I read blogs and articles from fitness coaches and nutritionists. Some have helpful hints, which I can incorporate quickly into my life and routines and others, not so much. I’m not a fitness coach or nutritionist; I’m a busy, working mom like you, with similar struggles. I already shared that I try I do a bit of self-care daily and choose healthier options.  As self-care month continues on the Mompowerment blog, let’s turn our attention to the physical side of things.

I’m talking about exercise and sleep. Both are important to keeping you healthier and make you your best self.  And, many times they fall off of our schedule or to do list.  Need some little nuggets for getting this back on to your schedule without making you take hours to workout or shutting you down around the time your kids go to bed?

Be Creative with How You Fit in Exercise

You might be a mom who makes sure to exercise several days each week. If that’s you, I’m sending you a virtual high five. If it’s not, this blog is for you. Use this to get tips and tricks on what’s helped me fit in some exercise into my schedule.  I try to exercise 4-5 days/week – a walk, kick-boxing, a barre class, a hike with the family – something to get the blood pumping. When it’s summer time in Austin, I must do this in the morning, if I’m headed outside, before the crazy heat kicks in.

You might find me kickboxing in our garage. When I was pregnant with our older son, my husband bought me a bunching bag because I love kick boxing. In fact, I did kickboxing until the day before our older son was born. And it helped me get back into shape after the baby, once I was cleared for exercise.

If I’m heading outside early in the day, it’s often to take a brisk walk. We live on a hill, so it’s a workout to walk down the hill and back up. It’s about 30 minutes, so it’s a perfect walk.

Our boys’ schools start an hour apart, so I often get in my walk between their school drop off times. Even though it’s not far distance, because of traffic, I don’t want to go back and forth between home and school. I take the jogging stroller with me and walk near their schools. Before we all leave for the first drop off, I grab a few toys or a small yummy snack for our pre-schooler and we’re off. Hint: you can lay down a towel, so that it doesn’t mess up the car (at least that’s my trick) and you can prep this stuff the night before, so that you’re not rushing to put it together.

Schedule a meeting and do something physical.  When I was in grad school, the dean would gladly schedule meetings with students to talk about whatever you wanted to chat about.  But, the catch was they had to be walking meetings.  You had to keep up to talk. And he walked F-A-S-T! I have been known to schedule meetings over a walk.  Hint: Grab a small notebook and pen or be sure to take your phone to take notes.

Is it too cold to go outside? Watch a YouTube video for something that gets your body moving. I have found some great videos from PopSugar or from Barre3 that give me a workout. Some are as short as 10 minutes and as long as about 30.

Do as Much as You Can When You Can

Another thing I’ve been doing is trying to do a little something whenever I can. I understand that you need 30 minutes of activity 3-4 days a week. In the past, I wouldn’t exercise at all, if I couldn’t fit in the full 30 minutes. Here’s the thing – 15 is better than 0. Even 10 is better than 0. So, now try to fit in whatever I can whenever I can. If I get to 30, great. Even better is when I get 30 straight minutes of exercise. If not, I’m still doing something. And it adds up. For example, this morning I did 18 minutes. This afternoon I did 10. And then I did another 15 with our boys while they were riding their bicycles. It all adds up – little by little.

Don’t Forget to Sleep

Some of you might be reading this and wondering why sleep is in the same blog as exercise. Here’s the thing. It’s another part of the physical side of taking care of ourselves. There is a lot of talk lately about sleep. Want to learn more about the importance of sleep? Take a look at Ariana Huffington’s new endeavor. She feels it’s one of the most important areas, which doesn’t seem to get enough attention.

At night, I work for a few hours, once the boys go down. The past few weeks I’ve been very involved in what I’m doing and I have lost track of time. Or there are some nights I get distracted by something online that might not need my attention at 11pm at night. And the time flies by, until it’s just late. There is no other word to describe it. And I’m tired in the morning.

I’m working to go to bed earlier, especially with two little boys who wake up by 6am. I’m aiming to shut down by 10 and be asleep by 10:30 or 11, even with some night time reading. I have been known to set up alarm or set a timer to get me from one activity to another, so I’m doing this with my night time rituals to. Once I get ready for bed, I’m working on reading a bit before it’s lights out. I need that time for my brain to wind down. I have too much going through my head when I turn off my computer.

What changes are you making to be healthier? Do you have some ways you already integrate being healthy in your day? What do you do to ensure you get in a workout? How much sleep do you get each night? What are your night time rituals? I’d love to hear about your rituals, especially for night time, since I’m still learning and getting ideas on this one.