to think that not that many mothers have time to 30-60 minute workouts every morning?

[showtunesgirl]

Apparently that's what Maria Kang does.

Now I only have one almost two year old and just can't figure out how you would fit that in with even with one child let alone the three that Maria Kang has.

If anyone out there also does this, can you please let me know your secret?

[lotsofcheese]

I really struggle to find the time - got to bed last night at 10.30pm. & up at 5.15 with 6 month DD. DS is 4 & walks/dithers at a snails pace so fast walking doesn't happen. He's only in nursery 2.5 hrs a day & by the time I get there/back, feed baby, do housework, I'm out of time. DP works long hours (out yesterday at 6am, back 9.30pm).

I really struggle to prioritise myself.

[Stravy]

I have a friend in the public eye who used to get up at 5am to exercise for an hour before work but tbf she was kind of closeted insomuch as a car would pick her up at 6 and she could shower/change on set and had all her meals provided but given that she would work long hours I would have rolled out of bed at 5.59 am if I was her.

I do shred spasmodically after youngest dcs are in bed and elder ones are reading in bed.

[AnnieLobeseder]

I get up early.

[PenguinDancer]

I think most people could if they really wanted to but the amount of determination you would need would be crazy.

[SanityClause]

I could if I got up at 5:00 am.

ATM, I get up at 5:45, so if I got up a bit earlier, I could squeeze it in.

[Heartbrokenmum73]

Just on a tangent, as it's been mentioned a few times now, is The Shred any good?

Jillian Michaels is a bit scary!

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

Out of interest, the people who say, I get up early or I exercise when the children are asleep, do you leave the house or is it mainly exercise videos and the like?

[insertsomethingwitty]

I think if you want to do something then you find the time for it. I have three small children, I get up at 5:20 in the morning and run between 7-13 miles before getting the bigger ones ready for school. I do have a partner asleep in bed when I go which allows me to leave the children but if I didn't I would find time elsewhere as it is a priority for me. Everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day you fit into that the things that you want to make time for. For me being fit is a priority over lying in bed for an extra two hours that I would have done at that time otherwise.

[TheWomanTheyCallJayne]

It's fucking hard heart ( probably because I am incredibly unfit) but just about manageable if that makes sense. It's good because I feel less likely to give up though did stop for a while when I was ill.


The main thing I have learned is to make myself a healthy sandwich before hand because it makes me starving and I don't have the energy to make anything so would eat easy crap otherwise

[ShowOfBloodyStumps]

I find a way to fit it in. You have to be motivated to do it, inventive and willing to just drop stuff and shoehorn it in to the day.

I have one school aged child and one 2yo. There are myriad ways you can fit in exercise:

• Go running with a decent running pushchair (I have a bike trailer which doubles up as this)

• Get a seat on your bike and go cycling

• Go for a run when dp/a friend/parents are willing to do half an hour's babysitting

• Get your 2yo to 'join in' with a workout. 2yo ds has papier maché weights!

• Use your toddler as a work out aid. I find chasing him/spinning him round/ a good run/scoot round park works up a good sweat if you put in enough effort. Plus we dance together a lot

• Ditch the car, walk everywhere. Walk extra. Always take the stairs.

• And yes, get up earlier. I get up an hour earlier atm and am doing the insanity workout

I had a diastasis recti which I fixed with exercise and the Tupler Technique. There's a lot of exercise out there which actively help and plenty which won't hurt.

[cathpip]

I go running......with a double buggy :)

[catgirl1976]

If you really are sick of being unfit or overweight or both you set your
alarm and just get it done before everyone gets up

Hmm.

I could do.

But that would mean setting my alarm for 5am. It would also mean DS would doubtless wake up as I crept past his room any way.

[IfYouLoveSomebodyLetThemSleep]

I could have time for it, easily. I just choose to be lazy instead

[YouTheCat]

Yeah, I could have chosen to get up at 5 after 4 hours of broken sleep when mine were small. Or I could have gone for a run at 10pm when my ex got back, steaming, from the pub with a big old 'MUG ME' sign above my head.

