EXERCISE TIPS WITH A BUSY SCHEDULE

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EXERCISE TIPS WITH A BUSY SCHEDULE

Hi Loves,

Alycia here. I want to share with you something that has taken me a few years after having my daughter to get settled into – it’s EXERCISE and I want to share with you my exercise tips with a busy schedule!

Before having Trudie, I loved the gym or playing sports or walking for hours through the city with a lunch in my backpack. In fact, I liked basically anything to stay active. I loved it!

When I had Trudie, though, my entire world was turned upside down. And I mean literally upside down. I had to quit my job, move out of NYC, and become a mom full time.

There’s a lot to this story and I talk about it in other posts, but the short of it was, she wouldn’t take a bottle and she wanted ME 24/7. I tried to go back to work, except she would cry for hours, literally hours on end. Poor Zeshan!

So we decided to ditch our NYC life, the 9-5 job and move to our parents for a couple of months. I mean, what grandparents don’t want a baby around? We though this would be the perfect opportunity to migrate West.

We look back at it now and laugh because it didn’t quite work out that way, and actually, not much does.

So back to the EXERCISE! Seeing how Trudie took up ALL of my time, I was too exhausted for anything else. She wanted to nurse all the time, cuddle all the time and be carried around all the time – she wouldn’t even sleep without me.

I know there is always a transition period after having a baby and it definitely takes time to adjust, however, I definitely anticipated it taking only a few months and not years!

Now Trudie is 4, and FINALLY, I have figured out what works for me. As a result I’m getting back into shape and it feels amazing! I learned how to squeeze in the exercise on a busy schedule…yay!

So what did I figure out, you ask? Here it is…

1. GET IT IN WHEN YOU CAN

This is the BIGGEST realization for me. 

And what does “get it in when you can” mean, exactly? It means just that. I tried doing full workouts, 30 minute workouts, 1 hour – I just couldn’t get through the whole thing with my sidekick next to me.

“Mama, ba-ba.”

“I need a snack.”

“Mama, I have to go pee pee.”

One day I stood in the living room on the phone, and found myself doing calf raises. I was wearing jeans, a computer in front of me and Trudie was playing on the couch. Within a couple minutes I could feel my legs burning!

A few minutes later, I had to run to the bathroom and it hit me…I should do lunges all the way down the hallway, and all the way back. It only took me a couple extra minutes and when I came back my legs were on fire again.

This was it! I realized I had to stop stressing about getting a sweat on, making sure I could get through a whole workout in one shot, whatever it was. I just had to GET IT IN.

One day, Zeshan said to me “over train.” Meaning, if I want my legs to get smaller, don’t do leg exercises 2 or 3 times a week, do them every day. And if I only can get in a little here and there, I’m at least still using my muscles and I’m still feeling the burn.

Now instead of trying to cram in a 30 minute workout, I start slipping in exercises throughout the day. On conference calls, I do calf raises while I’m listening. When making Trudie a snack or breakfast, I do squats while waiting for food to cook. While on a 10 minute break, I do lunges.

You get the idea.

Now, my goal was no longer to work up a sweat but instead to get in the muscle movement any time possible. And sure enough, within three days we could tell my legs started to change. My butt started to look raised again, woo hoo! (Small victories!)

2. MAKE HOME YOUR NEW GYM

When Zeshan and I moved to LA, he ended up finding a “Dadbod” bootcamp class at the local park. He is a HUGE gym buff and really was missing his daily routine. Very happily, he joined the class that met three days a week for an hour each session.

He went for months, and then, he got injury after injury. At the same time, I was looking for a way to work out so we switched places. I was aching for some serious physical activity!

As awesome as it was being around adults, having someone hold me accountable and make me workout, it really just wasn’t practical, and Trudie did a good job of reminding us of it every time I went.

SO NOW WHAT???

The next best thing – bring the gym to me. We decided to take one month’s fee we were spending on the class and buy the essential equipment (dumb bells, bands, P90X videos and some TRX row straps) and create our own space. 

3. DON’T SAY NO TO PLAYING TAG

I have never seen a kid with as much energy as Trudie, another thing I talk about elsewhere here. (If you want to learn tricks to deal with an active child, go check out the blog post.) 

She reminds me of a pitbull – they could run for hours and still have energy. They need constant exercise. This is Trudie! She wakes up ready to go, could jump on her trampoline for over an hour, go to the park for another hour and a half, come back and jump some more and she still has energy. 

Because I was so exhausted, tag was totally out of the question for Mommy. After I was finally able to wean her (I don’t even want to tell you how old she was) and I finally slept through the night, I suddenly found bursts of energy I hadn’t had since before I was pregnant. 

“Mommy, do you want to play tag?” she would ask. And one day it hit me, I just have to keep moving. “Yes – tag, you’re it!” and off we would run. I learned to take advantage of the time I had to get some physical movement in, get my heartrate up, and put a smile on that adorable little face.

4. PUT ON THE MUSIC & DANCE WHILE YOU CLEAN

I love this one for two reasons. One, I have to clean so it’s an activity I am already doing (and I love a clean and organized house) and two, I feel good listening to music. So why not add some hip shaking and movin and groovin!

Trudie shares our love of music which absolutely makes my heart sing! I have never been able to sit still if the music is on, I just have to shake my booty. So when we have the music on, the house gets loud and the feet start going!

Before I know it, I’m sweating, my heart rate is up and I’m full on using all the muscles in my body! Not only am I having fun dancing, but I’m in the middle of a workout – and Trudie is too! (Can anyone say early to bed??)

5. AFTERNOON WALKS

I don’t know a Mom who doesn’t have a stroller for their baby/toddler. And since we currently live in LA without a car (yes, it’s TOTALLY doable) our stroller is our vehicle. We walk everywhere! Being a New Yorker, we are used to walking, and walking A LOT. 

Now, when we do have to go out, we have two choices. Either we can take a nice leisurely walk to wherever we are going, OR, we can get our sweat on and power walk! (If we have to walk anyway, we might as well take advantage and sweat.)

If we are heading to Trader Joe’s for some groceries, Target for some household items, or just need a break from our computer screens, we decide to throw on our workout gear and head out. 

AND EASY PEASY, 5 WAYS TO GET YOUR FITNESS IN!

So, there are plenty of ways to fit in some exercise with a busy schedule. It may not be conventional and it may take a little muscle memory to get into the swing of it, but it’s absolutely doable. If I can do it, so can you 🙂

Until next time….