I used to workout quite a bit before my children were born.
I would get up early and do an exercise DVD before heading out to work. I’d head to the gym after work and do 2 classes back to back. I would walk everywhere I could and jog along the seafront at the weekends.
Then my children came along and there was just no time (or inclination if I’m honest) to fit that kind of exercise in.
And I know I’m not the only one who has that problem when they become a parent.
What I realised in the first year after my son was born though, was that there is a great way to keep fit and healthy as a busy mum without having to hit the gym.
It all comes down to increasing your NEAT.
Which is basically the energy that you use up in your everyday activities.
It stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis and really is just a fancy way of describing the calories that you burn through simply going about your daily life.
So how can you increase your NEAT to stay fit as a busy mum?
Well, you look for ways you can gradually increase your general activity levels throughout the day.
You could try:
- Taking the stairs instead of the lift when you’re at work or out and about (or heading upstairs to use the toilet instead of using the downstairs loo if you’re home with the children)
- Walking to as many places as you can instead of taking the car – pushing the buggy or carrying your baby in a sling can really make this into a great workout!
- Playing active games with your children – hide and seek, tag, football, homemade obstacle courses, it all counts
- Putting music on and putting some energy behind household cleaning jobs
- Gardening while the kids play outside
- Singing action songs with your baby
- Learning clapping songs and games with your older child
- Standing when you can – at babygroup stand and chat with the other parents instead of sitting the whole time, stroll around the park while your kids play instead of watching from the bench, you get the idea.
The biggest thing for me when my children were little was walking.
I would walk to babygroup, to the park, to the local shops. Pretty much everywhere we went that was within reasonable walking distance, we would walk.
It’s the easiest way to increase your NEAT by just adjusting your normal routine a little bit.
One thing to remember though, life with children (especially young children) can be exhausting.
So be gentle with yourself.
There will be days when just getting dressed is a victory. When you’re running on just a few hours of broken sleep the last thing you need to be doing is walking laps of your house to get a few extra steps in.
If that’s the stage of parenting you’re in, then give yourself a break.
Sit down with a cup of tea at playgroup, use all the shortcuts you can to make life easier for yourself, and know that there will be plenty of time to focus on fitness when you’re actually getting some sleep.
When you do come out of the haze of sleepless nights, use these ideas for increasing your NEAT to build your fitness back up.
