I’m going to say (type) a word and I want you to say the first thing that comes to your mind.  Ready?

Exercise.

Here are some of the words I expect I would hear:  Ugh, Blech, No way, Exhausting, Expensive, Hate, Loathe, Don’t Wanna Do it, Not enough time, Maybe when the kids are bigger….shall I continue??

For all of us, exercise needs to be a regular part of life.  Some of us (not me!) are blessed with bodies that can stay naturally trim without lots of exercise.  Others of us (me!) have to figure out a way to get in some sort of exercise every day, because even with a decent diet and limited junk, the pounds just pack on.  Can I get an Amen?

I am the first to try to make a zillion excuses about why I can’t work out: “I have no time! I have two kids!  Two part time jobs!  Blog responsibilities, a husband, a house to tend, volunteer work, and friends to hang out with! Not enough hours in the day!  No extra money for a gym membership!  No childcare at our local gym!”  Etc, and so forth.  All of that being said…if I want to make exercise and health a priority, then I can fit it in somewhere.  Since all of what I just said is actually true, I have found the best way to get in the exercise, is to find ways to work out at home.  Thanks to Pinterest, the possibilities are endless.

Here are my top ways to fit in the fitness, at home.

FitBitPic

1.  Go to Pinterest.  Search exercise.  Take your pick.  Seriously!  There are SO MANY!  One of my favorites is a simple series of exercises:

100 Jumping Jacks, 50Squats,  25SitUps/Crunches and 10Push Ups.  Repeat 4 or 5 times.

I like to do this on commercial breaks whilst watching some junk reality TV.  If you don’t have that much time, do a few individual sets throughout the day.  While it’s always great to do a solid hour (ha!) of exercise at a time, squeezing in mini workouts throughout the day is awesome.

2.  Play with the kids outside.  Take your kiddos to the park, or head to the backyard and play soccer.  Kick the ball around, run some laps, play chase or tag – just get moving!  Plus – your kiddo will love it!  Does one of your older kids play sports?  Grab your stroller for the babe, and walk around the sports complex while waiting on the older one to finish playing.  I did almost 3 miles while Hudson played soccer tonight!  Bonus points: recruit another mom to do it with you – then you can combine several tasks: take kid to sports, spend time with friend, get in girl talk, get the baby outside, oh yea, and burn a bunch of calories!  Holla!

3.  Easiest of all: Find a great workout DVD that you love!  There are so. many. dvd’s.  It can be overwhelming.  I love Crunch Fitness’ Fat Burning Pilates and Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.  They are relatively short and both deliver a great workout.  If I have an hour?   I love to do my Grandma’s Aerobic’s Class video.  No, seriously – my grandma is almost 80 and teaches aerobics 3 days a week to over 100 people per class!  What!?  I know.  She’s amazing.

4.  Get a FitBit.  (Or some other pedometer/tracking device.)  I recently picked up a FitBit Flex for around $80 on amazon.  It’s a pretty neat tracking device that counts how many steps I take, my “active” minutes, and it even tracks sleep patterns!  It’s a great way to make sure you’re, at the very least, getting in 10,000 steps a day.  Small goals like ’10K A Day’ are attainable and will make a difference in your overall health in the long run.

As much as I hate to admit it, it’s so important, as mom’s, that we keep our bodies healthy for our kids.  I, for one, want to be running races with mine for a long time to come!  (I also don’t want to be a slacker and not be able to keep up with my grandma!!)

What are some of your favorite at-home work out routines?  Share your favorites in the comments!

 

 

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