Working out at Home

Working out at home is how I got started, but I’ma let you know right now, that it is a 100% self-motivated and self-commitment sort of undertaking. If you’re down for that, keep reading! This is how I did it for 6 years, alone, with 5 kids.

Always remember:   #MomLife happens!

I started my fitness commitment when I was 30, a couple years after I had my last kiddo. I didn’t have a single clue what was about to happen. I didn’t have money or time for a gym membership. (I lived in the boonies, 45 minutes from the nearest gym). But I was determined to get this baby-body back to a pre-baby body. I knew it would have to take crazy self motivation, because I didn’t have fellow gym goers to creep on me, or a partner to support me, and I definitely had the excuse of crying babies in diapers to keep me down.

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In this situation, it’s easy to say, “I’ll wait until they grow up.” But trust me, it doesn’t get easier. Waiting for the perfect time will keep you on wait for life. 

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I had one set of 3Lb dumbbells and I invested in a yoga ball and a yoga mat. I didn’t know how to use them or what to do with them, and I didn’t have anybody to ask.

My routine was lame and looking back now, I definitely didn’t know what I was doing.

Starting, committing, and figuring it out as you go is all some of us can do.

I want to share with you some of what I did that got me to where I am now.

1. DECIDE AND START

I knew for a fact that I had to start somewhere. So I decided to go for it. I’d been in a gym a time or two and knew a few basic things, so I started with what I did know. I set 30 minutes aside every day, to do something.

I did curls, (sat on the yoga ball and bounced?) Used my yoga mat and did a few crunches, turned around and did pushups, and did a few squats.

2. FIND A FRIEND

I lived too far away to have friends pop in and join me, so I called one.

My friend Jon ended up being the toughest, most consistent, motivating, and hard to hide from, kind of friend. We committed to getting in shape together, 2,000 miles apart from each other, and report (over phone) on the daily!

You don’t have to have a buddy at your side. Someone to check in with and be accountable to is all it takes, whether that’s a phone call, snail mail, a text, or someone personally there with you. Anything can work!

3. RESEARCH

I decided my butt was way too flat, so I started researching what I could do from home, and I discovered Leandro Carvalho’s Brazil Butt Lift and lucky for me I had a birthday coming up and requested it for my birthday.

Today, with so many things available online, within minutes, you can find all sorts of workouts for free, or that are worth paying for. Just do your research and try something! It’s all about trial and error.

The above mentioned workout works wonders, by the way, and I have actually since found it on eBay and Amazon for a very low price!

4. COMMITMENT 

I received Brazil Butt Lift from my sister as a birthday gift, and whoa! It hurt. And it’s easy to quit when you’re at home with nobody watching; when the pain is real! It hurt so, so, so bad! I had never done anything so intense in my entire life! I quit after… 3 days?

2 weeks later, after I could finally walk again, I decided to give it another go, and I stuck with it. Pushed through the pain, and within 8 weeks I saw a 2 inch increase in my butt and a 2 inch decrease in my waist!

Results don’t happen if you don’t commit. Commitment and consistency is key to seeing results, whether you’re alone at home or at a class at a gym!

5. SCHEDULING

If you’re a mom at home with a kid, or a bunch of kids, it takes scheduling to actually make things possible! Fortunately, I already had my kids on a very regular nap schedule, so I was able to pop in the DVD and go for it at nap time. If your kids aren’t on a regular schedule, boss up and tell them it’s mommy time. Mom’s can’t be their very best if they don’t take care of themselves!

After doing this for several months, the kids learned that this was a routine. I talked to them and explained that they needed to stay out of the area while I worked out because I didn’t want them to get hurt. But they watched and sometimes joined in.

This is where actions speak so loudly! None of my kids have ever seen me skip a workout for more than a day or so, (unless, of course, the times I’ve had a broken bone or hurt myself). When I miss more than one day, they begin asking me why. It’s a habit and it means something to them that I do it! They actually don’t like it when I miss for too long. It’s become a routine which in turn equals security and “knowing what to expect from mom”. Kids like it when their parents take care of themselves.

6. LOVE AND WILL POWER

Love yourself! Some days are a real struggle. Some days are easy. I was so over the top committed to this workout plan, that I was determined to let nothing get in the way. On days when I wasn’t feeling so into it, I put the DVD in and put on my workout clothes before I was actually ready to do the do. Just the sound of the music and the pictures of those nice booties really motivated me enough to get my butt in gear. (And of course, knowing that Jon would be calling me to get a report gave me that extra boost!)

It really is simply deciding whether or not it is important to you. If it is, you will find the time to do it, and figure out how to do it.

Working out at home is a lot easier now than it was even back when I started. The options and abundance of workouts online, free or paid, are endless.

I personally loved the Brazil Butt Lift because it was focused on the booty, plus, it worked my full body. But I have also done Insanity, P90X, Hip-Hop Abs, T-25, and plenty of others. I did these interchangeably for 6 years. Some of these use more equipment than others. I’d start with Brazil Butt Lift ’cause it comes with the bands you need and the only thing extra you need is a mat. I got mine at T.J. Maxx for $9.00!

When you’re a stay-at home mom, (or dad), I highly suggest and recommend doing a DVD program because they teach proper form to those of us who know nothing abut working out. And they usually come with a calendar and a meal plan. They’re simple, and you can fit the work out in to your own schedule.

Just remember that sleeping in happens. Set backs happen. Cramps happen. Losing motivation happens. Perfection, on the other hand, happens in tiny increments, for a second or two, but it’s never something that is reached and maintained on a steady basis. It’s that “do and do again” kind of thing. Accepting when it is, and accepting when it isn’t, and understanding that it isn’t going to be a place that you get to and get to park yourself at. It’s an on-going process of riding life.

As Dory says:  "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming."

If you have any other questions on how to work out from home, I’d love to hear from you! You can message me anywhere you’d like. I am on Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life, so wherever you like to communicate best, you can reach me!