The Challenges of Finding Time to Exercise after Pregnancy

If I had a nickel for every time an overweight woman blamed her weight gain on pregnancy, I’d be driving a Ferrari, or at least carrying a much nicer handbag. Another line I often heard was, “Exercise? Sure I chase the kids around all day.” “That isn’t exercise,” I would say (in my head, of course). And then I became pregnant, had a baby, and now see why these truly are legitimate ‘excuses.’ As a person who had always prioritized exercise and appreciated its enormous health benefits, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea of not finding the time. Wow, was I in for a rude awakening.

While there are plenty of opportunities to walk in the neighbourhood, the mall, or the mega-supermarket – and we walk daily – it doesn’t provide the intensity I desire. Every day I intend to exercise after dinner, yet to date, I have not managed to muster up the energy.  My vast collection of exercise videos sits in plain view under the television, but my daughter seems to find trouble the second I hit the “play” button. So I (we) do sets of squats in the kitchen, lunges up and down the hallway, short jogs through the house with the baby on my shoulders, sit ups on the stability ball holding her as a weight, and on Sundays, when my husband is home babysitting (aka, watching football), I spend a solid hour working out hard at the gym. I’m passionately protective of my Sunday workouts. After all, exercise to me is much more than having a toned backside. It’s my stress-release, my therapist, my fun, my adrenaline and endorphin rush, my ‘alone time,’ my chance to listen to really loud music, and my hour away from my everyday reality.

If you’re in the same boat, tune in next time for some ideas and strategies.