Parenthood changes a lot of things. One thing I noticed was that I had less time for exercise, or so it seemed to me. A recent study I saw confirmed that my suspicions were correct and that I am not alone. The study also confirmed that the reasons I most often skipped my exercise times were also named by study participants. Those reasons (excuses) would be: lack of time, tiredness, and lack of child care options. Another reason for me: finances. With 5 children, I simply can’t justify spending the money I used to spend on a gym membership that I may or may not be able to use depending upon who has the stomach flu this week.

For a while, I was very depressed about the whole thing and critical of myself. I should be making the time and finding the money to do this for me! But the reality is that my husband travels frequently with work, and I am, for many days of the month, a single parent. In between homework and caring for the baby and driving the older children to their activities, there’s not a lot of time to devote to an exercise program.

I decided to try and think outside the box for a solution to my problem. Ok, so my life had changed, but that didn’t mean that I had to give up my life because of that. I just had to find a way to fit exercising into my daily life given my constraints on time, money, and energy. I found that while I just didn’t have the energy to do an energy charged aerobics workout anymore, I did like Tai Chi. Yoga was not only exercise, but it helped calm my nerves too! I found that Pilates workouts were wonderful too.

I discovered DVD’s for Pilates where you could squeeze a mini-workout into 10 minutes! It’s true that I couldn’t find an hour long block in my day to devote to exercising, but I could find a 10 minute segment! I have to admit that some days, I don’t even find the time for 10 minutes, but I’m working on it.

The best part of my new exercise routine is the cost. I can loan a DVD from the library for no cost and I can try a different routine each week if I choose to do so. I have purchased several DVD’s for my own collection, but they are still cheaper than a gym membership! I walk the children to school instead of driving them, and I try to be as active as I can during my daily routine. Just hauling laundry around for 7 people should count as exercise, right?

Not only am I exercising more, but my children are learning that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. They are also learning, just like I am, that sometimes we need to be creative when looking for solutions to our problems!