Finding Time to Exercise

I made a New Year’s resolution last year to get back into a regular workout routine and find time to exercise. I downloaded the Couch to 5k app and got up at 5am, 3x a week, to start this journey. Then I got bronchitis. Followed by a bad reaction to antibiotics. A month later, I was completely off track and out of the Couch to 5k zone. So, I psyched myself up again and started over. Then I had a family emergency 800 miles away, which I’m still dealing with five months later, so needless to say, I haven’t found made the time to exercise. Yet.

I preach, and still do, that it’s all a matter of scheduling exercise in order to make it happen, just like relaxing or going to work. This working mom has to schedule everything in order to get stuff accomplished. But, I just haven’t been able to schedule exercise this year. It’s the one thing I literally can’t squeeze in right now.

But next year, it’s on.

And I’m trying to determine the best plan of action to meet my goals.

Before and after baby body

Prior to pregnancy, my body was in the best shape it had ever been in. My husband is a fitness buff, and working out was something we did together. After baby though, we both were overwhelmed like no other. We have no family in our state, and having a baby was a major adjustment for us (it’s true they say you can’t mentally prepare for children till you have children).

Like my Couch to 5k ambitions earlier this year, I started and stopped many motivations to get back in shape after having my first child. Clearly, none of those stuck. It was either my infant getting sick and that consuming our lives for 10-day stretches, or having work events that spilled past my normal workday end time and trying to adapt to those changes. My head and schedule could only handle so much change at one time.

But now that I’m a little older, wiser, and have a better handle on this motherhood thing, I’m ready to try again. I just need a good solution to make it stick this time.

Making time to exercise (realistically)

Results take time. I can’t rush progress. It takes time to form a habit (working out consistently). I must be patient and realize the results will come over a course of several months.

Start with small goals. For me personally, nailing down a consistent day and time to work out is my biggest challenge. I am self-motivated, but literally there are days when Murphy’s Law happens and working out just isn’t going to happen. So, I need to make modifications to the rest of my schedule so exercising does happen when I schedule it.

Unconventional solutions. Not having family close by has been a huge challenge for us. And hiring a babysitter consistently isn’t a cost-effective solution, or a desired option for this mom. So, I have to find unconventional solutions, like walking during my lunch break for the cardio portion, then finishing the weight portion or whatever fitness routine I decide upon, after work.

My body was confused after having my first child. I had three pregnancies back to back to back. My hormones were a hot mess. You know things don’t go back the way they were before baby. But I would never, ever in a million years change a thing about my path to motherhood. Yet, I do need to get in better shape to sharpen that saw in my toolbox.

I’m interested in ways you’ve been able to squeeze in workouts being a new mom or even as a seasoned mom. I think that’s the best way we learn, from other moms. At least for me.