I'm home with a 1 year old in the morning and then the 7 year old gets back from school at 2pm.
I do workout videos (DVDs) for my exercise. I'm getting back into it and I do a short one (20 minutes) in the morning during the baby's nap or right afterwards, when she is more likely to stay in the playpen for 20 minutes (the playpen is right there in the living room so she can see me while I exercise).
I also modified our schedule slightly so that I can workout while my family eats dinner - I'll eat before them and then workout when dh gets home, while he eats with the girls. I'm starting tonight so I don't know how it will work but it should be ok.
I also try to be active during the weekend, particularly now that it's warmer outside. Last weekend we went for a hike and I had the baby in a meitai carrier (sort of like a backpack) on my back almost the whole time. It was great exercise!
If you want to start exercising again, I'd really go for a video. There are several short ones:
- Quickfix and 10-Minute Solution have a whole line of videos that are broken down in 10-minute segments so you can do as much or as little as you want.
- Denise Austin also has some short ones;
- Winsor Pilates has several 20-minute workouts;
- Sara Ivanoe has a whole line of yoga videos that are only 20-minute long.
There are also others, check on Amazon.com.
The cool thing about videos is that you don't get bored because you can pick and choose which workout you want to do on any given day; you workout at home, where and when you choose; and there is infinite choice as far as what music, instructor, etc you want to workout with.
It can be a challenge to workout when you have little ones, but it's doable. And if worse comes to worse, you can always pop them in the stroller and go for a long walk
P.S. I really woulnd't start jogging or running if you need to lose weight, excess weight is very hard on your joints. Go for walking, hiking, dancing or bouncing lightly on a rebounder.