Collaborative post
I’m a busy parent myself so I know how hard it can be to fit in exercise when you have kids. There are school runs, work schedules, meals to cook, laundry that never ends, and the constant background noise of “Mum? Dad? I need…” But it is important that we take care of ourselves so that we are healthy and well enough to care for others.
I don’t have a gym membership as I know I can’t commit to go regularly enough to feel like I am getting my moneys worth. For me, I need to fit exercise around my family so that means working out at home, finding ways to fit exercise into my life and looking at how I can easily (and affordably) make my diet nutritious.
Making time for exercise is about more than losing weight, it’s about gaining energy, improving your mood, reducing stress, increasing your strength and you’re also setting a postive example to your children. Children are always watching and they notice things. You working out at home becomes normal to them and hopefully we’re bringing up a generation of children who won’t think twice about how to fit exercise in.
Not sure how you can fit in exercise and a healthy diet without it adding to your stress? Here are some ideas to get you started.
Start small
Workouts needn’t be lengthy. Yes, a 45 minute or more class is going to have more benefits than a short 10 minute one but if 10 minutes is all you have then this is better than no exercise at all. If you start small it will hopefully build from there. Pick a form of exercise you enjoy and you will soon start to see that you want to do more than 10 minutes a day.
Could you do a short workout in the mornings or in your lunch break? For me, if I don’t workout first thing, I know it won’t happen but everyone is different. Even 10 minutes a day adds up to over an hour a week. Start small and manageable and each week think about adding a bit more exercise in using some of these other tips.
Look at where you can add in exercise to your life
This follows on from starting small. Exercise isn’t necessarily all about scheduling work outs. There are other forms of exercise you can add to your day. Could you walk the school run or your commute to work? or even just part of the way.
Could you go on a walk in your lunch break? If you work from home, could you do a short workout in your lunch break or after work? Perhaps you could cycle to work some days.
Do you enjoy gardening or walking? Adding more of these in each week helps to increase your active minutes in a week.
Get the family involved
Getting the family involved means everyone is exercising and you are setting a great example to them. For me, this looks like long family walks on a weekend and walking the school run when we can. My 12 year old often joins me for a short yoga workout on a weekend.
Other ideas might include going swimming together, family bike rides, look at your local leisure centre – could you play paddles or tennis together etc.
Focus on your diet
It’s really important that you also look at your diet as well as your exercise. Perhaps you need to focus on eating more fibre or more protein. With kids who are often fussy eaters it can be hard to make changes. We have excepted that we need to cook a different meal for ourselves a couple of days a week. Other days I look at what I eat for lunch or add a protein powder shake into my day.
Invest in a few pieces of exercise equipment
If you have decided to work out at home, you might need a few basic bits of exercise equipment like an exercise mat, some hand weights or even just a skipping rope. There are lots of different options for working out at home either on your own or using YouTube videos or joining an online exercise class membership.
Find a local weekly exercise class
Perhaps you would like to exercise outside the home. Is there a weekly class that you could fit in even if it’s just once a week. It might be a yoga class or a spin class or perhaps there is a running club you could join? Some people like to know they have a regular commitment to keep up their fitness that they can’t pull out of if they don’t feel like exercising.
Get accountable
This one follows on from above. You might find that having a friend who also wants to increase their exercise too. Perhaps you could set up a regular date to exercise together. It could be going to a class together or it might be that you go for a run after the school drop off one day.