Looking to keep fit as a mom

BecomingABetterMan1 · 2023-07-28T00:34:57+00:00

Incoming book:

Okay so I'm the sole earner in my house (29M) with a SAHM. I can't speak to specifics about keeping fit as a mom, but if you saw what I looked like - you'd probably trust my advice (I have about a dozen 'clients' who sought me out over online bodybuilding forums because they wanted to look like me). This isn't me being arrogant, I promise. FWIW, I work 10 hour days, have a 2 hour commute, attend school full time, and still make time for the gym. I think the time constraints can run somewhat parallel to your day-to-day.

Losing Weight

Losing weight is going to be your primary focus. This is best done through fixing your eating habits. Prioritize lean protein (chicken, fish, lean cuts of pork and beef). Half of your plate should be lean protein, a quarter can be veggies, and the other quarter can be carbs (ideally low density carbs like rice, potatoes, or barley). If every plate looks like this, you will probably lose weight without having to count a single calorie/macro. I'm a fan of dieting in the easiest way for you.

One of the most successful ways to diet is through Intermittent Fasting (IF). Now, there's nothing magical about it in terms of weight loss, it's merely a lifestyle change that is easy to upkeep and easy to follow. Considering your difficulty is likely the snacking throughout the day (factually speaking), restricting your eating time will absolutely avoid this - if you stick to your plan. Your 'eating window' could reasonably be anywhere from 4-6 hours and you would likely find yourself in a caloric deficit. Still, I highly recommend following the super basic plate system I detailed above during your eating window. It is important to understand that just because you are fasting, doesn't mean that you will lose weight. You still need to be in a caloric deficit; hence why food selection is important here. Choose healthy foods; I don't need to go into detail here - you know what's healthy and what isn't.

Approach any diet plan you choose as if it were a lifestyle choice. Frankly, because if you look at it through the lens of "I only have to do this for xxx days, then I'm done" - you will end up back where you started.

An important note: if you get the bad/tempting foods out of your house, it's MUCH harder to eat them.

Oh, and caffeine helps. A lot. If you have sleep issues like insomnia, maybe avoid caffeine ~12 hours before you go to bed and it should be out of your system. Your mileage may vary.

Training

As for staying fit - this is REALLY goal dependent. I personally recommend Phraks Greyskull LP for everyone, with the only changes that MEN should add one Biceps exercise after every workout, and WOMEN should add one Glute exercise after every workout and change Deadlifts to Romanian Deadlifts (RDL). This is to get you strong in every direction (Primary Movement Pattern) and provide a solid baseline for your strength/skill, should you want to step up your fitness goals to something more extreme. I'm partial to lifting weights as having a baseline of muscle helps keep fat off in the long term, and I think strong women are sexy.

If lifting weights isn't your style, women seem to have a better physiological response to CrossFit style training than men do (both are incredible athletes). Try WODWell for a huge list of free (and paid for) workouts that typically take less than 20 minutes (but are quite a breakoff session). If you REALLY wanted to one-up your game, combine a WOD (Workout Of the Day) with the Phraks Greyskull LP program listed above; CrossFitters often run a strength template alongside their WODs for physique/strength goals.

OR you could simply take the kids out on a 20 minute power walk in the morning, every morning. Do yoga/pilates/zumba/whatever. Sorry, I ignore these categorically because it outright does not align with my goals whatsoever. BUT you never really see unfit people doing these things... take that for what it's worth.

Oh, last thing: Take a picture of yourself (shirtless, in undergarments or something that you can see most of your body in), and save it just for you. When you lose this weight, you will be REALLY happy you have that picture - I promise. This one is always a hard one for women... do it. The whole 'body positivity' thing really doesn't help here; you can't lie your way into liking the way you look when you don't. You will be really proud of yourself when you lose that weight, but without that picture - you won't be able to brag about how far you've come. Give your kids a story and a role model to emulate when they get older.

EDIT:

u/Important-Future-518's post reminded me. I really hate to be the person that just drops a youtube link and says "watch this", but this video is immensely helpful for creating the dopamine feedback loop that you will likely need to rely on in order to help you meet your fitness goals. I know the speaker is a meathead (like me), but he is speaking absolute truths and I highly recommend watching this, if you are lacking in the motivation/determination/commitment department for this (I know I was).

https://youtu.be/bcKthx5LTbI

FWIW, I bought their dieting book, cook books, training program, and scientific hypertrophy book at my own expense and have watched many Renaissance Periodization videos. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend the training program, everything else is pretty great.

anothergoodbook · 2023-07-28T00:37:47+00:00

So I’ve lost 50 pounds (I have 50 more to go…).

