How to create healthy habits while incorporating our Littles into our fitness routine

Good morning Mamas! How are you feeling today? Rested? Exhausted? Exhilarated after the weekend? Dreading something upcoming this week? However you currently feel, do you know that by moving for 30 minutes today, you will feel better?!

Thank you to Annika, of Born To Be Adventurous, who has asked me to lead this month’s Real Talk Series! Each week, on Monday, I post something related to motherhood and staying fit! Make sure to check out her amazing Born To Be Adventurous Mamas Facebook group where you can read all my posts, share with other adventuring mamas what is keeping you active, and also plan meet-ups in your community!

Research shows that up to half of the functional decline we experience between age 30 and 70 is due to lack of physical activity. HALF! Wild. It is also proven that children with active parents are more likely to be active themselves. By increasing our heart rates for a minimum of 2.5 hours per week, we can significantly decrease our risk (and therefore also our children’s risk) of over 25 chronic health conditions, including coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, breast cancer, colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Now, this all sounds well and good…but I know what you are thinking. HOW are you going to come up with 2.5 hours per week to move your body enough to sweat and discover these amazing health benefits while continuing to be the best mom, wife, friend, colleague, and/or whatever other roles you carry each week?

I am going to go through my best three tips on how to begin shifting your mindset on creating healthy habits while raising children!

Start small

If you are currently falling nowhere near the 2.5 hours per week of movement, then by no means should you begin with that as a goal today. Perhaps this week you find five minutes a day on three different days to do something that feels great, increases your heart rate, and activates major muscle groups (tips below). If you are already achieving 2.5 hours per week (AMAZING), but think you could make this time more intentional, then focus on how that might look. The biggest thing to keep in mind when starting out or trying something new is that we are aiming for a healthy lifestyle! This means that we want to see the effects for years to come, not simply overnight.

Bring them along

Your Littles are part of you. They want to spend time with you and they love seeing you at your happiest. Trust me, I know that nearly everything (or maybe actually everything) is easier and more efficient when done without your little humans tagging along, but guaranteed that you will laugh more if they are with you! When they see that physical activity is simply a part of life, they will grow with this being their normal. You have the ability to instill a lifelong love for moving their bodies, just by taking care of yourself.

Show yourself grace

Is this season in your life one where you will be winning races and competitions? Likely not. If it is – awesome for you! More likely in this season of never-ending diaper changes, reasoning with preschoolers, and overwhelming exhaustion after “bedtime”, exercise will be an outlet for negative energy, an inlet for positive energy, and less about achieving personal bests. Giving yourself grace also means that physical activity may look different than it used to for you or perhaps even different than you wished it looked. Discovering what is enjoyable and achievable will ensure that what we are doing is sustainable. Show yourself the same love that you show your Littles!

Now what?

Okay, so now we know why we should incorporate healthy habits and we’ve shed a glimmer of light on how to do this, but now really, how do we have an actual fitness routine with Littles?

Personally, I find sustainable success through combining at-home workouts, fitness classes where my Littles can come, running (solo or pushing the stroller), and adventuring outdoors as a family! Each week, I sit down to plan how I will move and sweat, taking into account my husband’s and my work schedules. When can we exercise as a couple, all together as a family, and when will I need/want some alone time to dig deep and focus? Now, this comes from years of being mindfully active 5-7 days/week. Daily exercise is habit for me because I have created it as a lifestyle. There are weeks that 10-15 minutes per day, 4-5 days per week is all the energy and time I can muster. Remember that grace we talked about above? Yes, and also how we need to start small? Of course. Other weeks, I have an abundance of energy and more time, so I give that to my physical and emotional body!

Let’s ask some questions.

How do you want to be active each week?

Can you bring your Littles or have them take part?

Do you want some alone time to sweat each week?

Is there a way to make this happen (i.e. childcare, balancing with spouse, waking up early, etc)?

What are your fitness goals?

Is this achievable?

Is this sustainable?

Do you treat physical activity as a priority?

Activity time!

If you use a day timer, grab it! If you don’t a pen and paper or your “Notes” app will do. Carve out your week – appointments, work, to-do list, scheduled activities, etc. In a different colour, write in where you will add your intentional movement this week. A new class (maybe at Fit Your Life and bring your kids?!), discovering a new hike while looking for cool rocks and bugs, or a bike ride to a fun playground! 

I cannot wait to hear how the next few weeks go of you finding pockets of time for you! Your life, body, and heart are worth it! Share your adventures in discovering mindful movement through the Born To Be Adventurous Mamas Facebook group, the Fit Your Life Fit Moms’ Chat Facebook group, or by commenting below!

xox,

kellie