Balancing family, diet and excercise for single mom

[Sassytassie84]

Hey Ladies,

First off thank you for any input you guys may have on this subject. I really appreciate it.

As most of you all know I am a single mom of an almost 3 yr old child. What ya'all don't know is that he is a very active child. I have him 99% of the week. I work 2 jobs (about 13 hours in total) all but Sat and Sunday. Sat I work about 6 hours. I was working only one job the last year but just got hired as a nanny so now I have two. My first job is 1.5 hours away in traffic.

My question is more for the other single moms dealing with a similar situation. I have always been pretty good at balancing time for my son, diet and running (my sport of choice) and yoga. Ever since I started this second job, I feel guilty about only having an hour or 2 with my son before it is time for him to bathe and sleep. He is in daycare all day long and the little bit of time I have now, I want to be with him. I also have been eating fast food due to time constraints and I am seeing it in my midsection. Nothing crazy, no one else would prob notice if just looking at me, but I can tell and I know if this continues, I am going to start gaining weight in BF, not muscle, lol.

I know there are a lot of moms who read through here but might not post but I would really like some input as I am going crazy not having ANY time to myself to keep myself in the shape you see in my avi but still have time for my boy.

 

[Mt-momma]

Hey Sassie!
As far as the food part goes, why don't you cook on Sunday's for the week ahead? That's what we do and it makes my days SO much easier! My husband is up and gone long before any of us get up and works 13-14 hr days on average. It's easier for him to just weigh and place his food in gladware containers the night before. It's already cooked, so he just has to reheat at work.

Have you thought abouy doing 30 mins of PM yoga after your little one goes to bed? Maybe save your running for the weekends? Do you have a bike? Having a bike with a trailer (cause I have two) has been an awesome way to fit in some extra excercise. They also make just seats that attach behind your seat, which would be great for you since you just have one. You could bike on the weekends and still be spending time with your son.

Single mom or not, we all have mommy guilt about one thing or another. Don't let mommy guilt get to you. Make the time you spend with your son count and keep taking care of you.

 

[Mrs P]

Sassy,

I'm not a single mom & I have much respect for single moms, I'm a stay at home mom, but I have my husband who helps me so much, I can only imagine if I had t do it all by mysef.

My hubby is a trucker, he doesn't do much driving now, but before he would be gone for the whole day & even 2 days at a time, so I had to pretty much do it all by mysef, it was hard to find time for myself, when the kids were in bed all I wanted to do was get some rest for myself.

I understand how guilty we feel at times, I think Mt gave u great advise, u should spend as much time as u can with him on the weekends, bike riding is a great way to get some excercise & have some fun with him.

When my 4 year old was smaller I would take her to the gym with me (home gym) & would play a movie for her or have her play with building blocks while I did my workout, in between sets I would pick her up, kiss her & just play around with her a little.
Most times I would do my workout while she napped, but kids are unpredictable u know how it goes.

As far as diet comes, I know it's hard, especially if your working such long hours & 2 jobs, I say prep your food on your day off, cook lots of meals & save to take to work.
I even chop onions, green peppers, tomatoes.. pretty much anything I use on a regular basis & save on the fridge to use later, (make sure u double bag the onions to avoid the smell on the fridge) it save same me lots of prep time.

Try & stay away from fast food, sure we've all done it at some time, but having an office job & eating lots of fast food just equals fat gain.
I used to buy bags of nuts, granola, peanut butter, whole wheat crackers, fresh fruit (if they have a fridge) etc & keep at work when I had an office job years ago, it made it easier for me & just knowing I had something healthy to snack on & one less thing to pack in the morning was great.

Even if u get to spend 2 hours with the little guy make it count & he will know how much u love him.

Hopefully u find a better job soon so u don't have to work such long hours & enjoy him more.

 

[Detour5]

Hey Sassy,

I'm not a single parent so not the same experience, but I will say when I was getting ready for my first competition and having to fit in training 3 times a day with working full time, I'd sometimes be awake at 4:30am to fit in my cardio. My daughter was not even 2 then and I also would put her in the buggie and go for a powerwalk for my cardio. I'd take her to the gym with me and powerwalk home with her in the buggie for my post workout cardio. The thing is you have to find a way to include your child if you have no other option. A run is preferable, but if you can't then pop him in a pushchair and go powerwalking, use him as a weight and do sets of plie squats, and try to press him etc.. He'll love it, I did that with Ayallah. As for yoga, you can do it in the evenings when he's a sleep or early in the morning when he's a sleep, get used to working out at home. You don't need a lot of space at all - the misconception that you do is rife, truth is you can get fit in the tightest of spaces - may not be your preference, but when you have no choice and you still want to get/stay in shape you'll do whatever it takes. mt-momma gave great advice, as well as Mrs P. G'luck

 

[Sassytassie84]

Thank you ladies! Yes, I know I can make the time to do it, it is really the mommy guilt. I tell my son everyday and every minute it seems how much I love him and miss him when I am away from him. I just don't want him to feel abandoned. His POS dad already barely sees him and it breaks my heart. I also NEVER know until the day of when his dad IS going to take him. He doesn't follow court orders (supposed to have him every weekend from Fri 8pm until Sun 8pm) This never happens, it is once a month (at best). I don't know how to plan ahead because I never know when I will have him. I hate it!

