Help! How on earth do I fit in exercise?

[ScarlettButler]

how do you fit exercise into your day?
in my first pregnancy I walked to work for 30 mins every morning and did an aerobics class once a week. This time: I have a toddler, I have to get up at 6.30 and leave an hr later to get the tube to work in order to get to drop her at childminders and get to work on time. By the time I get her to bed and DH gets in it's 7.30. Result: haven't done any exercise so far. Now 16 weeks, worried about being fat frumpy and unfit. Any ingenious solutions to my lack of exercise gratefully received. This is partly vanity (I can't face the long haul back to being an OK weight again) but also from a health point of view; I felt fit up to the end of pregnancy last time. Please help!

Is there anything you could do in your lunch hour? Maybe a yoga class or just go for a walk?

Are you too tired in the evenings? If not, maybe a pilates DVD or soemthing similar?

Same situation as you - get up at 6:30 when or just before DS (14 mths) wakes up, leave home around 8.30 so in office by 9, home around 7pm and want to spend the time with DS before he goes to sleep (not before 8pm usually these days) - and too tired by then to exercise. Have joined a gym near the office and try to work out during lunch break when I can - which is at best twice a week, and not every week either. Am 13 weeks pg with DC2 now and hoping to get back to the twice a week at lunchtime routine.

Any chance of a grandparent or someone helping out one bedtime a week so you can nip off out for a class or a walk?

What about at the weekend? A family walk with your toddler in the pushchair for large part of it so you can walk briskly. Or go swimming as a family and take it in turns to swim some lengths whilst the other one looks after the toddler in the shallow end?

thanks for these suggestions!
I don't get a lunch hour every day worse luck but have thought about walking. Will really have to motivate self as in unlovely part of town!
the dvd in evening a good idea - any recommendations?
Sadly dependent on DH for any bedtime relief - and he's usually not home in time.
I will try the family walk at weekend. DH hates swimming with a passion so might have to ask him to look after DD while i go. It's a good 15 mins walk there and back - whcih is good exercise in itself I guess but limits time can spend in pool before feeling guilty at leaving DH holding the baby on his day off.
I don't usually start putting on loads of weight til post 20 weeks but then oh boy does it go on - and I fear this is going to happen worse this time.

i know exactly what you mean, trying to fit gym in with a toddler and full time job is hard work!

How about getting your partner to have DC for a few hours sat and sun so u can pop to the gym?

My OH goes to the gym himself 3 nights a week and i do try to do a bit of yoga whenever he's not there in the evening - the fitness DVD really is a good idea and u can do this once u have DC settled in bed.

Im not fussed about gyming it whilst pregnant but used to go once a week straight after work - getting someone else to take over bedtime for that night and then twice a week id go at 7:30pm once id got DS to bed.

We havent really got many other options outside of these ones tho!

If u eat healthily in pregnancy i cant see y u would go out of shape by not going gym for the next 6 months, i havent been gym and didnt last time around and i remained in mt 8/10 jeans (outside of the pregnancies may i add!) so u will be fine, enjoy the chance to rest i say!

its really difficult to motivate yourself in the evening, though isn't it. I'm 28 weeks now and have been going to an exercise class once a week (motiviation: i paid in advance!) but that has finished and i haven't piked up my DVD yet.

my main exercise comes from having a 20 minute uphill struggle with the buggy after nursery on a daily basis - i really think that is helping to maintain fitness.

Its not so much about keeping the weight gain under control, but also keeping fit for the birth and recovery... i think if you keep active it will really help.

i know what u mean about the motivation bit! - by 7pm all i want to do is curl up and go to sleep - not a workout! but they do say that exercise helps with energy levels making you more energetic generally so maybe give yourself that kick for a few weeks until the increase in energy comes along?!

Im not going to worry until after baby is here and then ill be on maternity leave so will hopefully have lots more time to fit the gym in during the day. Im doing some calanetics each night - mainly leg exercises and a bit of yoga mixed in, which stretches my muscles a bit. other than that im a lazy cow at the moment!

Same scenario here Scarlett. It's not easy. I'm not managing to fit in as much as I was pre-PG as I'm so damn tired in the evenings, but this is my schedule:

• 1 morning a week DH does the nursery run so I can get to the gym for 30 mins before work

• 1 evening a week, DH is home by 6 to do the evening routine so I go to the gym then

• 1 weekend morning I get another session in

Otherwise it's mostly walking up tube escalators, stairs at work, brisk walk round the block while buying lunch etc...

A DVD is a good idea - I bought Erin O'Brien's prenatal DVD last time which wasn't bad and was quite short.

crazycatlady i might try that DVD
Yes I do the walking up stairs, escalators - will try walk at lunch time.

I don't think I can get DH to do run to childminder/come home early. We depend on his job too much It'll have to be the weekend I fear

I say all this lying on the sofa watching Come Dine With Me by the way....

walk where you can, try pregnancy exercise dvds (Erin Obrien is really good, Davina's is supposed to be ok too - or try pregnancy pilates dvds). Try walking where you can - including in your lunch break. And at the weekend try to exercise for an hour or so if DH will deal with the toddler.

I have the Erin O'Brien and the Davina prenatal workout DVDs. They are good although if you were fit beforehand and have stayed reasonably fit so far you will probably find them way too easy until late on in pg. (I was fit beforehand but spent the 1st 20 weeks of pg vomitting so fitness levels plummeted, these are now just right for me at 28 weeks.)

I have just ordered the "10 minute solutions" prenatal DVD. I have some of the other 10 minute solutions DVDs (the non-pg ones) and they are generally good. The idea is they each have 5x 10 minute workouts on so you can either just do one at a time or do 2 or more together. Great if you are pushed for time - you could do just one 10 min workout every evening?

We also have an exercise bike at home so if I have a spare 10 mins (! not often!) I get on this and do a gentle cycle to get heart rate up a bit.

I also go to aqua-natal classes once a week (in the evening) at my local gym. As someone else said above the motivation is that if you've booked and paid for them you're more likely to go. Obviously depends on timing and whether you can get someone to babysit / do the bedtime routine etc.

Just realised the above makes me sound super fit - so not true - I only actually do any of the above things maybe once or twice a week max!