Workout strategy for a busy mom on a budget

Like everyone else, I workout for many different reasons...  

 

An attempt to reclaim the flat abs that I once had before having a baby (sigh).  To have energy to work, chase my toddler, and handle everything else that life throws my way.  To maintain strength and metabolism as I approach my mid thirties.  But most of all, if I don't workout, I don't have sanity.  It is as simple as that.  I just feel better when I work out.  I smile more.

Hanging with Little B after a workout.  Sweaty and slightly flushed.

Truth be told, I never have and never will be a skinny girl.  My family's nickname for me growing up was Thunder-Thighs.  Charming, huh?  It ranked right up there with Colleen-Weenie.  But that is a whole other blog post.   Anyways, the point is that while I have never been overweight, I have always had some meat on my bones and have had to work hard at being healthy and fit.  This is very unlike my husband, the natural athlete, who decided to ride the MS150 from Houston to Austin after 3 days of training where the most he biked was 20 miles - Don't you just hate him!?

Pre-baby, I could go to a spin class at the gym or run around Town Lake whenever I wanted to.  It was relatively easy to just get up and go.  But now with Little B, not only is my available time much smaller, I also have to take into account child care, budget constraints, nap time, blah, blah, blah.  Working out now required some pre-planning... something I had never really done before.  

As with all of my adventures, I started with baby steps.  And fast forward a year and a half, I feel as if I now have an arsenal of things that make working out so easy and part of routine.

Here are a few things that have helped me.

PART 1: JUMPING BACK IN

After having Little B, it took me a while to get active again.  I don't do well with the sleep deprivation that a new baby brings.  I needed something simple and did require much thought process.   So I would put her in the stroller and just go.  Sometimes I would walk.  Sometimes I would run.   I didn't focus on pace or route or anything - I just focused on getting out of the house.  My body felt weird, my running was wobbly, my joints hurt - but I kept at it. A few things really helped me at this stage.  A good stroller and some motivation.

I purchased a used BOB stroller off of Craigslist and I love it.  It was a third of the price and slightly used condition.  It has a small pencil-tip-size hole on the umbrella part... So what!  I did also buy the BOB cupholder attachment for the stroller and highly recommend that as well.  It holds everything... your phone, keys, ipod, two drinks, etc.  This mama needs her coffee in the morning so that cup holder came in handy.

The motivation came in the form of podcasts, audio books, some kickass music, and later on, some walking buddies.  Podcasts made me feel human again, in touch with the outside world.  They were my life line out of the world of round the clock feedings and dirty burp cloths. Audio books made me feel literary again without needing an available hand to hold a book.  And kickass music... does that really need any explanation.  I only listened to these when I was out walking.  So if a book was getting really good and we were nearing the house, I would do another lap around the block just to hear what would happen next in the story.

The walking friends came about a few months into my stroller/walking routine.  I kept running into the same people out pushing their strollers.  After a few conversations, we just started texting each other spur of moment when we would head out for a walk.  It was great.  I got to know my neighbors.  I made some new friends.  And now that Little B is older, she has a gang of buddies to cause trouble with.

Some days we would walk 20 minutes and other days we would walk an hour and a half.  Now I am not saying that this workout will make you look like a swimsuit model, but it did help me get my endurance back. And don't underestimate pushing a heavy baby in a stroller.  It definitely got my heart pumping.

PART 2 - REMEMBERING THE WEIGHTS

While the walking was a nice stepping stone, I knew that if I wanted to gain some strength and feel comfortable in a bathing suit ever again, then it was time to add some weights.  My body tends to respond better to a weight routine than any cardio workout.  That is how I trim inches and get that toned look.  For me, weight training gives me the most bang for my buck... or in other words, the most results for my time.

I didn't go out and join a gym or hire a personal trainer because, quite frankly, we didn't have the budget for it and I still had the issue of childcare.  If we did have the money, I would mostly likely hire a personal trainer just because I know that results would come a lot faster.  But you do what you can with what you have.

For me, to get a refresher on different exercises, I tapped into our Netflix account.  Netflix has workout DVDs that you can have sent your house, but they also have some on their instant streaming feature.  It was perfect.  I could workout while Little B was napping or after she had gone down for the night. 

I prefer the Self series of workouts.  They have ridiculous names like Bikini Ready Fast or Slim and Sleek Fast, but they did the job.  A good overall weight routine. As I would get used to the workouts, I would increase the weight I used so that it remained challenging. 

The other series I like is 10 Minute Solution: Pilates.  These were nice because whether I had 10 minutes or an hour, I could still fit in something.

Now, with that said, I do try to change up the video workouts as much as possible.  That helps to prevent me from getting bored, but also different workouts use different muscles.  Which is good because I want to keep challenging my body in order to trim down.  I don't want my muscles to get too used to any one kind of activity; otherwise my body will hit a plateau. 

***Please note - if you have never done weights before, I HIGHLY recommend going to a weight class like Body Pump or hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions just to make sure that you get your form right.  It is worth the money, because you can really hurt yourself if you don't have correct form.****

PART 3 - KEEP ON GOING

This is where I am at today.  It is so hot outside (103) that walks/runs even early in the morning are out until the end of summer.  So we adjust.

As you may recall, I go to a dance class once a week on the weekends when David can watch Little B.  The class is amazing cardio, super fun, and I get to hang out with one of my friends.  I look forward to it every week.

During the week in the afternoons when Little B is sleeping, I put on headphones (listening to music, audio book or podcast) and do about 30 minutes to an hour of squats, lunges, situps, bicep curls, pushups, etc.  I use my weights as much as possible and try to do as many reps as possible.  My goal is to fatigue the muscle being used - remember bang for your buck.  Sometimes I will add in a move that I learned at dance class or learned from my friend who is doing Crossfit. 

Just recently, I also have been getting ideas from Crossfitmom.com.  Seriously... this lady is very pregnant and could still kick my ass.

I save the Netflix workouts for those days when I need some extra motivation or my brain is just not functioning at full capacity (i.e. I have not had enough coffee or sleep).

So that's how I do it.  At the end of the day, I am happy that I am doing something to stay in shape.  And each day I get stronger.