How Working Moms Can Get Into Good Health and Fitness Routines
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Today on Corporette we’re talking about what our health and fitness routines are, and I thought it might be a great distinct discussion to have over here, as well, since at least I know that having kids has really affected my health and fitness routines. So let’s discuss — what WERE your health and fitness routines, pre-kids? What are they now? What do you see as the biggest stumbling blocks to getting into good health and fitness routines as a working mom? What are your best tips on how working moms can get into good health and fitness routines?
I’ve described my own routines over on Corporette, but I have some additional thoughts on how being a working mom affects my heath and fitness routines:
My workout routines have been heavily influenced by my kids, in part because my old tricks have been foiled over the years. If I get up at 5 to workout… I end up waking both of the kids up, which often devolves into an “all hands on deck” situation with two grumpy kids.
As I’ve described before, our bedtime funnel is pretty busy and often stressful because everyone is tired and the kids often somehow think they can convince us that bedtime isn’t happening (nope), so getting a workout in after the bedtime funnel has completed is, for me at least, almost impossible.
This summer I got into a good workout routine with Couch to 5K during mornings or afternoons, and I’m thrilled to get back to it. Maybe if my gym had a better kids’ care option…
My health routines haven’t suffered due to the kids per SE, but when I met my husband I had a pretty strict “no carbs at night policy,” at least for the weeknights — and with the kids I always end up making a pasta or bread side dish. This doesn’t mean I have to eat the carbs, I know, but willpower is harder when it’s sitting right in front of you and there are half-finished plates.
I also find that my weekends look totally different from my single days in terms of a health perspective, in that I find workouts harder to fit in on the weekends and I find myself snacking a lot more during the weekends.
(On the flip side: in those early years of marriage my husband and I often ate dinners out, which often involved drinking during the week — there may have also been a bit of daydrinking during lazy Saturdays and Sundays where all we had to do was binge Netflix. So in theory we are drinking less, which is obviously better for our health.)
How about you, guys — what are your best tips for how working moms can get into good health and fitness routines? What are you doing yourself — and what’s been holding you back?
I have a FT job and 4 young children (!). Totally understand 100% earlier posters who find it hard to workout in the morning or even due to kiddos interruptions, having no energy, cooking carb-heavy family dinners or the kids get too hungry. My youngest is 1 and I’m still 30lbs bigger than pre-kids, I had severe pregnancy nausea and could only keep down sweet foods. But several times a week I ride my bike to work on dedicated bike lanes, but it’s in another city so it’s 45 minutes each way with an elestric assist cargo bike. It’s actually must faster than going by car or public transport plus a moderate 20-30 minute workout. Other days I carpool with hubs and put my makeup on in the passenger seat, esp. when I need to take a break. The electric assist means I go fast enough to drop off/pick up kids and make my working hours, without breaking a sweat. Big tip: two big salad bowls, one to pack, one to prep – help me organize lunch every day. I put in quinoa and/or some beans for staying power, and fill to the brim with fresh veggies. My other big tip: kettlebells, a collection of workout camis with thin straps, and (drum roll) velcro sponge rollers. Say what? But really, if you workout at home fast with kettlebells, you can keep your hair out of the way with rollers and take them out later for a lovely ‘do. Otherwise I try to do weights at my office’s small gym but tend to have to work part of my lunch hour to make my hours.
I don’t work out at all. It’s awful. Part of the reason is because I have a chronic illness with a fatigue component so sometimes making it through the day is all I can manage, but I suspect some exercise would help with that. I’ve been trying to get out for walks in the evening with the new baby, so that’s a start.
I’m the type that has to do classes though, I’m not self-motivated enough to use equipment at the gym, but my schedule isn’t reliable enough to make classes worth a gym membership.
Has anyone tried orange theory? it seems to be all the rage in this area.
In terms of physical activity, I’m not that bad (could be better!) — mostly because we have a Peloton in our basement and I actually enjoy using it. I don’t workout as frequently as I like, I’d prefer 5-6 days a week, but I’m averaging more like 2-3 days most weeks.
My weakness is eating, especially at night. It’s mostly ’emotional’ eating, rather than hunger, and I tend to make carb-heavy choices. Cutting that out is really the only thing that will help me shed the extra 15-20 lbs I have. This was also a pre-kid problem, but now that I’m over 40 it’s even worse.
