I think this has been touched on briefly in other topics, but not directly. (At least, not that I saw. If it is out there somewhere, please point me to it.) I have a 5 and 2 year old. We are out and about often during the day and occasionally ride bikes with daddy at night. But I want to have a dedicated exercise time each day. So, without my long list of excuses of trying to find a time that works for me, I would like to hear how and when you exercise and maybe I can see some creative solution that has been eluding me.
I struggle with that, too. I have 5 kids: 15, 14, 5, 3, 10months. The other issue I have is that I don’t like to get sweaty from exercising and NOT take a shower. lol So since I shower just before I bedtime, I decided to exercise then — in that little space of time between when all the littles get into bed and the time for me to shower.
The other thing that has been really helpful is that I finally bought some new exercise DVDs. There is a whole “10 minute” series that I now love. You can do one 10-min segment, or multiple ones, depending on time available (or if the baby wakes up and needs attention!). This is so helpful to me because it keeps me from making excuses (as much) about why I “can’t” do it. And yes, I bought multiples because I get sick of doing the same thing over and over. Maybe you could try some out through your library if you’re interested. Here are a few that I really like:
I tend to have an “all or nothing” attitude — and in the realm of exercise that has often left me on the “nothing” side. lol We do for family walks in the evening, but aside from pulling a wagon or carrying a 25 pound baby, it’s not exactly a workout. What works best for me is to link the exercise with an ingrained routine (like my daily shower).
I thought exercising right after the girls go to bed would be great too. I also like to shower before bed. We tend to get sweaty and/or dirty during the day being outside. But I find that by the time they are in bed, it’s 8:30 before I could start to exercise. There are several problems of that for me: I often tired (of course, when am I not, right?), I would like to be available to talk with my husband, and probably most importantly, I’m then too jazzed to go to sleep by 10.
I think I might need to try morning before they get up and deal with possibly needing two showers on some days. At least with the weather cooling off, that’s not as much of an issue.
The point about exercise in the evening is a good one. I would not be asleep for hours and hours if I tried it! My “shower time” is in the morning, so I just get up and get out there before my turn in the bathroom. Also if I get up right away and out to exercise, I don’t have time to think up excuses why I shouldn’t. Although I love to get outdoors, the last few mornings have been pretty chilly–when I finally get forced inside by the weather, I experience a big drop in motivation, staring at the wall in front of my treadmill instead of listening to birds. Sigh. I’m not coordinated enough for exercise tapes. I’m doing well to walk/jog without falling down and hurting myself. LOL
Ya, umm… falling asleep after exercising?? Not a problem for me. I guess I’m just sooo sleep deprived that I truly can fall asleep anywhere, anytime. lol
Ideally, I would love to get out and walk or jog in the early morning hours… the sun rising… the birds singing. Ahhh…. But that’s not going to happen at this season of my life.
When I had two about those ages, I would take them on a walk 5-6 days a week. It worked great! Just make sure you have a double stroller that both will fit in and head out.
Now if I could just figure out how to get all 7 out for a walk without using up all our walk time just trying to get out . Still working on that one!
Rebecca
Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
The topic ‘When do you exercise’ is closed to new replies.