Need my butt kicking into shape(literally) tips for SAHM and exercise please!

[NeedingASafeSpace]

I’m a SAHM and I can never get 5 minutes away from my children to have the luxury of going on a jog or to the gym. I am eating my way into diabetes and obesity out of boredom in the evenings. I have tried mounjaro which was brilliant, but not great long term and the cravings come back with an army.
I need to do something NOW before it is too late.
I am looking for
•snack ideas for my sweet tooth
•great exercise videos I can watch in the evening, good for intro to exercise and minimal equipment needed(on a budget!)

thanks in advance!

Gillian’s 30 Day Shred. Takes literally 20 minutes (plus 5 for warm up/ cool down). So you can be changed and done in half an hour. Great results.

Eating wise it’s difficult. Basically just stop
snacking altogether. For me it only worked with a complete change in routine ie not eating breakfast, same lunch everyday, meat and veg dinner.
As soon as I started making cakes and having a bit, the whole thing feel apart. Have to make food fuel and not a treat again.
Sorry WLI stopped working. Maybe try them again.

Get up early and go for a run or do a video

On the thread you started yesterday, you say you work full time to keep your family afloat?

Odd gain, thanks for your nosey input.
I mix up my working situation to keep myself anonymous. Not that it is any of your nosey business, the foundation still stands that I have 0 time away from my kids and would like peoples input.
did you need to comment on this post? What did you gain? Other than putting my identity on the line to be a busy body? People like to keep themselves anonymous (and mixing their working situation helps with this). Do better.

Deactivate your mumsnet account and turn on an exercise video now 🤷‍♀️

You do the same but get a grip while you’re at it. Odd is certainly true

Jump up and down on the spot…. At least a start and might improve your general mood!

Buy a skipping rope and get out into the garden with the kids. There are tons of technique videos on instagram and tiktok, you can do it in short bursts (while kids are playing?) and it is brilliant cardio exercise - all those boxers do it for a reason :)

Sadly I am crap at it but I have great intentions of giving it another go.

To lose weight and to tackle pre-diabetes it's mainly eating right which will help the most. Have two to three portions of veg with lunch and dinner and two portions of fruit a day. Include beans and pulses and wholefoods in your diet for fibre and some lean proteins like chicken and tuna, if you eat them. Track your food on Nutracheck, it costs about £30 a year and there is also lots of good nutritional advice included. For sweet things I have Bio and Me cocoa granola for breakfast most days with frozen raspberries and Skyr. Other than another portion of fruit a day I like lime dark chocolate a few times a week. It's only small amounts.

If you can only do one class a week make it yoga which will also help with sleep and mindset as well as strength. Then do some on your own (Adrienne Mischler is great and has plenty of free videos. Then try and get some walking in.

Don't try and do everything at once, just do one thing at a time until that habit is embedded then add something else. Write out your whole week and see where you can fit things in.

Come on now, be nice. This isn’t AIBU. We’re nicer to each other over here. no one is going to be able to tell who you are from the details you’ve given so don’t stress.

do you have a partner or anyone you can leave the kids with and go out and do C25k in the evening? Running is about the best exercise you’ll get if you’re not able to go to a gym and it’s a low cost when you’re first starting out.

if not then maybe some HIIT workouts on YouTube. Or some basic weights workouts. Lots and lots of videos but the ones I use are specifically geared to runners so probably not what you’re after. You can buy some small weights and resistance bands relatively cheaply.

But you can’t out exercise a bad diet. You need to change your mindset so that food isn’t your go to when bored. If you feel that you want to pick up the biscuits then put a quick workout on, go and have a shower, read a book, do some crochet. Anything that helps to break the evening snack habit. You need to get yourself into the mindset that eating is a tool to fuel your body, not an activity to relieve boredom.

If your budget can stretch to a kettlebell or a couple of pairs of dumbbells then there’s lots you could do in a 20 minute workout with those and routines you could google online. If no budget for any equipment, then I have used Joe Wicks videos online or googled best beginner workout vids to try and find something suitable. And then it’s all about being committed to turning up 3 or 4 times a week and actually doing it, regardless of anything else. Lately I’ve learned that I just have to prioritise exercise as something I need to schedule like a meeting and can’t cancel, instead of as something I’ll do ‘if i get time’. Easier said than done, but without a change in mindset it’s very hard to make it a consistent part of your routine.
I also sometimes do squats while the kettle
is boiling or 30 seconds of knee ups or jumping jacks throughout the day, just to get some more exercise during those little parcels of dead time without having to do anything that takes more time out of the day.

You need to stop thinking of food as comfort, and do something instead of snacking in the evening. You might turn to a cup of fruit tea instead. Or just water - often we mistake thirst cues as hunger.

I have a sweet tooth, and when I need to cut, I eat 0% fat Greek yoghurt with a banana mixed through it and/or a scoop of protein powder for sweetness & satiety. Check labels and only buy Greek yoghurt that has no other ingredients than milk and yoghurt culture. I buy Fage as it's the nicest, but there are other brands, I gather.

You can't exercise out a bad diet. Try eating high volume of low calorie density foods such as green, red and yellow vegetables. A big bowl of broccoli and grilled tomatoes, flavoured with soy sauce will keep you full for a long time and is really good for you.

Why not leave your DC with their father and take up walk/running? Do the Couch to 5K - as the evenings get longer, you can do this in the time the DC are in bed.

There's lots you can do.