I am a single mom to a very active 2-year-old boy. I am also a research professional, and I spend roughly 50+ hours/week (work & home) seated in front of a computer. My day goes roughly like this:

6:30 -- wake up & get ready
7:00 -- go help DS get ready
7:30 -- drive 7 miles to daycare
8:00 -- go to work (frequent meetings with collaborators/clients over lunch)
5:45 -- leave to pick up DS
6:10 -- arrive home, change clothes, reconnect with DS and start dinner
7:00 -- dinner's over -- it's bathtime
7:30 -- play/story time and wind-down
8:00 -- DS bedtime
10:00 -- my bedtime

I know I could get up earlier and move around abit. I could also try to carve out a little time in the evening for a walk around the neighborhood (and maybe get DS one of those trikes on a stick so mama can get a little out of breath). I could also get up and get moving to some workout dvds after little one's bedtime, but frankly, I'm so pooped and there's so much to do (clean up dinner, throw in a batch of laundry, pack lunches, maybe read, catch up with family/friends on the phone, or finish up some work-work) between 8-10PM. I don't want to stay up any later, and I don't want to make a lot of noise in the morning and have DS getting up any earlier. My first start is trying to get out for a walk 3 days/week and next is to try out some of those "10-minute" dvds (I know, you can't do much in 10 minutes, but I have to start somewhere.) I also spend 2 weekends/month visiting my elderly mother a couple of hours away. I park far away from work & the grocery and stuff. I take the stairs whenever possible. I'm trying. So there's the situation...now...do any of you have any insights as to what I can be doing and when I can fit it in?

How about doing some exercises at your desk? I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've read that people who fidget a lot actually burn calories. Also, be sure to walk as much as you can during the day. Instead of e-mailing a co-worker, walk over and talk in person, if possible. Everyone should get at least a couple of breaks a day--take them, even if you have a lot to do, and make them walk breaks. Can you make playtime include some exercises for you? Like with a stability ball or therabands?

With your schedule, it's really hard, but not impossible if you exercise in short bursts and try to include some kind of exercise while sitting or standing (I often do leg lifts while on the phone). It all adds up.

use a stability ball instead of a chair at your desk. Maybe start wityh 15 mins every hour and work up from there. While talking on the phine walk on a treadmill if you can't keep the conversation then you are going too fast. While supper is cooking use DS as a weight and do some squats this way you are still spending time with him and getting a workout. YOu could also use him as a weight by holding him uplike you probably did when he was a baby and push him in the air and back to your chest again either standing or laying on the floor then you have a chess press.
These are some of what I started with my kids don't like to do it anymore with me thought.lol

good for you for doing the obvious stuff already (parking a little further, taking the stairs, etc.) I really remember the leave work-pick up at daycare-frantically try to make dinner routine. I used to try to get 15 minutes on an exercise bike right when I got home, but cranky small children don't usually want to wait. I see two potential times during the day for you.

If you are going to sleep at 10 and waking at 6:30, you CAN afford to get up a little earlier. For me, it's a lot easier to set the alarm, roll out of bed and do my cardio RIGHT AWAY than to put it off. Having it done before I have a chance to think about it too much is good. How about trying to get up at 6:15 and doing something quiet? You don't need to blast the TV. You don't need a lot of equipment to do an intense 15 minute workout.

Another time would be on those days that you aren't in a lunch meeting. Are you somewhere that you could walk? or even walk up and down a stairwell for 10-15 minutes? Get some resistance bands and find a private spot and do a 10-15 minute resistance band workout? Again, you don't need much time, space or equipment for starters.

Good luck! There is a way if you want it hard enough

Mel

1) Cook your week's dinners on Sunday night and throw them in the fridge.
2) Get up 20 minutes earlier and do a 15 minute ab or leg workout--I like the "I want that body" DVD.
3) Having dinner read-to-heat should give you some extra time with your son.
4) After your little guy is down, do a 15 minute arm workout.

I have some of those 10-Minute fitness DVDs and they are pretty good. The instructors are a wee bit peppy for my tastes, but I love the mix and match sections. It sounds like you do have a hectic lifestyle, so fitting something, anything in is good. Maybe a walk with your son after dinner/before bath? Getting him a tricycle is a great idea; my brother and I LOVED our big wheels back in the day!

During the weekends where you visit your mother, is she in good enough health to watch your son while you take a walk? Or when he goes down for a nap? On the weekends when you don't, running around the yard is great fun for him and great exercise for you. Good luck!

