I have been a stay at home mom for the last five years. I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. I used to work full time and work-out six-seven days a week but after the kids I stopped working and only went to the gym four days per week.
Fast forward to now, we moved states about a year and a half ago and my life changed drastically. Last winter and this winter I feel completely lost. With the kids its really hard to go anywhere cause I don't want them to get sick and its hard. Plus there aren't many things to do in cold, snowy weather. So I am home all day, every day. I have no friends here and my family is overseas. My kids and I love to cook and bake so ultimately I eat. This winter is killing me, I do so well the rest of the year cause I walk with the kids or play outside but in winter there is only so much you can do. I have gotten very depressed and I feel very alone. No motivation at all.
There aren't any gyms around here that offer child care so I can't work out during the day and by the time my husband comes home I'm beat. Plus he works all day and the last thing he wants to do is take care of the kids, we tried it and he was so grumpy I figured it wasn't worth it.
So my question is how do you schedule your days?
For me I wake up, clean the house, do laundry and then devote my day to my kids but the last few days or weeks I have gotten so down I feel like I'm not productive. I HATE WINTER! I really do...

If I cannot get to the gym (mine has childcare), then I work out during his nap. Do you have the 5yr old in school and then does the 3yr old take a nap? That's when I would do it. You could also choose an exercise video to do with the 3yr old. In the cold weather (I'm in Canada), I put mine in a sling and go for a hike (mine is very young though). What time do they wake up? Can you get up very early to get a workout?

I personally do not have any kids. But I am home a lot and I understand where you are coming from. Sometimes I watch my cousins son (he is 1 and a half). When he is over I try not to sit down and watch TV. Instead I clean everything! (This alone could be a good workout) Right now it is to cold to take him outside so sometimes I turn on music and dance ( I look like an idiot but he thinks it is funny). Just try to keep moving. Also, instead of baking bad foods you could always try to make healthier foods. This way you do not have the temtation and it will help your kids with better eating habits in the future. Good Luck!

I am not a stay at home mom anymore but I know how you feel! I live in norther Minnesota and I hate winter. I was a stay at home mom for almost 9 years but now both my kids are in school so I help my husband with our business but here is my schedule.

Get up and shower
Get everyone (including me - you can not forget to take care of yourself! That is what I did not do and really wish is did when I was home full time) ready for their day.
Bring the kids to school and go to work
Pick up the kids from school
Go home and work out to a video (its about 5 years old but it still makes me move)

All of this I do 6 days a week. Saturdays are different because the kids and I are home but I still make sure I work out to my video.

My kids are 9 and 6 so it is a bit easier for me to tell them "this is my time you can not bother me unless someone is bleeding," But if you give them something to do, maybe even in the same room as you, they will get into the routine. It may be difficult at first but they will get the hang of it. Make it fun for them too. My girls will work out with me sometime and I just tell them that they can't use the weights.

It is important (and I wish I had done this more when my kids were younger!) but you have to make time for yourself.

On the winter blahs subject you might want to try this. I also hate winter. I am not into any winter sports and just get so depressed over the winter months. A few years ago I started what me and my kids called "sun therapy". I would find a sunny window in my house (of course you can't do it every day but on the sunny days take advantage) and lay in the sun. It bacame so cute when my kids would come into the room and see me laying on the floor in the sun they would say, "mommy are you having sun therapy?"

The winters are long but you will get through it. You just have to get creative.

I also forgot to mention that doing my workout at the end of the day was hard at first but I just pushed through it and now I really look forward to it. I workout, take a hot bath and make dinner. I am finding that workinig out later in the day gives me that second wind to get me through that last little bit of the day when I would usually just sit and lose all motivation to so anything.

OMG, I feel your pain!! I'm a SAHM for the most part (I do work a few days a month) for a 7 month old and 3 year old. Before I had kids, I could go to the gym everyday. It was my peaceful, stress free me tme!

The gym by us pffers child care, BUT they have a ton of restrictions for my 7 month old. They won't change his diapers, they wont give him a bottle, they wont put him to sleep if he gets fussy, and all the kids, even school age are in the same room. Its crappy child care...oh yeah and there's a 1 hour limit. And of course if he gets fussy they come get me.

I'm fortunate enough to have a treadmill at home we bought years ago. Its cheap one from Walmart but has surprisingly held up for years. (knock on wood!)

