If you’re anything like me, squeezing in workouts while juggling kids and their schedule, a job, and household tasks, feels rather impossible. However, you will never regret making your fitness and health a priority in your life, and neither will your kids. There are ways to make fitting exercise into your schedule easier, and your family will adapt to these changes over time, making it even easier.
Choose exercise you love
Whether it’s running, bodybuilding, kickboxing, yoga, biking, racquetball or whatever, you won’t stick with exercise in the long run if you don’t adore it. You’ll know you’ve found the right thing if you have that elated over-the-moon feeling when you’re done. Keep experimenting till you land on your thing.
Squeeze it in
There are countless exercise circuit programs that you can easily do at home, during commercial breaks or in your spare few minutes while hustling everyone out the door. You don’t have to block off big chunks of time to change your body – do squats while you brush your teeth or run up and down your stairs one extra time. Use your creativity to fit in movement or find suggestions online. Personally, I love the fun and unique suggestions featured on Quick and Dirty Tips.com
Include your kids
Kids will love spending active time with you. Try walking or biking to the playground with your kids. Practice soccer in your backyard or play basketball at your local rec center. When exercise becomes something you do together, it creates memorable time to connect and eliminates the pressure to find solo exercise time.
Make it a priority
You must commit to yourself. You deserve it, but the only one who can make the choice is you. This was the most difficult hurdle I tackled. I kept feeling someone should bring me a gift of magic exercise time, which left me bitter, upset, and overweight. Instead, I built my day to work for me. Reach out and grab it for yourself.
Try a fitness tracker
If you struggle with motivation or you tend to forget your exercise schedule, a fitness tracker can help keep you on focused. Connect your tracker with friends, try challenges, and keep moving!
Be prepared and be flexible
After kids, you know your time just isn’t your own anymore. Be prepared for your workouts by planning your clothes and setting up your equipment in advance of your workout time. Exercise in shorter 20 – 30-minute blocks, rather than in hour chunks. Most of all, be flexible. You will be interrupted during your workout video or in the middle of finding your groove on the treadmill. Learn to roll with it, rather than fight it, and you’ll stay on track and be happier with the process.