How to Fit Fitness in Your Life

#HumFitTohIndiaFit is the latest challenge to have taken over the twitterverse. Starting with cricketers and politicians, to other sports personalities, actors, models, fitness enthusiasts and celebrities, everyone is talking about taking up a fitter lifestyle. Of course, fitness is not just an Indian obsession. Influencers and celebrities on a global platform are increasingly highlighting the importance of fitness in the midst of our modern stress-filled lives. Serena Williams took to Instagram recently to show off her post-partum body in a stunning Wakanda-inspired black suit.

But… (there’s always a “but” when it comes to fitness right?!) But where is the time?

It’s fine for people whose livelihoods depend on their looks to spend hours (and lakhs) on looking fit all the time. They can afford the armies needed to cook their calorie-counted healthy meals, and sculpt their bodies at will. Right?

Wrong.

Fitness is not just about rock-hard abs and toned flex-worthy biceps. It is about feeling healthy, and taking care of your body. Fitness is not just about weight loss. It is about being comfortable in your own skin. Fitness brings energy to your daily endeavours and makes you feel better about yourself overall.

It took me two years after my son was born to restart my fitness journey. But once I’ve started to see the results of these small changes on my daily life, I can’t imagine ever going back. It isn’t easy of course, and one needs constant motivation. Time tends to be the biggest constraint, especially for mothers. Whether employed full time or part time, or working from home, or those mothers who fully engaged in raising these mini-humans, #MomLife is always about juggling schedules. And it just seems impossible to find that 30-60 minutes to exercise.

You must remind yourself over and over again that you are doing this as a gift to yourself, not as a punishment.

And, as the goddess of tennis said, if I can do it so can you. Here are some tips and tricks that actually work, and can help you to maintain fitness, even as a busy mom.

1. Start Small: It didn’t take you 6 weeks to get into this shape, what makes you think you will be able to get fit that fast? Start with making small changes to your routine. If you feel like your diet is all messed up, start with eliminating one thing like fried snacks in the evening. If you feel you aren’t active enough, start with increasing your daily step count by a thousand steps. If you feel you need to build your muscular strength, start by going to a gym for half an hour on weekends. It will take time, but each change you make will eventually start to show its effect.

2. Get your Family Onboard: if you’re struggling with exercise and weight-loss then you will need constant motivation. Families often like to take jibes at someone that is “dieting” and jokes about too-much-salad are quite common on dinner tables. The exact opposite of what you want to hear when you’re trying to change your eating habits and switch to clean eating. But if you have the support of even one more person in the house (like your husband) then you’re more likely to stay the course. Apart from moral support, you’ll also need help to take care of the kids while you’re exercising. So explain your goals to your partner and make sure you have the support you need to pursue them.

3. Sneak in Pockets of Exercises: Kids take up almost all of our days (and nights) don’t they? Young children and toddlers especially make it difficult for a mum to plan her day. But if you’re not able to put together 60 continuous minutes, break up your workout into 10-15 minute sets spread through the day. Do a spot jog or put on a home workout video during their afternoon nap. If you’re headed to the park in the evening then put on your workout gear and do 15-minutes of ab exercises by the benches. Ditch the elevator to climb 2-3 floors of stairs every day. Don’t forget the old adage, something is better than nothing.

4. Set up a Home Workout Zone: You don’t need lakhs of rupees worth of equipment. A floor mat, one set of dumbbells (start with a 2kg set), and some resistance bands. These are enough to keep you going. Even if you have enrolled for the local gym or a fitness class, having some basic equipment at home will help you on the days when your schedule is all over the place. You don’t need to worry about the weather, or how many times your toddler woke you up at night. Your workout at home can happen at 4am or 1pm or any other time that you get. Just make sure you invest in good shoes and a supportive sports bra along with your regular workout gear.

5. Pre-plan and Prepare Yourself: Spend some time on the weekend to plan your workouts for the week ahead. Of course, you may have change course mid-week as often happens when kids are involved. But knowing exactly which workout you’re doing on which day may help you to stick to a routine. If you’re going for an early morning run, lay out your gear the previous night. If you’re headed to the gym, write down the reps and sets you’re going to do. If you use a calendar for tracking your day, be sure to block off your workout times too. Small steps like these work on tuning your mind and help to build habits.

6. Workout With your Kids: Children love imitating what parents are doing. So if you just get them their own mat, you’ll be surprised how good they can be at yoga or other floor exercises. For younger babies, you can actually turn workout time into fun exercises (just google for “workout with baby” and you’ll see dozens of YouTube videos!) Remember the point is to make exercise a part of daily life for yourself, and your kids. So weave it into as many activities during the day as you can. Run behind them as they cycle, play catch or other active games that involve staying on your feet.

7. Find Your Tribe: Online communities on Facebook and Instagram, a whatsapp group of working mums who work out at your local gym, a neighbour who goes for a run at the same time as you. Once I started looking, I found so may people to look up to. Everyone has their daily struggles in life, everyone juggles busy schedules and has priorities and responsibilities. Find the women (or men!) who will inspire and motivate you to continue working on yourself.

8. Explore Online Workouts: There are countless YouTube channels that offer “your dream body” or “six pack abs” or “bikini booty” and what not. Look past these claims, because a 10-minute video isn’t really the only thing you need, there are other factors that play a larger role. But, having said that, there are channels like SparkPeople, POP Sugar, ToneItUp, or my personal favourite Fitness Blender, that give you hundreds of workout routines that can be easily done at home. Just be mindful of your form, and don’t rush into heavier workouts than your body can handle.

9. Focus on Healthy Eating: My trainer used to make us sweat like pigs, and then tell us that it’s all going to be wasted if we didn’t watch what we eat. Adding 2 hours of exercise will do nothing to your weight loss goals if you go and eat a cheese burst pizza right after. Remember that your health and fitness is 70% what you eat and 30% what you do. One of the most important changes I made as a mother was to stop eating my child’s leftovers. Those 3-bites add up over time and are doing no favours to your goals. Don’t treat your body body like a disposal bin. But also be wary of falling into the trap of crash dieting, or cutting out carbs, or juicing, or whatever latest fitness fad you find online, they all play havoc on your internal organs. The more healthy, nutritious and balanced your meals, the more energy you have for exercise, the more calories you burn, and the more fitter you feel.

And most importantly, don’t be too hard on yourself. It is alright to give yourself a break once in a while. Remember that it is more important to stay the course in the long run, than it is to freak out over that one missed workout or one cheat meal.