8 Ways for Busy Moms (and Dads) to Bring Fitness Back Into Their Lives

I used to be a regular gym-goer before I embraced motherhood.  When I was pregnant with my first child, I would tell myself that as soon as I had baby down to a regular schedule, I would make gym-going a frequent thing again.

Of course that never happened.

Source: Essential Baby

I’m sure many of the mommies and daddies out there would agree that having  a baby changes everything.  Priorities, mindset, schedules…the works… but it doesn’t all have to completely give.  I’m here to show you how you can keep on doing your good work caring for your brood, as well as start injecting some sort of fitness routine back into your lives.  It is still an ongoing challenge for me, but these are some of the methods I have used to some degree of success.

1. Multitasking

You know how you sometimes have to do your grocery shopping with your kids?  If you’re living in an apartment, why not get them to bring in the groceries for you but instead of using the elevators, climb the stairs!  That way, you accomplish two things: bringing groceries into the house AND getting your heart rate up!  You get bonus points if your apartment is on the tenth floor or higher!

2. Before a Shower

Try squeezing in about 10 minutes or so before your shower to do some quick and effective exercise routines.  A quick search on the internet will yield plenty of exercises like squats, lunges, situps and even yoga and pilates poses that you can do right before you hit the shower.  Some exercise is definitely better than nothing, so ten minutes will certainly amount to a lot over time.  You can “steal” these 10 minutes from your time used to preen in front of the mirror. 🙂

3. Dance Away

Put on an exercise video and invite your kids to join you in your workout.  Everyone gets healthy this way, and homeschoolers, you will be happy to know that you can and you should add some form of exercise into your day anyway.  If you can record exercise programs from the television, do so, and you can also use these any time you need.

4. Join ’em

If your kids are school-going (usually in the morning sessions), then you could consider signing up for a neighborhood gym.  There’s truth in the belief that when you pay for something, you tend to make your money work.  So try to sign up for a gym membership that allows you a morning-only membership.  This was what I did before I had my third child.  It worked really well, because I could drop my kids off at school, then head for the gym and thereafter shower and be right on time to pick them up from school.

However, now that I have a little baby to care for, joining a gym is out of the question.  So I was delightfully pleased when I found out about this “Mom & Baby” exercise class which I just signed up for.  It’s only for six weeks but the beauty of this class is that I can bring my baby along and be rest assured that she will be safe just playing around the area where I exercise where I can see her in full view.

All the moms in the class bring their babies along too, so it’s a very relaxing atmosphere.  I just started last week, and I have five more weeks to go.  There’s “homework” to be done too, so hopefully at the end of six weeks, I can see some semblance of a fitter me. 🙂

So yeah, if you can find a class like that and if you have a baby with you, by all means go ahead.  🙂

During the class, I bring some toys for my baby to occupy herself with.  She’s getting bored with her usual toys as it is, so I was glad that today we just received a beautiful new baby toy from Applecrumby & Fish: Lilliputiens Theophile Crocophone.

Nowadays, it’s difficult to find good quality toys that look good and feel durable.  We all know durability is very important when it comes to toys for kids, and even more so for babies, so I was delightfully pleased with the quality of the Lilliputiens Theophile Crocophone.  It’s designed in Belgium and trust me, this is like THE cellphone for babies!  It’s made of really plush fabric, has a cool zipper around the “mouth” of the crocodile and soft numbered buttons that emit music and sounds when pressed.

It also works like a rattle and has a velcro strap to hang on the carrier or stroller if you so desire!  It’s bound to keep her amused for sure!  So yeah, I’ll bring that along for my next exercise class.

Incidentally Applecrumby & Fish is having a storewide sale (20% off) in conjunction with Malaysia Day.  The sale ends Sept 16 2014, so hurry on over and shop away!

5. Opt to Walk

If your kid’s school is within walking distance, use that as a reason to walk your kid to school.  In Malaysia, it is more feasible to walk in the mornings when it is not so HOT.  By walking, you get to exercise while you get your kid safely to school, PLUS use that time as a 1:1 time with your child.

6. Mommy and Me Workout

This is something I would like to try soon.  It looks easy enough to try at home and is fun for both baby and mommy.  Called the Mommy-and-Me workout,  it’s something that we mommies can do with our babies at home.  It is an exercise and bonding time all in one!

7. Jogging

If you have a jogging stroller, you can go for an evening stroll or jog while pushing baby in the stroller.  You get your workout, while baby gets to feast her eyes on the interesting surrounding world outside.  Win:Win situation there!

8. Indoors

If you have a treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike at home, all you need to do is wait for baby to fall asleep, then you can hit like 20-30 minutes of cardio on these machines.  An alternative which I am trying out these days is to run up and down the stairs in my home.

Have you tried any of the exercise methods above?  Do you have any more which you would like to share?