When do you find time to exercise with all of life's other demands?

[Trickymoments]

I'm looking for some inspiration & motivation please.

I work every day until 1.00pm & pick up dc's from nursery & school at 2.45pm. Then it's home for tea, homework etc...

I have a chronic condition which affects my joints but it's well managed with meds and my consultant is encouraging me to keep fit. I also suffer with low mood & anxiety and I've heard exercise can really help with this.

Trouble is I never seem to find time to do it as there's always a mountain of other things I need to do between finishing work & picking up dc's.
I find I'm so tired in the evenings so don't feel like exercising. Also my low mood doesn't help as I have no get up & go although I realise if I did exercise I might feel better!

Can anyone offer any suggestions or advice? It doesn't help that I'm not a natural sporty type, I've never really loved exercising but I'm starting to think it's affecting my health & wellbeing by not doing it. How can I learn to enjoy It?

Thanks for any help.

You've got a window of maybe an hour to fit in a swim or walk after work and before picking up DCs - surely the mountain of other things can be done in evening or with DCs after school as presumably then have 3-5pm or so free too?

Can your DC bike or scoot with you walking after school?

Evening. If you sign up to a weekly class, pay in advance and tell OH you're going same time every week you'll find it falls into a routine quick enough.

Even though you're tired that's not a reason not to exercise. It's a great time of the day. Let OH clean up after dinner/get kids washed for bed - you get one evening out doing something healthy.

I've two kids, 2.5yo and an 8mo, I'm bfing and still on maternity leave (so I seem to have inherited every household task going). I get out every Tuesday from 5 - 7 for Pilates. It seemed impossible to start wth (I'd never gone anywhere without the baby) but 7 weeks in and I haven't missed a class

Get a dog! Walking is the best exercise and a great stress buster. Otherwise, try Jillian Michael's Shred which is only 20 minutes. If you manage to do it only three times a week you'll be doing well.

Get a Fitbit! I've managed to get much fitter just by walking around more during the whole day, 500 steps here and there isn't much, but being generally more active is great! I've gone from an average of 8k steps a day to 15-20k easily!

I go out early for runs. On a work day I can get 20-30 mins in. That could be substituted with a walk. Sometimes I'll do a short DVD like yoga or shred instead.

I tend to find that by the time I've rushed the childcare pick ups for 6pm, then its cooking and DH coming in at variable times, by the time the DCs go to bed, I'm trashed!

I also do weekend mornings before the rest of the household is ready for action.

I don't intentionally exercise but I do incorporate keeping active in to my lifestyle by walking or cycling most journeys & go out for a short walk around the park with DP every night after tea which stops us both slumping in front of the tv with full bellies

Writing it in a diary helps too. My exercise/ me time is of value to the household as it keeps me happy and functional!

What time are you up in the morning? Maybe get up half an hour earlier and do an exercise dvd?

Would it be possible to walk from your work to the dcs' nursery? Or walk to work in the morning?

I don't do this - and I should - but when you have such a lot on your plate they say it is best to incorporate exercise in to your daily life.

Another tip (again I need to follow my own advice) is to schedule it in in the diary as you would a dental appt. Get used to going to the same activity once a week at the same time then everyone else can work around that too.

Consult the WHO guidelines here for advice for 18 to 64 year olds.

So if you did 30 mins brisk walking a day and then schedule in once a week badminton, dance, swimming

session (or something you specifically enjoy) that would fulifill the WHO criteria wouldn't it? Remember to work up to it gradually though.

I only have one older child and only work a few hours a week and I still don't do it! So I need to get going too! Currently have back prob which is getting in the way!

Good luck op!

Also would it be possible to drum up some rl support ie swap baby-sitting with friend so you can both exercise on a regular basis or ask friends/family to baby-sit on a particular night per week or do afternoon school run once a week? An added benefit is that if someone is helping you out like that, you kind of feel obliged to follow through with the exercise!

I love my Fitbit too! I have a desk job so it's really good at reminding me to get up and get 250 steps an hour (not hard to do really, but easy to spend an hour or more sitting on your arse...)

I'm a single parent so do most exercise when DS is with his dad EOW and one night in the week. I go to the gym (crucially, just round the corner and cheap) and do BMF one night week too. My mum usually babysits one night a week so I can get out.

If I really can't get out of the house I do YouTube yoga (Yoga with Adrienne is very good) or an exercise video. Or just do squats/burpees/crunches in the garden while DS plays. He also now comes running with me, that started when he was 7.

I haven't always been like this by the way! I started running a couple of years ago and it esclated from there. Like you, I have anxiety and exercise helps so much, especially outdoor exercise. BMF is lovely as it's sociable too.

You just need to do plan to do it and do it. There are nights when I get in from work at 6, my mum arrives at the same time to look after DS and I get changed and head straight back out. Even though I am knackered, I do get a second wind once I get going.

I get up 30 mins earlier. was hard initially but cannot do it otherwise at all.

I think starting small can really help. Say five or ten minutes a day, gets you into the habit without being a huge mental block. I found it enough to see improvements that kept me on track and then I started exercising more. But starting small meant I did it every day.

Personally I've found getting up early helped me fit it in but I'm naturally an early riser.

Accountability works for me - I've had a Fitbit for years and started an exercise/healthy steps diary this year too.

C25k was a game changer for me, from years of being the slowest child in my year at school I discovered I loved it and will go to huge lengths to fit it in, which I never thought I would.

You have to schedule exercise in like you would work or picking up kids. When it's time to exercise, it's time - and you don't start doing laundry instead.

Do you have a partner or family around who can take care of your children? If you sign up for a class, it's easier to take the time - if not, it must be the hour between end of work and pick up I guess.

As for how to enjoy it - I'm convinced that there's an exercise out there for anybody. There are so, so many options available nowadays and there's no point to torture yourself doing something you don't enjoy. What do you think you might like? Something slow like pilates? Are weights OK with your joints? Swimming? Dancing? Outdoors or in? Group fitness or alone?

I think like chutney pig says. It doesn't have to be running for an hour. Do something/ anything for 5/10 mins that gets you a bit warm or out of breath ( er that sounds wrong). You'll feel better afterwards and be more motivated to do it again.

It will soon become a habit and you'll just do it. I think people have a misunderstanding that people who exercise often are really motivated, IMO it's habit that keeps most people going not motivation.

I too have a chronic condition that causes joint problems. High impact things such as running I assume is out - can you easily get to and into a swimming pool? Swimming or water walking I'm told is great for taking the pressure off joints (I sometimes can't get into the pool which cause
Some Problems)- cycling not is also good as it doesn't impact the knees and ankles in the same way walking based exercise does. You could cycle to and from work.
The important think with joint conditions is to do little and often. Instead of an hour's continuous hard exercise try doing 10 minute bursts here and there of soft exercise - maybe get the kids involved too?

You've got almost two hours free to yourself every lunchtime - surely half an hour of that could become your exercise slot, perhaps by running/walking/cycling home from work? I don't know if your particular joint condition allows you to run, but I know lots of people with arthritis who are running successfully, and it's improved their condition.

Otherwise - morning or evening classes? At my gym, classes start at 6.45am. Or exercise videos?

I don't manage it as I am a lone parent and have my children 100% of the time. Over the years I have tried DVDs at home and they are better than nothing but I always lose my motivation. I try and drag the kids out for a walk on the weekends and that's about it for me. If I take them swimming, it's not exercise, just supervision.

I think you would have to be very committed to fit it in to your schedule but it would be possible.