Motivating Mum Nicole Shows How To Prioritise Exercise

Every month, a mum who is on the Lose Baby Weight plans will be writing about their journey, exercise, ups and downs and will be here to help motivate YOU and THEMSELVES along the way.
If you’d like to become our Motivating Mum for the month click here to find out more (we pay you for it too!).
This month we have enjoyed reading the motivating posts of mum Nicole Taylor who has lost over 8kg on our plans.
You can read some of Nicole’s previous posts here and here.
Over to you, Nicole!
‘We’ve had another really tough week. It seems to be a theme for us at the moment, but I’m determined not to let it get me down when I’m so close to goal.
Considering the wedding over the weekend (including a glass of wine for the toasts and a piece of cake) I’m really happy with my 400g loss.
I’m still averaging 500g a week, which although isn’t as much as I was losing in the beginning it’s still a healthy amount to be losing in the long term.
You may have seen on the Lose Baby Weight Facebook page that we’ve had quite a few sleep deprived nights, with kids staying up too late, waking up too early (for my liking) and not sleeping well in the day either, so I thought I’d talk about strategies to cope when things go ‘wrong’.
For a start, if my kids beat my alarm in the morning (it goes off at 6am weekdays so I can hopefully get my morning workout from the 28 Day Plan done and get a shower before hubby leaves for work or the kids get up for the day. Hopefully…) I either get them to join in or get them set up with breakfast or something fun to do so I can get 10-15 minutes to make it happen.
It’s not always easy, but if you make your exercise non-negotiable in your own mind you can make time for yourself.
Next, as much as possible I try to get the dinner prep done early in the day when the kids are at their happiest.
I can’t always predict how my afternoon is going to pan out, so planning ahead can help.
I also make double or even triple batches of things that freeze well so that they can be defrosted and warmed up if I can see that the pre-dinner hour is going to be stressful on any given day.
The three favourite dishes to freeze in our house are the soups from the Winter Warmer plan, the veggie packed slow cooker Bolognese from the website, and the slow cooker roast lamb (which I have also done in the pressure cooker if I’ve not had a chance to get it into the slow cooker earlier in the day).
The sliced up lamb freezes and warms up really well if it’s frozen in some of the gravy, and also tastes really nice in wraps with salad for lunches.
My next ‘exercise’ time is usually pretty straight forward, a walk before lunch every day. If we haven’t been out in the morning it’s pretty easy, we head off to the park. The kids can play and I can walk around so that our time walking to and from, and my extra walking time there adds up to at least 30 minutes.
But what if the weather is bad? We head to the shopping centre and walk laps. This can be easier some days as both kids can go into a trolley and give me some extra resistance. It also lets me set the pace where my nearly 3 year old can keep up (she’s just gotten a little too big to sit in the second seat of our pram).
Then there are the days where we’ve been out for the morning and we get home and the kids are either starving for lunch or they’ve fallen asleep in the car.
If they’re awake and hungry, I get their lunch then walk laps of the dining table and to/from the kitchen so get some extra steps in.
If they’ve fallen asleep, I will generally leave them asleep in the car in the garage, but I can leave the rear roller door up and walk laps of the backyard.
In the case of bad weather I can use a skipping rope under the pergola. It’s amazing what we can all achieve once we decide we’re going to make it happen.
My afternoon exercise session I must admit doesn’t always happen. The suggestion in the 28 Day Plan is for it to be about an hour before dinner. This also happens to be at a rough time for the kids, they’re getting tired from a long day, grumpy and clingy.
So what do you do? I sometimes offer a light snack like some crackers and dip, or if they are looking like they might need an early night I’ll sometimes get them organised with dinner and do my workout in the kitchen.
Sometimes it works, other times the youngest just wants to breastfeed and by the time he’s done it’s time for me to get dinner cooked and it doesn’t happen.
That’s OK, life happens, it just means I’ll either make time after the kids have been bathed and are hopefully in bed, or I’ll work a bit harder in the morning and do some extra exercise throughout the next day.

Any exercise is better than none, and the best time of day to do it is when you can fit it in.
Now, what can you do if you have a clingy baby who won’t be put down or the world will end? Well, I put mine in a carrier and keep going.
With an active toddler I just can’t sit down to cuddle the little one all day even if he needs it, so this gives us both what we need.
Most cardio exercises can be done while carrying a baby (*cough* or a 14mo toddler *cough*), and I’ve compiled a list of the following strength exercises that can be done while baby wearing too:

• Squats and lunges
• Vertical leg lifts
• Glute bridges (ok, bubs can end up on a little bit of a decline, but mostly my baby thinks it’s funny)
• Rear leg raises and cat-cow’s (this may be better with a carrier that has some head support if you are wearing them on your front. Back wearing it won’t be needed quite as much)
• Push-ups: you don’t necessarily have to do them on the floor. If you are facing your couch and put your hands on the seat, you can still get an effective muscle workout without having your baby getting too squished between you and the floor doing more traditional push ups
• Triceps dips: this may also depend on the type of carrier you have, I haven’t found too much issue with ours

Hopefully some of that can help you keep going even on the tough days. Now here’s where things stand for me right now.
Stats update:

 

Overall my measurements are all going down, but more importantly I’m feeling fitter and healthier than I have in a long time.
Even with interrupted sleep I’m having better quality sleep and am getting to sleep much quicker and easier than I was before I started with Lose Baby Weight.
I’m still struggling with shrinking my tummy, and from reading all the information on the blog I know that there’s no quick fix so I’ve just got to get moving, stick with the 28 day plan and recipes from the website, and it’ll come off in time.
My waist has always been the first place that I put on weight and the last place it comes off, so as much as I can’t wait for the day when I do have a flat tummy again, I also know I’m predisposed to need a lot of hard work to make it happen. But I’ll get there.’
– Nicole Taylor
 
GET YOUR 10% DISCOUNT
If you are ready to lose weight then the Lose Baby Weight plans offer a healthy and safe exercise and diet routine and you can get a 10% discount by using code LOYALTY at the checkout
PLUS our BEST SELLING 28 Day Diet & Exercise Plan is available as a 200pg Printed Book and you can get your copy here 
Plus our NEW CALORIE BIBLE is now available – get your copy today! Only $19.95 and a must have in your handbag!
Plus don’t forget to sign up for our Get Ready For Summer Challenge – it’s free and you can sign up here.
Click HERE to see our shop