I never worked out pre-kiddo. Now that she is 2.5 and over 30 pounds, I realized my lack of exercise was starting to limit my ability to play with and hold her for extended periods of time. I also realized that, after bedtime, I was just sitting on the couch being exhausted from 7:30pm to 10:30pm. So, I found a gym that offers a 8:15pm HITT class with a weight lifting component, and I’ve been going on average of 5 times a week (11 weeks so far). Since the class is after bedtime, I don’t feel guilty leaving hubby to kid duties. I am more fit now than the past 10 years, although that isn’t saying much.
Ugh, I worked out a fair amount (4x/wk) pre kid, and even pregnant. But after a pretty traumatic delivery and procedures after, I have had pelvic floor problems. I was good about doing a pelvic floor routine until I got discouraged that it wasn’t helping. Now I’ve basically stopped working out. Very frustrating.
My kiddo is 1, a terrible sleeper, and I work in BigLaw where a 55 hour work week is a good week and 60-70 tends to be more average. I just decided to say no to worrying about exercise as sleep is more important to me and there is only so much time in the day. I can walk the mile each way to the park pushing kiddo in the stroller at a steady clip comfortably and I can bench press, swing, carry, lift, etc. her all evening long at 25 pounds, so in terms of what I need to be able to do in my daily life, I am pretty happy (and I am 25 pounds down from my pre-pregnancy weight, yay BFing). I do try to fit in activity when it is convenient – take the baby for a walk in the stroller, play with her in the pool once a week, etc., but I’ve just given myself permission to be happy with where I am in terms of functional fitness.
The kiddo is 12 so there have been a lot of seasons in my fitness journey. This week I just started a mom-oriented running program that involves training by heart rate and lets me run almost every day, which I am enjoying. The plan has a lively Facebook community too. The most fitness fun I had in years was the Runners’ World streak, where you run 1 mile per day between Thanksgiving and New Years.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this since I just started a new running training program this week. I’ll skip the details but what I have noticed is that life is full of seasons. Sometimes it is easy to fit exercise in (like when the gym was 5 minutes from the preschool near my work and the boy loved hanging out in the gym’s childcare) and sometimes finding the time is a challenge. The hubs has noticed that I am in a better mood when I exercise regularly (especially if I go to boxing and get to hit things) and has tried to make it easier for me to exercise. That is a huge help.
I also like working with pals and plans. Hence my new running program, which involves running almost every day (yay) and a facebook group that has a lot of activity.
Pre-kids, I was running/going to the gym at least 5 days per week and running marathons and half marathons.
Post-kids and with a more demanding job, I try to squeeze in exercise however I can. I bike commute with a toddler because then I’m guaranteed 40 minutes of surprisingly decent cardio (lots of hills!). I’ve started signing up for races/events again because then I force myself to train for them. I make plans to meet up with friends to run because then I get my socializing and my exercise in one.
When all else fails, I have a cheap used treadmill in my basement and I go down there and watch shows on my computer while I power walk or jog. I’m currently watching ER from the beginning and it’s surprisingly excellent. It’s exactly what I would want to be doing on the couch, but exercise-y.
Pre-kids, my evenings were about running and Sundays were focused on my long-runs (and eating and sleeping….). I’ve never been able to get up and run because my body and mind both seem to hate it. Pre-kids, I ran full and half-marathons.
Post-Kids: I run three days a week over lunch, and this has been my routine since returning to work after my second was born (she’s 5). There is a gym in my building. It takes me about an hour to change, run, take a quick shower and redo my makeup. I take longer if I can, but frequently I only have an hour. Like so many things, I had to make peace, post-kids, with the idea that something is better than nothing and that it doesn’t have to be the perfect work-out to be good and beneficial for me. I also decided that it is worth being at work for a longer day in order to have time to run. I am calmer in general and definitely with my kids when I run. There are a bunch of runners in my office but not in my department. I have found that I am more productive on the days that I run over lunch because I am more focused in the morning and have energy after I run. I try and go for a longer run on the weekends. My husband is also a runner, which helps on the support front. I don’t run full or half marathons anymore, but I’m happy with my 5K and 10K races.
in biglaw with a 3yo and a baby, i determined that i will not have time to dedicate to exercise in the near future. actually it’s freeing, and i weigh less than i have in years (after gaining 45 pounds in pregnancy). i switched to a treadmill desk and am aggressive about filling up on healthy food before i get ravenous. i eat dinner w kids around 6 and almost never have any calories afterward. i could stand to tone up but that will need to wait.
