So, do any of you exercise?

[LittleGriff]

So it's been about 4 years since I got regular exercise. These days I try to take one ballet class a week, walk or run with the 2 kids in our Ironman at least once a week (damn these Seattle hills/rain) and take a yoga class once in a blue moon. Of course, running after/hefting young children has some exercise like aspects but it's a far cry from my pre-mama physical life. I'm debating joining a gym with childcare but I hate the gym and since I work pretty long hours, turning the kids over to another childcare provider in our precious evening hours together doesn't sound like a winning plan. I try to do yoga in the living room but the kids fight over my mat and use me for a jungle gym. We got a Burley for our bikes but have limited safe routes from our house. Hubby and I could swap childcare in the evenings for one another but we like to see one another too ... etcetera. I'm sure you all know the story! I don't feel too bad physically but I wouldn't mind a little more tone.

I'm just curious - are any of you satisfied with your exercise life??? If so, would love to know your strategy!

[spiderdust]

I'm not satisfied with mine at all. My daily exercise has devolved into walking to public transit stops on my way to and from school. I have Wii Fit, but I honestly never seem to find the time for actual exercise anymore.

[MsVyky]

I do. I work out 3 days a week (MWF) at the school gym after class (My classes are done around lunchtime)

[yvonnemommy]

I don't, although I always plan to...
Maybe I should climb stairs instead of elevator tomorrow

[Lizbiz]

Subbing - I would love to hear more strategies here as well. I think it really just comes down to discipline, discipline, and more discipline - as well as just prioritizing myself and my health a few times a week. I usually am really good about doing this - but I just started working full full time (like way more than 40 hours per week at the moment - hopefully it cools down) - and so I'm not exercising right now at all.

Really really want to start again - I can feel it. Weight is fine - and stays under control with eating - but my tone really suffers.

[Halfasianmomma]

I just recently joined the YMCA that's 3 blocks away from my work. FTR, I work from 8:45 to 4:45, M to F, and DD is in daycare full-time. She's 26 months old, so working out after I get home (around 5:30) just doesn't work. She needs so much attention, and I miss her during my workdays, so it's not feasible at the moment to workout after work. My weight is as it was pre-preggo, but my endurance, flexibility and muscle tone just aren't...

My compromise--which I had to come to after my migraine specialist strongly recommended working out 3x a week, is that I get to work 30 minutes early, eat my lunch at my desk, and at 11h55, I *RUN* out the door, get to the Y, and take whatever interesting class they have (cardio kickbox, African dance, toning, etc). Generally, I get to the class 5 minutes late and leave 5 to 10 minutes early so I can quickly shower (not wash my hair) and then rush back to work.

I also have the option of swimming for 30 minutes, and then shower and get ready to go back to work. That option is more cardio-friendly, but requires that I bring all my toiletries with me since I have to go back to work, and can't really look all dischevelled.

I try to do this 2 to 3 times a week, and I also dance tango 2 to 3 hours on Sundays. So far, the arrangement has worked out ok, but it does make for rather tiring work days...BUT I at least get the satisfaction of knowing I am active on a regular basis. Once my cardiovascular endurance is back up to an acceptable level, I plan on getting a workout schedule designed by a trainer so I can just workout in the weight room at whatever time is convenient for me (I can take my lunch as early as 12 or as late as 2).

[hakeber]

I don't but I walk 2 blocks to the bus each morning and 7 blocks from the bus in the afternoon, every day, plus the campus I work on forces me to walk about 10 city blocks a day at a fairly fast past between classes and climb about 10 flights of stairs all in, so I feel pretty good about the amount of activity I am doing at the moment. I might join the volleyball team once a week, as well.

I might kick it up with some morning yoga after the Christmas holiday.

