You should make time for yourself no matter what. Work out when your son is napping. Don't feel bad about not cleaning. Being a SAHM doesn't mean you have to slave your days away.

I'm a SAHM too. I have a 6 month old and I also watch three two year olds during the week. I totally get where you are coming from about the house and don't consider it slaving the day away either. I workout when I can. My goal is 3 times a week but its usually only one or two. It's a work in progress. The way I look at it is if I am making this a lifestyle change when its the hardest then its only going to get easier. I'm kidding myself if I say we are on a schedule. Between Landon and the toddlers I like to say its controlled chaos. Do the best you can everyday and start each day on a clean slate.

I am a SAHM as well. I have a 13 month old and also babysit my 2 year old nephew. I know it can be hectic but you have to make time for yourself.

Full disclosure: I am not a mom so I can't claim to understand how tough you guys have it

Maybe shift your perspective from "work out (presumably at the gym)" to "be active." It sounds like you have great opportunities to be active. Running around with your boy, taking him to the park, taking him on walks in a stroller or sling- these are great ways of getting yourself moving and keeping him active and engaged.

Housework, well, it's not necessarily fun, but it kills two birds with one stone in that it IS activity AND it gets your house clean! I like to listen to NPR/the news while I do the dishes or other cleaning to help keep it from feeling like boring labor.

Maybe buy some resistance bands to keep around the house. When your baby goes down for a nap, do some exercises with free online videos. Or pushups or other bodyweight activities that don't require equipment. Just do them when you can throughout the day- 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there.

You don't have to find 1 hour of uninterrupted time to drive to a gym and workout. Exercise and activity can be sprinkled throughout the day, and can be incorporated into playtime or house chores.

Eating right... cooking healthy foods doesn't necessarily take a lot of time. A lot of baked fish/chicken recipes take only a few minutes of prep and then the rest is cooking time. Casseroles can be assembled ahead of time (when your baby is sleeping, or after he has gone to bed) and frozen for weeks for a quick thaw/reheat when you need it. Breakfast can be a quick batch of eggs or oatmeal with berries, or Greek yogurt.

good luck

I'm a mom - not SAHM, I work full time and then am a single mom to a very active 7 year old. I try to get in activity with him on weekends, walking to the park and keep moving while there. Weekdays, I can't leave him alone to go to a gym so I use my Wii Fit or do exercise videos. He thinks it's fun to watch me or I do them once he's in bed.

You have to make the time and put your health and fitness as a priority in your day, and yes, that beats a spotless house. There should be enough time to keep things reasonably neat and tidy but still find 15-20 minutes at a time for some activity for your health. You don't have to do 30-60 minutes all at once, the bits and pieces over the day add up too.

I'm a SAHM to a 17 month old. I actually don't consider myself to be that busy, but I suppose that's a state of mind-- I feel like I have so much control over my days now that I'm not working because I get to schedule what I want when I want.

I am very lucky that my husband doesn't mind watching our son, so for now I go to the gym in the mornings (he works second shift), and he'll stay with him for about an hour and a half. Honestly he likes it-- gives him an excuse to sit around or play with him and not feel like he shoudl be doing something else. We're remodeling, and he's doing the work himself, plus he works a lot of overtime at his job, so he gets tired. When my son starts walking, I'll be able to take him to the daycare at my gym, and I'll start going in the evenings when my husband is at work.

Is a gym with daycare or a Y an option for you? Aside from getting your workout in, it gives you a little time to yourself. it isn't as big of an expense as you might think-- here it's around $30/month-- well worth it, IMO.

Other than that-- you need to let go of keeping your house spotless and just keep it clean. How does your bf feel? Is a spotless house important to him, or would he be happy with just "in order"? Most of the time it's the woman who imposes the more rigid expectations on herself. Maybe you need to work on letting go of perfection. My house is clean, not perfect, but I wouldn't hesitate to let a friend in at any time. However, I've let go of a lot of my prior expectations for my house.

Also, when your son is awake, what do you do? You don't have to focus every minute of your time on him. I do a lot of cooking and cleaning while he's awake and playing nearby. I use his naptimes for things I need to concentrate on or need him to stay out of a mess, or sometimes I just take a nap myself! Of course, I still play with him, but he seems to have just as much fun playing with spoons and bowls while I'm puttering around in the kitchen. As for exercise while he's awake-- you can always go for a walk with him in a stroller when it's nice, and when it's not, there's the mall.

Another big time-sucker is the computer. I'm awful with this one, and I keep telling myself I'm going to set a time limit, but I haven't yet. Seriously, I probably spend HOURS online a day, but it's not all at once, so it doesn't always feel like I do that. I could really get so much more done, though, if I limited my time online.

And finally-- have priorities or a to do list for the day. If you take time to organize yourself a bit, you can decide what you can let go for the day in order to get a workout in. Unfortunately, diet and exercise take TIME. They're worth it, though.

