5 Tips on Balancing Family and Fitness/Healthy Living

As a mom of 3 little ones, the balancing act is a constant struggle- no sugar coating things here. Between work, kids, errands, chores and trying to eat healthy and workout, there seems to never be enough hours in the day. Am I right? 

Health and fitness definitely changes once you have kids.  You struggle to carve out time to work out and cook a healthy meal.  Our lives are busy but at the end of the day we prioritize things which are most important to us, and that is true for anything in our lives. 

Here are 5 tips to balance family and fitness:

  1. Include the kids.  Make it fun and involve the kids when it comes to exercising and eating healthy.  I personally like to work out at home.  It works for us and the kids enjoy exercising with me. They see how and why it’s important to exercise and stay healthy, so it's setting a good example and foundation for them.  Also, try to include them when making healthy recipes- my girls love helping out! 
  2. Write it down and plan ahead. I have mentioned this in other blog posts, but write it down! Every Sunday, sit down and look at your calendar for the week.  Write down when you plan to work out and make it a commitment.  Sure, unplanned things will come up with kids, that's a given, but be flexible and you can always reschedule things if needed. 
  3. Keep in mind things won't always be perfect.  This is a hard one to adjust to, especially if you’re a new mom.  For us with multiple children, we are used to unexpected things that come up- sickness, trips to the ER, and so on!  If you plan to work out Monday, but your children are sick and have to go to the doctors or maybe you didn't get much sleep because you were up all night, reschedule your workout for another day that week. 
  4. Outsource and delegate responsibilities.  We are pretty lucky to live in a time where we can have groceries delivered to our house, 2 day shipping on just about anything (thank you amazon prime!) and pick up groceries at the store.  I would take advantage of delegating or outsourcing tasks as much as possible to save yourself time spent elsewhere- with the kids, taking a walk, relaxing, etc. 
  5. Keep your workouts short and effective. I’m a firm believer that you do NOT have to spend an hour or more exercising in the gym (or at home).  And if there's one thing we know as busy moms, it’s that we don’t have a lot of free time. Therefore, it’s important we keep our workouts short and effective- research shows that even just 10-15 minutes of exercise is beneficial. This is why my workout programs are all under 30 minutes long, because it needs to be sustainable long term!

Time management is also a big factor in making sure you lead a healthy lifestyle with family.  The thing is, healthy eating doesn't have to be time consuming. There are many healthy recipes which don't require hours in the kitchen. This is also one of the reasons I like to work out at home- it saves time.  I can get the SAME results working out at home than in the gym. I know how busy mom of little ones are, which is why my programs focus on workouts and recipes that are simple, fast and effective. 

Those are my top 5 tips for balancing family and fitness life.  It’s not always easy- but definitely worth it.  Remember, those little ones are looking up to you. So let's set an example early on about why creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important!