[Magistra]

I get in a ballet class most weeks and then walk the dog every morning (but frequently end up throwing him out the back door for any other outings). I'm teaching part-time, so I'm on my feet a few hours a day. But there's no doubting I could stand to get more in. I'm debating waking up 15 minutes earlier so that I can rotate among extra-long dog walks, Pilates, weights, and stretching, but the 7-month-old has been sleeping so poorly, it's hard to even imagine that. I have Wii Fit-Plus, but haven't broken it out of the wrapping yet. Right now, we have a baby corral in the living room, which is where I would usually work out, so that's been an easy excuse for me not to do anything.

[Minxie]

I do twenty minutes of yoga in the morning while my son is still sleeping. I also have some Pilates DVDs that I want to start incorporating into the morning routine but that requires me to actually get up earlier.

I walk two miles at lunchtime on the walking track near my work (1/4 mile there, 2 times around, 1/4 mile back), and work out for forty-five minutes to an hour with the Wii FitPlus in the evening. I do the Wii AFTER my son goes to bed while I watch TV. There is an option for free stepping while watching TV so I set it to 30 minutes and turn on a show. If I'm still watching TV when that 30 minutes ends, I do more activities on the commercial breaks and fold laundry during the show. (The work is never done, you know...)

I recently joined a gym in exchange for providing one evening of childcare so plan to pick up a yoga class there on Wednesdays and incorporate strength training on other days.

I also try to do as much as possible with my son (age 4.5). We ride our bikes, go for walks, play on the Wii, etc. Our grocery store is about 2.5 miles away so we usually ride our bikes up there to buy groceries.

[Gator-mom]

Well, when I am in school, exercise usually takes a back-burner, aside form occasional family walks. I have a video, but I even have a hard time making time for that. Usually, when we are on summer break, I get back into it, drop like 5 lbs and feel really great before school starts before I turn into a slob again! I think when I'm working, and I can actually come home and *be home* then it will be easier to get an exercise routine going. Ds loves to run, so when his legs are longer, I am thinking maybe he would like to be my jogging partner!

[AnnaNova]

ive been so aweful about working out and right nutrition, i have not lost a single poud since my son was born 19 mo ago!!!!!!
and the fact that im not losing anything makes it worse: why sweat if i it will be ages before i see a result.
i know, however, that once i get in the "groove", ill be ok, so thats what i ve been trying to do lately. no excuses. seriously, no excuses.
i have hard time exercising after work - i want to spend time with my son, have a nice dinner with my family, just talk about the day.
so i started going to the gym in the morn. it has been un-be-lie-vably hard. i have to be at work at 7, so im up at 5 on the days when i work out, i try to have as much ready the night before as i can - lunches, clothes, etc. so i only do minimum in the morn, hit the gym, run to work...
if i dont get to the gym in the morn, i go for my lunch break (theres a gym right next door from me). i only get 30 min for lunch, so i only get like 15 min on elliptical or sth, but every little bit helps, i think.
we try to be more active as a family, too and pick things to do that would involve some form of exercise. today, my husband and me had a day off together, so we all went to pick raspberries at a farm - so much fun! and berries too!
and yes, there are days when i just cant get it together, when all my plans just fly out of the window, but i KNOW that if i stick to it for a little longer, it will just become a part of my life like morn showers or food...
i keep reminding myself that i cant take care of others until i take care of myself.

[~pi]

Not as much as I would like. I play soccer once a week in summer, bicycle for transportation and fun (by myself and with DS), and I always take the stairs, but am generally not as active as I would like to be. I need more cardio in my life right now.

However, I have noticed a big uptick in my general fitness (plus better-fitting clothes) since I started using a standing desk. Not only am I more productive, but my core strength has seriously increased. (Funny how that happens when you are engaging your core all day ...)

There is good research on this showing that a standing desk has nearly the same fitness and heart health benefits as a walking/treadmill desk, and is easier to a) acquire and b) adapt to. Plus it's excellent for thinking work. (No benefits for routine work, but no costs to that, either.)

Not everyone can make this work, but if you can, I recommend it highly. I built my desk myself out of an Ikea bookshelf/desk combo. I just set the screen and keyboard positions at standing height rather than sitting.

