Finding the Time to Workout When Your a Mom

Almost immediately after I started posting about my success with running and losing the remaining baby weight, I was asked this question by multiple moms, "How do you find the time?"  The short answer is I made it a priority.

Family Support

Nothing says love more than standing in the cold holding a sign while your wife completes her first half marathon.

In the beginning, I would use the treadmill down in our basement while our daughter was sleeping. I work out of the home so I dislike spending any more time away from her than I already do.  When my training got more demanding and I needed to put in more miles and start incorporating strength training, then my husband had to step in more to take care of our daughter.  End of story.  Unless, I actually got up with my first alarm to get in an early morning run, then I had all evening to spend time with them both.  I really could not have completed most of my training without his support. OK, I really couldn't have completed any of my training without his support.  

Easy Dinners

As for dinners, I honestly relied on our crock pot heavily.  There was at least one month during the winter that every meal was made in it.  Doing this freed up a lot of my time in the evenings.  That being said, menu planning is also a beautiful thing and a lifesaver.  I've posted a lot of my crock pot meals HERE.  

Make Exercise a Family Event 

Occasionally, I took my 3 year old out with me in the jogging stroller when I just needed to get my run done and my husband wasn't able to watch her.  This can be challenging for many reasons including whining, dropping items, complaining about the heat/cold and then wanting to get out and run herself.  In my opinion, this is a great way to get some cross-training in as well since pushing 60 pounds worth of stroller and a kid is no easy feat.  Oh and for the record, since I am so frugally inclined, I purchased my jogging stroller second hand.  This is a great idea since if you or your child don't really like you didn't break the bank purchasing it and can probably unload it quickly too.  

Have a Plan

I'm pretty type A about how I function.  I like to plan for things and I like for things to go according to plan.  When I trained for my first half marathon I followed the plan from Another Mother Runner and it really helped me stay on track.  I modified it when I had to because let's face it, we all still have lives to live.  

Baby Steps

Start small!  A lot of people hear how many miles I run for a long run and think that is what they have to do to start running.  Please do NOT go out there never having run a mile and hope to complete 10!  You'll just end up discouraged not to mention injured.  When I first started I jogged for a mile at a 15 minute mile pace non-stop.  That was enough of a workout for me.  It might sound like nothing but I worked up a healthy sweat, felt frickin' awesome and actually wanted to do it again.  Never before had I run a mile without stopping.  I couldn't believe.  Turns out all of these years I had always gone out too fast and quickly became discouraged.  Running is something you actually need to train for!

If you are wanting to get started on taking better care of yourself, I hope that these tips resonate with you and provide you with some encouragement and guidance to get started.  You don't have to run either.  There are so many things you can do and it can become a family activity or a personal passion.  Running has done so many wonderful things for me, but it really isn't for everyone.  Find what works with you and stick with it.  Most of all, make yourself a priority.

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