I am determined to keep working out after my first is born this fall because I’ve discovered that it’s crucial to feeling like a real human* for me, and my husband has promised to support me in this. We will see how it goes. :)
Any stories or anecdata about getting back into exercising after birth?
*Not that people who don’t work out aren’t real humans! You’re all real humans, and I support you all in your personal practices that keep you emotionally in touch with that reality. :)
Pre-kids (so, until 6 years ago), my husband and I had a climbing gym membership and went 4+ times per week. I also did one or two 10-13 mile races or sprint distance triathlons per year, and rotated through various group exercise classes with friends, yoga, recreational crew team, and long bike rides both for fun and as transportation. It’s fair to say that exercise was a major hobby, and at some points earlier in my career, part of my job. Plus my commute was public transportation, and included about half mile walk and one of the longest continuous escalators in the world worth of stair climbing.
Now, I ride my bike to work when the weather is nice, go to on-site yoga class 1-2 times/week, walk during my lunch break if I miss the yoga class, and try to get in at least 3 dedicated workouts per week. The dedicated workouts are Saturday morning, when I can take advantage of the babysitting service at my gym, or on week nights after the kids go to bed. They tend to be a long walk or jog in my neighborhood, weightlifting, swimming laps, or occasionally a yoga DVD or some calisthenics at home. The major limiting factors for me right now are time and energy. I’m reluctant to use time during the weekdays that I would otherwise spend with my family to do real workouts, but waking up early enough to get a workout in before the morning scramble starts is hard, y’all. And sometimes after a long day, I just want to put on PJs instead of workout clothes at 8pm. Energy is a vicious or virtuous cycle for me. I know I would feel better and have more energy if I exercised more, but some days, weeks, months it’s just impossible to get started.
Pre-kids I was a big runner and did a long-ish run 3-4 days a week, in addition to lifting weights and yoga. I would work out most mornings before work, and I trained for and ran 3 marathons, including cross-training. Post-kids I can hardly get myself into bed early enough to wake up for work, let alone wake up earlier to work out. My morning starts at basically the same time it did pre-kids, but without the ability to leave the house and go for a run. BUT we moved to the suburbs and my new commute involves a ton of walking – about an hour a day, roundtrip, while wearing a backpack that is often pretty heavy – so that has become my workout. I still try to run 1-2 times/week, mostly on the weekend. Yoga is gone.
I had given up on weights for 5 years, but recently I started trying to lift some weights in my living room in the morning while the kids play – maybe 20-30 minutes for a decent full-body workout. That routine went out the window this summer because my older child has to be on the camp bus early, which screwed up the timing, but I’m hoping that once the summer is over I can get back into the weights.
Honestly this change in exercise hasn’t affected my weight at all, and I am probably healthier overall now than I was back when I was working out so hard, because my exercise is more consistent and easier on my body, but still great cardio.
My biggest change is that I don’t work out any more. I get up early in the morning as it is, I can’t wake up any earlier. And as you describe, the evenings are a funnel to get to bedtime. If I work out after kids are in bed, then it disrupts my sleep for the night. I have the most luck exercising instead of the bedtime routine – if partner handles it all and I leave to go to the gym. But we only do that once a week at most (for each of us) thanks to work schedules, and oftentimes we eat up that time with errands that are easier to run solo, like grocery shopping or getting the oil changed. I’m more active in my daily life, thanks to bike rides and neighborhood walks and such, but that doesn’t come close to making up for the 3+ hours of cardio that I used to get each week.
I do eat a lot better thanks to kids. I eat more vegetables in one week now than I did in an entire month pre-kids. I pack my lunch along with theirs during the school year so I’m not picking up food from the cafeteria in my building. I sit down to eat and actually talk through my meal, instead of mindlessly hoovering it while I stand at the counter watching TV.