[Rosehip]

I work 3-4 12.5 hour shifts/week. So my days are long, but I have more days off. I try to get in at least a couple of bike rides per week. At work, I always take the stairs (I work on the 4th floor, and park on the 6th in the garage). I walk my daughter to school in the morning when I'm home (~.7 mile, uphill to get home). I also try to walk when it's a feasible alternative to driving - church, to a friend's house last night, to meet friends for a drink, etc. From my house, most of these local destinations are between .75 & 1.25 miles, with hills. It's doable if the weather is not too extreme and I'm not under time pressure or carrying a lot of stuff.

It's far from ideal - I'd like more intense exercise, but it's what works right now.

[Alyantavid]

I work out off and on. I'm not a fan of the gym and there's no childcare anyways. Dh's working part time and in college so he's really not around much to help.

I do some workout dvds at home when I can, but they have to be short with the kids around. So I guess I do work out some, but not as much or as often as I'd like.

[Emmeline II]

I'm a student and SAHM.

I usually put my 4yo in the stroller and walk 2mi in the morning. During the summer when ds is home from school I take my walk before dh leaves for work.

On the two days I have to leave the house early (or if I'm just pressed for time) I have my Wei Lana yoga DVDs. We have a tv in our room, so I can do my exercise and have something on for dd downstairs so she is occupied. I had dropped yoga until dh put a tv in our bedroom (our dog isn't allowed upstairs so I don't have to vacuum before doing yoga; that helps).

Dh works and goes to school full time, but he does P90X in the evening.

[caiesmommy]

I exercise AT work. I work 2 jobs, 1 serving and 1 retail. So I'm never actually sitting. This week I have an hour long lunch 2 seperate days at my retail job(which NEVER happens) so I might walk the length of the mall a couple of times.

But honestly I MISS the gym! REALLY miss the gym! But I'm worried about the cost of the gym vs. getting there since some weeks I work 2x a week then others(like this rounds between the 2 jobs I'm on a 10-20 day stretch(day 5 of a possible 16)

I think I'm going to ask Dh for a gym pass though he always says "just get off your butt and go for a walk" I try and explain that it's my tone I'm trying to work on...he doesn't get it, and either does his 6 month pregnant looking belly LOL

[Teenytoona]

My company has a gym they're in partnership with across the street, so I finally tookthe plunge and joined. I initially started off going to the gm before work everyday, but that's too much for me. I'm shooting for 3-4 days now. BUt really it's only since DD has been sleeping better that I've done this - a few months now.

[colleen2851]

I go to the gym 3x a week. Now that DS is old enough to go to the gym's babysitting, I want to bump it up to 4x a week. But that's probably all the time I'm willing to take away from "family time" since DH and I work weekdays.

[Areia]

I really dislike exercising, but I do it at least 3-4 times a week.

What works best has changed during the years. When I got my first "real" job, I joined a fancy woman's gym on my way to work and went at 6am worked out, hung out in the sauna, showered and then went to the office work lots of time to spare - this was my favorite exercise experience - felt almost spa like. Through the years, I've also tried using videos or on-demand workouts at home, going to the gym during lunch and taking the dog for long walks.

Currently, I've found that it works best if I go immediately after work. DH and I found a no-frills gym in between work and my parents' house, do our 45 min and pick up DD. We shower when we get home. I love this because we normally have to sit in a ton of traffic on the way home so it's not really costing me a lot of extra time to work out then. I usually get home just 10 min later on gym night. Sometimes I work out with DH and it makes the time go even quicker (ETA obv. makes the work out time seem shorter - unfortunately, it doesn't do much for our commute

[Rowansmama]

I've tried all sorts of things - gym, walking, etc, but find the only thing that consistenly works for me is to work out to DVDs at home after the kids are in bed. I recently started doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred and it's AMAZING! YOu only have to do 20 minutes a day but it's killer and you get results almost immediately. I downloaded it but you can get it at walmart for like 10 dollars.