But I couldn't afford a nice double pushchair. I had a crap 2nd hand one with no brakes. I couldn't afford a bike either and I don't think they make double carriers (or at least they didn't 18 years ago). There was no one to look after my little bundles of joy so I could go out and exercise. The 2 sq metres of floor space wasn't enough room for a workout and we didn't have enough for a video anyway.

It might well be easy for those with decent, supportive partners to pursue fitness. But please don't assume that it is all soooo easy for everyone else.

[HardFacedCareeristBitchNigel]

I go to the gym en route home from work for an hour. Either DH is at home or parents have DD, they are all supportive of me keeping fit so not an issue.

As for "no energy to do it", exercising breeds energy as you feel better about yourself. I feel like a new woman since starting exercising again, it has a positive effect on not only your fitness and body but also your seratonin levels, ability to focus and channelling anger and frustration.

Healthy food + exercise is key in staying healthy, happy and productive IMHO

[TEErickOrTEEreat]

My school run, which is a walk, is 3 miles round trip.

That's my work out.

[showtunesgirl]

Thanks for your stories ladies.

I'm one of the lucky ones that does have a sleeper so have been doing MuTu in the evenings until recently when a bad bout of asthma put paid to that for a while.

But my main thing was about doing it in the mornings. It does sound as though you just have to get up early and dear Gods I am NOT a morning person.

I'm also currently going through a long patch of not sleeping well. DD and DH maybe sleeping well but I'm up every two hours. I wish I knew why but I probably get one good night's sleep a week and the rest of the week I am up and down like a yoyo. So frustrating.

I'm also so sad about my diastasis recti as I used to go to kickboxing aerobics twice a week before I was pregnant. It was proper hardcore interval based aerobics and I loved it but now it's not doable.

[fatlazymummy]

Maria Kang is a fitness model, who has been competing in fitness for years, before she ever had children. So most women aren't going to look like her, no matter how much shredding or running they do.
Having said that, I think it is important not to make excuses. I used to keep fit through lots of walking, and doing fitness videos when my kids were in bed. I think there are usually things we can do, even if it's only a few minutes here and tgere throughout the day.

[wasabipeanut]

I get up early to shred before 3 x DC's are up and about. Actually DS1 and DD are usually awake but keep to their rooms until 6.30-7 when I get DS1 to Fi his reading. Getting up at anything from 5.50 - 6.15am isn't fun but I like the way exercise makes me feel - apart from when I'm actually going it of course. FWIW I like the shred because I can do it private, not go out on cold, dark mornings and apart from the fiver the DVD cost plus some cheap hand weights its pretty much free. I can't afford a gym membership .

However I have reasonable sleepers and plenty of room. That all helps. I think assuming that every mother can fit exercise in just because I do is a bit twatty.

[Lazysuzanne]

I find that Maria Kang picture rather irritating and smug, you dont need an excuse not to exercise, it's not bloody compulsory.
If you have some free time and want to spend it exercising then go ahead and do it...dont expect a medal, exercise is mostly done for personal gratification, nothing wrong with that but dont make out like you're discovering a cure for cancer

[wasabipeanut]

Also have to point out that my max exercise window is 30 mins daily and I have not a fucking clue who Maria Kang is.

[RenterNomad]

The trouble with "just getting up before everyone else" is that the little buggers then wake up (well, one of mine, anyway) !

[Ragwort]

It's not so much the time .............. it's the motivation .

[showtunesgirl]

Yes, how DO you stop the rest of the house from waking up as well if you get up early to exercise?

I'm pretty sure I'm a thumping elephant when I exercise!

[SirChenjin]

Who is Maria Kang when she's at home?

I WOHM, so the mornings are frantic enough as it is with 5 of us trying to get out of the house. No fucking way am I getting up at stupid o'clock to go running in the freezing cold. I stick on an exercise DVD a couple of times a week in the evening, play badminton one evening, and try to walk/cycle whenever I can. That's the extent of my exercising.