Working Out With Your Kids: What to Do When It’s Hard, Frustrating, or Overwhelming
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Working out with your kids around can be... a circus (for lack of a better term.) So I'm getting REAL and RAW with you today because I'm personally in the thick of changing up my routine and involving my kids in my workouts again.
It's HARD. I know you get it. But I have some encouragement for you along with some perspective and a little tough love, as always.
If you're in the thick of trying to instill new habits in YOURSELF while having to factor in or involve your children too, this episode is for you (spoiler: we talk about PERFECTION)! Stay the course, the long term benefit outweighs the short term struggle. I promise.
In this episode I cover —
What’s making it hard for me to workout with my kids
How I’m handling those hard things
What I do to make sure my kids stay safe while I workout in the garage
How I teach them the boundaries of what is and isn’t safe
What I do when it gets to be “too much”
Some encouragement to stay the course
This is your reminder that it is worth it to do what’s hard now for the long term benefit. Your kids will gain so much from seeing you workout every day.
And remember that perfection is not required for progress.
Perfection is not required for results.
And honestly we should strive for it anyways because there is no fruit in perfection.
But our kids will get to see the fruit that comes from being consistent. So go set that example, mama.
Are you ready to go from overwhelmed and stuck to disciplined and consistent in your journey?
Book your Starting Point Session and let's get you on track to your healthiest life!
FULL TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Y'all we have a first for the podcast today, and you want to know what it is a real raw in the moment, recording straight from my phone right after the moment that I needed this encouragement spoken over myself. Clearly, once you listen, you'll know, but I also felt like there was another mom out there that needed to hear this message on my heart about working out with your kids, especially when it's hard and frustrating and overwhelming specifically, because personally.
Right now I'm in the thick of changing my routine. I used to work out in the morning before the kids got. But because of their ages and a need for my involvement in their lives and me just wanting to be present like motherhood is my number one priority. And I always want to make sure that I am present with them.
So something I'm doing right now is changing up my routine and spending a little bit of time. By myself and the silence, reading the word, reading a book in the morning before the kids get up and involving them in my [00:01:00] workout mid morning, usually after breakfast. And it's been a little messy. It's been a little messy.
So in today's episode, you're going to hear. Literally from me right after my workout, right after a rough day of trying to make this transition. And when I talk about boundaries, um, I bring up boundaries a few times. And specifically what I'm talking about is the boundaries I set for my kids. When they're working out with me, thinking.
We work out in the garage. So things like don't run into the street, things like, uh, make sure you can stay where I can see you. And there's certain things in her garage that are off limits to touch, obviously. So that's what I'm referring to when I talk about boundaries and who we also just for reference, we live in a quiet little col-de-sac, so, you know, they're safe for the most part, but it's still one of those things where I want them to learn.
That's what you're going to hear about today. Uh, it is so raw, but before we get into that, I have a really exciting announcement to make. And I can't wait because I've been working hard on this for a while now, but guess what? [00:02:00] The website is fine. Up and you can go check it out@thetoughlovemom.com. How pretty is out?
Just rolling off the tongue. The tough love mom.com has every thing that you need. I know hearing me every week, every couple of couple of times a week, you probably understand my heart and my mission in doing this podcast. And honestly, in creating this movement. But you can go read about it on the website now.
So when you head to the tough love mom, you can read my about page, get to know me personally a little bit better and just what's on my heart. You get some more information on the podcast. I also blog about each podcast episode. So if you want more content, if you like to read, if you like the visual, you can go check out the blog as well.
Every single week, the episodes go up. And if you're at the point where you're overwhelmed and frustrated and just so stuck in your journey, and you're like, okay, you're giving me so much goodness on the podcast, but I really just need tangible. Hands-on help from you. That's my job. I'm going to help you get unstuck in your journey and really started at the right point.
So you've [00:03:00] heard me talk on the podcast a lot about weight loss, kickstart calls and. I know some of you, weight loss, isn't your priority right now. It is just living a healthier life. It is figuring out where to start, because it is overwhelming. If I hear anything from you, listeners who I listen to me mean, I'll listen to you guys.
You tell me, go, go leave a review, go DME on Instagram. Let me know what you want to hear more of, because that is genuinely where I get the spread. This episode came from, was talking to you guys over there. But what I kept hearing you say was, you're overwhelmed. You feel like you're at this one point and you want to get.
