How Busy Mums Find Time to Workout

When I was pregnant I naively envisioned long luxurious coffee playdates, plenty of sleeping and good long workout sessions every day. I don’t know why I even thought that was going to be possible, but wow wasn’t reality different! 

I barely had time in the day to have a shower let alone good long workout sessions! I soon became completely overwhelmed as I tried to balance the idea of what a workout session should look like with the reality of what I was actually capable of achieving.

One more child later and I’ve finally found my sweet spot, so today I wanted to share with you 5 tips for fitting in a workout when you have a baby.

Letting Go of Expectations

Firstly, you need to let go of any expectations around what constitutes a workout. For most people, this ‘perfect’ workout is doing a class or going to the gym that last for the traditional 60 minutes. A workout doesn’t necessarily need to last that long, in fact research has shown that a 20 minute HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout is a really effective cardio and strength training workout and continues to burn fat for hours after the workout. Having said that, sometimes a 20-minute workout in your day isn’t even a possibility. On those days you need to keep in mind that a 5 minute or 10-minute workout is still more than no workout at all.

Chunk Away Your Day

When you have a baby or a young child you often start the day enthusiastically with all the plans and you end the day wondering where the time went. It is much easier to find time in your day when you find small chunks. For example, if you can schedule in 5 minutes at breakfast, 5 minutes before lunch, 5 minutes before you cook dinner and 5 minutes after the baby goes to bed, that’s 20 minutes of exercise you have achieved in your day. In fact, here is a 5-minute workout for you to get you on your way: http://bit.ly/5minworkout_MumMeFitTime

Intentional Incidental exercise

Most people have heard about the term incidental exercise. This is where you are going about your everyday tasks but increasing the opportunities for movement. This could be taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking your car a bit further away from the shops or even doing the housework. Intentional incidental exercise takes it one step further. This is where you intentionally do some exercise during those incidental moments. For example, the children might be in the bath so you do some squats while you watch them, you might be waiting for the kettle to boil so do some push ups, you might be on hold on the phone so you do some lunges.

Turning play into a workout

When you have a baby or young child, you are guaranteed to have some form of play taking place in your day. Take advantage of these opportunities and get a little creative. Babies love being used as a weight (within reason – don’t go swinging baby like a kettlebell). Love kissing your baby? Do push ups with them underneath you and give them a kiss each time you lower down. As babies grow into toddlers and preschoolers there is even more creative fun to be had. Mum doing a plank makes a great tunnel to crawl under and active songs such as Hokey Pokey or the Macarena can be great fun to do together!

Use What You Have

A workout isn’t all about lifting weights or pushing yourself to a state of breathlessness. Use the resources that you have. For example taking your child for a walk is a fantastic way of increasing your daily movement and pushing a pram up a hill is no easy feat! Similiarly, baby swim lessons can be quite taxing on the arms and provides an excellent resistance workout as you walk/swim your child through the water. If you happen to find a spare 20 minutes in your day, here is a great little stretch video that will not only leave you feeling fantastic but will energise you to! http://bit.ly/MumMeFitTime_Stretch

At the end of the day, it is about finding a way to workout in your day that is going to fit for you. One of my favourite quote’s is “Every step I take brings me one step closer to achieving my goals”. I have no idea who wrote that quote, but I challenge you to consciously keep that in mind when you are aiming to reach your daily exercise goals.

If you would love further workouts that are easy to do at-home without the stress of packing the children in the car or finding babysitters so that you can go to the gym, then check out my Mind & Body Bootcamp. Registrations are now open for the October round.

6 New Years Goals That Aren’t About Losing Weight

Giving up on your new year’s resolutions? You’re not alone. Many of us promise ourselves that this year is THE year to lose weight, quit smoking, work out daily, and so on. But few make it past the first 3 weeks.

I think it’s important to set yourself health goals on a regular basis, and January is a great time to make some new ones. But instead of focusing on losing a certain amount of weight, why not try a goal that is focused on long-term wellbeing?

Goal: Walk 10,000 Steps Per Day

Living an active lifestyle doesn’t need to be about hitting the gym for an hour every day. The more you can incorporate movement into your daily routine, the better! One way to track this is to aim for 10,000 steps per day.

10,000 steps per day is around 8km, or 1 hour and 40 minutes, depending on your stride. This might seem like a lot, but little amounts add up quickly. Here are some tips to get your count up:

• Go for a 5-10 minute walk each day

• Make the most of incidental exercise such as grocery shopping

• Head to the park with the kids and play a game of tag

• Check the letterbox every day

• Use your TV ad breaks to go and do something around the house, such as getting a glass of water or popping a dish in the sink

• If the weather allows, walk your little ones to sleep instead of a drive

• If you’re at your child’s activity or sport, go for a walk around the oval instead of sitting and watching

• Take the kids for a ride on their bikes around the neighbourhood

• Go for a family walk after dinner – take the dog if you have one!

Even including just a few of these will get your step count up without needing to go for a massive long walk!

Water fights are a great way to get your steps up!

Goal: Get A Full Health Check-up

It’s important to get regular check-ups with your healthcare providers. So why not make it one of your new year goals?