But finding the time is so hard. My 3 year old has ASD, and for anyone that has a child with ASD, they know sleep is practically none existant. He hasnt napped since he was like 18 months old. Also he's up at like 5 am, no matter when he goes to bed, as I have thought about getting up before the kids to workout. Its actually not my 3 years old since he will let me use the treadmill for 30 minutes and be ok with it. Its the 7 month old, and when ever the 3 year old is up, he wakes the baby. (we are in a very small aptartment right now)

Like you, I can not ask my husband to watch the kids. And its cold and snowy here. What I do, is the firt chance I get during the day that the kids are occupied, instead of doing house work, I work out. I make it my first thing to do, other wise as the day goes on, the kids get cranky and I cant get my 7 months old to stay in the exersaucer long enough for me to workout. But you have a 3 and 5 year old, they entertain themselves better. Can you put on a movie or give them something to color while you work out?

My daughter has a couple exercise tapes that she and the kids do together. She makes fun time out of it and the kids just love trying to do the exercises with Mommy.

I am an exercise DVD JUNKIE because I'm also cooped up SAHMing it with a 2 and 3 year old. I try to walk 2 days per week 60 mins with them in the double stroller, but its been sooooooo cold here I can't do that without looking like a loonie person. So I've been doing lots of exercise DVDs, here are my top faves, sometimes I do 2 per day just to get the metabolism boosting up there again when I'm done all my chores for the day.

Here are my faves that I have found worth their weight in gold for DVDs:
Jillian Michaels - 30 day shred - Banish Fat Boost Metabolism - No more trouble zones.
Mel B- Totally Fit (I LOVE THIS WORKOUT, its fun and my kids can play around me without me worrying about them getting kicked in the head by accident!) LOL, JK, I try to have them in their room playing after snack time so I can get it done.
Jackie Warner: XTREME timesaver workout, Power circuit training, and her other one I can't rem the name, its purple and white on the cover, all awesome.
Cathe Friedrich: ANYTHING, shes a crazy person really, for more advanced trainers but she has a support website thats free and forums there too, soooo inspiring and motivating, I've sworn at her during leg workouts.
My newest addition to the collection Michelle Dozois Cardio Strength

Go to "collagevideo" they have previews, reviews, honestly pretty good prices and low shipping compared to ordering off amazon from my experience, I don't regret any of these DVDs being bought, the one I regret most is the garbagey The Firm Total Body Makeover, its so dancy dancy I can't even do half the stuff they do. Good luck girl! Soon it'll be spring and we'll be out in the fields letting the kids run loose and doing our sprints.

Hello.. I am not a mom or have kids..but am home daily, am a caregiver to my disabled sister which she is bedridden. I do snack/binged alot when being bored,..some days am bored and some days am busy, that I don't think about food/dieting per say.

Its tough on eating healthy, when other members of my family can eat junk foods..sometimes I cave in and self sabtage mysef into sweets...and overall food addict.

All I can say is stay strong ,taking one day at a time. I wish you much luck.

Thanks for the replies!

I will look into the DVD's that you guys posted that looks like a great idea.

Waking up early is not really an option because my little guy wakes up early too. He also just dropped his nap which sucks.

My five year old does go to school Mon-Wed-Fri for 2 1/2 hours but those are the only times I get to go out and do my shopping/banking/post-office. I could work-out during that time, I have to try to fit it in.

All in all its up to me to pick myself up, brush myself off and find a way to get a work-out in and stop thinking about food 24/7 when I am home. Especially on the snow days.

GlamourGirl827 - my 5 year old is the same. She never sleeps, never. When she was younger I had trouble figuring out what to do with her. I would read to her for hours and she wouldn't fall asleep. I finally just realized that I have to accept it.

Winter sucks. Especially when you have really young kids and the thought of bundling them up for an outdoor trek is overwhelming (not to mention the horror of the, "Mommy I'm cold," whining). When my daughter was young, we used to put on loud happy music and do combo house cleaning/exercise. Wipe the counter and do ten jumping jacks. Pick up socks on the floor and do ten push- ups. Clean the bathroom and then run ten laps around the kitchen island. We would generally get the house (sort of) clean and we often had a lot of fun doing it together. I got really good at vacuuming while jogging on the spot.

That only left the problem of what to do for the rest of the day when we were stuck inside.

You could try playing Wii sports or wii fit...your kids would enjoy it too or you can do it while they nap. it works pretty well and is a lot of fun. and you don't have to leave the house! if you start exercising it'll probably help with the depression too. =]