There’s no perfect way to lose weight. Even here you might get “low carb” or “workout more”. And in the end it’s about eating less. Period. If what works is lowering your carbs that’s great. If it’s just not eating after a certain time - it boils down to what works for you.

What helped me lose the initial 20 pounds was seeing a dietician. The accountability was great. Then Covid and I stopped seeing her. I lost very slowly over the next year+. Then I did BodySlims which was amazing (again it’s just about eating less though).

I also really love the podcast We Only Look Thin. They give lots of practical ideas on how to lose weight.

Important-Future-518 · 2023-07-28T04:06:52+00:00

You can get all the advice in the world on what to do, what works, what doesn’t. But if you are on the fence about making changes and are on your own, it’s likely not going happen. I’m a health coach who works with moms with kids and full time jobs that don’t have the time yet there is magic that is found and weight loss does happen. Does it happen fast? No, it takes a while but so do building habits and overriding the old ones that don’t do you any good. Will power isn’t enough after some time. Let’s start with your reasons why, what’s drawing you to do this, and take that deeper. Why is this important to you and connect with that. Is it being around for your kids? Is it not ending up like your parents? Is it having energy to play with them and do activities you enjoy? Then take a look at every area of your life. How’s your sleep? What do you eat? How’s your emotional health and mental well-being? What do you do to reduce your stress? And focus on the things that have been successful for you before. Create small wins and successes quick.

Oftentimes, my clients have found themselves stuck in the all-or-nothing mindset. “I can’t take an hour to go to the gym everyday so it won’t work.” Okay, well where in your day can you fit something in? Anything? Parking a littler further from the grocery store entrance? Squats while you wait for your coffee to brew? Muscle activation as you pick up after your kids?

When it comes to food, eating healthy doesn’t have to mean grass smoothies and salads all day everyday. Eat balanced, eat energy supporting foods, eat mostly real (think perimeter of the grocery store), and have a healthy snack nearby for those moments.

At the end of the day, do what works for you! What do you enjoy? What did you love to do when you were younger? What support can you draw from? How will you hold yourself accountable. Schedule in some you time (be it 5 minutes or 60). Keep it simple. Start small.

I’m glad you want to make a change. The time is always now to choose your health, but the real question is… when it comes down to it, will you?

vintagegirlgame · 2023-07-28T01:11:18+00:00

My Dr. Mom recommends to cut the grains out (anything w wheat) except for a once a week cheat day. This allows insulin levels to regulate.

Keep only healthy snacks in the house. Our kid is allowed to snack all day except just before dinner, but snacks are just fruits, veggies, nuts, some cheese. No crackers or processed anything. I have one stash of dark chocolate if I need something sweet.

I always do best w exercise when it’s social like joining a class or team. Exercising w friends gives me 2 kinds of self care in one which keeps me showing up.

jemelat · 2023-07-28T10:04:18+00:00

Jesus Christ, what the hell are these comments suggesting you to fast for days? Don't do that, there's no need to throw your health in the garbage.

Since you're always in the kitchen, start by changing the food you eat to whole grain food. I mean everything: bread, rice, pasta. This will keep you satisfied for a longer time and you won't be compelled to snack so much. It will be good for the kids as well. Download a calorie tracking app such as LifeSum and track what you eat in a day. Drink lots of water, stop eating sugary and processed food (seriously if you eat microwave food, McDonalds, chocolates, etc, then you just won't lose weight). Don't even buy this stuff, or eat it only on weekends if unavoidable. Buy a balance and weight yourself every two days. Lower your calorie intake during dinner, eat a salad or something like that. You mentioned that you have no time... Well you gotta find yourself 15~30 minutes to run around the block every two days. You need to be in a calorie deficit or you won't lose weight. Do the calorie tracking thing at least to know more or less how much you should eat.

Do this for a month and you'll see the difference. Also, this is a lifestyle, not a diet.

ChickensAllTheWayDwn · 2023-07-28T00:46:12+00:00

I do squats and lunges as I fold and hang laundry on hangers. I’ve done this for almost a year now and my legs are solid and toned

LateralThinker13 · 2023-07-28T01:00:47+00:00

Try either intermittent fasting or actual 1-3 day fasting.

kitterkatty · 2023-07-28T03:04:53+00:00

Try out THM :) Trim Healthy Mom.