I think the cutting everything up and putting it in the fridge is a great idea. As for making everything Sun, lol, I am so afraid of leftovers. I don't know why but I am always afraid I will get sick from them being old or something. I know, I am a weirdo. I do not have a microwave (on purpose) but I think maybe making some meals on Sunday that could be frozen might be a good idea!

Trying to workout with my son there... hahahaha he is the most hyper kid EVER! I could never get him to sit still or stay off me while I did yoga at home, definitely would have to wait until he is in bed, usually I knock out with him tho, lol. I get so exhausted. I stay away from bikes since I was 12 and broke both wrists on it, they healed and I rebroke my right wrist! LOL

I am going to be moving this weekend to a house with 7 acres of fenced in property up in the mountains of LA so I will have lots of trails and mountains to hike in with my son. We are getting our Labrador back so we will get plenty of exercise! The only downfall is that now I will be driving 2 hours to work daily lol. But I LOVE living in the mountains, we lived there before and it is so pretty.

I will be buying some weights to strap onto my ankles and wrists while walking and carry my son around on the big hills to get extra weight. I cannot wait!!!

 

[Mrs P]

7 acres, mountain property sounds awesome ! Plenty of room to be active.
Your a good mom Sassy You'll find a balance, jsut have to try different things until u find what works for u.

Now 2 hours driving, not fun..
but gotta make the best of it, it will give u some alone time, load up your Ipod & you'll be set.

 

[Sassytassie84]

Luckily I will have my son with me for the drive, he raises the roof pretty good...

Here is a video of him on our drives now.... Joseph serakides is sexy and he knows it! - YouTube

 

[Sassytassie84]

I guess when I posted the original, I was feeling really down because I missed my boy and feel that I am gaining a little weight from the Jack in the Box I was munching on at that moment at work.

The mountain property is awesome, I want to get my boy a pony to start riding. His bday is in a month so he might just get one! =)

 

[Mrs P]

I guess when I posted the original, I was feeling really down because I missed my boy and feel that I am gaining a little weight from the Jack in the Box I was munching on at that moment at work.

The mountain property is awesome, I want to get my boy a pony to start riding. His bday is in a month so he might just get one! =)

Is that really your son ? cute boy on that vid, my 4 year old loves to sing "I'm bringing sexy back" lol
Don't know who she gets it from
My girls are dying for a pony, they absolutely love horses.

 

[Sassytassie84]

Yeah thats my boy... He is adorable.

Haha.... I wonder where she could possibly get it from...

I actually found out that the neighbor who lives across the street bought a mini horse for their daughter who is completely scared to ride it. They said anytime my son wants he can come ride. Good place to start and even though most mini horses are mean as hell, this one is a gelding who's completely broke. Perfect to see if he really enjoys it before buying him one.

 

[Mrs P]

Yeah thats my boy... He is adorable.

Haha.... I wonder where she could possibly get it from...

I actually found out that the neighbor who lives across the street bought a mini horse for their daughter who is completely scared to ride it. They said anytime my son wants he can come ride. Good place to start and even though most mini horses are mean as hell, this one is a gelding who's completely broke. Perfect to see if he really enjoys it before buying him one.

lol,
That's a good idea u know how kids are they think they "want" something & then they try it & end up not liking it.

We take the girls to a farm about 45 min from our home & they get to ride horses there, the owner has ponies too & has offered to sell us one, maybe I can keep him in our backyard & tell the neighbors he's a dog on gear, think they'll buy it ?

 

[Mt-momma]

We bought our house "in town". Our town is a whopping 6 blocks, so we're not talking some sort of booming metropolis...lol. Anyway it was a foreclosure and we got it for under $90k. My parents habe a full working ranch and outfitting business 20 mins from us. I must say it's so nice to be able to spend the day over there and enjoy the horses without having to be the one doing all the day to day care. Honestly, as much as my girls have grown up around the horses and love them, they aren't really old enough for the day to day responsibility of the horses. It would end up falling on me and I've got too much on my plate as it is. I grew up always having horses so this is a first not living with them, but I'm ok with that for now. They are expensive pets...lol!