Ok, need help getting the FAMILY in shape! Ideas?

[buddyleebaby]

I am starting the process of getting back in shape and my dh has decided that he would like to exercise/diet with me. I am thrilled but could use some help with the details.
Diet: My plan for me was just to make sure that I am eating fresh food as opposed to processed. I am tandem nursing and so am losing weight pretty easily at the moment. I am not sure what else I would need to do for it to be effective for my dh.
Exercise: We take family walks everyday, and of course chase dd around the playground, but it is starting to get cold so that will be coming to an end fairly soon. Inside I do step aerobics but I only have one step and my dh is not thrilled with the idea anyway. Any suggestions for a good indoor exercise routine that one could do with kiddos around?

Thanks for any ideas and advice. I would really like to get my dh to stick with it- it's so much easier to do so with a friend. ; )

[megs4413]

i can think of a few excercises you and Dh could do together.....

[buddyleebaby]

you know, when i started writing this post I knew some dirty minded preggo would pop in....I suspected it would be Kristen first....; )

Besides, that form of exercise is what caused me to put on twenty five pounds in 9 months!

[maestramommy]

snicker snicker.....Well hey, whatever works :-).

Seriously, any way you could bundle up the little ones for the walks? Or wear Evelyn after bundling her up? Since you're still so recently post-partum AND tandem nursing I would go easy on the exercise. I mean, exercise regularly, but not too vigorously.

[megs4413]

now hold on just a minute...that was an honest suggestion! it's my workout of choice! ;)

you only put on 25lbs? who are you, angelina jolie? I fully intend to pack on 60 this go 'round! :P

[gatorsmom]

I have some suggestions for your diet. I managed to lose 30 pounds after both my pregnancies doing this. It took me a year to lose the 30 pounds, but i kept it off. The most important thing is to make some diet and exercise changes that you enjoy and are easy for you otherwise you won't continue to do them. 30 pounds in one year averages a half pound per week or about 2 pounds per month. That is so slow that most people would get very impatient about it! Don't deprive yourself of dessert a few times per week or even if you binge on cookies sometime. In the long run, those occasional slips won't matter.

Ok, here's what I did for my diet. I wanted healthy, delicious (husband is a picky eater) and fast meals that I could cook for dinner with calorie counts on them. I started making some of the recipes I found in Health Magazine and on the health.com website and loved them. They are all fast, easy, delicious and come with nutritional counts. I make about 3 different recipes for dinner per week. When I cook those dinners, I double the recipe and then package in those gladlock entree containers the remaining servings and eat those leftovers for lunch and dinner for a couple of days. That reduces the amount of work you do in the kitchen and yet you have healthy recipes with the calories counted out. My husband loves most of the recipes too. There aren't many that he or I haven't liked so far. I allowed myself 1800 calories per day and absolutely no lower than 1700 per day. In the past I have tried to go lower than that and I end up binging. it's too hard. At 1800 you are a little hungry during the day but not enough so that you will stop what you are doing and get something to eat. Having kids keeps me so busy that unless I"m starving, a lot of times I don't stop what I"m doing to eat. That method has worked really well for me - I"m now at 128 pounds and a size 8 pants instead of a size 14 which is where I was last year at this time!

As for the exercising this time of year is tough. It's hard to exercise outside because it's getting cold. I guess what you can do depends on the weather where you live.

[buddyleebaby]

I actually gained more, but since I lost twenty pounds the first half of my pregnancy, I only ended up being 25 pounds above my pre-preggo weight. I'm not sure how much of that I've lost so far.

[gordo]

We just joined our YMCA which is so reasonable for families. They were having a special, so there was no membership fee and we pay $60/month for the family. It works out great since we motivate each other to go to the gym. I go for the Yoga/Pilates/Cardio and DH goes for the weights. Plus the daycare is free so DD has a great time playing there. Being members, we can also then utilize the pool with DD during the winter and any other kid activities they offer.

HTH -

[Dcclerk]

I think that doing what you are doing, but then increasing it, is the way to go for exercise. Please take this with a grain of salt since I don't know where you live and cold here means in the 50's. That being said, when our family goes up to the mountains in the snow, I still bundle the kids up and go on jogs or power walks, anyway. My kiddos love to be bundled up and out when it is cold, so that may work for you longer than you think. I started out walking in the hills by my house with my DH pushing the stroller. Then, I started pushing the stroller. Then, we started jogging the flat parts. Then, we started to try to jog the hills, too. Then, we started training for a small race together, then a sprint triathlon.... You get the picture. It was over the course of a year, so it wasn't nearly as daunting as I would have thought, if someone told me I would do it 3 weeks after I gave birth.

Good for you for starting so well. I'm impressed with your determination.

[fortato]

Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute! Why me???

Jo is far worse than me....


I agree with Megs though...
Nookie. Always works.
But, not fun for the whole family.

I started Mommy and Me yoga today... I got some great ideas to do with Jack.
One of them is to Hold him (or Evelyn) at chest height and put one leg in front of the other- so that your feet are about 3 feet apart, and push the baby forward keeping your back straight. It's great... and Jack loved it!

Another thing we did was the Boat Pose. You sit with your butt on the floor- lift up your legs and balance on your tush. It's a killer ab work out.

There's more...I'll tell you later.
OH- and Weight Watchers is fantastic! I've lost 12 lbes so far (in 4 weeks!!) Drink water, loads and loads of Water.

Kristen

[fortato]

Hey Megs-
I only gained 9 and a half. I weighed less when I came home from the hospital than I did before I got pregnant!!!Neener. Neener. Neener!

Kristen