Point that feels so far away. It's almost like jumping over the Atlantic ocean. You're sitting here going that lifestyle. I want to live those habits the way I'm eating, the way I'm consistent in my workouts, the way my mindset is feeling. Ian's away. And I don't even know where to start. I don't know if we'll ever get there.
So what used to be called the Waco weight loss, kickstart calls are now starting point sessions, because I want you to help you identify what that one starting point is. And sometimes that's a simple habit. Like we were working on, on the weight loss, [00:04:00] kickstart calls, but after working with a handful of new clients, I realized what you really need to do is figure out where is that place you want to get to down.
And what are the steps in getting there, because it's overwhelming to think about all those things you need to do. So we're going to talk about that. We're going to dig into the discomfort on these starting point sessions, but what, what you're going to walk away with is knowing exactly where it is.
Having the first action step you need to take to get. Cause we can't, we can't get to that place down the road, unless we take one step and then another, and then another, and I'm going to help you on this session. Identify your very first step that you need to take that starting point. And you're going to walk away with a custom starting point plan specific to you and your priorities and your goal, your ideal lifestyle that you want to be living.
Which you know, is going to take a while. Like for me, it took over a year to get to that point after both kids. So it will take time, but you just need one starting points. That's what we're going to find on your starting point session. That's what they're called now. So you'll, you'll hear that shift and it's a similar.
It's still 45 minutes with me [00:05:00] still that one-on-one support. And you'll also walk away with two weeks worth of accountability, which it's good to get started, but it's important to keep going and to stay the course, like we'll talk about today and to stay consistent. So that's what you're going to walk away with.
After your starting point session, I'm just so excited because this is what moms need. We don't need another workout program. We don't need another diet. We didn't know where to start and how to make this sustainable, how to make this doable with our crazy busy lives. I figured it out and it was messy figuring it out by myself.
So I want to help simplify it for you. I want to be that outside perspective on your life, on what's going on and really help guide you in this starting point session from this feeling of overwhelm and the place you're at now to. Taking one step at a time towards that lifestyle, because it's on that path.
It's on that journey that slow step-by-step where you build confidence and where you build consistency and I'll be alongside you giving you accountability. I will be there pouring into your life, making sure that you're staying encouraged for those two [00:06:00] weeks after our call, you can book the book, subsequent ones, spoiler alert.
Returning clients, they get savings on subsequent calls. So I'm just so excited and you can find all the information about these on the tough love mom.com, which is up, and it is ready again. If you want the visual resource for each blog episode. You are free to blog episode for each podcast episode, you can see it@theblogatthetoughlovemom.com backslash blog.
If you want to find out more about starting point sessions, you can go to the tough love mom.com backslash coaching. I'm telling you it's all there. And I'm personally, I'm very proud. It's pretty colors. It's got some fun pictures. You get a little bit of my personality and writing. It's fun. So go check it out.
Give us some love. Let me know if you're like. Oh, I really like this or Liz. This is confusing. Or if you see a typo, I will take it with grace. You can let me know. I was a lot of late nights, so I love you guys. I hope the website, just as another resource for you, another connection point a place for you to go when you need something, [00:07:00] whether it's working with me or a resource from the blog, I will be adding to it here and there.
So, uh, some of the things like my favorite postpartum active wear and. Products and stuff like that. I will be putting up eventually, too. So keep your eyes peeled on that. Tough love mom.com. I'm so pumped. It's up now? I'm done. Wow, totally done. Blabbing about all the fun stuff that's coming. Like I said, it's so exciting, such a good year, such a fun point.
I'm just excited to serve you guys. Cause moms have been overwhelmed and frustrated and their journeys for too long. And this is how we start. This is how we make it simple. I'm here for it. I'm here for it. I'm here to see you. That you didn't know where you were, you were capable of. And it all starts with a simple starting point.
It starts with staying the course with working out with our kids. So let's get into that. Let's get into this. Ooh. It was raw, transparent moment. Um, after my work. And a few little tips. Um, you can find over on my Instagram of how I keep my kids semi happy. Most of the time I'll put up a little highlight on my Instagram [00:08:00] too.
So you can find that over at Mrs. Louis Henderson on Instagram. All right, well, let's dive in.
Pay mama. Welcome to the tough love mom podcast. I know you're here because you're ready to get consistent and finally lose that weight. And you're not afraid of a little tough love, you know, what to do to lose weight, but following through on those things feels and possible. You wish you could just feel like your strong, confident self again, and want to be good example for your little ones, but you get thrown off by mom guilt and the unpredictability of motherhood.
