How To Stay In Shape At Home: 8 Tips For Busy Parents

Staying fit and in shape can get tricky when you are a parent. A healthy life equals a longer life, and that is why it’s so important to adopt healthy habits that can benefit you long-term. Let’s face it – it’s not always easy for parents to go to the gym every day and exercise as much as they want to. Here are a few tips for parents to stay in shape and adopt a healthier lifestyle to live longer and fuller lives.  

8 Tips For Busy Parents To Stay In Shape While At Home

1. Do Not Overdo It At First

Setting the bar too high at the start is a recipe for failure. You might struggle to keep up with unattainable goals and end up feeling frustrated. Set small goals first and work on making them part of your routine. Once you’ve reached the smaller goals, you can gradually move on to bigger ones.

2. Make Working Out Fun

If you do not enjoy doing something, then you will not be able to sustain it and will give up before you reach your first goal. This goes for healthy eating and exercising. Thankfully there are plenty of recipes that are healthy and tasty. There are also many exercise options that you can do at home. Precor Ellipticals and exercise bikes are good examples of exercise that you can do in the comfort of your own home.

Put on your favorite music and start burning calories. You can also go for walks in the neighbourhood or do aerobics or Zoomba classes that you can stream on your laptop or smart TV. The idea is to get moving and get your heart rate up.

3. Make It Part Of Your Daily Routine

If you do not schedule it and make healthy habits a part of your daily routine, it will never happen. Make time in your diary and stick to it, even if it’s just 30-40 minutes of daily exercise.

4. Start The Day With A Healthy Breakfast

The saying “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” is true. Start the day on a healthy note by eating a protein-rich breakfast (meat or eggs) and fiber (fresh fruit). Fiber makes you feel full for longer. If your mornings are hectic and you don’t have time to cook a proper breakfast, you can make a smoothie with protein powder and fresh fruits.

5. Consider Mini Workouts

If your busy schedule doesn’t allow for 30-minute workouts at a time, consider breaking your exercise sessions into small ten-minute sessions three times daily. For example, you can start with yoga in the morning, take a brisk walk during your lunch break, and do a quick aerobics session late afternoon. Don’t exercise too close to bedtime otherwise, you will struggle to fall asleep.

6. Try To Include Protein With All Meals

If you tend to be hungry in between meals, it might be due to a lack of protein in your diet. Protein makes you feel fuller for longer because it takes a while to digest in the body. This lessens cravings for snacking on unhealthy foods. The opposite is true for carbs like bread, white rice, and pasta, which digest much faster. If weight loss is your goal, especially around the belly section, then consider substituting carbohydrates with larger portions of protein. The rule of thumb is to eat palm-size protein servings with each meal.

7. Get Enough Sleep

The amount and quality of sleep you get every night directly impact the number of calories you consume throughout the day. A lack of sleep depletes your energy levels. For many parents, proper time to rest is a rare commodity, and the first thing they reach for is caffeine or a sugary snack.

Remember, hormones control metabolism, appetite, and calorie burning, and they balance themselves while you’re asleep. A lack of sleep will result in hunger cravings the next day with a reduction in metabolism, ultimately causing weight gain. It will also make you feel tired and worn out the next day, and exercising is the last thing you will be in the mood for.

8. Hydration Is Essential

You must drink plenty of water to cleanse your body and increase your metabolism. Keeping up your hydration levels with water can improve water retention and subsequent weight loss. Staying hydrated will also minimize the risk of sugar cravings. Water remains the best beverage for staying healthy. It helps to boost your energy levels and to push yourself while exercising. If plain water is not your thing, you can eat water-rich fruits like watermelons or add lemon or cucumber slices to your water.

Final Thoughts

We hope these eight tips for busy parents to stay fit while at home have been helpful and that you will implement some of them to live a healthier lifestyle. Take each day at a time, and be patient with yourself. There will be days when you cannot exercise or eat as healthy as you would like, but that is okay. Just fall back into your healthy routine the next day.