.
 
Kathy

<center><font size="1" color="#ff0000">LAST EDITED ON Sep-23-99 AT 01:29PM (EST)</font></center>

Thanks for your suggestions. I have thought about doing some of the ST at the gym but I couldn't remember which ones I should do. Thats a great idea to write them down and then apply them at the gym. I'll give it a try. By Sat I feel so wrung out from the week that I talk myself out of working out. But Iam going to have to just make myself do it. I agree we need to treat ourselves right and Iam always telling my husband that I never have any time for myself. But since he can't quit his job then Iam just going to have to rearrange my life so that there is time for me.
One more thought is that I feel guilty when I give time to myself that takes away from my daughter and I know I shouldn't but I do. Iam sure all you Moms can relate to that!!!
 
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