Get yourself booked in for an appointment with your:

• GP

• Dentist

• Personal trainer

• Physical therapist (physio, osteopath, chiropractor, myotherapist)

• Complementary practitioners of choice (naturopath, acupuncturist or whoever you see)

• Any specialists you need (optometrist, podiatrist, medical specialists)

Even if you don’t see all of your healthcare providers in the first month or two, you can book the appointments over a period of a few months. That way, you always have someone checking in on how you’re doing.

Goal: Drink An Extra 500ml Of Water Daily

Very few people drink enough water to stay at optimal hydration on a daily basis. Once you add in exercise and hot weather, it can be a struggle. So why not start small, and add two cups of water, or 500ml, to your current intake.

Find a way to fit this into your current routine. Maybe you can drink a glass of water when you get up to put the kettle on. Or you could add it to your night-time routine, with a cup of water before you brush your teeth.

Goal: Add A Serve Of Veggies Each Day

Vegetables are filling and full of essential nutrients. It can be hard to hit the ideal 5 serves every day. So start with adding just one extra serve each day. This could be as easy as:

• Adding mushrooms to a morning omelette

• A handful of spinach or a few slices of avocado in a smoothie

• Some carrot and celery sticks with dip as a snack

• A side salad on the table at dinner time

Celery sticks with tomato salsa are a yummy snack to increase your veggie consumption.

Goal: Schedule One Exercise Session Per Week 

Although it’s great to exercise 3 or more times each week, it can be hard to schedule around the rest of the family commitments. So instead of aiming for 3-4 sessions and having to cancel them, schedule just one exercise session each week.

Do not reschedule it unless it’s a genuine emergency! Setting aside just one hour of your week to focus on your own health and wellbeing isn’t just good for you, but for the whole family.

Goal: Complete A Fitness Challenge Or Course

Are you someone who loves a challenge? There are plenty of fitness challenges and courses that run throughout the year. Whether you want to try an obstacle course, a fun run or a structured fitness challenge, there’s something to suit your lifestyle and goals.

By taking part in these, you have more fun, and you’re accountable to something other than yourself.

By taking part in these, you have more fun, and you’re accountable to something other than yourself.

10 Mum-Me Ways to Increase Movement in Your Day

#Mumlife

Mum life is hectic. Not only are you trying to juggle all your balls, but you are also trying to juggle all of your little person balls (and sometimes not so little persons ). You know you need to exercise, you start your day with the best of intentions, but often you get to the end of your day so exhausted that the thought of doing some exercise is now just a hazy memory.

BUT HANG ON, exercise doesn’t have to be that heart raising group fitness class down at the local gym that goes for exactly 60 minutes. There are other ways you can move more (aka exercise) through your day.

Yes, it’s a not so little secret….incidental exercise!

Incidental what? I hear you say? Incidental exercise is any activity built up in small amounts over the day.

I know, I know – the thought of moving more through your day is already exhausting but weirdly by moving more it helps to boost your daily energy expenditure and keep your energy going. Plus, there is the huge array of health benefits such as maintaining your strength and fitness for everyday functional activity, promoting weight loss if that’s one of your goals and benefiting your mental health and general well being.

Why does it work so well for mums?

• Every minute you are active adds up, so if you can’t get to do a formal workout, you have may still have done a decent amount of activity through the day.

• It’s a great place to start if you have been inactive for a while.

• Many people can find it easier to be active in lots of little ways throughout the day.

Here are my top 10 ways I increase my movement while at home with the kiddies:

1. Housework. Yes, I know, I’ve started with the most boring job of all. But it ain’t boring if you pop on some music and boogie away. The kids might laugh but hopefully, they join in with you!

2. Ad Break Challenges. Challenge your children to do some squats, pushups, tricep dips, crunches etc during the ad breaks. Who can get the best score? If you are still on ABCKids and haven’t graduated to ad break TV yet, that’s cool – change the challenge; do two squats every time Peppa Pig snorts….you get the idea.

3. Pace around while you are on the phone. Gone are the days of getting tangled in the telephone cord, that is so 1990’s – walk around while you chat and get your steps up!

4. Grocery Shopping. Ok, I know this is almost as bad as housework. But let’s break it down here – 25-metre aisles x 10 aisles = 250 extra metres you are walking. Shall we add weights? Go shopping trolly-less. Yes, that’s really playing with fire!

5. Try not to sit still for more than half an hour each day. *Every mum snorts into her coffee* Sit still? What a luxury!

6. Have a walking coffee date. Why do we need to go to a cafe for our friend dates? oh, well I guess if you snorted to number 5 the answer may be obvious here…..but if you want to get that movement going, have a walking coffee date instead. If the kids are in tow that’s fine, you don’t need to be breaking any world record walking times.

7. Join in on your children’s activity. I found myself the other day climbing the slippery dip so that I could be ‘the tunnel’ for my children. I secretly enjoyed it though. Why let them have all the fun? Slippery dip, flying fox, monkey bars here I come!

8. Play a physical game. Children aren’t spending their time judging you when you play with them, they are too busy being excited that mum is joining in. Have a running race (if your children are like mine, I have to ‘lose’ every time anyway…), play soccer, basketball, relay races, ninja warriors, superheroes, hopscotch, Hoola hoops…..

9. Obstacle Course. No need to wait for the annual Miss Muddy event. Make your own obstacle course at home minus the mud – or not!

10. Interactive Video Games. Are they even called ‘video games’ anymore? I’m not sure, but I do know that there are heaps of interactive ones out there. If you can’t get your teenager off the console, then join them!

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