Staying Fit While Staying Home - Strategies For Busy At Home Mothers

Despite what many may think, Mom's who stay home to take care of their children or who like myself homeschool their children, realize that it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. I"m sure you"ve heard someone say, "They don"t really have a job, they stay home all day." That statement could not be farther from the truth! Taking care of your children, your home and their education takes almost all of your time. Therefore, many other things are pushed aside or given up. Probably one of the first ones to drop is exercise.

There are so many benefits to exercise that you should always strive to keep it part of your daily routine. So what are the benefits to daily exercise? Daily exercise can help you have more energy during the day, reduce stress, reduce your risk of disease, prevent osteoporosis. Exercise can also aid in the prevention of depression. Depression is common among women who have made the decision to leave the workforce and stay home to take care of their children. Feeling isolated and lonely are commonplace and daily exercise can help you feel better. Exercise also improves self-esteem, increases stamina and ultimately helps you be able to cope with the day to day activity.

So how do you fit exercise into an already overloaded schedule?

Schedule time for working out. When you are home all day with kids waking up in the wee early morning hours it is hard to find that time for yourself. But it is possible to find time. During naptime, take 5-10 minute and run up and down the stairs (or even just walk). It only takes 10 minutes to get a good strength workout in. Some good choices are squats, tricep dips, lunges, wall push-ups, etc.

When your children are small it is hard to find 30 continuous minutes for working out. But don't despair, you"ll get just as much benefit if you break your exercise into small chunks. Try 10 minutes before you start your day, 10 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes after the kids go down to nap.

Exercise stability balls are a great and inexpensive tool. Most balls come with a DVD or instruction manual with many different toning exercises you can do. It is also great for building core strength, which is very important for every day function.

Don"t forget the importance of stretching. Take a couple of minutes every hour to stand up and stretch your entire body.

With just a small amount of effort, you and your family can be healthier and fitter now by adding exercise to your daily routine.

Here's a great workout to get you started:

Take 5 minutes and jog or walk up and down the stairs to warm-up.

Complete these three exercises as a circuit. Repeat as many times as you can for 5 minutes.

Bodyweight squats Push-ups Planks Mountain Climbers

11 Oct 2008 03:00:03

McCain Wants US to Buy Bad Home Loans; Obama Pushes for Tax Cuts - Voice of America

Voice of America McCain Wants US to Buy Bad Home Loans; Obama Pushes for Tax Cuts Voice of America - That means help for homeowners, so they can stay in their homes ." Senator McCain announced that as president, he would order the Treasury secretary to buy ... Video: Character Attacks

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