Battle of the bulge

Now that I have children, and my time is no longer my own, my options for exercising are: when the kids are asleep, so basically….never.

Do I sound like I have given up? I haven’t! I am still trying hard. I know the frustration that comes from pausing my cardio workout every 2 minutes to give a baby back her dummy, or to pull my toddlers off each other, or stop them ramming their bikes into the baby’s bassinet. I know how awkward it is to hold an infant in your arms as you sit pedalling madly on a stationary bike (and did I mention ridiculously hot, like clutching a hot water bottle?) I have stayed up late, or gotten up at 5 am in order to have some quiet time to exercise at home, or to go for a run before the kids wake up.

I can also be seen walking with my double pram and a Baby Bjorn sling strapped to my chest doing the kindy run. That’s got to be effective going up hills. And let’s not forget my efforts to do yoga from a DVD at home with a toddler plonked on my lap and then ”riding horsey” as I attempted down dog stance. But I have not given up yet, all this opposition is making me more determined!

Surely all the running around I do will help me lose the baby weight, others suggest. Really, some days I don’t stop and sit down until the afternoon when the kids are having a nap, and even then, sometimes I will still be trying to get some jobs done. I am rushed and sweaty and tired. But on those days, when the kids do actually have a nap, the first thing I want to do is make a mad dash to the fridge. Woohoo! Quiet time! A chance to eat by myself without Isabel hopping up onto the table, fluttering her eyelashes and saying,” Can I like some toooooooo?” Now where is the most chocolatey, fattening, forbidden thing I can find? And if I can’t find anything, then where is the cooking chocolate that will suffice?

So anyway, how is it I haven’t lost the weight yet???