Now that you have got that great new look, you may want to shed the few pounds you have put on over the holidays or over a lifetime 🙂 Hey, parenting can be really hard and being busy all the time means that moms often don’t have the time or don’t take the time to take care of themselves. Trust me, with three, I am always busy and seriously, I don’t know how I find the time to exercise. Going to the gym can not only be expensive, but if you don’t have gym childcare and have small ones at home, there is always the issue of what to do with the kids while you are at the gym. So here are some really fun and easy ways to exercise at home.
WALKING
This kind of a no brainer, but walking is the very best exercise for a busy mom, you can put your kiddo in the stroller and take a walk to the park or the local store to pick up essentials. However, this isn’t always easy to do with nap time schedules, drop offs and pick ups to daycare or since it is winter, COLD temperatures making you less likely to jump out the front door with toddler in tow. So here are some ways to get your walk on!
Okay, before you get started remember that you can start small, shoot for twenty to thirty minutes of exercise each day, taking off weekends to avoid burn out.
TAKE THE STAIRS
If you have stairs in your house, trying taking a couple of brisk runs or fast walks up and down the stairs, then do it with laundry or a basket of toys that need to be put away, heck grab the toddler and do at least ten rounds of ten, you will feel refreshed and invigorated. And the pounds will melt off…
SPEED WALK THE HOUSE
Alert the kids that you are doing a speed walk of the house and walk the entire perimeter of the house again, do ten rounds of ten, for the speed walk and the stairs, you may want to wear a pair of headphones as the constant repetition may get a bit monotonous.
GET OUT IN THE COLD
Maybe switch up your routine by getting out during the sunniest part of the day and do a little walking in the cold. While it will take some gearing up for your walk and you may have to bundle a toddler to join you, it is really nice to get out in the cold and do a brisk walk. Remember to pace yourself and cover everyone up in layers, make sure that you wear a hat and gloves. But walking in the cold actually burns more calories and helps elevate your heart rate, so if you can brave the weather, you can do a shorter work out and get better results. Plan on a brisk twenty minute walk.
POWER CLEAN
Ready, set, GO!!!! Clean the house as fast as you can. Again alert the kids, because they will definitely think that you are a freak. But try to move as fast as possible and pick up toys, scrub floors, wash counters, do laundry all at the speed of light. This will not only accomplish these tasks faster, but gets your heart rate going and burns more calories.
AT HOME DANCE PARTY
Nothing is more fun that throwing on some great dance tunes, grabbing the kids and dancing till you drop. This is a GREAT family activity and it burns a lot of calories. Plan a fun night when after dinner you clear a space in the living room and make a dance floor then either get dressed up or bring out props and just dance, dance, dance. It is a great family activity and raises your mom coolness points to astronomical heights.
If you have a Wii or other online games, it is also another way to engage the family in a fun activity that hopefully gets you all off your feet and moving, try the fitness games and get the family involved.
DO LAPS OF THE MALL
Get your window shopping fix in and do a brisk walk, with kiddo in a stroller and traverse the entire mall all floors at least twice, this will give you a great workout and an amazingly good survey of shopping deals. One rule: Don’t shop until you are done with your work out, you don’t want to break your stride, but when you are finished, yes you do deserve that sweater, hello? you just did a great workout.
Another fun idea is using a FREE website called FREETRAINERS.COM
This site is COMPLETELY FREE and gives you a nutrition plan, exercise plan and a community of support to help you meat your fitness goals. This is so amazing because it is a free service. Join up and become a part of the community by posting on the forums which will help keep you accountable to your goals and enthused by other’s support.
You can do it with only a tiny bit of extra effort you can make an ordinary day into a great workout.
Tomorrow we will discuss easy healthy meals the whole family will enjoy.
