Mothers have no time to exercise?

When you are a mother of very young children (like babies and toddlers) who cannot be left alone or out of your sight for too long less they get into trouble or mischief it can be hard to find time to exercise. In fact, it can be hard to find time to do anything else too! However, hard though it may be, we still need to take care of ourselves and our bodies.

We are ourselves (women) first, then wives and mothers. Becoming a mother does not mean we let ourselves go. We still have to take care of our health and appearance. I always believe that we must look after ourselves first so that we can look after our families better. Looking after ourselves means taking care of ourselves physically and mentally. We need to sleep well, eat right and exercise.

How do you find time to exercise when you are the primary caregiver to your babies? If you have someone reliable who can look after the kids for an hour or two, by all means, go join a gym and take an hour or two off to exercise. I don't have such luxury. First, joining a gym means $$$$. Being a one income family, we have to save, so no gym for me. Secondly, hubby often has to bring work home, so how can I expect him to watch the kids while I go off to the gym?

So, I brought the gym home to me. Lol! Hubby and I got an exercise bike from a points redemption program. We place the exercise bike in the living room in front of the tv. I read and watch tv at the same time while exercising and place the kids nearby so I can watch them. Sometimes I place their own little cars or rocking horses beside my exercise bike and ask them to ride along. Otherwise they like to run towards me. (When you have exercise equipment at home, make sure they're childproof.) Ours does not have open spokes where little fingers could get stuck.

I also bought some exercise videos to do at home. Most of them are salsa dance videos. Its more enjoyable and fun. The kids like to join me. When I first started, it was hard because the kids interrupt me all the time. Baby would run towards me to be carried. Instead of allowing myself to be upset by the interruption, I sometimes pick him up and dance along with him if he fusses too much. He loves it. It makes him giggle and laugh.

Sometimes, baby would sit on me when I'm trying to do sit-ups. I just carry along with my sit-ups with the additional "weights". Now they are more used to my exercise routine, they don't interrupt that much. My girl would sometimes jump or dance along with me. She likes that. It makes her giggle and laugh. Sometimes the children would lie down on the floor beside me and try to copy my sit-ups or raise their little feet into the air too. Thats really amusing. It makes me giggle and laugh.

Usually, I would set them up with an activity beforehand so that they would be preoccupied. Sometimes I even give my girl lessons while I'm exercising. I teach her a little, leave her alone to do her work, then I exercise and talk to her at the same time and check her work periodically.
Its crazy. Full of interruptions. Its sometimes annoying. Sometimes fun. I multitask but most importantly, I still get my exercises done.

The exercise I enjoy the most is my Sunday morning walk. The kids are usually still asleep or hubby can watch them for a while. On Sundays I like to take a walk (instead of drive) to the nearby coffee shops to buy breakfast for the family. I try to walk briskly and to shops that are further to work up some sweat. I love the morning air. I love watching people. But most of all, I love my solitude. Its one of the rare times, I get time alone to myself. And to add to that, I get my exercises done.

So you see, "I have no time to exercise" is really just an excuse afterall. When you set your priorities and your mind to do something, you can!

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