I would also suggest talking to your bf to see if he has suggestions. Sometimes others are better able to be objective about where our time is spent. He also might not mind watching the baby while you workout.

Being a SAHM doesn't mean you're a servant. Taking care of a child is a full-time job and more. Even though your boyfriend works all day, he can help with some chores. And you don't have to keep the house spotless in order to be doing your part.

It sounds to me like you are putting cleaning the house above your own health and well being, and that's just nuts! It is OK for you to take time to exercise while your child is napping. And it's OK to ask for help with the housework if you need it. And, shockingly, it's OK if everything isn't spotless every day.

Good luck! Please think of yourself more!

Jay

Hi and welcome!

I'm a SAHM to an active 2 year old boy and an 8 month old girl! For me, I don't feel like it takes more time to make healthy food choices... you have to take the time to stop and eat either way... you know?

As for exercising, I decided to join the Y and have worked it into our everyday schedule. After breakfast, we head over there and I drop the kids off at Stay&Play (the Y's onsite childcare) and I have up to 2 hours to workout by myself! Getting daily exercise and a bit of "me time" helps me to recharge and I feel like a more patient and fun mom because of it! Oh and I have more energy! I still get most of my housework done while the kids nap (IF they nap) but if something doesn't get done, I don't feel guilty... I'm only human!

My son is also 1 (15 months) and I am a SAHM. I put working out before housework. In the long-run it is better for my health and more important to have a little 'me' time. I also use a good sling and wear him on my back for vacuuming/cleaning.

Yes, a good baby carrier has been essential in getting things done around my house! I also where Ruby around the mall/zoo, etc while pushing my son Ezra in the stroller... I tell myself I'm burning extra calories. I highly recommend the Beco Butterfly 2. http://www.becobabycarrier.com/

I am not a mom, so I can't understand the time challenges of moms in particular.

However, I can wholeheartedly recommend the book, 168 Hours by Laura Vanderkam. It's about time management and how to get the most out of the 168 hours we get each week. It's helped me tremendously! And, although I didn't read those sections closely, there is quite a bit on balancing having kids, keeping house, and having adult time to exercise/socialize for parents!

I agree COMPLETELY with this. For many years when I embarked on a weight loss program, part and parcel of that was carving out a designated time to work out at the gym or even at home. Only thing is, I'm really busy (and if I don't keep my house clean, my husband certainly won't, and I don't like living in clutter and dirt. So, the responsibility is mine). Eventually, I would throw in the towel and give up on working out because other aspects of my life were being neglected; inevitably, I would give up on eating well since working out and eating well always used to go hand-in-hand in my book.


This time around, I decided that I would not commit to working out. I would only commit to doing at least one hour of some kind of activity most days of the week. I'm very efficient with my time, so I like to multi-task. I figured out a way to do that and get my one hour of activity. For example, I will vigorously clean the house (e.g., mopping floors on my hands and knees ---wearing knee pads of course ) for an hour. I even track my activity, and there is an option to track housework on the app I have. When I first started tracking housework, it was so great to see those calories I burned on my app tracker and to realize I had actually gotten something done as well.

Also, ---and this sounds nuts, I know---I had my husband create a "tread desk" for me (Google it). I do a great deal of work from home on my computer, so with my tread desk, I walk anywhere from 3 - 6 miles per day while still getting my work done.

My ideas are specific for my needs, but the point I'm making is that you can think of things that you can be active with without it being formal exercise. The only formal exercise I do is weight training and even that is bare bones (push-ups, squats, sit-ups, tri-cep dips).

Also, eating healthy is just a matter of a bit of advance planning on what to buy. Broiling, roasting, and grilling foods is convenient and easy. When I'm rushed for time, I put a piece of fish (I like rainbow trout fillet) on a cookie sheet, throw on some grape tomatoes, slices of onions, jarred peppers, and some frozen veggies, spray the entire thing with olive oil and broil. You can't get easier than that. It takes me just a bit more time than it would take to heat up a Lean Cuisine (yuck!).

I hope that helps. Do what you can do for now. Even little changes add up over time.

I use an Ergo but I've heard great things about the Beco! There's no such thing as too many slings I might get one in the future too!!!!!! I love them so much I haven't used my stroller yet and we're at 15 months/30lbs! LOL!

I also prefer to do my housework during his awake time - we sing the "clean up" song and make games of it

Your nutrition is going to make up the vast, vast majority of your weightloss. Learn what foods you need to buy and pre-plan your shopping trips.

You can get your activity in. What if you held a position that required you to be on a conference call every morning at nine a.m.? Same thing goes for your exercise. You insist that come hail or high water, you must exercise at that time without fail.

I am also a SAHM. I started this lifestyle about 3.5 years ago. I had to move myself to the VERY top of my to-do list. Otherwise, I never got to ME! Before I did anything at ALL for ANYONE, my sleep, exercise and nutrition had to be in place. I didn't feel guilty either--still don't.