Fitting in workouts? - @BR

[Brit]

How do you do it? Especially the working moms with traveling/busy/no husbands.

H has a ton of travel coming up, starting with this week and I feel the wheels coming off already. I can't use our treadmill while DD is sleeping right now because it is next to her bed (long story, hopefully temporary situation). With my work schedule I get to see her for like 90 minutes at night and like 20 minutes in the morning. I feel really guilty plopping her in the jogging stroller for any of that time. Tonight I ran with her at the time that she normally goes to bed, then put her in bed an hour late (she did sleep some in the stroller), but that didn't feel right either.

H has several multi-week trips on the horizon and I can't just not exercise for weeks at a time, I will become a basket case. I typically work through lunch in order to get my work done (my new job is pure chaos - not in a bad way, just way more time consuming than my old gig). Supposing that I could get away at lunch, I work in an industrial area where running wouldn't be safe, not to mention that there is no shower at work and that me sporting exercise gear at work is culturally kind of dicey here - I have never shown my elbows at my office.

Ideas? Hair pats? Justification for 'wasting' my limited time with DD? I feel like I'm all excuses. I need an attitude adjustment or a fresh POV or something.

[pag41989]

I am a full time working mom with a husband that travels, I also go to school 2 nights a week. He has a full week of travel coming up. Luckily if I choose to, I have the choice of working out at work, however there are no showers as well so I have to work around that (usually a "shower" in a bag to clean off with plus deodorant/body spray/dry shampoo then a better shower when I get home.) I have put DD in the stroller and done a run before and she loves being outside and pointing out everything she sees but I have not been wanting to take her out in this cold weather.

The best thing I have discovered to do is move some furniture to the side and pop in a workout DVD. I do Jillian Michaels DVDs a lot when DH is gone. Do you have the option to move the treadmill anywhere else just temporarily while he is gone like maybe in the living room (not sure how heavy or large it is). You could also create your own workout routine that you could do once DD is in bed if you have some free weights. I only have a set of 5s so I usually just use my own body weight and increase the reps. Good luck with fitting everything in! I know how it is to be short on time and feel guilty about never seeing DD but also feeling guilty about not working out.. its a vicious cycle.

[breezy8407]

Boo I was going to suggest working out over lunch and taking work home.

Do you think she would sleep through the treadmill noise? Our house is tiny and loud, and we run on ours when they are napping and sleeping. Granted, it's not right next door but you can still hear it in their room. I am amazed at what they sleep though sometimes. (and what akes them up!)

If she enjoys the stroller, I don't think it's wasted time. She is still with her mom and seeing the world around her. I have the same guilt when I run with our stoller during our only free time at night. I try to justify it by thinking about all the playtime and stimulation they had at daycare that day.

[Brit]

Jan 27, 2014 13:33:05 GMT -5 breezy8407 said:

Boo I was going to suggest working out over lunch and taking work home.

Do you think she would sleep through the treadmill noise? Our house is tiny and loud, and we run on ours when they are napping and sleeping. Granted, it's not right next door but you can still hear it in their room. I am amazed at what they sleep though sometimes. (and what akes them up!)

If she enjoys the stroller, I don't think it's wasted time. She is still with her mom and seeing the world around her. I have the same guilt when I run with our stoller during our only free time at night. I try to justify it by thinking about all the playtime and stimulation they had at daycare that day.

The treadmill is in her bedroom. Well, actually, her bed is in the treadmill room. We bought her new bedroom furniture here, then got freaked out that it has lead based paint on it, so she is sleeping in a PNP in the treadmill room until H goes to the US again and brings back a lead paint test kit.

DD pretty much hates the stroller right now. Our running path is 1.66 miles long with eight playgrounds along it and she knows that she rides her bike on the running path... Basically she just wants to get out to play as I pass '24' playgrounds on a five mile run. FWP.

Going after bed time means that she might fall asleep and give me relief from the playground tantrum drama, but it feels irresponsible. I guess irresponsible seems like the best option right now.