This is really dorky. . .but every time I go to the bathroom, I do a set of squats, lunges, or some other leg exercise before I come out again!

I also struggle with fitting in my workouts during the weekdays (10+ hours on my feet usually leaves me exhausted!) So when I first started I focused on getting in exercise on the weekends more (it's better than nothing!). Include your son in your "workouts": Take him for a walk or to the park and do something active, play tag, climb around the jungle gym, kick a ball back and forth, go to the pool, whatever you can think of that would be more active than sitting at home!! Once I started to get in a shape a little I found that I had more energy to fit in exercise on the weekdays too. There are still days when I'm just too tired but they are showing up less and less!

1) Add 15 minutes of exercise in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening. That's 30 minutes additional per day.

2) When not having client lunches, exercise on your lunch break.

3) Between 8:00 and 10:00, even if just watching a show, get up and march in front of the TV or stretch, whatever.

4) March while cooking, or on the phone.

5) When on the phone at work, pace by the desk while talking, instead of sitting.

6) Contract your abs and buttocks while seated. Focus on breathing exercises.

7) Replace your chair at work with a body ball. You use muscles sitting on a body ball moreso than in a chair.

8) Park farther from every door. Wear a pedometer so you can start seeing how many steps you're getting and try to increase them.

9) When needing to speak with a co-worker, try to go to their office rather than call them.

10) Since DS is in daycare, can I assume a toddler? Maybe some of the reconnect time could be just picking him up and dancing around the room. Be silly with him if he's bigger and the two of you dance. Or take him to the park and actually climb on the monkey bars with him.

Everytime I go to the bathroom, if the seat's dirty in a public restroom, I do squats anyway.

I like your ideas and those that everyone has posted. I'm impressed by everything that you're doing. I don't have any children, and it's hard to imagine fitting everything in if I did.

Here are my ideas - 8:00 - 5:45 is almost a 10 hour work day, especially if you're working over lunch. Is there any way that you could leave work at 5:00 a couple of days a week?

I have set of yoga DVD's that I really like - they're Gaiam Yoga Now with Muriel Hemingway and Rodney Yee. The set includes two 10 minute workouts, one 30 minute workout and one 50 minute workout, and they combine yoga and cardio. The 10 minute morning energizer workout is great - it definitely gets my heart rate up and makes me feel better. Another thing that I like about having the set is that I can do the 10 minutes if that's all I have time for, but then do the longer workouts when I can. Also, if you have a private office, you could bring in the 10 minute DVD to work and do it as a break in the afternoon.

These are some GREAT ideas (and notice, I'm up past midnight reading them!)

I wish working fewer hours were an option, but that's not in the cards right now. As a single mama, a big part of my job is HAVING a job and this one's pretty good so I don't want to screw it up.

The walking 3x/week is going well -- and the 10-minute DVDs haven't arrived yet. This week, I'm going to try two changes: getting up 15 minutes earlier to jump rope on the back deck and walking at lunchtime -- only 2 client meetings this week. I'll have to measure for a stability ball -- my work setup is ergonomically optimized right now for my RSI's and I don't want to get out of whack. I like a lot of the other ideas -- especially those including my son in the workout -- and I'll get to incorporating those at some point, too, I'm sure. Thanks, everyone!

I have some new "exercise routines" for me and my boy especially for weekends, I'm a single mom too.

1. Bought the boy a bike, when he rides I walk and jog next to him, he's so in love with the bike we are getting in 1/2 hour a day
2. When he's at playgrounds or the play area at the mall, I walk circles around him while he plays. At playgrounds I do sprints between trees and walking lunges, tricep dips on park benches and pushups
3. There's a yoga for families dvd that's fun to do with your child
4. I'm trying to figure out how to do some water aerobics while he swims in pools which he's especially enjoying this summer
5. We are members of the ymca that has daycare and try to get in even once a week there so I can exercise on machines an hour hard

For work days you can do some of the above with your boy, it's bonding time afterall and life even during the week can't be all about work can it?

I like the idea of breaking up exercise into 20-30 min two times a day. There's good weight training routines that take only 20 min and can be done every other day with cardio on other days. Do squats and calf raises while in the shower in the am. Slip in ab work 10 min in the evenings. While you watch tv or kid movies with your child, use a mini stair stepper. While cooking do some exercises. Etc, etc.