To find my morning routine difficult?

[Cherryhun]

I'm sure others will have it tougher but I'm finding my mornings before work so tricky to get through and am looking for advice.

DH has an early start and takes the car to work at 5.30. I'm up at 5.15 and try to do a half hour workout. I then have 45 minutes to get ready and eat a big bowl of fruit, yoghurt and seeds. I then get 2 Y/O up at 6.30 who is tired and reluctant to get up. Eventually, I get him up and ready and feed him a snack (breakfast provided at nursery) We then set off at 7.15 for my one hour walk, dropping DS at nursery en route.
By the time I get to work, I am already exhausted.

Am I just super lazy and not capable of this or is there a way of making it all a bit easier? Would also be great to hear about your own morning routine so I don't feel like I'm going it alone every day!

Another one wondering what time you and DC go to bed in the evening? That’s such an early wake up time for you. Also it’s so stressful to try to rush a toddler. Much better to simplify the routine and/or allow more time

Agree with @NoSquirrels . Push the buggy faster.
My husband has been walking mist days for 1 year now. The weight goes slowly, but he is fitter than ever. What seemed like a long walk to start with is now a quick hike/jog. It takes time, but it generally takes time to gain weight.
Other tricks he used was to put weights in his backpack. Have weights in the kitchen, so when waiting for kettle you can do a few reps. Make yourself go up and down stairs. There are ways to get exercise in without cutting sleep, which is important for your body too.

How far is the walk to nursery then on to work, and are there showers at work?
I’d cut out the exercise and if possible run or do C25k from nursery to work, or power walk at least.
Or walk in but run back, you look a bit sweaty at nursery pick up but will save time and make up for missing the morning workout.
Lack of sleep has a huge impact on weight, way more than exercise for most people and it’s taking you a huge amount of time to get going in the morning. Overnight oats take about 30 seconds to prep the night before and are very quick to eat.

2yo just needs clothes on - you can even put them to bed in leggings and T-shirt then it’s literally brush teeth, into the buggy with a snack if they really need one.

Yes was about to post the same thing! More rest and less stress should come first.

Getting up at 5am to workout seems absurd to me.

Wake up at a more normal time, do your workout in the evening and go to bed at 10 instead of 9.

Also, your 1-hr walk will get faster as you get fitter. Win-win.

Anyway, it’s definitely calories, rest and functional fitness i.e. using everyday activity that is better for weight loss than ‘high impact exercise’ as a factor.

It's not sustainable. If you walk to work then do a workout in the evening? For anything long term you need to find what works for you, I used to be a morning exerciser until I was finding myself flagging by like 8pm. Now I workout in the evening and as en extra bonus it helps my sleep!

Yeah fuck that for a barrel of laughs. 🤣

I'd be up at 6:30 along with the toddler. Get ready together, then pop him in the pushchair with a banana and leave at 7:15.

I'd still go to bed at 9pm though that way, a nice 9 hour sleep 🤤

Same😂I am exhausted from reading what OP does by 9 am !!
OP cut out the workout ,45 mins to get ready for work could be cut down to 30 ,leave a bit later and walk faster . You could then have another 45 mins in bed . Give toddler a snack to eat in buggy .

I would get a bike and a baby seat. Bike to nursery with the baby. Then absolutely hammer it on the bike to work. That’s your workout done.
Get up later. Don’t spend 45 mins faffing around and you’d be able to leave later as your hour walk would be a shorter cycle

The only way I'm getting up at 5.15 is if the house is on fire. Ditch the workout and leisurely breakfast/getting ready and get another hour's sleep. Get everything laid out the night before. Do you have to walk? Can you get a bus part of the way or something to cut down a bit?

Where is your DH factoring in all this of an evening? Does he need the car every day? Does he need to leave so early every day? Why is DS so tired at 6.30am?

I actually agree that high intensity work outs would benefit you more so than a walk, even if the walk is two hours. The temptation to power walk to work to get the heart rate up would help but would probably make you a sweaty mess by the time you reached the end point.

Anway I’d have an extra hour in bed if I were you and move the workout to another point in the day.

I do my high intensity or weights on an evening when DH does bedtime (so between 6.30/7.30pm) and one of the weekend mornings at around 7am. This gives me around 4/5 good workouts a week which is sufficient when combined with low impact exercise (which you are doing loads of!) Well done by the way for having so much motivation, it’s just a lot to do on a morning!

I didn't read beyond 5.15- yes that is shit, whatever follows, I'd be miserable!

I agree that a workout at that time of day is a huge effort! Well done for doing it but I’m not surprised you’re knackered!!!
Can you start work later? 6:30 is an early wake up for your toddler! Is it the long walk that means you have to leave at that time? Can you have the car some days or what about a bike or electric bike? Try and find ways to remove the workout and the hours walk and you’ll find it a lot more manageable! If I did that every day I would be asleep by lunchtime. Good luck! X

I would prepare my breakfast the night before and take it to work to eat.

I also would cycle rather than walk if at all possible.

OMG 5.15 for EXERCISE?! 😱 that's even worse than I imagined!

OK, so actually you're getting a pretty good level of sleep by going to bed at 9pm , BUT you fall asleep fast and are shattered by about 8/9am.
Tells me that you're doing too much, stressing your body out!

I would get up at 6.30, have a peaceful routine getting ready and then wake up toddler 7am, out the door at 7.15am for the long walk. Toddler has small snack en route to keep the occupied etc.

The high intensity exercise would be OK to do if you really wanted to, but save it for evening or the weekend...and not daily. 2-3 times a week would be more than enough. You might want to switch a session out with something like yoga, to relax a bit and rest your body well.

That’s a lot, I think I would skip the work out for an extra half hour in bed. You are already walking an hour to work no wonder you are shattered.

How far do you have to walk when you have dropped your child off? It's one thing doing that at this time of year, but what about the middle of winter? Does your little boy go back to sleep in the buggy?

You don't have time to do all this exercise. Leave out the workout and the big bowl of yogurt and seeds and you'll save yourself an hour and a load of calories.

Well done for working so hard to fit in workout and healthy breakfast, etc. It's so hard with kids!

Agree with PPs who say you need to cut down breakfast time, that way you can get up a bit later, so:

• Make a smoothie the night before and take it to work with you, drink once at desk/work. Huel (or something similar) as nutritionally complete.
• Give 2YO snack to eat as you push them in buggy.
• If not already, brisk walk to get your heart rate up as much as possible (without arriving at work all sweaty!)
• Just do yoga 3 days/week, make it a power yoga workout?

I've found it a nightmare fitting in exercise around kids and work, sounds like you're doing a great job.

Good luck!!

can you add in an espresso before your walk to energise you along? If you’re bigger you’re carrying extra weights so the more you lose the easier it will eventually become. I’mhuffing and puffing at the mo after having a chest infection in May. Still feeling the effects now, it takes time don’t give up

A big bowl of fruit might feel the right thing to do when you’re wanting to lose weight, but it’s full of sugar and will not be sustainable with all the exercise you’re doing. You’ll crash once the sugar levels drop.

Change it to a protein breakfast to keep
your energy levels up, like an omelette or porridge with the yogurt and seeds you currently have, then have one piece of fruit when you get to work.

Well done on having the motivation to exercise, just make sure you fuel your body to keep it going.

If you want to lose weight than those saying drop the workout aren’t helping.
However as you get fitter and start dropping weight, you will feel less exhausted.

I agree that a bike with a child seat is a good idea. Ups the exercise, shortens the journey time. Then you could workout every other day.

@RunningFromInsanity losing weight is predominantly diet not exercise, adding the number of waking hours to my day would make me put weight on, not lose it!