...they sell a lot of the keto flours which can get pricey and you can get them cheaper, but the ideas are awesome.

AutoModerator · 2023-07-28T00:03:10+00:00

Title: Looking to keep fit as a mom

Full text: I’m not sure if this is the right group to ask this in, but I haven’t been on Reddit for long and I’m not familiar with many subreddits, so I’m asking here

I’m 30, I have four children ages 7, 5, 3, and 1 and I’m very close to entering the overweight BMI range for the first time in my life. I care a lot about my body and my weight, but I just can’t figure out how to find the time or energy to get myself fit! I’m definitely snacking too much because I’m just always in the kitchen making food for the kids. I’m having a little success with cutting back there, so I’m hoping to establish good habits around eating soon, but I don’t know how to get more physical activity into my days!

Does anyone have specific advice around this? How do you keep thin and fit when you are taking care of a large family?

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Spiritual-Cicada9650 · 2023-07-28T01:28:40+00:00

Cardio and healthy eating. Quickly losing weight doesn't matter if you don't developed good habits and can't kep it off. Low weight and lots of reps too!

Eta my partner supports me living a healthy active lifestyle and minds the kids while I go to the gym. It's binding time for him with the kids and gives me some time to decompress

OkEstablishment6463 · 2023-07-28T19:38:31+00:00

Getting fit doesn’t take MORE time and energy, I’ve found actually the exact opposite to be the case. Don’t consume modern weight loss recommendations because OBVIOUSLY it’s not working. The food pyramid is a hoax. Calorie counting is a waste of time. If you must research nutrition, look into archaeological diets and traditional foods.

Although it is beneficial to overall health, exercise has little to do with weight loss and is not necessary for simply losing fat, so that should take at least some burden off your mind. I think the average person in today’s sedentary culture remains overweight because they think exercise is the path to reduced body fat but it’s so difficult to make working out a lasting habit that they end up doing yo-yo fitness challenges that keep them fat and enslaved to food.

I eat 2 meals a day at 1 and 6. Black coffee in the morning as appetite suppressant. No snacking (you want to keep blood glucose levels low). Tea in the evening with cream if you’re desperately hungry, but the goal should be to eat until you reach full satiety. No sugar, minimal carbs, essentially no veggies, max amount of butter and tallow.

Carbs and sugar hate you and want you to die. Yes they are your enemy and yes you should hold them in precisely the same regard you hold recreational drugs.

A typical day for me: Am: Coffee Lunch: 4 eggs with cheese cooked in butter with some form of meat + raw milk kefir with berries (STUFFED at this meal) Dinner: meat with a side that is typically not green

Meat, eggs, dairy, butter. It’s the way to go. The mental clarity and energy levels are priceless. Food is fuel and the table is a place for fellowship!

I think we need simplification in the kitchen, not more options.

Druidwannabetbh · 2023-07-30T19:58:03+00:00

Well I'm not a mom, but I can see how you might be able to take advantage of the things you do from day to day to work out a little bit. Picking up toys? Don't bend over, do some squats. Do a squat to pick up the toy, do squats all the way to the toy box. Kid doesn't want to be put down? Bench press them. Get yourself some healthy snacks that you know the kids won't like, and have that while you're making the things they want, but don't actually want, but do want again, but change their mind and don't want, but wait why did you throw it away they wanted that... Motherhood. I know that the thought of having some carrot sticks with some low-fat ranch while you're making super tasty PB&j for the kids is really not appetizing at all, but it's the best thing to do!

If and when you're able to get them down for a nap in the case of the younger ones, and get them occupied with their toys or a movie or something like that in the case of the older ones, sneak away and do a quick little workout. Just do something to get your heart rate up for a little while.

Just stick with it for a little bit longer and your oldest will be able to keep an eye on the younger ones while you go out for a walk or a run, or while you stay with an earshot on a treadmill.

Title	Looking to keep fit as a mom
Author	LindenBlossoms
Upvotes	6
Comments	29
Date	July 28, 2023 12:03 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/RedPillWomen
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/RedPillWomen/comments/15bht86/looking_to_keep_fit_as_a_mom/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/RedPillWomen/looking-to-keep-fit-as-a-mom.1226699 https://theredarchive.com/post/1226699

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Losing Weight

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