It's fresh. Taking on your journey. Postpartum is hard, but it's not impossible. Okay. I'm Liz. And I've been where you are. Again, a lot of weight in my pregnancies, 90 pounds, and then 60 pounds. I needed to lose that weight to take control of my health. And honestly just wanted to feel like myself again, with the sustainable approach to wait.
Symbol consistency and working on my mindset. I lost it [00:09:00] all in just over a year, both times. And I'm here to help you do the same. I believe that we have an ingrained ability to figure out what we need to do, make it happen and do it in a way that AHS the world. If you're ready to stop falling off the wagon, create solid routine and healthy habits, and finally feel your best inside and out all while enjoying Dino nuggets on your salad, you are in the right place.
We're about to transform your journey, right? Get pumped up. It is tough luck.
I used to do early morning workouts before they got up. But right now, just in this season, because the seasons change and pivot, but in this season, I'd rather do mid morning workouts. After we eat breakfast, get settled. It just helps the time pass. We don't have much, much scheduled mid-morning. So it just works out well for all of us and for our routines.
For me to have a little bit more time of productivity. First thing in the morning, sometime with the Lord, some time reading some time doing a little bit of work. So [00:10:00] I'm loving this new schedule, but what I realized was I'm going to need to teach Cal this new boundary, because to be honest, he. Most of the time when he, since he was turned one, I've been working out early in the morning before the boys give up.
And if I do take them with me, it would be for a walk or something like that, where they're contained. So Cal really hasn't been in the garage with me for a workout for awhile now. And Royce, when he was younger was with me for almost all of them all the time, mid morning. And that's just how we did it. So from a very young age, rice was learning the boundaries of don't run in the street.
And I would also take them out to our mailbox to check the mail. So he, from a very young age, since he started walking, was learning not to go in the street and he's just more of a calculated child. He likes to think things through he's very observant. Cow's a very much just like excited, go do it type of kid.
They're very different in that way. And so with him, he's way more prone to [00:11:00] run into the street and that's an issue working out in the garage. So it's going to be a lot harder for me to teach him this boundary. And I wanted to come here and encourage you guys because I am in the thick of relearning, how to work out with my kids.
And my kids are in the thick of relearning, how to work out with me now, Royce understands it. He knows the boundaries. He helps me with them with. But Cal is learning them right now. It almost two years old and he doesn't know them yet really started learning them at about one. And I was reminded yesterday and today is I'm making this transition with them that this process takes so much time and so much patience.
And because I've already walked this once I know the growth that comes from it. I know the impact on my kids that comes from it. I know that they're going to learn this standard for their own life. By seeing what I do to care for my. But it's hard to get to that point where we all can do this in a really sustainable, easy way.
And to be honest, there's still days with my oldest where it's rough, because he knows what's expected of him when I'm working out in the garage and how [00:12:00] to stay safe and where he needs to be. So I can see. So I know that he's safe, but even then it doesn't mean that every single day is perfect. And these early stages of setting the boundaries and teaching a child, the boundaries of what I expect from them in a new situation is exhausting and it's hard.
And some days it feels like we've taken five steps forward and then. It's like 10 steps back. And that's what today felt like to be honest yesterday when we were all working out together in there. Well, I was working out and they were with me, Cal lasted 15 of the 30 minutes that I needed to work out.
And to be honest, like a 30 minute workout usually takes like 40 or 45. Cause I'm pausing and stopping. But remember. Perfection is not needed for actual results in real progress. Right. We know that once you live it out, you truly believe it. But that's the fact, and I was reminded today. Just how, even though yesterday was so good, he lost it half the time before I had to put him in the stroller.
Cause I [00:13:00] kinda, I kinda judged the boundaries by, okay. You know, if I'm in a day where it's it's rough day already, the kids are having a rough day. I might just want to remind him once or twice and then put them in the stroller. Whereas if it's been a good one, I might be totally fine and flexible with pausing my workout 10 times to remind him of that boundary.
So I really judge it based on how I'm doing in that moment, how it's feeling. And today was the kind of day where we had a good morning. We started off great. We're all in a great mood, but he was just in an obstinate mood and didn't want to follow those boundaries and was testing out. He'd go to the edge of the street with his little garbage truck toy and look at me and smile.