[andrealynn]

How old is your DD? I have had her play at the park while I run laps around it. The park is about .6 miles around, so it can be a LOT of boring ass laps, but it works in a pinch. Do you have a MRTT group for your area on FB? Ours has done group runs on the weekends and has one person/husband rotate babysitting.

[Brit]

pag41989 - I have been doing some yoga at home and some other body weight exercises, but they never feel like as good of a workout as I would get running. This week I had in mind that I would do an at home workout three times and run three times, but I still have the guilties and feel unfulfilled workout wise.

I have a bad attitude about this, huh?

[Brit]

Jan 27, 2014 13:53:40 GMT -5 andrealynn said:

How old is your DD? I have had her play at the park while I run laps around it. The park is about .6 miles around, so it can be a LOT of boring ass laps, but it works in a pinch. Do you have a MRTT group for your area on FB? Ours has done group runs on the weekends and has one person/husband rotate babysitting.

MRTT? I don't know what that is, but I doubt it. This is the land of nannies. I have never even seen another person with a jogging stroller. Even the fancy gyms here don't offer child care because nobody needs it.

DD is two, so she pretty much requires 100% attention at the playground for the foreseeable future.

[pag41989]

Oohhh my DD went through the dreaded stroller hate for a few months and it was miserable. Now she has moved on to hating shopping carts and wants to run around the store instead.. she's 2 (I really need to update my sig pics haha). I have found the higher level of Jillian Michael's DVDs really kick my butt. You could also invest in a resistance band if you don't already have one and that seems to help get my heart rate up when I want more out of my at home workouts.

I know my DD did not sleep well when we changed her sleeping location but do you maybe have the option of moving the PNP so she can sleep and you can still use your treadmill if she wouldn't object to it?

[Brit]

Jan 27, 2014 14:06:42 GMT -5 pag41989 said:

Oohhh my DD went through the dreaded stroller hate for a few months and it was miserable. Now she has moved on to hating shopping carts and wants to run around the store instead.. she's 2 (I really need to update my sig pics haha). I have found the higher level of Jillian Michael's DVDs really kick my butt. You could also invest in a resistance band if you don't already have one and that seems to help get my heart rate up when I want more out of my at home workouts.

I know my DD did not sleep well when we changed her sleeping location but do you maybe have the option of moving the PNP so she can sleep and you can still use your treadmill if she wouldn't object to it?

I may dig out Jillian later this week, I have to mute her though, ugh!

We don't really have other rooms, we have a totally open floor plan, so the three bedrooms (mine, her off limits one, and the treadmill room) are the only rooms with doors.

I need to just get to work inventing at home workouts for myself.

[jillybean222]

I am right there with you.  DH is away as I type this.  WInter is the absolute worst for me b/c the days are so short and by the time I get my oldest off the bus it is getting dark, so even getting a sitter is not a very good solution.  Running is also my therapy so I understand going off the rails if you don't get exercise.  Honestly, instead of going for quantity, I go for quality.  When H is here, I go workout w/ a trainer at 6am so I can make sure I am using my time wisely and I sneak in a run when I can.  Not sure that's a great answer but it's the best I've got!  

[breezy8407]

Hmm yeah I wouldn't want to mess with moving her sleeping location - I am such a nap and bedtime stickler.

I don't know if I would feel guilty about running with her sleeping. But that's just me.

I hear ya on the workout DVD's. I was doing them when I didn't have a gym membership in the winter and it's just not the same. I also feel that way with lifting..I always still run at least 2 miles when I lift.

[emilyinchile]

Would she play with something while you run on the TM? I don't know if she can occupy herself or if she'd try to climb on there with you.

I don't have kids, but I don't see anything wrong with her sleeping in her stroller while you run. I certainly don't see it as irresponsible - both you and your child getting taken care of actually seems pretty responsible!

