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“Being a mom means… laughing in a fit of hysterics, screaming like a lunatic, crying in sadness, beaming with pride, being frantic with worry, wanting the day to speed up but time to slow down, feeling the need for personal space but also begging for more snuggles… all within a period of 24 hours.” ~Karen Liszewski of www.karensincerely.com
Being a mom is hard. I have babysat, nannied, worked with mothers, worked out with mothers, and even trained mothers. It is a chaotic life full of “well, I wasn’t expecting that”, until that becomes the normal. Broken things, drawings on walls, potty accidents, never being able to be alone, tantrums… The hardest part is remembering to prioritize yourself and your own health.
How many times have you woken up in the morning and thought, “Alright today is the day, I am going to workout!”, then life happens and working out is put at the end of the list? You get ready for bed at the end of the night and think “I can always try again tomorrow”.
My question for you, when is enough just enough? When does tomorrow become today? When do you decide that? HOW do you decide that?
Here are three strategies you can do to gain back your workouts time and really enjoy it!
Put it on the schedule!
When you wake up, don’t just think “I am going to workout today!” Write down a time, place and why you will complete your workout (why is it important for you). Prepare yourself for the distractions that you already know are going to happen. You can visualize your kids working out WITH you or plan that as soon as they go down for their nap it’s workout time.
Don’t overthink it.
You don’t need all the fancy equipment to complete an at home workout. Go online and quickly type in “at home, body weight workouts” and you will be surprised how many you find. Don’t overthink your kids who will inevitably interrupt. You know they will want you, ask questions, need something. Let it happen as it happens, don’t worry about them interrupting. You already know they are, so go with the flow. If you need to stop mid workout to do something, stop and do it. Then come back and resume! It doesn’t have to be non-stop, you don’t have to be perfect. Just move.
Be willing to shake up your routine to create a new one.
You are used to having your life revolve around your kids. School, practice, daycare, vacations, friends, meals. Allow for this YOU time sometime in your day. Shake up that routine you are so used to with your kids and help yourself create a NEW routine. Wake up earlier, workout during nap-time, put the babies in a stroller and run in the morning or evening. This is habit creation, so it will take time. But if you wake up, visualize and write out your day (remember time, place and why), this will help to create a new routine and thought process for your day.
Here’s some examples of how you can find time in your day to be active:
Morning Workout: wake up 30 minutes before the kids are up and complete a yoga class in your living room (we love the free Julia Maria videos on Amazon Prime, or Yoga by Candace on YouTube).
At the Park Workout: put a timer on for 30 minutes and MOVE! Chase your kids, pick them up or put them in a carrier and do walking lunges, air squats, find a park bench to do some elevated push ups, tricep dips and step ups.
Afternoon Nap Time Workout: warm up for 3 minutes by alternating doing 30 second plank hold, 30 second slow air squats (to a chair if needed) and 30 seconds of up downs. Then put on a timer for 15 minutes and keep repeating this HITT workout until the timer goes off - 50 jumping jacks, 40 mountain climbers, 30 Russian twists, 20 air squats, 10 pushups.
Even through the chaos, remember your health is so important. To be able to help support a family, you need to be healthy too! Give yourself that time momma. You’re worth it.
Let us know how these tips and workouts went for you! If you’ve got questions or you’d like even more workout ideas feel free to reach out to me at madisonbelmondo@gmail.com and follow me @belmondolifestyle.
Love you all, have a wonderful week!
Coach Madison
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