And as I came walking towards him to remind him, you were. So it was one of those days where he was really pushing the boundary. And I didn't want to get to a point of extreme frustration, be frustrated during my workout. So before I even started before I even got to press play and start my work. I just put him in the stroller and it felt in my head for a minute, I was like, dang, that was like five steps back from where we were yesterday.
We started off on such [00:14:00] a strong, no, I thought this is going to be easier than this. And in that moment, I had to choose to think a different thought. I had to choose and say, Liz, just because today wasn't great. It wasn't as good as yesterday. Doesn't mean that he's not learning this boundary doesn't mean that down the road, it's going to start working out easier and better when all three of us are out.
This moment, but it's difficult. Doesn't define what's going to happen down the road. And I think what happens with a lot of us, especially when it comes to working out around our kids. Cause can we talk about imperfection? I think when we have those moments, it's so easy to just get overwhelmed by that feeling of frustration and.
And just be like, you know what, because I even had that too. I was like, maybe tomorrow is the day where I just get up early and forego this morning routine of some time in the word and sometime reading and sometimes just in quietness. Cause I don't have a lot of those still moments throughout the day.
I, for a second thought about just for going out and going back to what was easier, which is working out before they get up. But I was reminded that in this. This is what I'm saying right [00:15:00] now. Doesn't mean that you have to do it this way. Doesn't mean it's the right way. But for me in this season, it is, and I need to follow through on what's hard because what I'm going to get out of it down the road, what my kids are going to get out of it down the road is so much better than just going with what's easier right now.
And I think that's a great metaphor. This me trying to work out with my kids and relearning it with Cal now, I think is a great metaphor for our journey. We need to be able to follow through on what's difficult right now when the payoff and the benefit down the road is going to be so much greater than just taking the easy path right now.
Yeah. It may feel better to do the easier thing right now. Right. It may feel better. E another cookie right now, instead of denying it because you know, you're not going to feel great tomorrow. You know, it's going to still mess with your head a few days down the road. Why do we always end up taking the easier path when we know logically that staying the course down the road is going to be better, even if it's harder right now.
So I just wanted to encourage you in that today because [00:16:00] man, I am in D just because I have my habits down, my personal habits, my mindset around food is really healthy. I'm at a healthy weight for my body. I'm getting stronger. I can do all these things doesn't mean. That it's always easy. There's always a piece of my journey, a piece of motherhood, a piece of life, my mindset, something that I'm working on and growing in and not great at.
And this is one of them I'm in a weak spot right now. And I'm figuring it out right alongside you with whatever you're figuring out. So, man, I just wanted to encourage you today because it's hard and I'm in this transition of figuring out how to work out with both kids around eight, nine o'clock in the morning after we start our day.
It's really not that easy. If I'm being honest, it is not the easiest thing in the world. And if you are in the thick of that as well, trying to figure out how to work out with your newborn or with two kids or with three kids in the afternoon, whatever it is, just remember. That you're all learning this new together, and there's going to be days when it's harder for you.
There's going to be days [00:17:00] when it's harder for your kids. And you just have to remember that we're all our own person with our own issues going on with our own things that we're trying to navigate in that day. And it's not going to be perfect, but perfection is not required for results. Perfection is not required for.
You can show up and perfectly, honestly, you should show up in perfectly because then your kids are going to see what the fruit of consistency does and not the fruit of perfection, because honestly, there is no fruit in perfection. All it does is keep us stuck in our own heads, expecting this standard that we can't attain and we can't sustain.
Right. That was so good. You need to screenshot that you need to record that you need to go back 20 seconds and listen to that. You need to remember that perfection is not required and honestly, you should not strive for it because it's not going to do anything for you. It's not going to do anything for your kids and in your journey.
And you know what, if your 20 minute workout takes 40 minutes, cause you are like committed to instilling those boundaries in your kids and letting them be there for your workout with you, because that's just how it works [00:18:00] out best for you and your. Stay the course, I'm in it with you. Go get after it.
Mama, before you go. Thank you for spending this time with me on the tough love mom podcast. If this episode encouraged you in any way, the number one way you can thank me is to leave her a review. Letting me know how the show has impacted you. Then send this episode to another mom friend or. Take a screenshot posted on social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me on this journey to impact thousands of moms.
I'm so grateful to be on this journey with you sister until next time. Get after it.
