Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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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9 comments:

  1. I guess I am lucky. I've started with aerobic recently coz' my SIL wanted to loose weight n she needed someone to go with her.So, MIL have no choice but to help me baby sit my son at nite while I go aerobic with SIL at nite on alternate weekdays.

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  2. sabrina,
    Oh yes, you are lucky! Apart from the exercise you get, its good to get out once in a while too so make the most of it!

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  3. I go to the gym (or rather try to) twice a week. Its great as you get to exercise as well as destress. So during these 2 days, I pick up my girls a little later from the babysitter. Luckily, she is understanding or at least I hope she is!!

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  4. hmom,
    Thats a wonderful way to destress! Wish I could go to the gym twice a week as well. Haha.

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  5. My hats off to you. Lately I haven't had time to exercise at all. I'm usually motivated if my youngest sis is around and that's very rare coz she's doing medic. And we usually tae-bo to Billy Blank's VCD. But we've since misplaced that and that's the easiest to do. I have two left feet and your salsa sounds interesting.
    My sis sent me 2 VCDs and they were on bellydancing. I'm no Shakira and dun think I will ever be. Paula Abdul's dance routine is quite managable though. And like your kids, mine usually interrupts too but my eldest would whine for Playhouse Disney.
    However, I do take care of my diet and consume less rice but more veggie and fish and stuff. My hubby likes to say diet food is expensive and it kinda is. Salmon, wholemeal bread. I especially have a liking for Gardenia's Breakthrough. He doesn't like it so I usually have to buy two loaves of bread. What with Raya coming, and me baking, I'll probably dig out my exercise videos soon enough. Everytime I feel lazy I will think of you. Thx for being an inspiration coz if you can do it, I can do it too! And congrats on your adsense. Will link you in my blog if that's okay.

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  6. jujugtpie,
    Of course its ok. The Salsa ones are very nice to do. Not like exercising at all since its enjoyable. Belly dancing I dare not try. There's too much belly to shake. Lol!

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  7. I salute you for your effort :) Me, can only say "Where got time to exercise? Eat also no time" *Chomp chomp on choc bar*

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  8. Ok will try salsa. Nanti Raya nie, makan banyak, tak taulaa.
    And thanks for including me in your Raya wishes. Will definitely check your potty training tips. It's godsent coz my son is erratic. One day he's fine and on a another day he's like some cat and even cats are better coz they don't leave a trail of poopies. Though I have to say that I totally can't stand cat poop and I'm in process of covering my yard with grass. Why can't some cat owners train their cats to use the toilet or kitty litter or something? Oh and I digress. Just to say thanks.

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  9. immomsdaughter,
    Hahaha. Eat oso no time but got time to chomp chomp choc bar.

    jujuqtpie,
    Hmm.. your talk about trail of poo makes me recall the time when my girl poo near my exercise bike or the time when she left a trail of pee and her brother crawled all over it.

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