When it comes to exercise, one of the biggest obstacles we face is time.. and not enough of it! Busy mums find it especially hard to find opportunities to squeeze in a workout, much less commit to a regular fitness program.

Want to ramp up your fitness so that you see real results? Follow our 8 tips to get yourself (and the scales) moving.

Give it your all

You’ve committed to taking the time to exercise, so don’t waste it by going at 60% effort.

We’ve all seen people on the treadmill walking at the same pace as someone in the supermarket.

This is not the time to catch up on phone calls either.

Unless you’re huffing and puffing, it’s unlikely that you are doing enough to really shift the weight.

Likewise, don’t spend the first half of your workout getting your headphones working and the music just right. Just get moving!

A Female “Problem”

Ever seen a man with cellulite? Well, our lovely orange peel dimples are pretty much exclusive to the female gender like other fun things, periods, labour and so on.

They’re due to the different way our fat cells are organised and to the lovely way nature helped us prepare for pregnancy by letting estrogen increase fat storage in women.

Neatly stacked in vertical chambers, our individual fat cells can be noticed more easily due to the fact that our outer skin is often also thinner, so little bulges are even more noticeable. And hormonal changes like pregnancy or menopause can turn peaches into oranges too.

If you’re one of those people who gets bored of doing the same old exercise every week, you’re in luck.

There’s no need to get stuck in an exercise rut when there are so many fun activities for you to take part in.

How many of these have you tried?

One of, if not the most frustrating part about losing weight, losing stomach fat and achieving the body you dream of is looking in to the mirror and seeing what is commonly termed “the overhang”, “the pouch” or most affectionately of all, “the mothers apron”.

No matter how much weight you lose or how much the needle on the scales falls, when you look in the mirror you still see what can only be described as a deflated balloon looking back at you.

So what can be done about this most frustrating of fat deposits? Well the good news is that you can leap over this final weight loss hurdle – the bad news is that you’re going to have to work pretty hard for it.

We all know how important exercise is for weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle but what about during pregnancy? Experts have found that moderate levels of pregnancy approved exercise can be hugely beneficial, both physically and mentally for mums-to-be.

Not only can regular exercise help you to maintain your fitness levels (often essential for the ‘birth’ part of your pregnancy), it can also improve mental wellbeing, energy levels and even help keep the amount of weight you gain to the recommended level.

The lower body is one of the hardest parts to work out and it seems like a lot of women struggle with toning muscle and losing fat down there.

Don’t worry; with the proper diet and workout plan, you will have an absolutely shapely butt in no time!

The common problem with lower body weight loss is that we don’t get the proper exercise that we need for our glutes (your buttocks) and that hinders us from gaining the ideal combination of definition and functional strength.

As a mum on-the-go, you’re going to need as much lower body strength to help you keep up with your kids, and of course you will also be able to shed excess fat.

So, here are 5 easy and effective butt, hips and thigh exercises that will only take up a couple of minutes of your time!

When it comes to weight loss, it could be said that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s very easy to get caught up in those initial first laps of the race, as you’re filled with excitement  and plenty of spur-you-on motivation.

As the race continues though, you might start to slow down a little as that initial burst peters out, leaving you with the reality of what still needs to be done.

We’ve all been there. The alarm goes off at 6am or the partner gets home 30 minutes early, giving us the chance to strap on our sneakers or pop on our swimmers yet for some reason, half an hour later, we’re still at home/in bed.

Being a busy mum can make exercise a lot more difficult than it was before kids came on the scene, yet we all know how important it is for healthy, sustained weight loss. 

If you haven’t pulled on your trainers for a bit of exercise in a while –  it’s time to dust them off.

There are lots of reasons why exercise can fall by the wayside, but we’ve got some tips to get you back out there on the road to feeling (and looking) your best.