Balancing Life as a Parent

by Tiffany Krumins on October 5, 2016 in Contributing Authors, Tiffany Krumins

Many new parents secretly hate the “B-word” because we struggle to make it a part of our busy lives.

Balancing fresh air with screen time.

Balancing healthy treats with chocolate covered chocolate.

Balancing sore muscles with time on the couch.

Balancing sanity with INSANITY!

Although we we’ll likely never find the perfect balance, we can do our very best to weigh our options and eventually find what feels right!

Balance comes to those who know themselves well. Most of us start to realize what we want and need in life around the time that we have children. We suddenly have more clarity because our time becomes very limited. Once you’ve showered while your toddler sits on the bathroom floor and another one works on her homework at the counter, you realize there just aren’t enough hours in the day and that you have to choose how to spend those hours wisely.

Some tips for balancing your fitness journey:

Timing

Juggling my booming business with babies and my body, I found that making time for fitness first thing in the morning was the only way I could get it done. If I waited until the evening, I was typically too exhausted or distracted with family time. I love the feeling of knowing my workout is DONE before breakfast, allowing me to truly focus on what the day will bring. As a business owner, I also never know what my schedule is going to be so I have to work out at a time when I know I won’t typically have any meetings scheduled, which is before 8am!

Enjoyment

I’ve found that you need to at least somewhat enjoy your “workout of choice” in order to really stay on track with fitness. I love hiking, running, inline skating and yoga. I stick with one of these four most of the time in order to stay motivated. Find your top 2-3 favorite workouts and focus on rotating those during the week.

Kids!

You will find that when you get your children involved in your workout it’s not only more fun, but it motivates them to live a healthy lifestyle as well! My daughter and I set a goal last month of 100 miles. I pushed my toddler in his stroller and my daughter rode her bike. She loved celebrating when we hit our goal and we set the next month’s goal at 120 miles. Knowing we want to reach that goal gets us out of bed in the morning.

Motivation

Using running apps to track your progress is an amazing motivator. If you only track 5 miles per week but push that goal to 6 miles the following week, you are setting goals and reaching them, which will motivate you to keep going!

Tools

Have the right equipment! We are all secretly looking for an excuse not to workout. “Aw man, it looks like my stroller wheel is low on air, I guess I can’t run today.” “The baby gets too chilly in the stroller”… and the list goes on and on. Purchasing the right equipment and making sure you have it loaded in your vehicle at all times encourages you to stay on track!