[breezy8407]

Jan 27, 2014 14:18:46 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Would she play with something while you run on the TM? I don't know if she can occupy herself or if she'd try to climb on there with you.

I don't have kids, but I don't see anything wrong with her sleeping in her stroller while you run. I certainly don't see it as irresponsible - both you and your child getting taken care of actually seems pretty responsible!

This is a good idea..is she old enough to watch a show that you guys can watch together and you can interact with her. If you can put up with young kids shows

[runblondie26]

Hair pats and hugs.

Aside from using the jogging stroller, early morning and naptime runs on the treadmill are my other solution.

I'm not up on all the details of your current living arrangements. If a treadmill is not an option, do you have your bike trainer with you? Not ideal, but at least it's something you can do inside before you start your day.

[runblondie26]

Jan 27, 2014 14:17:27 GMT -5 Brit said:

We don't really have other rooms, we have a totally open floor plan, so the three bedrooms (mine, her off limits one, and the treadmill room) are the only rooms with doors.

I need to just get to work inventing at home workouts for myself.

Ah ok, you do have a treadmill. Running before work is all I've got then. Obviously I'm not that creative. I see some good suggestions above.

[Wines Not Whines]

My solution in those situations is to work out on my lunch break, but I see that may not work too well for you. Without a shower, you probably can't do much cardio, especially becuase it's warm where you are. Do you have access to a gym near your office? I wonder if you could at least do a workout with weights a couple of times a week. I usually rely on lunch time workouts when DH is traveling.

Can you move the treadmill somewhere else temporarily, and turn on some white noise in your DD's room?

Do you have a nanny? (I'm assuming so, based on your "land of nannies" comment.) If so, can you pay her extra to come an extra hour early in the morning, while your DD is still asleep, while you go out for a run? You wouldn't be missing time with DD, because she's asleep.

[Brit]

Jan 27, 2014 14:36:37 GMT -5 Wines Not Whines said:

My solution in those situations is to work out on my lunch break, but I see that may not work too well for you. Without a shower, you probably can't do much cardio, especially becuase it's warm where you are. Do you have access to a gym near your office? I wonder if you could at least do a workout with weights a couple of times a week. I usually rely on lunch time workouts when DH is traveling.

Can you move the treadmill somewhere else temporarily, and turn on some white noise in your DD's room?

Do you have a nanny? (I'm assuming so, based on your "land of nannies" comment.) If so, can you pay her extra to come an extra hour early in the morning, while your DD is still asleep, while you go out for a run? You wouldn't be missing time with DD, because she's asleep.

No nanny for me. I'm just a pauper here.

We might be able to put the treadmill in the living room when H gets back. In reality, I need to relax for a few months until we get the suspect bedroom furniture thing sorted out, but I'm feeling especially patient about this right now.

There are no gyms near where I work, it is a weird customs controlled zone, so it is pretty much all businesses. Like you can't even get lunch except for like three fast food joints, there is nothing there and it is time consuming to get in and out since it is customs regulated.

[sadlebred]

How about a babysitter twice a week?

[mollyrunner]

I've been struggling with similar issues right now. I loved running with friends and good gym classes. But I have switched to tolerating some DVDs - I have the P90X3 videos and can seem to always talk myself into 30 minutes of a workout even if it has to be late at night. Good luck! Glad you asked because I am enjoying reading through the suggestions.

[Brit]

@kar, I'm totally in agreement with you on the stroller sleep/stroller mom time things, hence the post. I want to wait to test the furniture before getting rid of it because we spent several $K on it a month ago and it seems kind of wreckless to get rid of it before doing a paint test on it. I don't really want her sleeping in that room at all until we know that it is safe.

I think sadlebred had the best idea. If I can find a babysitter that I am comfortable with, and a way to do it cheap enough, I could have her come after bedtime a few times per week.

Will babysitters really come for like two hours? It seems like a lot of effort for little pay. Here, a babysitter would have to take a bus to get here and I would have to pay a cab fare for her to get home. (The norm here.)